Catasetum spitzii SVO Burnished Gold AM orchid
The Malibu Orchid Society will feature guest speaker Fred Clarke at its February meeting speaking on “Becoming an 80 Percentile Orchid Grower.” The meeting will be held via zoom at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, February 17. To receive the link, email: [email protected]
Clarke will speak about the most important requirements to grow the best orchids. He will discuss the underlying reasons of how and why orchids grow as they do, then explore the fundamentals and advanced growing techniques to best grow them.
Orchid plant culture will be explained as you have never heard it before. Learn how to become an 80-percentile grower.
Clarke has been growing orchids for over 34 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticulture industry. He applies these skills at his nursery Sunset Valley Orchids in Vista, California.
A passionate grower, Clarke’s curiosity in orchids is broad and varied. Although developing Cattleya hybrids is his sustaining interest, he is actively creating new Paphiopedilum and Aussie Dendrobium hybrids plus others to be named if it works out.
His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric hybrids led to the development of several notable hybrids. Most recently his work involved the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed.” This grex has received over 100 awards worldwide with nine FCC’s and thirty AM’s from AOS judges.
Additionally, Clarke is also an accredited judge in the Pacific South. To view the Sunset Valley Orchids website region click here.