In the December issue of Orchid Digest magazine, Harold Koopowitz wrote an interesting article about his visit to Peru. He and his companions had many adventures travelling through rough terrain to document and photograph a recently discovered patch of Phragmipedium Kovachii, deep in the jungle.

Now comes news from a Peruvian grower that this patch, as with three other locations discovered earlier, has been stripped bare of these magnificent orchids:

"I happened to return to my hotel at lunch time with my friend, Manuel Camacho who is a local orchid enthusiast and guide to the Phragmipedium kovachii sites. We noticed a double cabin pick truck in the door of the hotel. What we saw in this pickup shocked us both and we could not believe what we were seeing!

There were 7 large rice and coffee sacks stuffed full with several hundred of the largest P. kovachii that we have ever seen with leaves fully 2-3 feet long sticking out the tops of the sacks with no attempt to hide them. "

"In early September, a friend of mine went to the site which Koopowitz visited & photographed only to find it totally wiped out including all visible seedling except for two plants that they saw very high up out of reach on the cliff which is the only reason they are still there. They took photographs of this site as it is today which I am forwarding to Koopowitz for the record. We know who did the deed because he sold several hundred to an Ecuadorian dealer and others to a dealer in Lima. He offered 200 to me which I turned down. "

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Garden fined in orchid scandal

It looks like Selby Botanical Gardens has escaped a possible $100,000 fine in the Phrag. Kovachii drama. They've been charged a penalty of $5,000 and will participate in renaming the plant "Phrag. Peruvianum", which was the name originally proposed by ex-employee and rival Eric Christenson before he got scooped.

"We didn't think we were doing anything wrong, but it turned out we did, and we're sorry we did," (Selby chairwoman) Hansen said."

Garden fined in orchid scandal

Fun Indoor Activities

We’re having a bit of a bug problem – roaches, actually. Ugh. I’ve caught a couple around the kitchen sink in the mornings, a nice way to start the day. So, I decided to make the best of a bad situation, and squeeze some entertainment value out of it while waiting for the roach traps to work. I decided to catch one, and feed it to my Venus Flytrap.

At the earliest opportunity, I lightly squished one under a paper tower, and then picked it up to inspect for signs of life; the flytrap won’t close unless there’s at least a little squirming action. I saw several legs wave in the air. Holding the paper towel in one hand, I retrieved an old pair of tweezers from the bathroom, and as I passed through the living room, I said, “Laird! Come see me feed a bug to my plant”. Intrigued, he put the movie on pause, and left his chair in front of the TV to follow me into the grow room. I picked up the flytrap and held it close, then I opened the paper towel and applied tweezer to bug. Bug moved. I jumped. Bug and tweezers flew. Laird snorted in disgust and returned to his seat in the living room, muttering something unflattering about me and bugs.

I may be squeamish, but I’m not easily deterred. A little while later, while watering my plants, I discovered some aphids on the buds of my phal-type dendrobium. I never get excited about buds on that plant, they exist just to irritate me by drying up and falling off before they ever bloom. I digress. There were some sizeable specimens of aphids there, so I rooted around on the floor under the pots, and retrieved my tweezers. I tried to pick an aphid up with the tweezers, but it fell off. So I lined up the flytrap under the bud, and used one of the tongs to try to knock one into the jaws of the waiting plant. I assume the aphids must have had some awareness of the fate waiting for them below, because every one I nudged leaped off in a different direction, but never straight down. Finally, I got one in. A little one. I must have been heavy handed with the tweezer, ‘cause it was lifeless. The jaws stayed open. So I took the end of the tweezer, and tapped the pad a couple of times. It shut with a resounding clap. Well, it was soundless, really, but I’m sure it clapped. Applauding my efforts, maybe. I know I had no credibility with my audience in the living room.

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Invincible Summer

I woke up this morning to the sound of wet tires on a busy street, the road splashes that signal a rainy day. The sky looked grey through the blinds on the window, and my first thought was, “rats, I wasted a bright sunny day yesterday doing housework and laundry”.

I walked to the kitchen to feed the critters, and my spirits lifted at the sight out the back deck: snow. The first, bright, heavy snowfall of the year. The air was thick with white, clinging to the grey naked trees and covering the muddy schoolyard with a clean undisturbed layer of snow. I love the quiet mornings after a storm, before feet and cars and warmer daytime temperatures and maybe rain turn it all into a mucky slushy mess.

It was almost a relief, really. Fall can be a trying time emotionally and physically while our bodies adapt to the cold and the long dark days, as we resign ourselves to winter. I have not been coping well this year -- it all seems to have happened so…fast. Wasn’t it just last week that I was out enjoying my deck garden in a t-shirt, battling raccoons and taking pictures of flowers? Well, the sight of snow snapped me out of denial, once and for all. Time to face facts: it’ll be another five months before the leaves on the trees come out again to play. Winter is a time to go inward. I’ll be in my grow room if you’re looking for me.

"In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer." -- Albert Camus

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Flower power

Hey, plants aren't for sissies!

1. Name three plants that were contributing causes of wars.
2. What two plants helped spread the ideas and philosophies of major civilizations?
3. What plant helped build a new industry?
4. What two plants are the greatest food staples of the world?
5. What large grass has been used to build fleets?
6. Name three plants that played a role in colonization.
7. What plant is a symbol for architectural elegance?
8. Can you name any of the plants found in King Tut's tomb?
9. What plant caused an economic collapse?
10. What plant is the greatest boon to humanity?

Click here for the answers.

The first plant virus

A little cerebral -- but, if you've ever wondered if the ancients pulled their hair out over virus' in prize plants, or whether it's a modern phenomenon, you may be interested in this article about this possible early reference to plant virus, in a poem written by a Japanese Empress in 752 AD.

A.J. Hicks of the OGD writes, "flower break in tulips dating back to the early 1600's was discovered by Carolus Clusius, but the disease (tulip breaking potyvirus) wasn't pinned down until the 1930's. Before this was known, it was considered a valuable characteristic. Of course, in the middle of "tulip madness", just about everything tulipiferous was considered more valuable, the same way that unprofitable tech stocks were until a couple of years ago.

Cattleya Portia, or Porcia?

For a while I thought they were the same thing -- just two different spellings. The mystery is solved:

Cattleya bowringiana’s contributions to hybridization, however, go well beyond the coerulea. Its two most famous contributions are Cattleya Portia, its hybrid with the autumn-flowering, large-flowered species Cattleya labiata, and Cattleya Porcia, its cross with Cattleya Armstrongiae (Hardyana x loddigesii). Both C. Portia and C. Porcia are intermediate in size between their parents. They are beautifully colored, vigorous growers with tall heads of flowers and they make an impressive display. They are considered by many Cattleya experts to be among the finest and most spectacular Cattleya hybrids ever bred. Cattleya Portia was registered by James Veitch & Son in 1897 and C. Porcia by H.G. Alexander in 1927. Both have received many awards from the RHS and AOS. Cattleya Porcia ‘Cannizaro,’ which received AMs from the RHS in 1936 and the AOS in 1951, actually received an FCC/AOS as late as 1988 in recognition of its excellence.

Thanks, Jocelyn (www.beavervalleyorchids.com)!

Orchids that grow underground

Rhizanthella gardneri is an Australian species that spends almost its entire life cycle underground. It was discovered in 1928 by a farmer ploughing his field.

No wonder I find orchids so interesting. Like people - in all their diversity - it's usually the ones who thrive on the edge, who live underground, that are the most interesting and the most evolved.

Gem Geek or Rare Bug

Not a botanical entry per se, unless you extend the meaning of gardens to include your life's landscape, and consider the cultivation and enjoyment of friends every bit as satisfying as flowers -- which I do.

Enjoy:

Gem Geek or Rare Bug - The Website of the Writing of Graeme Burk

What if They Mated ?

This is fun -- click on the various combinations of orchids and see what you would get if they were cross-bred.

What if They Mated ?

Orchids in the wild

I thought this was interesting -- a post on the OrchidGuide Digest responding to the question about the very patchy distribution of orchid species in the wild.

"Along the gallery forest we found many species but always focally, meaning there were some kilometers, you could not see a single species, and then in another area at least 6-7 different species."

Oliver Sparrow, a UK grower, had this to say:

"I have seen and written about the same phenomenon in the Himalayas. Some of it is the outcome of random events, but the statistics of our numbers suggested that this could not be the only reason. Two issues presented themselves:

1: Microclimate, which is particularly significant in the Himalayas, where areas tens of feet apart can get radically different conditions.

2: History, and specifically, the presence of "orchid trees" to seed the local environment. Essentially, one hub can seed many trees around it over the decades. As orchids always go for the topolimnon - the transition zone at the edge of things - they tend to be distributed linearly on a river bank, even though the seed distribution is a blob.

What I call 'orchid trees' are unusual old trees but not always big ones that are absolutely plastered with orchids, usually from several genera. One encounters these at random, and microclimate never seems an issue. I guess at the following event. First, a creeper envelops the tree, bringing on a large number of shade-dwellers, such as ferns. The creeper dies, leaving a fern garden that is perfect as an orchid seed bed. Gradually, the ferns die away - or anyway fail to reproduce as well as when under cover - and the orchids are left as dominants.

It is also notable that some trees take countermeasures against epiphytes, by shedding bark discs and branches when the burden gets large. Such trees are usually orchid free, although neighbouring peers are heavily colonized."

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Santa furious with orchid-eating reindeer, children

I simply do not know what to make of this story. Is it for real?

"Forget the jolly ol’ ho-ho-ho Santa you know and love, this Santa is furious: Rudolph and the other reindeer who help him deliver toys to kids around the world every Christmas are grazing on the rare orchids and other flowers that grow on his property.

And he isn’t so thrilled with children these days, either."

Does Santa really wear "a furry cape made of dogskin"??? What a nightmare!

Phragmipedium tetzlaffianum conviction

$2500 Penalty and Conviction for Illegally Exporting Orchid

Old news now (Sept. 26th), but I just came across this release. I heard that Mr. Tetzlaff was doing the rounds of orchid society meetings with a presentation on his find. Apparently, someone in Alberta decided he was bragging and needed to be taken down a notch, so this person reported him in to Environment Canada.

Gad, the orchid world is tough.

It's a jungle out there.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Exhibitions -- John Day Scrapbooks:

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Exhibitions -- John Day Scrapbooks: Gorgeous. Check it out.

Legal & illegal orchids: Now I'm really confused

A couple of years ago, US Customs seized and confiscated seven specimens of a newly-discovered orchid, Paphiopedilum vietnamense, from someone who attempted to smuggle them in to the country from Vietnam. The U.S. government offered the plants back to Vietnam, who did not want them. The plants were then sent to a "Rescue Centre" at the U.S. Botanical Garden, where they still are today, property of the U.S. Government.

So far so good.

Next, the USBG approached Bob Wellenstein of Antec Laboratories to help them propagate the plants. Antec, with the blessing of the US Fish & Wildlife Service, now has several flasks containing 15 plants for sale for $175 each, and will have more available later in the year. The original seven plants are still and always will be illegal contraband, but hey, the babies are fair game.

Am I the only one confused about the point of all this? Smugglers = bad guys. Fine 'em, send 'em to jail, seize their plants, then propagate them like crazy and make a huge profit. Thanks very much for all your trouble, Mr. Smuggler.

Bob Wellenstein, who seems like a very fine and principled man, responds to this murky topic on the American Orchid Society's forum.

Yeah, I know, nothing is black and white. A rare species of orchids hasn't got a hope in hell of surviving in the wild, if it becomes a black market commodity. It'll be stripped from its native habitat and sold for breathtaking sums of money in the blink of an eye. If it's artificially propagated and made available for sale, legally, then the black market will be undercut. Theoretically, there would then be no need to collect plants and hence push wild populations into extinction. Let the loggers take care of that through habitat destruction -- it's much more efficient.

New additions

Busy orchid weekend, and very satisfying. I dropped by John's greenhouse on Saturday, an impossible place to leave empty-handed. Among my purchases was this lovely Burr. Nelly Isler. Burrageara is a hybrid mix of Cochlioda x Miltonia x Odontoglossum x Oncidium. I find the star shape of the flowers very attractive - they remind me of the warm-growing miltonia's.

Sunday I attended the SOOS (Southern Ontario Orchid Society) Christmas party at the botanical gardens. I had to talk myself into going, because I was sure I wouldn't know anyone. It turned out to be a lot of fun, my "coming out" so to speak. I ran into Wendy and her Mom, and had a great chat. During the orchid auction (an annual fundraiser), I learned that the woman sitting beside me was none other than Inge Poot, and I had a chance to thank her in person for identifying my stanhopea. And I finally met Jocelyn Bertrand of Beaver Valley Orchids, a wonderfully funny and charming guy who, as it turns out, lives in my neighbourhood. I have a feeling we're going to be fast friends.

By the way, Beaver Valley Orchids has a new website address: www.beavervalleyorchids.com

From now on I won't be shy about going to the monthly orchid society meetings. The January meeting should be interesting; the speaker is Eric Christenson, one of the principal characters in the Phrag. Kovachii drama.

More of my recent acquisitions, all from John Marcotte with the exception of the big oncidium, which I picked up at the meeting:

Two oncidium equitants: The pink, 'Voraratbelle', and the yellow, Midas 'Willow Pond' AM/AOS

Equitants are small, compact plants with fan shape leaves -- easy to squeeze into a brightly lit spot among my plants. Here's a good link to information on equitants and other types of oncidiums.


This is a beauty I picked up at the show: Onc. 'Golden Sunset' x Onc. onustum. Unlike the equitants, this is a big plant, with pseudobulbs and a very tall spike. The skirt on this plant is very striking.

And finally, a picture of my phragmipedium Sedenii 'Blush'. It's been in bloom for a while now, but I never get tired of it - it's such a pretty sight in my grow room.

Today marked the tail end of my weekend orchid adventures. I picked up an orchid for a friend at the meeting, a truly spectular Oncidium Aloha Iwanagara 'Golden Showers' in full bloom. Because I was to meet my friend right after work, I took the orchid into the office today, ensuring an admiring visit from every single person who passed my door. It took me a while to realize that people thought I was responsible for all the blooms -- no no, I bought it that way!! Too late. Now I have a workplace reputation for being some kind of super duper orchid expert. I'm more of a duper, not so much super.

I was an even bigger hit on the subway -- dozens of people stared and admired, and one dear lady overcame her shyness to ask me how to fertilize her orchids, just as the doors were opening at my stop. I gave her some quick advice over my shoulder as I exited the train, then was escorted to the escalator by a short fellow in a construction helmet and vest, who wondered why the roots were hanging out of the pot. He seemed very interested in my explanation, and gave me a big smile as he said, "Thanks! I learned something new today".

So now I know what to do if I'm ever in need of being the centre of attention... ride the subway all day with a big orchid on my lap.

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