Category Archives: Meetings

Roger Hammer is a professional naturalist, botanist, author, and photographer. He was the Keynote Speaker at the 19th World Orchid Conference in Miami and also gave the Keynote address at the Florida Native Plant Society state conferences in 1997 and 2013. Among his awards are the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Award from the Florida Native Plant Society and the Charles Brookfield Medal from Tropical Audubon Society. In 2012 he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Florida International University. His specialty in wildflowers is native orchids and, of the 108 species reported for Florida, he has photographed 94 of them. He spends his leisure time birdwatching, long-distance canoeing, kayak fishing, and sipping expensive rums. Roger also works as a survivalist instructor for the Discovery Channel on their reality TV program, Naked and Afraid. Roger grew up in Cocoa Beach but moved to Homestead after being honorably discharged from the Army in 1968 as a tank gunner. Visit his website for further information:  http://www.rogerlhammer.com

Location: Venice Community Center -(doors open at 6:30)

Speaker Ramnarine John Budree was born in Trinidad and migrated to Florida about fifteen years ago. In Trinidad, he grew many different types of orchids and took part in collecting and showing at many shows, but there was always something more. He wanted to learn more about orchids, wanted more of a challenge. He wanted to grow and flower them, of course. So when he came to Florida, he got involved with orchids on a different level. Here he was able to grow all of those types of plants he could only read about and even meet all of those people that grew and wrote the articles that he had read in AOS magazines.

So he started on his journey/adventure. He began to go to many of the shows and what do you do when you go to a show…. YOU BUY ORCHIDS, which you know nothing about, in the hope you can grow or flower it. He always liked Paphiopedilum but he was told he couldn’t grow them. This became a challenge to John and he found these plants very interesting as well. He met some of the biggest and the best orchid growers, Jack Schendowich, Warren Kelly (Orchid World), Bob Scully (Jones & Scully), Mr. Frank Smith (Krull-Smith) and Sheldon Takasaki (Carmela Orchids). These people really know how to grow orchids but not just any orchids, but Paphiopedilum, Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, and Oncidium, e.g. Krull- Smith has more AOS awards than any other orchid grower past or present.

At the 19^th World Orchid Congress in Miami in 2008, John had an opportunity to work with Frank Smith, an experienced and internationally recognized grower of Paphiopedilum, hybridizer, landscaper and designer. He tried to absorb as much of Frank Smith’s knowledge as possible, and did an exhibit on his own. After that, he started to grow many types of Paphs and today he owns over 1750 as well as about 2000 other types of orchids. Of course, he says, he has also lost count of the ones he killed. In short he has been growing Orchids for about 30 years, from flask to flower and has accumulated about 30 AOS awards. He continues to speak at numerous orchid societies and symposiums.

Mr. Budree will talk about the bizarre, weird world of Bulbophyllums, the largest genus in the orchid family Orchidaceae.

Location: Venice Community Center -(doors open at 6:30)

Speaker:John F. Salventi, Ph. D.

Prior to involvement in the orchid industry John Salventi was a health-care professional with more than 20 years of hospital management experience including 17 years at the Lehigh Valley Hospital. John and Tom Purviance opened Parkside Orchid Nursery in 1992.

Parkside grew to be one of the largest multi-genera orchid nurseries in the northeastern United States with five greenhouses, spanning over 14,000 square feet of growing space. After 20 years of operating Parkside, it was sold in June.

During the 20 years that they operated Parkside, both John and Tom traveled extensively to maintain an interesting inventory for the serious hobbyist and secured plants directly from the growers. These include frequent trips to South America, Central America, Hawaii and Asia. John continues to travel to South America leading Eco-Tours in Peru and Ecuador. In Peru these trips have included The Manu Cloud Forest, the Wayqechas Biological Research Center, Cusco, and Machu Picchu. He has traveled extensively in Ecuador on several occasions and to Costa Rica twice, once traveling to the rain and cloud forests. John served on the conservation committee of the American Orchid Society and the president’s advisory council for the Amazon Center for Environmental Education and Research.

 He has spoken both nationally and internationally at Orchid Societies and Symposia on orchid and conservation topics. John continues to speak and lead workshops, on a variety of orchid topics.

See www.everythingaboutorchids.com

John is scheduled to speak on plant nutrition

Location: Venice Community Center -(doors open at 6:30)