Category Archives: Speaker
May’s Speaker – Ted Kellogg
Topic – “Orchid Oddities”
Ted began growing orchids in the 1960’s in Miami and Tallahassee. He
moved his orchid collection to Rhode Island in 1970 to two custom
greenhouses. A decade later, “one too many” greenhouse problems
caused Ted to shift to growing Rhododendrons.
A move back to Florida in 2001 might have been the end of the story.
But, Ted and Marty attended the Englewood and Venice orchid society
meetings. They then visited Everglades Orchids and other vendors and, soon, were growing
orchids on their lanai.
From his first growing days Ted has been intrigued by the diversity of of orchids. Ted will
share his experiences and knowledge about orchids and the strange things these orchids are
known for. Ted’s talk ‘Orchid Oddities’ will include examples from a wide variety species
and hybrids that have been successes or failures in leading to the the orchids we grow today.
[Ed. note: VAOS is most grateful for Ted generously sharing his expertise – see the Plant
Table article and Notes on Names on page 3. He is currently chairman of the Information
Management Committee of the American Orchid Society.]
Speaker for April 2011
Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m.
Speaker: Phillip Hamilton
Topic: “Recent Trends in Phals”
Phillip Hamilton grew up among orchids in his parent’s greenhouses
in Kingston, Jamaica. His father, Claude, is known around the world
for his work in breeding broughtonias, cattleytonias and schom-
burgkias – an orchid hobby that evolved into one of the major orchid
nurseries on the island – Hamlyn Orchids.
Having collected orchids since a young boy, his orchid interest peaked
when he attended his first orchid show away from Jamaica, the 11th World Orchid
Conference in Miami, Florida at the age of eight. That experience inspired him to become
more involved in orchid breeding, growing and exhibition.
In his early teens, he began participating in orchid judging with the Jamaican Orchid
Society and was an accredited judge of that society before graduating from high school. He
headed for college in the U.S. at age 18 and entered the AOS judging training program that
same year.
Phillip has since received his udergraduate and graduate degrees in Environmental
Horticulture from the University of Florida and has been an AOS accredited judge for
almost ten years. Upon graduation, he worked as a grower for a large orchid production
facility and is now managing an orchid production facility for Better-Gro Companies in
Apopka, Florida.
His personal collection consists primarily of Phalaenopsis and more recently, Paphiopedilums. He also enjoys the
challenge of growing large specimen plants, for which he has been recognized with several AOS cultural awards in
recent years. He is the proud papa of three-year-old Xavier.