Show Table June 2005
Monthly meetings include a show table of members’ plants. Six ribbons are awarded each month: four awards are selected by an alternating team of three VAOS member judges. These awards are: one for Best Species, and a First, Second and Third place award to any plant, a Speaker’s Choice award and the VAOS members vote on the plant for Members’ Choice. The following section describes each of these awards for June – there was a tie for Best Species. Plants are named as presented with minor editing corrections. To view a larger image, click on the photograph.
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First Place: Paphiopedilum Michael Koopowitz (P. philippinense x P. sanderianum)
Grower: Noreen Chervinski An artful display of a primary Paph. hybrid that maintains the long petals of the P. sanderianum parent. The cross was registerd in 1993 and has received at least 18 quality awards. |
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Second Place: Cattleya forbesii
Grower: Ted and Marty Kellogg A seedling of a cross between clones ‘Margaret Ilgenfritz’ and ‘Orchidglade’ this plant was purchased in 2003 as an unbloomed seedling from Fender’s Orchids. Two years later it bloomed with 28 flowers and 3 buds on 10 inflorescenes. The flowers have a natural spread of 9 cm. Cattleya forbesii is native to Brazil from a region near the sea extending south from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo. |
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Third Place and Members’ Choice: Laelia purpurata var. carnea ‘Hihimanu’
Grower: Jane Camarota This clone exhibits an excellent form of the variety carnea and was well grown by Jane with18 flowers on 5 inflorescences. Laelia purpurata is native to the coastal regions of Brazil south of Rio de Janeiro. There are probaly over 150 named varities of this species in cultivation. It has been used in orchid hybridizing for over 100 years. |
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Species of the Month (tie) and Speaker’s Choice: Encyclia tampensis
Grower: Ed and Elaine Fox This is an outstanding example of how to grow a Florida native orchid in Florida. A year ago this plant had over 70 inflorescences and about a thousand flowers; this year the number of inflorescences was estimated at 100 and the number of flowers about 1500. |
| Species of the Month (tie): Sobennikoffia robusta
Grower: Orchids, Etc. The two photographs below show both the overall view of the plant and the individual blossoms. This same plant had been shown in June 2003 when it won a first place award. At that time it had 28 flowers on three inflorescences. This flowering had 14 inflorescences and about 140 flowers. The species is native to Madagascar and grows in a seasonally dry woodland next to shrubs. |
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Judges: Jeff Higel, Mike Stoots and Bob Hague.
36 plants from 18 exhibitors were shown.