Sunday, February 20, 2011

2011 Paph Forum

The 31st Annual Paphiopedilum Forum was held on Saturday. It's normally housed at the U.S. National Arboretum, but because of construction there, we changed the venue to Behnke Nurseries, who were very helpful and welcoming hosts.

The speaker program included Stig Dalstrom, Dr. Norito Hasagawa, Bryan Ramsay and Ron McHatton.

Stig Dalstrom gave a nice talk on slipper orchids in situ, e.g. kovachii, besseae, and schlimii, and using their local environments as a clue to improve their culture in our homes and greenhouses. He provided examples to demonstrate how flower shape and color can be greatly influenced by heat. To put it another way, cooler temps along with humidity or misting improve overall quality.

Dr. Norito Hasagawa gave a nice talk on the importance of species, and the human practice of selective breeding for 'improvements' within the species, e.g. dorsal sepal flatness, particular color forms, larger flower, etc... In particular, he drew the analogy of dogs having been derived from wolves. Yet mankind has pushed dog breeding to create both the Chihuahua and the St. Bernard breeds. If one did not know any better, one might think these two breeds to be distinct species, and yet neither truly represent the wolf. The goals of the grower/propagator for hybridizing may not be applicable for species preservation and conservation.

Because I was busy with AOS judging, I missed Bryan Ramsay's talk and only caught the last half of Ron McHatton's talk on Pest and Disease control strategies.

Exhibit area beginning to be populated with show plants.













Two fun exhibit categories: Best Foliage (out-of-bloom) and Best (naturally) Ugly Slipper.













This year's uglies. I don't know who won the blue ribbon, but the lower left one has my vote...













Exhibit area filling up with plant entries and public review.

























Vendor sales tables filled with Paphs and Phrags of all types!

























Below are some individual flower pics. Sorry, I did not record the names of the individual exhibitors, so I cannot credit the respective owners.

Basket of Mini Phrags comprising:
1. (richteri x Pink Panther),
2. Casselman River, and
3. Spot On (Lynn Evans-Goldner x Pink Panther).


















Phrag. besseae var. flavum 'Virginie'













Phrag. Jason Fischer 'Phoenix Rising', FCC/AOS













Phrag. Belle Hougue Point, exhibitor achieved a cultural award.


















Phrag. Dominianum 'Bob Mac', AM/AOS


















Paph. fanaticum













Paph. (Avalon Mist x Mount Toro)













Paph. Yellow Tiger 'Joan', HCC/AOS



















Paph. (Bella Lucia x rothschildiana)



















Paph. Papa Rohl













Paph. (Tokyo Night x Great Expectations) 'Charmer'













Paph. (Lunacy x White Legacy) 'Butterfly Kiss'













Paph. Legacy's Child 'Fairy Dust'













Paph. Seduction 'Captivation'













Paph. Moody Ruth 'Inglesby', HCC/AOS

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Riverbanks Orchid Festival, S.C.

It's Show season, which means there is an orchid show almost every two weeks from now through the end of March. The exhibits shown below are from the Riverbanks Orchid Festival held this past weekend in Columbia, South Carolina in the Botanical Garden Visitor Center within the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden. I had a fun time socializing with the society member clerks and AOS judges during ribbon and flower quality review. The host orchid society (South Carolina O.S.) had a large, walk-thru exhibit that was too large to be captured in a single pic.

Coastal Carolina O.S. exhibit, Charleston, S.C.













Carter & Holmes exhibit, Newberry, S.C.













Aiken-Augusta O.S. exhibit, Augusta, GA













Triad O.S. exhibit, Greensboro, N.C.













North Carolina Piedmont O.S. exhibit, Charlotte, N.C.













Deep South O.S. exhibit, Savannah, GA. This exhibit suffered from being in the light shadow cast by the large windows on both sides. Consequently, all the flowers were under-illuminated and difficult to see. The exhibit would have scored higher if they provided lights to compensate.













Cymbidium Ruby Shower 'Murasaki-okimi', exhibited by South Carolina O.S.



















Cymbidium Morning Shower 'Tiny Jewel ', exhibited by South Carolina O.S.



















Cymbidium Lovely Bunny, exhibited by Aiken-Augusta O.S.













Cymbidium Jill 'Betty Jo', AM/AOS, exhibited by Carter & Holmes



















Lycaste Helen Congleton, exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Lycaste Aquila 'Detente', AM/AOS, exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Bulbophyllum eberhardtii, exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Dendrobium speciosum var. pendunculatum 'Riverwood', AM/AOS, exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Dendrobium speciosum var. grandiflorum 'San Bar Yellow King', exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Dendrobium Warragul 'Jet Stream', exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Stenorrhyncus speciosus, exhibited by Triad O.S., awarded a CCM/AOS



















Blc. Traveling Star 'Polar Glow', exhibited by South Carolina O.S.













Cattleya trianne 'Arenka Germanske', FCC/AOS, exhibited by Triad O.S.













Slc. Jeanne Wilson 'MVO', AM/AOS, exhibited by Carter & Holmes













Phaius tankervilliae var. alba, exhibited by Coastal Carolina O.S.



















Phragmipedium (Sorcerer's Apprentice, 4N x caudatum var. sanderae), exhibited by Western North Carolina O.S.



















Paphiopedilum Raisin Jack, exhibited by Carter & Holmes













Paphiopedilum appletonianum, exhibited by Carter & Holmes













Paphiopedilum Rory Jones, exhibited by Deep South O.S., Savannah, Georgia













Paphiopedilum Formosa Lily, exhibited by Deep South O.S., Savannah, Georgia













Paphiopedilum Honey, exhibited by Deep South O.S., Savannah, Georgia


















Paphi0pedilum Hsinying Jewel (Mystic Jewel x maudiae), exhibited by Carter & Holmes, received an AM/AOS