The Mad Orchidist: March 2012

Friday, March 30, 2012

Central Coast Orchid Show 2012

Well, hot on the heels (2 weekends later) of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is the Central Coast Orchid Show & Sale. It is sponsored by the Five Cities Orchid Society and takes place in Arroyo Grande, CA.

Central Coast Orchid Show & Sale

Volunteers from the Coastal Valley Orchid Society and I set up our display on Thursday, and the show is open to the public Saturday and Sunday. Here is a quick preview of our efforts:

CVOS display preview
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Bug Box and Bird Cage
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

The show's theme this year is "stepping back in time." Our display is Victorian-(ish), and features an enlarged facsimile of Charles Darwin's 1862 orchid book: "On the various contrivances by which British and foreign Orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing," including enlargements of several illustrations.

I even brought in a selection of insects (the wooden box in the center of the photo above) from my personal collection, representing different kinds of possible pollinators.

Insect Collection
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

When I was at UCSB, I was required to assemble an insect collection for an invertebrate zoology class. I enjoyed it so much that I went right on collecting after graduation, and I still enjoy it to this day. Darwin was also an avid collector of insects (as were many other Victorians), and it seemed like a nice tie-in with the book and display.

We also included other period touches, including a Tiffany Dragonfly Lamp (very late Victorian). Of course, it's a replica, or I'd never let it out of the house! Other props include an actual antique candle table, authentic tea cups, and even a real chamber pot!

Detail of the CVOS display with Tiffany lamp and Orchids
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Oh, did I mention that it's chock-full of beautiful orchids!

Wide Angle CVOS Display
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Monday, March 19, 2012

Santa Barbara International Orchid Show 2012

Last weekend was the big spring orchid show in Santa Barbara. I was there for most of four days (setup, judging, shopping, teardown, etc.), and I think I have a bit of an orchid hangover, but it was totally worth it! The theme was "Orchidelic," (like psychedelic) so there was plenty of peace and love in the air. Here are just a few pictures:

Orchidelic Volkswagen Beetle
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Turnout was good despite the inclement weather outside.
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Two views, from different sides, of the amazing display put in by Andy's Orchids
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Orchids and Lava Lamps - Orchidelic!
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

My society put in a display, for which we received a third place yellow ribbon. I am also a member of OSSB, who placed 2nd in our class. If you are reading this and you are not a member of a local orchid society, I high recommend that you find one and join!

I brought in the lava lamps from my desk at work to add the right mood to our display:

Coastal Valley Orchid Society Display
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

My favorite:

One of the only Schomburgkias in the whole show - undulata 'Ft. Caroline'
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Perhaps the best part of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show is getting together with other orchid people, and 2012 was no exception. Some folks come from the far corners of the world, but there are plenty of experts right here in the area too. Here is a nice shot of local orchid legend Paul Gripp and I (thanks to Frank Methman for the photo):

Paul and I at the show
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

And then, just as quickly as it began, it was all over . . .

The party's over . . .
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

I didn't take any pictures of the vendor area, but stay tuned for a post about all the cool orchids I picked up!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

More Deflasking

Well, I finally got the rest of my Schomburgkia hybrid flasks potted up. Here are a few photos:

Flask full of seedlings ready to come out
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

It was easier to break this one than try to fish everything out through the neck.

A seedling flask without the flask!
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

Big seedlings with healthy roots
©2012 MadOrchidist.com

In all, the contents of four flasks (four different crosses) went into pots and into the humidity chamber. I didn't expect them to fill the whole tank, but it's pretty packed in there:

Thursday, March 1, 2012

What's Blooming

Just for fun, here are photos of some of the beautiful orchids that were blooming during the month of February. March is looking like it could shape up nicely too . . .

This first one is really a gem, and the water droplets make for a gorgeous photograph:

This Australian Dendrobium hybrid has beautiful deep maroon spots all over the outside of the buds, but almost none of that color shows up on the front of the butter yellow flowers:

Here is a neat primary hybrid registered in 1904, Laelia rubescens x Laelia anceps = L. Maronii
It sure looks to take more after the rubescens parent, but the anceps shows a bit in the throat:

As featured in a previous post, the Stonehouse was also showing off in February:

OK, for this last one I'm cheating a little bit. I took the photo, and I now have two of these plants (thanks again Gene!), but this bloom isn't mine. It belongs to a division of the big Schomburgkia undulata at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. The plant took best in show at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show in 2006 and is one of my all time favorite species. The big mother plant appears to be taking some time off, but several divisions were blooming, just begging to be photographed:

Some great hybrids have been made with this species, and I think I'm going to try making one of my own when mine bloom next . . .