Speaker Bio

Bill Stender has been growing orchids for about 18 years.  When Bill and his wife Lynne took their 25th wedding anniversary vacation to Hawaii, they bought their first two orchids.  One died almost immediately, but the other, a Nobile type Dendrobium, refused to die.  Bill started researching the culture of orchids and how to get this orchid to bloom again and he was hooked.  Now years later their orchid collection numbers over 800 plants and pretty much covers the entire spectrum of orchid growing.  They have a 560 sq foot greenhouse that presently houses their collection.

When not growing orchids, Bill is the owner of 10-31 Inc. which specializes in museum and gallery display and design services.  Bill can often be found travelling the world for his clients.

This month’s talk titled “Orchid Viruses” will be giving you a broad overview about orchid major and minor orchid viruses, testing methods and protocols.

So what happened to that Nobile type Dendrobium?  Well, it took 5 years, but he was finally able to get it to bloom just in time for their 30th anniversary.  It is still a part of his collection today