APRIL 2008  (Vol.20- No.2)

FRONT COVER: Dendrobium Enobi Purple 'Splash' taken at the WOC Show Miami by Coralie Hills

This month's features:

AS I write these few words South Australia is setting all sorts of new records with our dry summer and now the longest March heat- wave ever recorded for a capital city in Australia. We are experiencing strict water restrictions and the orchids are suffering as a consequence of the heat and the limited water available to them. Small plants are burning badly with others having sunburn, but the hardy Cymbidiums are putting up spikes. Thank goodness for the old reliables, they live through anything. It's times like these that it is good to refer back to the Cultural Notes which are published each issue: they give sound advice for the growers in the various regions and it is a way of reminding ourselves about what may help in our conditions that we find ourselves in.

Colin Jennings: Colin Hamilton

WITH the passing of Colin Hamilton, the AOC is now in need of a person who is prepared to manage the AOC's Website. This undertaking, initiated by Colin, requires a person dedicated to the cause of promoting the AOC and at the same time provide a service to orchid growers from around the world, to keep them in touch with activities of the AOC.

Orchids Australia featured heavily in the contents of the web pages and Colin maintained entries from each issue on the site, and managed a conduit between the website and the officers of Council who needed to be kept in contact with the site. Subscriptions can be paid directly to the Treasurer, articles downloaded for the Editor and orders from the Bookshop, regularly forwarded to the Treasurer.

Colin maintained an extensive linkage between the AOC website and a wide range of likeminded organisations, both within Australia and overseas. The time which Colin devoted to this venture was significant and he was always seeking out new ideas to ensure that the site was kept up to date and had as much interesting material included as he could manage. He also assisted many other orchid clubs to set up their web pages and helped them with their problems. The person taking on this role will need to be able to devote the necessary time to ensure that the high standard currently existing will be maintained.

Eric Wilde: Theres Good News and Bad

THE other day we, the Australian Orchid Foundation (AOF) Directors held our February meeting. Nothing unusual about that, in fact over the years we have looked forward to the "February" meeting because it's "Gerald's" Birthday. Gerald of course is the AOF co-founder "Gerald McCraith AM". We (the directors) and I guess many readers of this orchid magazine, realise that Gerald is approaching another great milestone in his brilliant life.

Colin Jennings: 19th WOC Miami 2008

MY wife and I were not initially going to attend the Miami Conference; however after the Conference in Dijon, our son convinced us that we should attend and at the same time visit him. How could we resist the offer!

The flight across the Pacific is a long one and this was no exception - the baggage handlers ran a container of luggage into the electrical wiring that controls the cargo hold door, so this required what was at first to be a short delay. Four hours later we were once again allowed to board the plane - having already been on board awaiting clearance to taxi to the runway.

Los Angeles - four hours late. You can imagine the confusion with so many passengers having missed their connecting flights to other ports in the USA. Not Happy!! Customs clearance took all of two hours from entry to the terminal to us having our luggage transferred to our flight to Miami. Fortunately we had our baggage checked through otherwise it would have been at least another hour - there were so many transfers awaiting rescheduled flights. We have travelled a lot and learnt from past experience to not schedule connecting flights too close together. We were right once again! We had allowed almost eight hours altogether. It turned out to be just about right.

Bill Olsen: The Ira Butler, Bill Murdoch and Hermon Slade Trophies for 2007

THE Ira Butler, Bill Murdoch and Hermon Slade Trophies are awarded each year to the best of the nominated orchids in their respective categories, as assessed by a panel consisting of three ANOS and three OS NSW nominated judges. The orchids are assessed on the basis of the digital images submitted and the information on the nomination form provided by the Registrar or Show Marshal. This assessment is normally done at a committee meeting held in late November each year. Once again the large number of nominations submitted and the quality of the flowers made for some difficult decisions, but finally the trophy winners were selected. It gives me great pleasure to announce the following Ira Butler, Bill Murdoch and Hermon Slade Trophy winners for 2007.

Dennis Diehm: Phalaenopsis Sasquatch

PHALAENOPSIS Sasquatch was registered in October 2005 by G. & L. Bromley and is a sibling from the crossing of Phal. World Class 'Big Foot' x Phal. amabilis.

The cross was done by Lesley Bromley after Garrie had bought the parent plant back on one of his many trips to Hawaii. After the seed germinated the plants were then grown in my nursery (Dendi Orchids). Lesley thought it would be interesting to see if the full, rounded lip would carry over into the siblings and what effect it would have re - introducing the species back into the family line.

And much more . . .