The Next Regular Meeting will be
Wednesday, February 11th at 6:00PM
Napa Senior Center
1500 Jefferson St., Napa
Speaker - Ron Parsons
“Down Under No. 12 (Southeast Australia, Again!)”
G’Day Mates
October and November, 2025 marked my twelfth trip to Australia to see its native orchids and other wildflowers, as well as animals, scenery, and most of all, my friends. I had the fortunate luck to be shown some of the best orchids of the region by local experts, and I ended up seeing 90 species and natural hybrids in five weeks! I am already planning my first early summer trip there for 2026!
Ron Parsons has been growing orchids for more than 50 years, and has been interested in the species for most of that time. He loves to photograph orchids and other flowers whenever possible. Ron has more than 123,000 digital images, most of which are of orchids, and still retains a slide library that exceeds 100,000 botanical images. He has given more than 500 talks on various botanical topics, and has close to 7000 published photos. Ron has co-authored four books on botanical subjects, all with Mary E. Gerritsen. The first two, published by Timber Press, are Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World and Calochortus, Mariposa Lilies and their Relatives. Their third book, a two-volume set, A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species was published by Redfern Natural History Productions in January 2014. In 2019 The American Orchid Society Guide to Orchids and their Culture was released, and is on its third printing. The fifth book, a much-revised second edition of A Compendium of Miniature Orchids Species was released in October, 2021. It is now a four volume set with 3100 photos (1800 are new), including those of more than 500 species not in the first edition.
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