santa clara valley orchid society
TRANSCRIPT
Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951
Helping You to Become a Better Grower
August 2010 SCVOS Newsletter
(please note that links in electronic copies are functional
Sc. Beaufort „Elmwood‟ AM/AOS
1
Speaker Notes
On August 4th
, renowned Bay Area
orchidist Eric Hunt will share his travels to
Australia with us. Many of you know Eric as
our show photographer, or as the San Francisco
Orchid Society President, but I think one of the
most interesting things he does is travel!! He
goes all over the place, and I count one of his
travelogues to Borneo as one of the best orchid
lectures I‟ve seen.
Here‟s a little summary of Eric‟s interests
from OrchidMania, a non-profit venture aimed
at raising money for AIDS research:
“Photography was my passion before I
found orchids, and now that I have a good
handle on the orchid world, I am combining the
two. The combination of having no growing
space myself along with my belief in sharing
information through the Internet, I have started a
personal photo archive of orchid species. The
Bay Area is full of people seriously interested in
the growing and conservation of orchid species,
and I am doing my part to give back to the
greater world orchid community by putting
orchid species photographs on the Internet.”
Very nice – I‟m so pleased he‟ll share some with
us.
For those of you who are photography bugs
out there, he shoots with a Nikon N80 with a
Macro Ringflash for most of his orchid
photography. His photos are used by individuals
and orchid societies around the world for
educational purposes. In addition, he has
contributed photographs to the Orchids of
Southeast Asia CD-ROM project, produced by
the National Herbarium of the Netherlands.
Outstanding!!
The plant table will come from OrchidMania
this month, and promises to be a big one…lots
of species, and lots of big plants – Peter Brown
will cherry pick it!! Hope to see you there!!
Cyanicula caerulea, an Australian native
terrestrial orchid – god why can‟t we get that
color in a paph!!
Dendrobium kingianum growing in nature –
cultural hints people!! Both of these are Eric‟s
photos – check out more like them on
www.orchidphotos.org!
2
SCVOS News
If you are not getting your newsletter via email,
please be sure to give your currently correct
address to Ed Nazzal, [email protected].
All plants brought for sale by members must be
properly labeled, disease free, and priced in even
dollar amounts. Ten percent of the sale price
goes to the club treasurer, Marvin Bell, before
you leave. We rely on the honor system. Thank
you to those abiding by this rule.
Refreshments Announcement: All members
with last names starting with S-Z please bring in
refreshments for August. Feel free to bring
refreshments any month you‟d like as well.
Bring food – it makes the meeting so much more
fun. Also, remember that if you bring food, you
have the highest percentage chance to win a
plant from the opportunity table!!
Well done with pictures this month – Ed,
Oliver, and Dave all sent some nice shots.
Everyone else, please send me something!!
We‟re getting down to the end of my time as
newsletter editor, and I‟d love these last few
months to be spectacular, so please send me cool
stuff!!
First up are a few pix from Dave Smitt of
the SCVOS events this month – the BBQ and
the Bus Tour. It was wonderful to see everyone
at the bus tour, and I sppreciate everyone
picking up so much stuff from my mess.
Anywho, here‟s what Dave had to say about the
trip:
“Since Christina had such a hard time filling
up the bus this year, I thought I would write
something to encourage attendance next year.
This is one of the best activities the SCVOS has.
We had a wonderful day. It started with a visit
to Dennis Olivas' greenhouse in half Moon Bay.
Dennis met us with coffee and doughnuts and
we were able to buy from his collection. The
guy is a walking Wikipedia when it comes to
orchids. We then went to D & D Orchids up the
street. The surprise was that Tim Culbertson is
renting space close by. The previous tenant had
abandoned hundreds of orchids and gear. We
were able to have anything left for free. The
orchids had not been taken care of for some time
but were alive! When I got them home and
repotted, I had 20 new plants. The Bus Tour
then took us to Nebbia Winery where we ate
lunch. The wine was included in the price of the
tour!. The next stops were in San Francisco;
Orchid Mania (a worthwhile charity) and
Golden Gate Orchids. Golden Gate Orchids is
what heaven should be like if you love orchids.
The last stop was in Portola Valley at Brookside
Orchids. If you need to board orchids, this is the
place. What a great day; we rubbed elbows with
many of SCVOS board members and saw and
bought all the orchids we wanted. I am saving
my money for next year....” Thanks Dave!!
A busy bus underside – that‟s what I like to see!
Hundreds of Masdevallias in flower at Golden
Gate Orchids in San Francisco, a perennial
favorite of our bus tour for obvious reasons; this
is a group of Masd. Highland Monarch.
3
Our show and tell tables are really phenomenal
these days – above filled with a nice variety
Ahh, stellar plants and beautiful scenery from
Golden Gate Orchids. I think my favorite thing
in the world is picking the best from the many –
even with masdevallias it‟s tons of fun, and I
can‟t think of a better place to do it than at
Tom‟s. Looks like Dave found a lot of nice
things to take pictures of up there…
One more from Golden Gate – Dendrobium
victoria-reginae (from Australia….or near
enough…). The plant on the other page is
Bulbophyllum echinolabium, by the way, a
warm-growing epiphyte with a large distribution
in Malaysia.
Heehee everyone looks tired and happy –
unloading from a wonderful day spent out a
nurseries, my favorite sort of day. I wish I had
had a chance to go, and I‟m glad those of you
who went decided to sign up…it would be a pity
to lose this event from the SCVOS lineup. Big
thanks to Kristina for organizing it again!!
4
Dave also got some great shots of the barbecue
in July, and man it was a blast – tons of food,
lots of beer, and some great plants in bingo. I
was so sure I was going to win a few times, but I
didn‟t. Oh well….at least Markie had a good
time playing with the little bingo markers. I just
hope he didn‟t eat any. And omg the Philippine
– flavored ice creams were totally to die for!!
Thanks to everyone for bringing so much food!
Ed found this cool native orchid, called Piperia
transversa, in the Santa Cruz mountains. There
are so many interesting natives out there – go
out and look!! This newsletter‟s coming out late
because I was up in Tahoe helping Kate with an
experiment, and all over the place were plants in
flower of Platanthera dilatata. I made some
herbarium sheets…maybe I‟ll put some pix in a
newsletter when they‟re done. In any event it‟s
pretty cool to see orchids growing wild!
5
Colmenara Wildcat „Petite Sirah‟ HCC/AOS, a
beautiful representative of a great grex – easy to
grow and flower and with brightly colored and
plentiful blooms. This and the following images
are courtesy of the clearly large and varied
collection of Oliver and Peter.
Dendrobium strebloceros is a warm-growing
epiphyte from low elevations in Malaysia, and
not one you see very often. I think a program on
Dendrobium species is well overdue, especially
one on those species that we don‟t see often but
are easy to grow in our climate. I wonder if
there is anyone who could do such a
presentation – an expert in intermediate and
warm growing rare dendrobiums that don‟t get
too big for the average hobbyist to manage.
Wouldn‟t it be a fun job to try to track such a
person down? That‟s the job of the vice
president, so if you think that would be
interesting, please by all means let me
know…this is my last year on the job!! It‟s
great fun to decide on speakers for the year; I
hope you all think I do an ok job of it…I can
even help next year‟s VP transition smoothly…
Onc. Kimberly Kosaki „Ballerina‟, an equitant
type, as is below:
Rodriguecidium Angel Heart x Velvet Queen,
another equitant, and something I absolutely
cannot grow at all. Oliver you should do a
presentation on these – there are a couple of
growers in Cal Sierra Nevada who grow this sort
of thing as well, and I think equitant oncidiums
(oncidiums with leaves that “stack” on top of
each other) are among the very most difficult
orchids to grow, period. I‟m always so
impressed when people can grow them at all –
they need warmth, high light, and a very open
medium – the best grower of them that I know
(from the East Coast) grows them in little tiny
clay pots stacked inside each other. Other
methods suggested include charcoal in mesh
pots, and treefern because it never breaks down
(or at least only after a very long time). I think I
tried to grow one, once…oops!!
6
Phal. mariae – right on topic with Dennis Olivas‟
presentation in June. Beautiful picture!!
Phal. violacea, this one a cross of two very dark
magenta forms from which some of the
offspring have been blue. Dennis showed some
great pictures of blue violaceas, and it would be
so much fun to have one if I could keep the
temps in the greenhouse warm enough. Oliver –
you should start sending some cultural
suggestions along with your pictures!!
Mokara Angeline Low is a hybrid of an
Ascocenda (Vanda x Ascocentrum) and an
Aranda (Vanda x Arachnis), so even through
second generations, it gets it open shape from
the Arachnis – google it!! Beautiful color, and
again a hot grower!!
Eulophia andamanensis is a hot-growing low
elevation weed from Andaman Island and other
locales in Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand;
never have I seen anything in IOSPE listed as
growing in “wastelands”. Thanks Oliver!!
7
Thanks to Dave, Ed, and Oliver for sharing
some pictures. Please keep those pictures
coming!! Thanks so much to those of you who
have been so consistent in sending them and by
all means keep it up!! Your photos and thoughts
submitted to me or Ed Nazzal become a valuable
part of the tradition of the SCVOS: helping
people become better growers.
Remember, for much more information about
orchids, links, our future schedule, care sheets,
contact information, previous newsletters, and
lots of pictures of plants and people, visit the
website:
santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org/links.htm
The SCVOS:
Helping You to Become a Better Grower
Future Speakers
September 1st: Auction Time!!
In an effort to at the same time save some
money and give you all another opportunity to
get more plants, we‟ve decided to have two
auctions this year. This one should be after
you‟ve suffered from some divider‟s remorse –
too many divisions of the same thing, or maybe
some plants too big? SO bring your plants,
bring your friends, bring extra divisions of
things to the auction, make a buck and bring
some new things home with you!! An update of
auction rules and regulations will follow next
month, but be sure to get the (sterilized) blade
out early and do a little cleaning. Maybe things
aren‟t doing as well as you‟d like in your
conditions. Maybe plants grow so well you have
too much of them…whatever the reason bring
your extra divisions to the auction and make a
little money!! We might even have some special
plants donated by some special people…hmm I
wonder what that might mean…In addition, our
own Oliver Colmenar, fledgling auctioneer
extraordinaire has tentatively agreed to take the
top billing slot, with Jeff Trimble filling in when
Oliver loses his voice from laughing too damn
much. In any event, it should be fun…so come
support your society!!
Upcoming Events
Nothing going on show-wise sets the scene
for some great sales, lectures, and other
opportunities to enjoy the camaraderie of
orchids. For example, the California Sierra
Nevada Judging Center is having a great
Speaker‟s day, with cheap admission and lots of
spectacular speakers, particularly if you‟re
interested in Phrag kovachii, with Glen Decker
of Piping Rock Orchids leading the speaker list.
Cultural sessions on paphs, phals, Dendrobiums,
and Cattleyas will demonstrate all that‟s new
under the sun so that you can grow plants to
their finest. I‟ll let the flier below speak for
itself, but beware, as the organizers say space is
filling fast. Have a look at the Cal Sierra
Nevada Judging Center Website for more info,
or just see the flier below! Become a better
grower!!
Orchid Facts
Phalaenopsis (Phal) has about 55-60
species. It might be the most recognized, if
not the most popular, orchid worldwide. The
name comes from an obsolete subdivision of
Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies),
Phalaena, which included all moths in
general; and opsis, meaning like or to
resemble. This is why these orchids are
sometimes referred to as “moth orchids.” In
the Philippines, it is often called the
“butterfly orchid.” They range from the
Himalayas to the Philippines; to as far north
to Taiwan; and south to the northern part of
Australia. The Philippines has quite a few
endemic species, namely: bastianii, fasciata,
hieroglyphica, lindenii, lueddemanniana,
micholitzii, pallens, philippinense, pulchra,
reichenbachiana, sanderiana, schilleriana,
and stuartiana.
Most of these orchids are epiphytes.
Some are lithophytes. They grow in the
shade. The range where this genus grows
shows that they grow warm to cool. That is
why its hybrids have been successfully
grown in relatively cooler places. It has a
monopodial growth habit, like the Vandas. It
8
has thick, alternate leaves that could number
up to ten for a very healthy plant.
Inflorescence appears from the stem
between the leaves. The inflorescence can be
a single stem or branched. Some have long
inflorescences with almost round flowers,
predominantly white or with a pink tint.
Some have short inflorescences with less
rounded, waxy flowers. Flowers can last
several weeks to months on the
inflorescence for plants grown at home. In
the wild, flowers can last for months.
Blooming is primarily triggered when
there is a difference of at least 15 degrees
between daytime and nighttime temperature
for at least a month. This temperature
difference naturally occurs in nature with the
changing of seasons, starting in the fall and
culminating with the blooms in spring.
Commercial growers have simulated this in
their greenhouses to make moth orchids
bloom out of season. Out-of-season
blooming phalaenopsis can be difficult to
rebloom since the plant‟s cycle has been
disrupted. By experience, I have
successfully rebloomed one after two years.
However, modern studies show that
Phalaenopsis orchids spike when exposed to
a constant day and night temperature of 77˚F
or below for a 4-week period.
Phalaenopsis orchids have been bred
interspecifically and intergenerically. One
example of a beautiful intergeneric hybrid is
Asconopsis Irene Dobkin (Phal. Doris x
Asctm. Miniatum). The type species is
Phalaenopsis amabilis.
Phalaenopsis amabilis courtesy of IOSPE
- Oliver Colmenar
SCVOS Online
So much online – check it out!! We have a
Facebook page. Have a look at it on Facebook!
Also see Matt Bond‟s Flickr page, and Eric
Hunt‟s SCVOS Show page, and the Internet
Orchid Species Encyclopedia, which the
SCVOS helps fund.
Calendar
Aug 7: CSNJC Speakers‟ Day
Wonderful speakers and judging; too
many things to list – see below!!
Oddfellow‟s Building,
1831 Howe Avenue, Sacramento.
Contact: Kathy Barrett
See Flier Below!!
Sep 11-12: Orchids in the Park
County Fair Building, Ninth Avenue
and Lincoln, San Francisco
Contact: SFOS
www.orchidsanfrancisco.org
(415) 665-2468
See Flier Below!!
Board Meeting
The August board meeting will occur on the
18th
at the home of Peter Brown. For more
information, directions, or if you‟d like to make
an announcement, please contact Kristina by
phone at (408) 229-2747 or by email at
[email protected]. Participating on the
board is a very rewarding and infinitely
educational experience – highly recommended!
Please come out and support your society!!
SCVOS Board
The Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society is a
non-profit organization that meets the first
Wednesday of each month at the American
Legion Hall, 1504 Minnesota Avenue, in the
Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose,
California. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM. The
skill session starts at about 7:00 PM.
9
Officers for 2010 Kristina Bell, President (408) 229-2747
Tim Culbertson, Vice President (301) 641-2556
Jay Rose, Secretary (408) 506-3262
Marvin Bell, Treasurer (408) 229-2747
Bruce Davidson, Past President (408) 623-0413
Directors for 2010
Kate Culbertson (301) 356-4041
Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573
Eanghak Quach (408) 629-3794
Dave Woodfill (408) 248-5983
[email protected] Peter Brown (510) 755-3654
Ann Stuart (408) 267-3397
Sandi Fox (408) 683-0145
Marie Lofton (408) 629-0264
2010 Auction Chair Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573
Membership Peter Brown (510) 755-3654
Sandi Fox (408) 683-0145
Website: santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org Tim Culbertson (301) 641-2556
Member Database Ed Nazzal (408) 268-3573
Newsletter Tim Culbertson, Editor (301) 641-2556
Dave and Ofelia Woodfill, Mailing (408) 248-5983
Publicity Susan Wiedmann (408) 979-1726
Marketing
Bruce Davidson (408) 623-0413
Library Marie Lofton (408) 629-0264
Plant Opportunity Tickets Dave and Ofelia Woodfill (408) 248-5983
Kitchen Crew Conrad Kumata
Liz Gehrig (408) 363-6901
2010 Greenhouse Tour Doug Pulley (408) 354-1412
2010 Show and Sale Tim Culbertson, Co-Chair, Secretary (301) 641-2556
Eanghak Quach, Co-Chair, Judging (408) 629-3794
Peter Brown, Co-Chair, Sales (510) 755-3654
2010 Bus Tour Kristina Bell (408) 229-2747
2010 Holiday Party Kristina Bell (408) 229-2747
AOS / ODC Representative Tim Culbertson (301) 641-2556
AOS Cal-Nevada Region Judging occurs on the
first Wednesday of the month at the Oddfellows
Hall in Sacramento in association with the
Sacramento Orchid Society meeting.
AOS Pacific Central Judging occurs on the first
Tuesday of the month at the County Fair
Building in Golden Gate Park in association
with the SFOS meeting, and on the third
Wednesday of the month at the Lake Merritt
Garden Center in Oakland in association with
the OSC meeting.
10
Recent AOS Awards From the AOS Pacific Central Judging Center Images are property of the photographers and/or the AOS and
should not be reproduced.
Paphiopedilum Julius 'Austin Creek'
(Paph. lowii x Paph. rothschildianum)
CCE 90, AM 82
Exhibited by Dale Martin
Awarded July 6 2010 at SFOS Meeting
Bc. Erotion 'Persistence'
(B. glauca x C. walkeriana)
HCC 75
Exhibited by Kathleen F. Barrett
Awarded July 7 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting
h
Dendrobium Lemon Ice 'Erk'
(De. crumentum x Den. trigonopus)
AM 80
Exhibited by Ted C. Foin
Awarded July 7 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting
11
Lc. Amethyst Star 'Neon'
(Lc Mini Purple x L. longipes)
HCC 77
Exhibited by Japheth Ko
Awarded July 7 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting
Plectorrhiza brevilabris 'Julie Anne'
species
CHM 85
Exhibited by James Morris
Awarded July 7 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting
Rodrumnia Orchidom Lovely Lady 'Skippy Red'
(Tolu. pulchella x Rrm. Orchidom Red Love)
HCC 78
Exhibited by Bob Conaty
Awarded July 7 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting
Vascostylis Salaya Blue 'D's Delight'
(Vasco. Blue Haze x Ascda. Meda Arnold)
AM 83
Exhibited by Dick and Donna Murrill
Awarded July 7 2010 at Sacr. OS Meeting
12
13