J O S o o c i e t y r u o f c G r r h e n a t B i r a i d t a i l n VOLUME 63 No 3 August – September – October 2014 The Orchid Society of Great Britain Registered Charity No. 261273 www.osgb.org.uk Officers of the Society Committee Members #President: Mr Peter White Mrs Betty Barber 61 Stanwell Lea, Middleton Cheney, Banbury, 8 Dean Close, Deeds Grove, High Wycombe, Oxfordshire, OX17 2RF Buckinghamshire, HP12 3NS Tel: 01295 712159 Tel: 01494 529604 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Vice Presidents: Mrs B Arnold, Mrs J Kelleher, Mr Peter Johnson Mr T Lewis, Dr E Watson Le Touquet, Station Road, Elsenham, #Chairman: Mr Roy White Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM22 6LG 30 Acorn Grove, Ruislip Gardens, Middlesex, HA4 6LP Tel: 01279 812704 Tel: 01895 632689 Mobile: 07873 716496 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Vice Chairman: #Secretary: Mrs Val Micklewright Mr Robert Mundell 103 North Road, Three Bridges, Crawley, 5 Elm Grove, Wivenhoe, Essex, CO7 9AY West Sussex, RH10 1SQ Tel: 01206 823777 Tel: 01293 528615 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] #Treasurer: Mrs Sally Mill # Trustee of the Society 82 Hazelwick Road, Three Bridges, * Delegate to the British Orchid Council West Sussex, RH10 1NH Tel: 01293 547896 #Membership Secretary: Mrs Sue Johnson Le Touquet, Station Road, Elsenham, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, CM22 6LG Tel: 01279 812704 e-mail: [email protected] #Displays Manager: Miss Jeanette Beaney 50 Court Road, Orpington, Kent, BR6 0QA Tel: 01689 826631 Mobile: 07517 006387 The Journal (ISSN 0306-2996) e-mail: [email protected] *Editor and Librarian: Lady Samantha Hurley Advertising Secretary: Mrs Kim Solomon 17 Veronica Road, London, SW17 8QL 31 Burghley House, Somerset Road, Wimbledon, Tel: 020 8673 7751 Mobile: 07900 250 247 London, SW19 5JB e-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020 8946 4410 Mobile: 07717 222403 e-mail: [email protected] Layout and typesetting: Smallfish Designs Ltd Chair of Judging: Mrs Dusha Hayes e-mail: [email protected] 62 Link Lane, Wallington, Surrey, SM6 9DZ Printed by: Impress Print Services Ltd Tel: 020 8647 8496 e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] *Programme Secretary: The Journal is printed on paper Mr Francis J Quesada-Pallarés with a certified Chain of Custody 50 Fir Tree Gardens, Shirley, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 8JQ for wood fibre. At least 70% of Mobile: 07951 070637 the fibre originates from certified e-mail: [email protected] sustainably managed forests. 170 • OSGBJ 2014, 63(3) Editor’s notes Contents It has been a Officers of the Society .................................................... 170 wonderful year for Editor’s notes ..................................................................... 171 hardy orchids and I News: hope members have Cake presented to OSGB .......................................... 172 Orchid named for charity ......................................... 173 been able to enjoy Coach to Autumn Show at Wraysbury ................ 173 them around the Trophies awarded at the AGM ................................ 174 Christmas lunch ........................................................... 174 country. Changes to the Committee ..................................... 174 Borneo orchid trip 2015 ........................................... 174 The Society has had a European Orchid Show and Conference update .. 175 Photo by Robbies busy and successful Photographics Members’ plants by Tony Britton, show season, Stuart Meeson and Aud Gjerde ............................ 176 winning a Gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Obituary – Wally Lefley by Val Micklewright ......... 179 Flower Show, and Silver-Gilt medals at the RHS OSGB Spring Show 2014 report London Orchid Show and Malvern International by Henry Oakeley ........................................................ 180 Orchid Show. Thank you to all the members who RHS London Orchid Show report have been involved with these shows – lending by Sam Hurley .............................................................. 186 plants, building displays and talking to visitors. Photographic and Art Competition report by Mary-Jane Hawkins ............................................... 194 This issue includes reports on these shows and Writhlington pupils win research funding by Simon Pugh-Jones MBE ...................................... 200 our Photographic and Art Competition. Henry RHS Chelsea Flower Show report Oakeley writes about Mike Penney’s Epidendrum by Sam Hurley .............................................................. 201 parkinsonianum and members Tony Britton, Mike Penney’s Epidendrum parkinsonianum Stuart Meeson and Aud Gjerde write about by Henry Oakeley ........................................................ 213 their some of their plants. An update on next A rainforest in your home by Barry Reynolds ........ 216 April’s European Orchid Show and Conference Tour to Ecuador by Sally Mill ........................................ 219 offers details about events and booking. Napier Hall meetings Table Show report by André Roux ......................... 220 The OSGB will be staging two more displays this Lecture report by Sam Hurley and year, at the Orchid Study Group’s 7th Orchid Mary-Jane Hawkins .................................................... 226 RHS Orchid Committee awards .................................. 236 Festival in Wales on 6 and 7 September and at Advertisements ................................................................ 243 the Devon Orchid Society weekend in Dawlish Services to members: Warren from 17 to 19 October. A coach from Meetings, cultural advice, website, central London will be available to take library, displays ............................................................ 250 members to the Autumn Show at Wraysbury on Show Diary ......................................................................... 251 1 November (please book places in advance). The November issue may arrive a little later Photos by Henry Oakeley unless otherwise stated than usual because I shall be away for six weeks this autumn. Consequently the copy deadline Front cover: Stuart Meeson’s Pleione Tongariro for the next issue is 1 September 2014 . shown at Napier Hall in April (photo by Robert Simmons) Back cover: Lepanthes telipogoniflora shown by KJ Orchids of Denmark at the RHS London Orchid Show in April OSGBJ 2014, 63(3) • 171 News Sam Hurley OSGB Vice President Jo Kelleher (right) and cake creator This astonishingly realistic cake depicts Eulophia Francesca Pitcher at Oak Furniture Land’s new guineensis in a porcelain jardinière and pays tribute to Orpington store (photo by Keith Larby) our Gold medal success at Chelsea (photo by Keith Larby) Cake presented to OSGB Sultanate of Oman, whose Ministry of OSGB Vice President Jo Kelleher received a Tourism sponsored us again this year. beautiful cake on behalf of the Society. It was The cake is based on the stylised aesthetic presented by Oak Furniture Land in June at movement in art, specifically British porcelain the opening of their new store in Orpington, of the period. The jardinière is decorated with Kent, where both Jo and OSGB Display one of the species from this year’s Gold Manager Jeanette Beany live. The cake will medal- winning display, Cattleya purpurata , take centre stage at the welcome lunch for while other sections are based on enamelled our new members in August. jewellery depicting a generic Cattleya design. Oak Furniture Land paid tribute to the OSGB’s The astonishingly realistic Eulophia guineensis success at Chelsea by asking Kent-based cake spikes were made from sugar and floristry artist Francesca Pitcher of North Star Cakes to wire, then hand painted in edible dusts. As no design a cake in the shape of a jardinière of cutters exist for this flower the artist spent a Eulophia guineensis . This species appeared on day working on three prototypes before work our Chelsea display as it is native to the could begin on the three spikes which took a further two and a half days to produce. 172 • OSGBJ 2014, 63(3) News reserved in advance. To reserve plants please send a cheque for £15.00 payable to Cobalt at Cobalt, Linton House, Thirlestaine Road, Cheltenham GL53 7AS. Coach to Autumn Show at Wraysbury Our Autumn Show will take place on Saturday 1 November at Wraysbury Village Hall (see page 22 of the Annual Supplement for full details). Please note there is no meeting at Napier Hall in November. Following the success of the coach to our Spring Show, the Society is organising a coach to take members to our Autumn Show at Wraysbury. There is plenty of capacity (up to 53 seats) for members, and any non-member friends, but places must be booked in advance by 13 October , cost £5.00 per person. Members Phalaenopsis Cobalt Celebration (registration pending) attending Napier Hall meetings can pay in will help raise funds for Cobalt, a charity providing advance, otherwise on the day. diagnostic imaging (photo courtesy of Cobalt) The coach will depart from the RHS Lawrence Orchid named for charity Hall on Greycoat Street, London SW1P 2QD at OSGB President Peter White has donated the 10:00, and also pick up at Raynes Park naming rights of a new Phalaenopsis hybrid to overground station at around 10:40 charity. They were bought at the RHS Malvern (depending on traffic, meet by the bus stop in Spring Festival charity auction and donated by front of Starbucks). It will depart from the