Spring Activities

Our orchid society had their annual auction last weekend, which is the biggest fundraiser for the club. I was Auction Chair, so I've been busy dealing with all the tasks associated with being chair of this event. By and large, the auction went off well, and we achieved pretty close to our calculated monetary goals, despite the economic woes. The auction proceeds fund our ability to bring in speakers from outside our geographical region, as well as pay for setting up the annual Show and Sale in the Fall.

The Cyms are, of course, in prime blooming season, and my partner complains that I don't bring enough upstairs to be readily appreciated. Below is a pic showing, left to right, Den. kingianum, Cym. Eastern Beauty 'Robert Chang', Cym. Langleyense 'Cascades', Cym. Mimi 'Mary Bea', and Cym. Mary Green 'Pink Mist'.














I had all three seedlings of Orange Nymph (Orange Brandy 'New Horizon', 4N x Wood Nymph 'Ruby Lips', 4N) in bloom. Of the three, I'm keeping the first one shown below because it has the strongest lip markings. The second one will be on display at the Maryland Orchid Show this weekend, as part the NCOS exhibit (see http://marylandorchids.org/). It has four nicely arching spikes in full bloom. The third one was sold at the auction.










































I also contributed the Laelia Newberry Glow (L. anceps x L. milleri) shown below to the NCOS exhibit for the MOS show. I bought this at last year's auction because it's my understanding that L. anceps is a companion plant with Cyms. I had it growing side-by-side with the Cyms, and it yielded four new growths, each producing a spike with at least four flowers. My camera has difficulty capturing the color tones, so on a warm day this last weekend, I took the orchid outdoors for some natural sunlight and provide other colors in the background with the hope that the image quality would improve. Mollie, our shepherd in the background, is rolling around in the grass, also enjoying the weather.














This weekend I'll be flying out to CA to visit my aunt and also attend the Santa Barbara Int'l Orchid Show. I'm very much looking forward to the vacation.