The Orchid Gallery’s Geraldine Powell, an expert in growing cool loving orchids and developer of the Cool Pot™
for masdevallias, miltoniopsis and various pleurothallids, is available.
Powell, co-owner of The Orchid Gallery
in Chattanooga, TN, has been growing orchids for more than 30 years and her plants have won numerous AOS awards.
Her talk, often humorous and accompanied by a Power Point slide show, covers the ABCs of growing orchids that like to be
cool and damp. The program focuses on dealing with the problems associated with growing Masdevallias and Miltoniopsis in warm
climates.
Recent speaking engagements have included the Atlanta Orchid Society, the Orchid Society
of Middle Tennessee and the Memphis, TN Orchid Society.
Powell is also a master potter and developer of The
Orchid Gallery’s Cool Pots™ and Never-Rot ceramic mounts.
Cool Pots have a clay cone in the
center and the drain holes are elevated slightly above the bottom of the pot, so the pot holds a small amount of water at
the bottom after watering. They are fairly porous and absorb that water quickly. The water then evaporates from the outside
of the pot and down through the center cone. This acts as an evaporative cooler and keeps the media around the roots
8 to 10 degrees cooler than it normally would be.
Powell is available for orchid society meetings for a speaker’s
fee of $100 to $150, plus travel expenses and the right to sell orchids and Cool Pots™ at a society’s meeting. The
presentation runs 45 minutes to an hour, followed by a question and answer period.
The fee for a talk at a garden
club in the Chattanooga area is only $25.
Call Geraldine at 423-886-2950 or email us at theorchidgallery@aol.com.
