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December
2003 (Vol.15 No.6)
THIS MONTH'S FEATURES:
FRONT
COVER:
Paphiopedilum Berenice
'Dianne' AM/AOC 2003
This
magnificent Paph. received the ultimate prize at the 16th Australian Orchid
Conference & Show, held in Adelaide in September 2003 - Grand
Champion. It's very proud owners are Dennis & Dianne Diehm,
Dendi Orchids, NSW. (Photo: John
Seidel)
This
issue contains nine pages of the judging results and just some of the superb
orchids displayed at the Conference. Further Conference reports will
follow in our February issue.
New
President, Editor and Treasurer introduced
Incoming
President of the Australian Orchid Council Jim Smith of Tasmania, presents his
first report to readers, and we introduce the new Editor for Orchids
Australia, Coralie Hills, who will take up the reins with the February2004
issue. Coralie is no stranger to the AOC, having previously been Secretary
for some years; the new Treasurer for the AOC, including handling subscriptions
for Orchids Australia, is Gordon Hogan of Tasmania. We welcome them all
to their new positions and wish them well.
AOC
bestows highest honour on two stalwarts
The
Australian Orchid Council held its Annual General Meeting and Board of
Management meetings in conjunction with the Adelaide Conference. Two
long-serving stalwarts, Len Brombal and Colin Jennings, received the AOC's
highest honour, being conferred Fellows of the AOC. Len has retired from
active involvement after 10 years as Treasurer, subscriptions manager and a
member of the Publications Committee; Colin Jennings has been a member of
the Publications Committee since the inception of Orchids Australia
planning stage in 1988, and Registrar General of Judging since 1992. In
bestowing the honours, tribute was paid to the wives of both for their
outstanding support and long assistance.
AOC
Orchids of the Year for 2002
The
waiting is over and at the Adelaide meetings, the AOC Orchids of the Year 2002
were ratified. It is significant that the three orchids were all from Queensland
growers. The three awards were:
AOC
Orchid Hybrid of the Year - Phal. Carmela's Wonder 'Sharron' FCC/AOC 2002
AOC
Orchid Species of the Year - Gongora scaphephorus 'Joy' FCC/AOC 2002
AOC
Award of Distinction of the Year - Blc. Yellow Ribbons 'Starfighter' AD/AOC
2002
Photos
and more details have been added to our Awards of the Year gallery. Click
here.
Selected
Species - Trichopilia suavis (Lindl & Paxt)
Our
regular correspondent Peter Taylor, returns this issue with a two page article
on this "handsome and free flowering" species. In his
inimitatable style, delving into the history of the discovery, the natural
habitat and how Peter grows the species in his Sydney glasshouse. Peter's
articles are always fascinating reading. Illustrated with a magnificent
photograph by Peter himself.
Papua
New Guinea Orchid Exploration
The
orchids of Papua New Guinea cast a spell over the orchid-growing community
around the world, mainly, I suspect, because it is one of the last frontiers of
orchid discovers, and the lack of availability of many of these species.
Wolfgang
H. Bandisch has been on expedition again and we are delighted that he has chosen
to supply us with the story of his exploits in mid-2003 together with a superb
photo essay. This 6 page, 10 photos article is only Part 1, and we will be
continuing publication in our February issue. Wolfgang is the manager of the
National Capital Botanical Gardens, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Yellow
Phalaenopsis breeding - an overview
We
continue with Part 2 of Howard Ginsberg's excellent article on advances in
breeding the yellow Phalaenopsis and endeavours to bring them up to the standard
of the whites and pinks. We will continue with Part 3 in our February
edition.
Awarded
species Paphiopedilums
Colin
Jennings has been delving in the AOC Awards archives again and this
month writes about some of the more recent Awards granted to Paph species.
This continuing series of articles provides AOC Judges and Student Judges with
some readily accessible benchmarks to keep their knowledge up to date.
Preparing
to show Orchids
Another
excellent article from Marilyn H. Light of Canada, with loads of tips, tricks
and handy hints on preparing orchids for showing. The extensive article is
of truly international application. It has been adapted from an Internet
chat presentation, for OrchidSafari members - the internet orchid society.
A
preliminary checklist of the genus Renanthera (Orchidaceae) and its
distribution
Regular
contributor, Rod Rice, provides an extensive list and references for this SE
Asian genus. There are also three excellent photographs of species in this
genus.
DVD
Review
Colin
Hamilton has reviewed a new DVD released in Australia of the movie Adaptation
starring Merryl Streep and Nicholas Cage. What has this to do with
orchids? Everything. At the centre of the story is the plundering of
the orchid species Polyrrhiza lindenii (the Ghost Orchid) from the
Florida Everglades. As well as the review, Colin has provided additional
information and illustrations on the orchid itself, which is also known as Polyradicon
lindenii. It is a leafless orchid producing single white flowers which
resemble a frog. There are also information links to follow to find out
more about this strange orchid.
Plus…
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All the regular features of:
the very latest RHS Orchid Hybrid Registrations (our list is second only to the
RHS publication) the latest list of Australian Orchid Council Awards for 2003; Computer Corner, what's winning at
Shows around the country, Cultural Notes for various parts of Australia,
Orchid Show dates across Australia, and our list of forthcoming 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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