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Meet nation's top cymbidium grower Friday

Sacramento society hosts evening with George Hatfield

Gold cymbidium
Cymbidiums need adequate light and water, says expert hybridizer George Hatfield. He will speak Friday evening in Sacramento. (Photos courtesy George Hatfield)

Orchid royalty is coming to Sacramento!

On Friday evening, Dec. 3, Sacramento Valley Cymbidium Society presents an evening with Mr. Cymbidium, George Hatfield.

To be held at Shepard Garden and Arts Center, this free presentation will be held in person as well as offered via Zoom. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; program starts at 7 p.m. The public is welcome.

George Hatfield
George Hatfield

Hatfield, the nation’s premier cymbidium grower and hybridizer, will share his insights on how to get these “outdoor” orchids to look and perform their best – particularly in California.

Based in Oxnard, Hatfield is past president of both the American Orchid Society and the Cymbidium Society of America. In an interview with Orchid Digest, Hatfield shared some of his insights including what he looks for in a plant as a hybridizer.

“Fundamentally, you need to have plants that grow well,” Hatfield told Orchid Digest. “It’s pretty meaningless to produce plants that can’t be grown by all levels of growers. No matter what type of plant you hybridize, it needs to be a good grower. I’ve been aggressively selecting for strong growers for years, and the result is that pretty much everything I produce can be grown by anyone.”

The most common mistake for cymbidium growers? Water, Hatfield said.

Pink cymbidium
Cymbidiums produce loads of flowers
with the right care.
“In the summer I water mine every day,” he told the Digest. “Plants should double in size when they’re healthy. ... I think that the biggest thing that most growers do wrong is not water enough. During growing periods, it’s impossible to water too much. If you look at the backgrounds, most of those (native orchid) habitats get monsoonal water every day.

“Cymbidiums need light,” he added. “Most people don’t grow their plants in enough light. The three biggest elements of good culture are light, water, and nutrients. Pay attention to those, and a good cymbidium will reward you with lots of flowers.”

Learn more Friday night at his special presentation. Shepard Center is located at 3330 McKinley Blvd., Sacramento, in McKinley Park.

For more details or Zoom link, email SacCymSoc@yahoo.com or call Ann Carberry at 916-502-3258.


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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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