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April
2003 (Vol.15 No.2)
THIS MONTH'S FEATURES:
FRONT COVER:
Dendrobium Pink Doll 'Elegance'
Our
cover this month features one of the beautiful orchids featured in a
three page article by Gary Hart of Caringbah, NSW, in which he describes Growing
a Mixed Collection. Gary has provided nine other superb photographs to
accompany the article - some from other orchid growing friends as well as his
own. However, all photographs were taken by Gary himself.
16th
Australian Orchid Conference 2003 Update
The
premier event on the Australian orchid calendar is held every three years
in different States, and this year hosting has been undertaken by the Orchid
Club of South Australia Inc. The Conference dates are from 18 to 21
September, in the Centennial Hall of the Royal Adelaide Showgrounds.
The
Show Marshal, Reg Faulkner, has provided information on the show displays, and
issues a call from orchid growers of all types to enter a display. As we
know, spring is probably the major flowering season for most orchid types.
The Committee is offering $250 and a Bronze Medallion for the Champion Display.
(For latest
Conference information, check the listing at the top of our ConneXions
page.
Former
AOC President Graeme Banks honoured on Australia Day
On
Australia Day 2003, Graeme Banks received an Order of Australia Medal for
services to the meat industry and to orchid growing, reflecting the dedication
shown by him to both his occupation and his life-long interest. In both
Graeme showed a keen intuition for working out what needed to be done, a firm
resolve for carrying out the task and a flair for working with diverse groups of
people. Graeme has held executive office in a number of orchid societies,
and was President of the Australian Orchid Council from 1994 to 1997.
Awarded
Phalaenopsis hybrids - The Registrar General's Page
AOC
Registrar General of Judging, Colin Jennings, reflects on the decline in the
number of Phalaenopsis and Doritaenopsis hybrids receiving AOC Awards in recent
years, and the possible causes for this. He then goes on to write about
those awards that were made and includes superb photographs of 1 HCC and 5 AM
awards.
Miltoniopsis
Martin Orenstein
Gerald
M. Lawless of Virginia, USA, writes of the continuing importance of this hybrid
in hybridising programs, arising from an Armacost & Royston hybrid
registered by him in 1984. The gene pool of this grex has been responsible
for some stunning offspring despite the fact that only one plant of Milt. Martin
Orenstein was ever awarded by the American Orchid Society. The grex has
imparted stunning 'waterfall' lips and dark masks to its progeny. Gerald
has provided 12 excellent photographs to illustrate his article.
Cymbidiums
- The Lip (continued)
Kevin
Butler from Perth and major Cymbidium grower, continues his fascinating series
of the variety of lip colour in the Cymbidium hybrids, and speculates the
influence from the parentage. This month he delves into the
"orange" coloured group, or more precisely some that one would have
expected to be orange from their lineage. Hence there are two of the seven
illustrations accompanying the article being green blooms.
TQOC
Conference in Atherton
The
responsibility for staging the annual Tropical Queensland Orchid Conference for
2003 has been taken on by the Atherton Orchid Society. The dates are 6 to
8 June, the Queen's Birthday long weekend. Guest Speakers include: Dr.
Bill Laverack, Mrs Jacquie Stocker, Dr Geoff Stocker, Bruce Gray and Kevin
Butler. For more details phone (07) 4095 5535 after hours - Elaine Waters.
Television
promotion for STOCQ member societies
Television
advertising for orchid shows is not new but the costs are getting a bit out of
hand. Consequently the Sub Tropical Orchid Council Queensland has come up
with the idea of putting together a 15 sec and a 30 sec advertising
background. Member Societies can then arrange for their wording and/or
voice over to be dubbed onto the background. Neat! Perhaps other
societies can follow suit.
Coelogyne
virescens 'Moelfre Bay'
This
species was recently awarded an AOC Certificate of Botanical Merit for N. Harrap
of Hobart. Mr. Harrap professes that the clonal name is from a beautiful
village in Wales where he spent his childhood. He also claims that the CBM
"in no way acclaims my prowess as a grower". The CBM recognises
the species as a benchmark of the type against which future plants of this
species can be judged. Mr. Harrap acquired the plant from the late Jim
McQueen in 1987.
Orchid
giant puts on a stunning show in Cairns
Orchids
Australia editor, Dennis Simmons, recently visited the Flecker Botanic
Gardens in Cairns, to see for himself a magnificent flowering of the giant
orchid, Grammatophyllum papuanum, recording the flowering to share with
OA readers. Simply stunning.
Back
to Basics - Light and Orchids (Part 1)
North
Queensland resident Dr Noel Grundon presents a detailed discussion of one of the
lesser understood requirements of orchids - Light. "Like us, plants
are affected by, and respond to, light - one of the Big Four requirements for
the good growth and flowering of orchids."
Who
is responsible for changes?
Ed
Wright from Texas, USA, is a regular reader of Orchids Australia and has
been an accredited Judge of the American Orchid Society for over 30 years, and
is a past chairman for the national training of AOS judges. In this
article Ed shares with us his response to a question from a student judge.
Just who is responsible for changes to orchid species names? This is a
question that has many orchid growers worldwide puzzled.
A
Selection of Yellow Hybrids
Colin
Jennings has delved into the AOC Awards of 2002 and shares with us some of the
Award winning yellow hybrids which captured the judges votes. Information
and photographs on seven awards in the Paphiopedilum and Cattleya alliance are
provided.
Plastic
mesh orchid hosts in the tropics
Des
Pike concludes his excellent series on an alternative method of potting orchids
in the tropics using plastic mesh tubes with plenty of illustrations (8 photos)
to show the results and a host of handy hints..
Plus… -
All the regular features of:
Latest list of Australian Orchid Council awards for 2002; Computer Corner, what's winning at Shows around the country, Cultural Notes for various parts of Australia, and our list of upcoming International orchid events through to 2005. There is also a surprise for some lucky Australian subscriber - Orchids Australia free for one year, provided it is claimed in 14 days.
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