Author Archives: Jay Loeffler
VAOS will not have a meeting on July 5th, Instead, we will join EAOS at their July 17th meeting:
Every summer, when things slow down, we join our sister orchid society, the Englewood Area Orchid Society (EAOS), in a joint meeting. In July EAOS will host the VAOS at their July 17th meeting.
Location: St. Davids Episcopal Church
401 S. Broadway
Englewood, FL
(Behind Stephanos Restaurant and Bealls Outlet)
Doors open at 6:30pm. Meeting starts at 7pm
Speaker: Katie Caldwell
Topic: Hurricane Preparation for Your Orchids: Hurricane Charlie and Ian Experience
VAOS Meeting June 7th, 2023 @ 7:00pm (Doors open @ 6:45pm)
Location: Venice Community Center (Doors open at 6:45pm) 
UPDATE: Rafael Romero of Plantio La Orquidea
Topic: Schomburgkias
Rafael Romero, Plantio La Orquidea, was born in Caracas, Venezuela and graduated as a biologist from the Universidad Simon Bolivar. He began working with orchids in 1986 with his father in law, Henrique Graf, owner of Plantio La Orquidea, the largest orchid nursery in Venezuela. Together with his wife Tina, Rafael started the laboratory at Plantio La Orquidea in 1986 where they produce the species and hybrids for which they are known. They moved to Sarasota in 2003 and started their nursery where they established a good sample of the species and hybrids produced in Venezuela as well as adding interesting species and hybrids from around the world.Rafael will be sharing his knowledge and experiences as well as answering questions and will have a great selection of his orchids available for sale. Plantio La Orquidea is one of our fine local growers and is located at 3480 Tallevast Road in Sarasota. He will have plants for sale.