美国 巴吞鲁日兰花协会 BROS – 路易斯安那州兰花爱好者团体

协会概况与历史沿革

巴吞鲁日兰花协会 1959 年成立于美国路易斯安那州巴吞鲁日，是一家由兰花爱好者组成的非营利团体，日常事务全部由志愿者承担，协会在 2019 年庆祝了成立六十周年。会员来自教师、销售、工厂等各行各业，水平从刚入门的初学者到养了几十年的老手都有。当地冬季温和、夏季湿热，适合卡特兰、石斛、文心兰等附生兰生长。协会把自己的事说得很简单：分享栽培经验，帮更多爱好者把兰花养开花，例会对外完全开放，谁都可以来听。

例会与养护交流

协会每月第三个星期三在路易斯安那州立大学农业中心的伯登会议中心聚会。六点半先开一个小型诊兰台，把状态不对的兰花带来，会有老会员现场看叶、看根，说说问题出在哪；七点例会正式开始。每次请一位会员或外来讲者讲一个专题，从某一类兰花的栽培要点，到上板、换盆、施肥、病虫害的具体做法都有。讲完照例抽奖，会员也常把分株出来的兰花带来送给别人。

年度兰花展

每年七月的第二个周末，协会在伯登乡村生活博物馆办两天的兰花展，免费进场。展场上能看到墨西哥湾沿岸多家兰花协会送来的展品，本地苗圃也会摆摊卖兰花、植料和肥料。评比在开展前一天晚上完成，按兰花类别分组，获奖植株会在现场挂上牌子。协会每年给展览起一个主题名，展览期间把协会自己的温室开放给观众参观，另外安排几场面向普通观众的养兰讲座。

保育温室与会员服务

协会在一处会员提供的温室里建了自己的保育温室，收藏主要靠会员捐赠和遗赠慢慢积累，如今能看到不少在路易斯安那南部气候下开花的品种，浇水、施肥、翻盆都由志愿者轮着做。会员每月收到协会的会刊，往期会刊做了电子存档，随时可以翻看。养不好的兰花可以拍照发到会员论坛里请教，协会也会就一些事务发问卷、做投票。会员分个人会员和家庭会员两档，家庭会员可以登记同住的额外成员。

对外交流与兰花教育

协会是美国兰花协会的附属团体，也是西南区域兰花种植者协会的成员，同时跟新奥尔良、拉法叶、莱克查尔斯等地的兰花协会保持往来，互相通报各地的展览和售卖活动。教学方面，协会整理了一批可以直接下载的栽培资料，从蝴蝶兰入门与进阶、窗台养兰，到常见虫害、双叶兰属和玉凤花属的养护都有，另外每年参与路易斯安那兰花短期课程的授课。协会还开了一个线上交流群，方便平时在家里养兰的人随时提问。

About the Society and Its History

The Baton Rouge Orchid Society (BROS) was founded in 1959 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is a non-profit group of orchid enthusiasts run entirely by volunteers; the society marked its sixtieth anniversary in 2019. Members come from every walk of life, from teachers and sales staff to factory workers, and range from complete beginners to growers with decades of experience. The local climate, mild in winter and humid in summer, suits cattleyas, dendrobiums, oncidiums and other epiphytic orchids. Sharing what they have learned, and helping more people get an orchid to flower, is what the society sets out to do, and meetings are open to anyone who wants to come and listen.

Monthly Meetings and Growing Advice

The society meets on the third Wednesday of every month at the Burden Conference Center of the LSU AgCenter. A plant clinic opens at 6:30, where members bring orchids that are not doing well and older hands look at the leaves and roots and talk through what has gone wrong; the meeting itself starts at 7:00. Each month a member or an outside speaker takes one topic, from the culture of a particular orchid group to mounting, repotting, feeding and pests. A raffle follows the talk, and members often bring divisions along to give away.

The Annual Orchid Show

On the second weekend of July the society holds a two-day show at the Burden Rural Life Museum, with free admission. Exhibits come in from a number of orchid societies along the Gulf Coast, and local nurseries set up tables with plants, growing media and fertiliser. Judging is completed on the evening before the show opens, working through classes by orchid group, and the winning plants carry ribbons on the benches. The society gives each show a theme, opens its own greenhouse to visitors, and runs several cultivation talks aimed at the general public.

Conservatory and Member Services

The society’s conservation greenhouse stands on land provided by a member. The collection has grown slowly through donations and legacy gifts, and a good number of orchids that flower in the south Louisiana climate can now be seen there, with volunteers taking turns at watering, feeding and repotting. Members receive a monthly newsletter, and past issues are kept in a digital archive. Plants that refuse to thrive can be photographed and posted in the member forum for advice, and the society also runs surveys and polls on its own business. Membership comes in individual and household tiers, the household tier covering extra people at the same address.

Outreach and Orchid Education

The society is an affiliated society of the American Orchid Society and a member of the Southwest Regional Orchid Growers Association, and it keeps in touch with orchid groups in New Orleans, Lafayette and Lake Charles, passing on news of shows and sales around the region. For teaching, it keeps a set of cultivation documents available to download, covering phalaenopsis for beginners and experienced growers, windowsill orchids, common pests, bifoliate orchid care and habenaria culture, and it takes part each year in the Louisiana Orchid Short Course. An online chat group is also open to anyone who grows orchids at home and has a question to ask.

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