Restoring orchids in the Florida Everglades

"Restoring native orchids to the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge wasn't in Richardson's original job description. But during the course of his work preserving the Florida Panther's habitat, he soon realized that native orchids were a part of that habitat. So Richardson studied and now has applied a new, unique way to germinate and restore endangered native species to the refuge. "

Ontario: A place to live and a place to grow

A very funny video spoof from the CBC - Rick Mercer's Monday Report.

No doubt this comes out of the recent discovery of a gigantic grow-op inside a former brewery in Barrie, north of Toronto:

"There aren't enough people in Ontario to consume the amount of marijuana produced in (Ontario) grow houses.", says Ontario Provincial Police investigator Vaughn Collins.


Thanks for the laugh, Dad!

Orchid Smuggling Drama in New Zealand

More details are coming out about the case of the two orchid smugglers recently arrested in New Zealand, and the story is quite interesting.

"Dr Ian St George, convenor of the New Zealand native orchid group, said word had gone out on their "amateur grapevine" about a suspicious pair of orchid hunters asking to be guided to the flowers since before Christmas. Members were asked not to do so.

Dr St George said there were about 150 native orchids, with about 20 that were "vanishingly rare".

One, known as either Corybas or Anzybas Carsei could be found only in one Waikato swamp which he refused to name. Known as the Swamp Helmet, it is about the size of a fingernail, completely dark maroon and is described by Dr St George as "the closest we have to an All Black orchid". It would be too hard for them to find, given only one man knew the way through waist-deep bog and it was only in flower for two weeks of the year in September.

He had not seen it himself and it has been rarely photographed.

...The type of orchids the men had allegedly smuggled would be a strong pointer to whether any smugglers had received local help. He would be "absolutely disgusted" if they had. "

The two men are from Czechoslovakia, and they are no ordinary common thiefs:

"...Cihalik is dean of the medicine school at the 430-year-old Palacky University in Olomouc. ... (He) is a cardiologist specialising in the electrophysiological activity of the heart. He is the author of an extensive electrocardiogram atlas. He is married to a researcher of botanical genetics. His two adult sons are art historians involved in the conservation of cultural monuments.

Smitak is a public servant from Brno, 78km southeast of Olomouc.There he is the chairman of the Society of Tropical Orchid Growers and of the Friends of European Wild Orchids.

The pair have surrendered their passports as part of their bail conditions. "

Underworld flower economy

In Canada, the only flower that seems to make the news for bootlegging and underworld connections is off the top of a marijuana plant. Russia, a country I associate with the baddest of the bad in organized crime, are busy fighting smugglers of roses, tulips, and chrysanthemums. Go figure!

"Operatives of the economic crime department carried out an operation in the Moscow region, seizing two truckloads of flowers worth 600 thousand dollars.

Investigators have ascertained that roses, chrysanthemums and tulips had been shipped to a reloading point in Lithuania and then transported to Russia.

The smugglers tripped to one of warehouses outside Moscow, from which businesses delivered the flowers to Moscow?s markets.

According to investigators, the group, which operated for years, registered the businesses through fronts. The sham companies usually disappeared after a month of operation.

Two nationals of Lithuania and four Russians have been detained in this criminal case and charged with contraband.

Investigators do not rule out the smugglers operated hand in hand with corrupt customs officials. "

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Learn about urban agriculture in Cuba

This event looks interesting:

GROWING IN CUBA:Canadian-Cuban Partnership in Urban Agriculture

WHEN: THIS THURSDAY Jan. 22nd at 7pm !!
WHERE: FoodShare's Field to Table Centre - 200 Eastern Ave.
ALSO: Friday, Jan 23rd at noon, at York University Faculty of Environmental Studies, Lumbers building Rm 306

WHAT: How does Havana feed its population? What strategies and models have been implemented? And how is the non-profit sector supporting the efforts to increase food security? With a population of 2.4 million people, Havana is providing for its citizens by growing 54% of its food supply in the city limits. Urban agriculture takes many forms in Havana patio gardens, school gardens, organoponicos and cooperatives.

A Victoria-based NGO, LifeCycles, has an ongoing partnership with ACTAF, a Cuban national organization, in Havana in an effort to co-develop both Canadian and Cuba strategies for urban agriculture and local responses to food security. They are working on developing a Centre for the Promotion & Development of Urban Agriculture, supporting several organoponicos, building a womens community kitchen and developing a school garden program.

Sharing successes and challenges of the LifeCycles-ACTAF cooperative organic urban agriculture program, Jacinda Fairholm, the International Project Coordinator, and Linden Huizinga, CIDA-intern, will be giving a talk, slide show and showing a video at 2 locations this week.

All are welcome

MORE INFO: contact Karine Jaouich

directions & contacts: FoodShare's Field to Table Centre in Toronto

Cattleya percivaliana

Christmas is late this year...my Cattleya percivaliana bloomed yesterday, a first for me. It's supposed to stink, but as far as I can tell, it's just a slight musty odour, nothing unpleasant.

The Orchid Works Web site has some great information on this species, which I've taken the liberty of reproducing here:

"Of all the Venezuelan labiate Cattleyas, C. percivaliana probably has the smallest plant stature (usually under 9-inches, 23cm). It is also the one that grows at the highest altitudes, from 1400 - 2000m. Fortunately, it is an adaptable species that will grow under a wide range of cultural conditions. Known as the 'Christmas Cattleya' because it rarely fails to bloom for that holiday. The flowers are of a good size, 4-5-inches (10-12.5cm), carried 2-4 per growth, and are found in several different color varieties. The typical color form is lavender with a darker lip and a splotch of old-gold in the throat. Perhaps the most unique feature of C. percivaliana is the foetid fragrance...somewhat like stinkbugs. This species is often found growing on rocks in full sun in its habitat. In cultivation, it enjoys bright light and good air movement. Provide ample water when in growth but allow a dry winter rest before flowering."

Here is a wonderful link to more information on cattleyas

Looting in New Zealand

Trampers and hunters are being asked to help authorities stop the smuggling overseas of New Zealand's protected wildlife.

"Two Czech men were charged yesterday with taking numerous native orchids and plants from New Zealand national parks and smuggling them out of the country. If found guilty, they face fines of up to $100,000 and/or five years' jail.

Environmental watchdogs applauded the arrests and said charges relating to the smuggling of flowers and plants were rare. New Zealand has about 35 threatened species of orchids."

Urban agriculture out of control...

At a time when urban agriculture is being advocated in North American cities as a path to sustainable living, it's good to be reminded of the dangers of automatically applying our solutions worldwide with a broad brush dipped in Western values. We can not stand in judgement or hope to be of any assistance to others without a deep understanding and respect for the unique challenges other countries and societies face:

Zimbabwe: Urban Farming Threatens Harare Water Sources: "Takawira Mubvami, a scientific programme co-ordinator with Municipal Development Programme (MDP) said ....urban agriculture (is) being practised 'willy-nilly' causing environmental degradation and pollution.

'It is difficult to stop because of urban poverty but as an organisation we are advocating for sustainable urban agriculture policies,' said Mubvami.

A study by the Environmental and Development Studies (ENDA-Zimbabwe) three years ago also noted that urban agriculture posed a serious threat to the urban environment.

'All sites (visited areas) had unacceptable levels of erosion. In addition, almost 90 percent of Harare's farmers use chemical fertilisers and nearly a third of 'off-plot' cultivation takes place near streams, swamps - leading to water pollution through runoff and leaching,' said the study."

Don't get me wrong -- I'm a strong advocate of *sustainable* urban agriculture. It's just good to be reminded of the importance of humility in seeking solutions to a better world.

More on urban agriculture:

RUAF: Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Forestry
City Farmer: Canada's Office of Urban Agriculture
Cities Feeding People Program

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Orchids of the Great White North

Growing tropical orchids as I do indoors, it's easy to forget that orchids grow all over the world, and Ontario, Canada is no exception. In one special place, the Bruce Peninsula on Georgian Bay, 44 of 60 of Ontario's native species can be found growing, more varieties of orchid than any other area its size in Ontario, and possibly all of North America. The latitude, the moderating effect of the Great Lakes (which surround the Bruce on three sides), the calcium-rich soil of the Niagara Escarpment, and the wide variety of habitats found there seem to contribute to the large variety of native orchid species.

I camped at the national park on Georgian Bay about 20 years ago, and still remember the funny little man who came wandering through our campsite, entirely oblivious to us and completely absorbed in inspecting the ground. He was dressed in safari clothes complete with a big hat and khaki shorts, wore round gold rim glasses, and was busy scribbling in a notepad. It was as though Mr. Magoo had come to life in front of my eyes. I couldn't resist interrupting him and asking him what he was doing. "Looking for orchids", he replied, and he became very animated as he discovered a ladies slipper not far from our tent. It struck me as an eccentric encounter at the time, but I never forgot that fellow. Years later, I even understand him. Given my interest in orchids, I may even go up there this year for the Bruce Peninsula Orchid Festival

The folks at Yahoo Groups' "Native Orchid Conference" have been very kind in sending me information about blooming times and good locations to look. David McAdoo suggested these areas:

Walker Woods (outside of Sauble Beach)
Oliphant (Federation of ON Naturalists preserve with boardwalk area along the lake shore)
Petral Point (FON preserve near Red Bay)
Alavar Preserve (another FON area along Hwy 6 near Miller Lake turn off - west side of the road)
Dorcus Bay (a FON preserve)
Flowerpot Island

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Take a shot at it...

So you think you know Canada, eh?.

Ontario Carnivorous Plant Society

Lovers of Venus Flytraps and other carnivorous plants, take note: The Ontario Carnivorous Plant Society will be launched in February. Membership is only $15, and they are currently looking for submissions to their first newsletter. Check it out!

Mail Order Dreams

Remember pouring over toy catalogues when you were a kid, studying each page carefully and circling your favourites (maybe that horse from the Best of the West, or a Hot Rod race track), dreaming of days to come when they might actually find a home in your toy box?

Well, seed and garden catalogues are the grown-up version of that. Winter is the time to tuck into a cozy chair with a big pile of mail-order garden catalogues, a wool throw over your knees and a hot mug of tea at your side. Though these days I'm more likely to be in front of my computer, surfing through the online versions and dreaming of spring.

Here's an online catalogue that can only be described as "Big League": Paul Christian's Rare Plants -- a UK supplier. I absolutely drooled over the cypripedium selection (a terrestrial type of orchid, many of which are native to North America). The site seems to be ethical, whereby plants for sale are obtained through laboratory propagation or through salvage at development sites.

They ship to Canada. One day I'll have a home for these lovelies, a grown-up toy box of a garden in my back yard!

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Orchid Blogs

I've added a couple of orchid related blogs to my link list:

The Devil's Excrement: A blog by Miguel, an orchid enthusiast and political activist from Venezuela. Check out the pictures of his truly spectacular Grammatophyllum Scriptum in January 11th's post.

'O' is for Orchid: Valencia, the Orchidophile's blog. The writing just keeps getting better, and now that she has a digital camera there are some lovely pictures on the site.

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Tropical escape

John Marcott's greenhouse is open this weekend, Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 12 noon to 4PM. A chance to escape the cold and drink in warm, humid air and the perfume of flowers! I think I'll go. He may not be able to get rid of me.

It's located at 1592 Centre Road, RR#2 Hamilton, Ontario (about 1.2km north of the village of Carlisle). You'll find me huddled in a corner, trying to chain myself to a bench.

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Blooms in sub-zero temperatures

Thank goodness for my grow room... I think I'd go crazy if I couldn't look at green growing things for months on end. It's still very cold, and a fair bit of snow on the ground. I went outside at lunchtime, and when I returned my face was so red I looked like I had a sunburn. Ah well... there are blooms in my grow room, as well as on my cheeks.

The first spike on the Burr. Nelly Isler finished a while ago, and it since has put out another inflorescence and bloomed again.

The gigantic Phal. Orchid World 'Joe' that I bought from John Marcotte is starting to bloom on four old spikes and two new ones. It has a sweet fragrance and is a stunning plant.

And finally, a pretty pink Geranium that my friend Atilla gave me this summer has two long-lasting flowers. I have visions of propogating this plant and covering my deck with geraniums next summer.

I checked the worm bin the other night, and topped it up with damp paper (I regularly raid the shredders at work and lug bags of the stuff home on the subway) and plant clippings. Lotsa squiggly critters in there, so they must be happy. The bin is half full of worm compost already.

And aphids. Another healthy crop of aphids, unfortunately, on many of my orchid plants. I've been warned to be aggressive about terminating these pests, as they carry virus' from one plant to another. Time to get the Neem oil and insecticidal soap out again... and maybe leave it out this time so I remember to spray again in a few days.

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For gardener newshounds

This site makes it easy to find the latest news articles related to gardening, organized by topic: News, Articles and Reviews On Gardening

NUS gene finding could help S'pore orchid trade bloom - JAN 13, 2004

Orchid producers have perked up at the news that a researcher in Singapore may have found a way to induce faster blooming through genetic engineering: NUS gene finding could help S'pore orchid trade bloom - JAN 13, 2004.

However, those in the know remain skeptical that it can be done. Tom Hillson writes on the Orchid Digest list:

"The big problem with this, is that you can not just take genetic techniques learned in one family of plants and transfer them to another family of plants. It is not that easy, I know, I worked twenty years in plant molecular biology doing lots of work on tissue culturing various plants. I could do lots of things with different plants that I could never repeat in Orchids. I could get protoplasts out of trees and get them to regenerate into whole plants. I never could get any growth or regenerations from orchid protoplast cultures. The largest problem is the same one lots of people see with orchid culture phenolic production. It would kill the cells every time.

I will give Prof Yu credit, he is a genus if he can do it. but I am very skeptical about his chances of success."

Deep Freeze

It's cold. Not the wimpy kind of cold we Torontonians generally moan about -- inducing much eye rolling from other parts of the country, except the west coast of BC, of course -- but real cold. 22 below zero cold, with a -36C wind chill.

The first clue that today was even colder than yesterday was when I let the dog out this morning, and my fingers stuck to the metal doorknob -- on the inside! My second clue was when I tried to run the shower, and nothing came out but scalding hot water. The cold water pipes have frozen on the outside wall of the building. It could be worse -- at least we have hot water, and the cold water is running in the kitchen. I managed to avoid second degree burns by using the watering cans to ferry cold water to the tub.

The third clue owes its dues to Murphy's Law. The streetcar stop is right outside my door, and runs every 5 minutes during rush hour. This morning I waited with a dozen other miserable commuters, perfect strangers huddled for warmth as far as propriety would allow, waiting for a streetcar that never arrived. Every once in a while someone would break from the crowd to run and stand in the middle of the road, peering anxiously down the street to see if it was coming while the rest of us watched hopefully. Repeated disappointment induced disgusted shaking of heads and stamping of feet. Finally the stamping turned into a stampede of people speed-walking several blocks up to the subway station, suffering all the way. By the time I burst through the doors, my nostrils were stuck together, my forehead and ears were burning, my eyes were streaming, and my thighs were numb. So were my fingers, and it took several tries to hold the token long enough to push it into the slot to let me through the turnstiles.

After listening patiently to my whining (a taste of which you have just experienced), Laird told me he is taking me to Mountain Equipment Co-op tomorrow to buy me a warm down jacket with a hood. I keep borrowing his, so the joke is that only one of us can go outside at a time.

Tonight when I let the dog out, I spotted the raccoon huddled in the tree branches beside the deck, looking miserable. He was gazing sadly at the door, aware that therein lay warmth, orchids to chew, and a big bag of pet food to raid. I really felt sorry for him. So, God help me, I put out some dog food. He gobbled it down, and I refilled it. He looked at me, I looked at him, and we called a truce for the moment. Once the cold breaks, the free lunch is over, buster.

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Selby formally pleads guilty

"Selby Botanical Gardens of Sarasota and one of its top scientists formally pleaded guilty Tuesday... "

"Leaders of the popular nonprofit botanical gardens on the bayfront also must run a full-page ad in The American Orchid Society magazine to apologize, send letters to other botanical institutions to tell them how Selby broke the law, and petition the International Botanical Congress to change the name they gave the flower, Phragmipedium kovachii. "

Genetic alarm clock tells plants when to flower

"Many plants have a genetic alarm clock that tells them when to wake from their winter slumber and bloom in spring, scientists said on Wednesday.

Exactly how plants know when it is time to flower is a subject that has perplexed botanists for thousands of years.

But two teams of scientists have uncovered clues that may help explain why certain plants need a cold spell to stimulate flowering."

Phrag. Kovachii: He Speaks

Big orchid society meeting today - the guest speaker was Eric Christenson, the taxonomist at the centre of the Phrag. Kovachii drama. For some reason I imagined he would be a small, studious-looking man in khaki shorts, knobby knees, a giant safari hat and round spectacles, but as it turns out he was more of a cross between Paul Bunyan and a motorcycle gang. An extremely large man, he was as wide as he was tall, with a full beard, bad haircut, and easy way of speaking in front of a large audience. He had a sort of charm, and certainly, his long and academic presentation on oncidiums was far more interesting than it deserved to be. Especially considering that it was supposed to be a talk on phragmipediums.

He did get around to the Phrag. Kovachii (excuse me.... Phrag. Peruvianum) saga at the end of his speech. It was a very perfunctory description of events leading up to Mr. Kovach's indictment (maximum $300G fine and 6 years in prison) and Selby's plea bargain down to a fine of $5,000 and a promise to apply themselves toward the reversal of the name "Phrag. Kovachii" in favour of "Phrag. Peruvianum". It was clear from his expressions of pity that Mr. Kovach's was just a bit player in a clash between Christenson and Selby. While he seemed dismissive of Kovach's arrogance in calling attention to himself by demanding that the plant be named 'Kovachii', Mr. Christenson reserved his special contempt for Selby Botanical Gardens -- a former employer -- and appeared gleeful at his own contribution to Selby's humiliation, who, he claimed, deserved everything they got. Interestingly, Mr. Christenson talked about the "Son of Sam" law in the United States, whereby no one can profit from a criminal act, and offered up his fervent desire that no book be published on the incident using the name "Phrag. Kovachii" as a result of these legal proceedings. While I'm sure Mr. Christenson felt himself to be on the right side of justice ("the Peruvian government will be pleased", he claimed), I'm sure I detected more than a little bruised ego underlying his sentiments.

I was puzzled by Mr. Christenson's openess about the future of Phrag. Kovachii in general distribution. A few months back, the mere suggestion that the plant would be available for sale legally within a couple of years had him so concerned that he passed along the intelligence to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their action. Today he was quite frank in describing the sad irony that Mr. Kovach would be doing prison time for a plant that would be widely available for cultivation in a couple of years. Odd. I'm sure the Florida grower, George Norris, who originally mentioned this possibility in a client newsletter that he forwarded to Mr. Christenson, would be glad to know that though his business was raided by federal agents as a result, it's all common knowledge now.

Considering all the unsympathetic and self-interested characters in this drama, there is one player that has my attention and admiration: The Peruvian government. It seems that they are taking an active role in demanding full control over the future distribution of the species, and have demanded that every single specimen that has been removed from the country be returned. While this contributes nothing to the preservation of the species in-situ, I can't help but admire a country that stands up for itself against representatives of bigger and more powerful countries who are accustomed to waltzing in and laying claim to whatever they find of value. A nice show of courage and national pride, especially in this day and age.

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Regency Life - A Regency Rose Garden

Christmas at my house is the season of Jane Austen, and repeated showings of all five tapes of the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. This year we watched the entire series twice, augmented with an airing of "Sense and Sensibility". I then plowed through the novel "Persuasion", and yep, tonight I just finished reading "Pride and Prejudice". It's an odd tradition for the Christmas season, I suppose. I can't explain the attraction, though Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy does speak for itself.

Curious about the cause of Jane Austen's early death at 41, I did a little searching on the internet. I came across a site that is loaded with interesting background information on Regency life, including biographical details of JA's life. Check out the page on Regency Rose Gardens.

While you're there, don't miss the page on "a History of Pain", and the story about the tough soldier who was annoyed by the screams of the fellow in the next bed, "so much so, that as soon as his arm was amputated, he struck the Frenchman a smart blow across the breech with the severed limb, holding it at the wrist, saying, 'Here, take that, and stuff it down your throat, and stop your damned bellowing!' "

Brookside Orchids goes under

This is a real shame -- Brookside Orchids in Vancouver went into receivership just before Christmas. They were one of the largest producers in B.C., and had a first class operation. I visited their retail store on a trip out west last year, and was impressed by the size of the greenhouses as well as the number of customers flying out of the small store with purchases. It was a family-owned business established in 1981, and it looks like they over-extended themselves on expansions. I wonder what they're doing with their inventory of 2 million orchids....

A cautionary tale...

It's been a while!! It's been a busy holiday season, punctuated by a knockout punch from the flu (an annual tradition). Happy New Year!

My orchids managed quite well without me for more than a week, and many of them are showing signs of impressive growth. However, I nearly killed two favourites from inadvertent overwatering in a stunningly short period of time.

One of them, a beautiful yellow phal, has done quite well on my light stand all summer. It had a nice branching spike, and was starting to bloom. Then poof, the leaves went limp and wrinkly and the buds turned brown and fell off, just like that. The culprit turned out to be a micro-fogger, recently installed to increase humidity. The phal was right in the line of fog-fire, got waterlogged, stayed waterlogged, and rotted. Bummer. I put the fogger on a timer so that it now only comes on in short spurts, and moved the phal a bit farther away. It's too soon to tell if it's going to recover.

The other casualty is the nice Oncidium 'Golden Sunset' x Oncidium onustum (see picture, Dec 1st) that I brought home from the last orchid society meeting. It was situated on a shelf close to the wall in the grow room, underneath some wall-mounted orchids that I spray almost daily with water. The drip of water from the orchids overhead prevented the medium (moss) from drying out, and oncidiums don't like wet feet. I didn't notice the problem until the flowers suddenly shrivelled up and fell off, and the plants was looking noticeably sick. It happened within days. Another bummer. I'm trying to save it with the "spag & bag" method (placing the plant in a plastic drycleaning bag with a little damp moss -- the humidity is supposed to spark some new growth), but it's still a crap shoot as to whether it will recover. Double bummer, I really liked that plant.

It's not all bad news. My phal 'Orchid World Joe' just started to bloom. A half dozen spikes, and the flowers are stunning. Plus, that crazy phal-type dendrobium decided not to tease, and a couple of blooms have actually opened. I'll post pictures soon.

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