Friendships bloom at garden club orchid presentation in Lakewood Ranch

Lakewood Ranch’s Pam Glenn left a Gardeners Out East presentation on March 13 with a new base of knowledge about orchids, as well as a new friend.

Glenn and Sarasota's Joanne Kinsey stuck up a conversation at the orchid event and now plan to meet for lunch soon to discuss their interests.

Both ladies received pointers in case they decide to add orchids to their home gardens.

"Everything I know about orchids, I learned today," Glenn said. "And I just found this to be a very welcoming group."

Photo by Ian Swaby

Carolyn Lowry-Nation founded Gardeners Out East in 2014 as a way that people could make friends while they enhanced their green thumbs.

Lowry-Nation said as a child, she saw the friendships her mother Marie Haynes made through her own gardening club.

"It meant all the world to her," she said. 

She felt that the presentation, hosted by Manatee County Orchid Society President Julie McClure, offered an experience that would be interesting to all the club members and to those in the community who might want to join the club.

The event was held at Robert Toale and Sons Celebration of Life Center in Lakewood Ranch.

“I don’t know one of us who hasn’t bought and killed an orchid,” Lowry-Nation said. “When you come to Florida, that’s what you do.” 

She said every little bit of information counts.

Photo by Ian Swaby

McClure said there were no hard and fast rules when it comes to growing orchids.

“Every genus is different,” McClure said.

She said orchid growers often specialize in one particular type of orchid.

McClure also gave some helpful pointers.

One example of a tip from McClure involved orchids that suffer during the cold of the Christmas season. She said a strand of Christmas lights, along with a covering, could be able to warmth.

She said Phalaenopsis orchids are a type of orchid that benefits from a transparent pot, or a pot with holes, through which light can reach the roots of the plant. This simulates the conditions on a tree, where orchids grow, she said.

She said overwatering is the main reason that orchids die.

“Like everything else, too much water is as bad as too little water. Too much water rots orchids,” she said.

She said one genus of orchid, the dendrobium, needs to dry before it can bloom. If it is watered excessively, she said, it will grow keikis, which are small offshoots that hinder the growth of the orchid.

McClure said she was glad to be able to provide advice.

“People get discouraged when they lose their orchids all the time, because they don't know why, and so it's nice to be able to tell them what they're doing wrong and encourage them to try some different things.”

Members said they loved the little tidbits.

Glenn said she found the advice to use a transparent pot to be interesting.

"She has a green thumb with roses and orchids," said Kinsey, who said she had known McClure from their membership together in the Manatee River Garden Club. "She's inspirational."

Lowry-Nation said in addition to hosting events such as the orchid presentation, quite a bit has been accomplished since the club began.

She said the club built a butterfly garden in Summerfield Park and a Blue Star veteran’s memorial at Lakewood Ranch Town Hall, and is planning a Gold Star memorial for the upcoming Lakewood Ranch Library.

Lowry-Nation said the club began with 10 members, but has now expanded to 40 members. The club is affiliated with Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, which she said includes 10,000 members.

“We’re a fun club,” she said. “We just enjoy each other. We're like a family, a wonderful team.”