March 2011 Plant Table

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Plant Table Awards, March 2, 2011

In March, forty-two plants from 18 exhibitors were shown.

First Place and Species of the Month: Brassavola martiana

Grower: Ted Kellogg

A seldom seen species, the plant provided a mound of flowers complimented by the many pencil-like leaves.  This species is from the northern part of South America and is widely distributed.  Carl Withner in  The Cattleyas and Their Relatives – Vol V., that was published in 1998, suggested a hybrid be made with this species and Rhyncholaelia digbyana to produce frilly-lipped offspring.  That cross has yet to be registered.

Second Place and Members’ Choice: Blc. Zul

Grower: Peggy Fahrenback

A hybrid of Guarianthe skinneri (Cattleya skinneri) and Rhyncattleanthe (Brassolaeliocattleya) Orange Nugget, showed the floriferousness and vigorous plant growth of the parents and was covered with rose-orange flowers with a yellow lip.  This hybrid was registered n 1997 as Brassolaeliocattleya Zul, then Thwaitesara Zul, and now Rhyncattleanthe Zul, as the names of the genera in its background were been changed.

Third Place: Lc. Gold Digger ‘ Fuchs Mandarin’

Grower: Carol Wood

This hybrid of Lc. Red Gold and C. Warpaint has produced 16 AOS awards.  All but three of the awards were for culture.  The hybrid grows quickly to form large plants and blooms at one time in the spring of the year.  The clone exhibited does not resemble the awarded clone, and is either a mutation from the cloning process or is a case of an incorrect label.  The current accepted name is Cattlianthe Gold Digger.

Speaker’s Choice: Schombolaeliocattleya Memoria Doug Lace ‘Roseminah’ HCC/AOS

Grower: Noreen Chervinski

This hybrid of Smbl. (Lc.) Lancer by Cattleya (Guarianthe) aurantiaca earned an HCC award for this clone exhibited in 1984, the year the cross was registered.  The presentation of the three-staked inflorescences was perfect – displaying the plant to its best.  It is another plant that has gone through name changes. Registered as show above, it was known as a Guarisophilia for a while and now is a Laeliocatanthe.

A note on new names.  Numerous name changes are the result of better understanding of the genetic/evolutionary relationships of the orchids.  In many cases names have changed more than once in the past decade.  A tag on a plant may reflect an old or a new name.  All the names identify the same plant; focusing on what the plant looks like and its appeal to you outranks ‘getting the name right.’

Next meeting: Wednesday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m.

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SPEAKER: Bill Fender

Topic: “Orchids Have Parents, Too!”

Bill Fender and his wife Susan are celebrating 42 years of orchid growing. Their first orchid plant, Bc. Binosa, received as a gift in 1969 from Susan’s parents, is still thriving and blooming in the Fender’s greenhouses! And their greenhouses are now right here in Venice, Florida at 254 Keystone Road, Venice, FL 34292.

Bill and Susan started their nursery business in 1974. Fender’s Flora, Inc. was a wholesale nursery business for 25 years, growing Boston fern in Apopka, Florida (known as the foliage capital of the world). Bill and Susan’s orchid web site, www.fendersflora.com, has been on the internet for more than 15 years. The Fenders have received over 12 awards from the American Orchid Society.

Bill has expanded his love for orchids into a unique breeding program using selected cattleya-type orchids that have been collected over the years. His emphasis in breeding is to produce frequent bloomers with fragrant flowers. He breeds both standard and compact cattleya-types, many with spots.

Bill’s presentation “Orchids Have Parents, Too!” will include information about breeding and naming orchids.

If VAOS members and guests would like to bring their new orchid purchases from the recent orchid show, he will be glad to discuss how to grow them and answer questions.

Bill is a Florida native, born in St. Petersburg. He is a VAOS member.