Orchid Collector to Talk About Classic Cattleyas at Palisades Woman’s Club

Heirloom orchid collector David Toyoshima will be the featured speaker for the Malibu Orchid Society meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, January 16, in the Woman’s Club, 901 Haverford Ave.

Toyoshima has been growing orchids, specifically cattleyas, since he was seven years old, when he received his first seedling. “I remember that plant. It was a lavender hybrid, Blc. Doctor Von Braun. I grew it in my parents’ windowsill and a few years later I flowered it.”

Cattleya Bow Bells

By age 12, Toyoshima had built his first greenhouse, a 6’ x 8’ fiberglass and redwood structure. He joined the American Orchid Society (AOS) in middle school.

While in college, Toyoshima was an AOS clerk and student judge. He is currently serving his second term on the AOS board of trustees.

When it comes to orchids, his biggest passion is collecting and preserving heirloom cattleyas. “One of the first cattleyas I bought from Ernest [Hetherington] was Cattleya Bow Bells. Back in the mid-1970s, many of these old clones were largely forgotten (and relatively inexpensive to buy). Today, there’s a resurgence in collecting these old plants.”

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