Cym. Mimi 'Mary Bea', AM/AOS, B/CSA

Mimi (pumilum x Doris Aurea) is in full bloom now. It is a robust plant yielding multiple flower spikes; whereas, I'm still struggling to get the proper culture conditions so that Cym. pumilum (syn. floribundum) will flower for me.

According to RHS, 65 registered grexes have Mimi as the pod parent, and 5 as the pollen parent. I don't know the ploidy of this clone, and it appears that some Mimi clones can breed as if tetraploid. When visiting a colleague's greenhouse earlier this week, I was shown another Mimi clone which was half the size of 'Mary Bea', flowers and all, which made me think that his clone may be the diploid form. Regardless, given the intense raspberry jam colors, I can see why many have used this grex for additional breeding.















However, a curious thing happened during flower development. While most inflorescences yielded normal-looking flowers, one spike gave rise to flowers in which the posterior (lower) half of the lateral sepals partially transformed into the lip! Not all flowers on this spike show the transformation, and the degree of transformation varies between flowers.




























Note the transformation to callus ridge.














From my previous profession as a research scientist, such homeotic transformations (the transformation of one body part into another body part) immediately indicate to me that the interactions between at least two transcription factors that specify the different flower parts are impaired. However, I studied animals, not plants, so I need to browse the plant literature. I expect the plant developmental biologists already have a working model to explain this phenomenon.

February NCOS Member's Show Table

Our speaker for today's club meeting was Terry Root of The Orchid Zone, who presented examples of some of his latest breeding trends.

The member show table was robust, with 66 entries, examples of which are shown below.

Bllra. Smile Eri, exhibited by Eric Butler
Apparently, when the flowers open, the petals and sepals are white. As the flowers age, the petals and sepals green up with the purple picotee, and ultimately become entirely purple. We're hoping to see the same flowers next month.














(Cyc. pentadactylon x Morm. sirrata), exhibited by Eric Butler














Cymbidium Via Lady Carisona 'Chateau Burgundy', exhibited by Michael Tran


















Gongora truncata var. white, exhibited by Gene Schurg


















Holocoglossum subulifolium, exhibited by Gene Schurg














Lc. Gold Digger 'Orchidglade', exhibited by Gene Schurg














Opsistylus Suree 'See's Ace', AM/AOS, one clone exhibited by Bonnie Cobos, another clone exhibited by Gene Schurg
The the camera flash prohibited capturing the wonderful color intensity. Bad Kevin.














Phal. Stuartiana 'Sogo', AM/AOS, exhibited by Gene Schurg














(Pot. Afternoon Delight x C. aurantiaca), exhibited by Eric Butler














Slc. Anzac, four flowers on one inflorescence, vibrant color, exhibited by Marc Levenson

The 2009 Paphiopedilum Forum

The 29th Annual Paph. Forum took place yesterday at the National Arboretum, and was very well attended. Participants outside of the Virginia and Maryland region included those who travelled from New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, and California. Guest speakers included Terry Root, Alfredo Manrique, Bryan Ramsay and John Salventi. Exhibitor ribbon judging and AOS judging kept several teams busy. Marriott Orchids won a multitude of Exhibitor and AOS awards.

I have yet to try growing these genera, but may try a few in the future someday. In the meantime, the Paph. Forum is the best environment in this region to learn more about Paph. and Phrag. hybridizing trends and plant culture. It was a fun day.

Sales area




























Pics from around the exhibit hall










































Paph. Lippewunder 'Golden Flowers'




























Category: Best Ugly Slipper














Phrag. bessiae hybrids














Paph. Kolosand














Paph. Mt. Toro














Paph. malipoense 'Double Mint'














Paph. venustum 'Emerald Sun' S/19WOC














Paph. villosum, exhibited by Kirk King

Langleyense 'Cascades', HCC/AOS

This weekend, we're having a nice warm spell between cold systems, and Sebastian is enjoying the chance to sunbathe and sample all the smells brought along with today's wind gusts. The week's freezing rain and snow melt has filled my rainbarrels--which I use to water my orchids--so I was able to transport 30+ gallons down to the basement for storage and prevent rupture of the outdoor barrels when we get the next freeze.














I too, used the weather to photograph some orchids presently in bloom under natural sunlight rather than the camera flash indoors, one of which is Cym. Langleyense 'Cascades'.


















Although I've had this plant for more than three years, this is the first time it has bloomed for me. When re-potting my Cyms last Spring, I noticed some aborted spikes because I had the pseudobulbs buried too far below the media. Bad Kevin.

I still have plenty of room to improve though. It has sent out three spikes at differing stages of maturation, each essentially 90 degrees from the other, with 20 to 27 flower/buds per spike. I'm thinking that this may be an indication that it needs more lux from the basement grow-lights. Also, if the light was more directional, then perhaps the spikes would have arranged themselves closer together as they elongate.
































See also Chuckie's posts October 18 and November 1, 2008 re: lowianum and/or devonianum hybrids for comparison of these flowers with a tetraploid Langleyense and a more educated discussion of the parents.

Cymbidium Eastern Morning 'Shunshoku'

This is a neat plant! It is a primary hybrid between Cym. goeringii and Cym. lowianum var. 'concolor'. It is surprising that goeringii (pod parent) had the ability to shrink lowianum (pollen parent) down to a compact plant. For someone like me who has limited growing space indoors, this is definitely an advantageous feature. Definitely a keeper!















Natural Spread: 7 cm (h), 7cm (v)
Dorsal Sepal: 5.3 cm (l), 1.5 cm (w)
Lateral Sepal: 5.0 cm (l), 1.5 cm (w)
Petals:4.3 cm (l), 1.2 cm (w)
Lip:3.0 cm (l), 1.5 cm (w)

Five flowers on an upright inflorescence measuring 40 cm in length. Substance light; texture creamy. Sepals and petals light green, yellowing towards the margin, with green longitudinal veins; lip creamy white base overlaid with light yellow, mid-lobe enhanced with red along the margin, lip center enhanced with vertical line of red stipples; column dorsal surface light green with yellow anther cap, column ventral surface comprising red-stippled stripes towards column base. Noted for open flower shape with evenly spaced segments.

Time for a Change

January NCOS meeting

We had reasonable attendance for today's orchid club. Plenty of room for improvement, though, in my opinion.

At issue for several members were:
i) the cold weather,
ii) traffic due to inauguration events on the capitol mall,
iii) attending inaugural events on the capitol mall, and
iv) televised football games.

Our speaker was Tom Mirenda from the Smithsonian, who described his visit to Taiwan this last March, and the Taiwanese orchid industry. Their ability to produce a large quantity of orchids is both amazing and sobering.

Below are examples of club member's orchids on display today:
Brassovola Little Stars, exhibitor Gene Schurg














Bardendrum Nanboh Pixy 'Cherry Moon', exhibitor Gene Schurg














Phrag. Lutz Rollke, exhibitor Gene Schurg














Dendrobium Sea Mary 'Snow King', exhibitor Marie Soutar


















Bc. Maikai 'Louise', exhibitor Marie Soutar