Petochilus fuscatus Bulletin of the Orchid Society of Canberra, Inc. GPO Box 612, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia Volume 21, Number 6 November – December 2006 Regular monthly meetings Monthly meetings of the Society are held on the first cymbidiums that all disappeared by the end. Thanks to Wednesday of each month (except January) at the Audrey Rough, the tea and cakes sold briskly and on the Canberra Senior Citizens Club (10 Watson St., Saturday made $995, a one day record. The show could Turner) . Meetings commence at 8:00pm with the not have been possible without all the help from library and trading table open from 7:30pm. members of the club who worked the sales table (thanks particularly to Jane Wright), ran the entrance table and November 2006: Trevor Hughes of Ikeda Nursery with raffle and helped setup and clean up at the end. I would his annual presentation on how to grow cymbidiums. particularly like to thank Robyn Noel, our treasurer, who December 2006: THE CHRISTMAS PARTY: Bring a worked hard all weekend organizing everything from an plate to share and your memory for trivia night. interview on the radio to managing the money and everything in between. As Convener, I had little to do other than help because Robyn had it all organized. Orchid Society of Canberra Events Thank you Robyn! Horticultural Society of Canberra Spring Exhibition On Saturday and Sunday the 17 th and 18 th of and Rose Show which also includes orchids benched. March 2007, the annual orchid workshop will be held in Saturday 11 November 2006, 12 noon to 5 pm, Sunday Moruya. More details will be later in the bulletin but I 12 November 2006, 11.30 am to 4 pm. At the Wesley encourage as many of you as possible to attend. Previous Centre, National Circuit, Forrest workshops have been wonderful occasions to learn from the speakers as well as members of the other clubs Upcoming Orchid Events participating. Sapphire Coast Orchid Club Committee Members Australian Native Orchid Show President- Ben Walcott 6161 2742 3-4 November at Twyford Hall, Merimbula Vice President- Robert Bush 6297 1427 Easy Orchids Open Day Treasurer- Robyn Noel 6258 5734 3 December 9 AM-4 PM at Hills District Orchids, 183 Secretary- Barbara Corsini 04 24836108 Windsor Rd., Northmead Bob Evans 6295 3802 President’s Comments : Bill Ferris 6297 5635 September was a very busy month! We had the four David Judge 6278 4806 demonstrations at Floriade on the weekend before our Jim Harper 6254 9618 show. Thanks to Bill Ferris and Bob Bush for setting up a Robert Rough 6241 2729 wonderful display. We were allowed to leave the display up all weekend with flyers about the Society as well as Committee meetings: for The Book. Lots of people walked through during the November: Barb Corsini weekend and had a good look at the orchids. The potting January: 13 th at 3:30 PM at Ben and Ros Walcott’s demonstrations and talks were very successful and were well attended. Thanks to all those who helped out and Annual Two-day workshop made it such a great success. This year the Eurobodalla Orchid Club is The Show was the next weekend. There were hosting the annual two day workshop. It will be held on more plants benched for this show than in the previous Saturday and Sunday March 17 th and 18 th 2007 at the year and their quality was excellent. They were all Luhuna Motel, Princess Highway, Moruya. On Saturday, organized on the benches for display by the Show the program will run from 9:30 to 5:00 and on Sunday Marshall, Mark Fraser. The judging went of efficiently from 9:30 to 2:00 PM. The two speakers are Dennis and thanks to Bill Ferris, we kept track of all plants and Deihm and John Robertson. The format involves lectures certificates were printed on the spot. There were lots of Disclaimer plants for sale and Trevor provided many tables worth of © 2005 The Orchid Society of Canberra, The Orchid Society of Canberra disclaims liability for any loss, Annual Subscriptions financial or otherwise caused as a result of the contents $25 single, $30 joint, $5 junior membership. of this Bulletin and demonstrations of many aspects of orchid culture from these two experts. There will be plenty of time to ask questions or to talk privately to the speakers. The speakers are both commercial growers and I am sure will have lots of plants for sale. The Workshop is limited to 55 participants and so you should get your reservations in early. The booking form is on our website and I will have hard copies at the next meetings. The cost is $50 for the weekend which entitles you to morning and afternoon teas and a BBQ lunch on both days except no afternoon tea on Sunday. Dinner on Saturday night will be at a local restaurant at the participant’s own expense. It is a fun time to meet members from other clubs and to share information. The Display at Cronulla Photo by Jane Wright OSNSW Show Cronulla 13-15 October 2006 seedlings that result. A mericlone on the other hand is a A few of us headed off to the show in Cronulla plant that results from the multiplication of tissue from recently and put on a display for the society, using the the meristematic area of a single plant. All resulting miniature shopping trolleys concept that Sandra Corbett plants have an exactly identical makeup and, barring premiered at our recent spring show. While we didn’t do mutation, will all be identical. very well in the display stakes (fifth), we did pick up 9 A six to nine month period from pollination to firsts and seconds and, most excitingly, Champion Other harvesting of the seed, followed by a nine to twelve Australian Native Orchid for Robyn Noel’s Dendrobium month period in tissue culture to produce a viable plant Warragul. Well done Robyn! for the outside environment, followed by three to five It was the second year for this OSNSW show at the years to produce a flowering plant, gives a five to seven Cronulla Sharks Club, and it was certainly very popular year generation time, so growing seedlings, where there with the folks in the southern part of Sydney. There were is no guarantee of a desirable result, is generally for the 6 table-top displays and 4 large society displays. The commercial grower or the genuine devotee. It is however, quality of the flowers was very good and Dennis Diehm almost invariably through seedlings that advances in received an FCC for one of his mini-cattleyas. As at last cymbidiums appear. year’s show, the sarcochilus were absolutely wonderful. Advances may take the form of a show champion, a new The sales area was terrific again, and we brought back shape or colour, or some other outstanding feature. The some products and a few plants (sarcs) for the sales table. chances of achieving this is small, perhaps one in one Thanks to Mark Fraser, Sandra Corbett, Robyn Noel, hundred or one thousand, but with the constant and Roger Williams for preparing props and setting up improvement in genetic material available in parents and the display; and to Rob Rough, Terry and Julianne the increasing knowledge possessed by hybridisers, the Turner, David Judge, Robyn Noel, Mark Clements, Mark chances are improving and the satisfaction is great when Fraser and Sandra Corbett for lending the plants for the the exceptional seedling appears. display. Many avenues are now available in cymbidium breeding Our display was very popular and the organisers lines and rewards are available in all of them. For many, certainly appreciated our participation. Robyn was even the show bench orchid is most appealing and probably asked what inducements would be required to get the majority of seedlings are produced with this end in Canberra back next year! view. In addition, seedlings with the potential to provide Please see the end of this bulletin for our results at this new shapes and colours and colour combinations are show. becoming more available, as well as those with extended Jane Wright flowering times, perfumes, warmth tolerance, super- productivity and other desirable features. Seedlings - Our investment in the future All good collections contain a number of seedlings, and it is best to add to these regularly. With What is a seedling? So often people are small collections, a few may be purchased each year confused with the difference between a seedling and a from the various catalogues available. Bear in mind that mericlone. A seedling is a plant resulting from the accompanying descriptions describe expectations and growth of a single orchid seed, formed by the union of a that hybridisers are great optimists. With larger male pollen grain with a female ovum. It is a uniquely collections, more seedlings or a few community pots new plant that has inherited various features from both of comprising a number of seedlings from the same grex its parents. Even when an orchid is crossed with itself may be grown.You are never too old or too young to start (selfing), or where two plants of the same species are growing seedlings and once a collection has become crossed with each other, variation is obvious in the 2 established over a period of time, there is the constant The tour went into very mountainous country (part of the excitement of seeing what uniquely new flowers appear Himalayas) with gorges up to 4,000 metres deep. This each year.