Santa Barbara Show

Well, I enjoyed my vacation in California. George Hatfield's family were gracious to host me during my stay. I was able to help install the Hatfield Orchid's display as per Dave Teuschler's design and direction, and help George when/where necessary elsewhere.

Hatfield Orchids' display














































Cym. Lowland Tiger, clones 'Leccino', 'Frantoio' and 'Pedolino', created by Andy Easton.














Cym. Ruth Kallman: beautiful flowers, but the plant is too big for my outdoor/indoor growing constraints.














I also clerked for the exhibit judging and AOS flower judging, which was good experience because the SB show is much larger and exhibitors provide many orchids that we simply don't see in our regional shows or judging center. The captain of our AOS judging team had me score flowers for practice judging so I could then compare my score with the judges, which became the starting point for discussion of each category where my points were discordant with the judges.

Exhibitor display #36. (C. Grow, I think.)














Various Cym. lowianum varietals displayed by Exhibitor display #2. (Orchids Royale, I think.)














Cym. (George Formby x Son of Freak) in Exhibitor display #21. (Gallup and Stribling, I think.) Clones 'Andy's Apocalypse', 'Andy's Calamity', 'Andy's Frankenstein', 'Andy's Nightmare', and 'Andy's Oop's' all share the same trait. I'm not a fan of this type of breeding, but this is good genetic material for plant developmental biologists to gain a better understanding of orchid flower development.


















Seed Engei display.














I appreciated the corsage and cut flower displays, and the corsage-making for the elderly who attended the show, because our local society has some members who are skilled in corsage-making and flower arrangement. Such features could keep these members active in the club due to their unique talents, and also reach another sector of the public who do not usually attend our show.




























The trip West also allowed me to meet several members of the online Cymbidium discussion forum, the Torrance Cymbidium Society and Cymbidium Society of America. It was good to finally meet in person those with whom I'd only communicated electronically. A friendly group of people that I look forward to seeing again when I next return.

During the plane flight home, I read through Kobsukh Kaenratana's new book, "Heat Tolerant Cymbidiums". It's a beautiful book, so much that the person sitting next to me kept looking over to take a peek. The ideas and examples presented definitely got me thinking about what type of cross(es) I might try next season.