Society highlights from 2013

March meeting


Preparations for the Annual Exhibition

Darrell and Taran explained the changes to the catalogue. The changes were discussed regarding the categories of: Collections, Miniatures, first bloom and the newest trophy-“Past President’s Trophy for the best Dendrobium. Darrell Clarke and Robert Mercer gave us a list of helpful tips on getting your plants ready for the show. 

  • Prepare your plants starting now, not the week or day before.
  • Clean your pots
  • Place your plant in the right size pots
  • Clean your plants: look for bugs (do not bring an infested plant to the show), trim the old spikes and old roots.
  • Stake your spikes now and stake them properly.
  • Remove butterfly clips or other distracting items from the plant/pot. 
  • Bring your own water as the water at the garden is brackish, which is too salty for the plants.

April meetings and Agricultural Exhibition


April was a busy month for our society. Members were getting their plants ready for the Agricultural Exhibition and signing up to help as stewards during the show. Marguerite Head-Webb from J&L orchids flew in to judge the spectacular orchid bench. Two meetings were organized. The first one with an interesting talk by Marguerite was held at the offices of Cox & Hallet on April 17th was well attended and appreciated. The actual monthly meeting was held on Friday April 19th in the commercial slat house. Here Marguerite discussed the entries and explained the basis for her judging. 

Main Trophy Winners Agricultural Exhibition 2013:

  • The Walter Block Cup for the best orchid plant – Darrell Clarke
  • The Bermuda Orchid Society Trophy for the best species orchid – Darrell Clarke
  • The Bermuda Orchid Society Tray for the best hybrid orchid – Elizabeth Adderley
  • The Bermuda Orchid Society Trophy for the best cut orchid – Kim White
  • The Bermuda Orchid Society Trophy for the best first bloom seedling – Elih Burns
  • The Ruth N. Holder Trophy for the best flowering species of either  Paphiopedilum, Phragmipedium or Cypripedium in show – Not awarded
  • The Department of Agriculture & Fisheries Trophy for the best collection of orchids – Gigi Johnson
  • The Richard & Antoinette Butz Trophy for the best Cattleya or Cattleya Alliance – Elizabeth Adderley
  • The Lorna Mercer Trophy for the best Oncidium – GiGi Johnson
  • The Bermuda Orchid Society Trophy for the best Phalaenopsis, species or hybrid – Patricia Black
  • The Peter Rego Award for the best Miniature Orchid (Species) – Steven Antonition
  • The William Pearman Trophy for the best Vanda – Steven Antonition
  • The Past President’s Trophy for the Best Dendrobium – Kim White 

May meeting


Talk of the Evening: Gardening for Butterflies

Dörte Horsfield delivered a very interesting PowerPoint presentation on butterflies and gardening to encourage butterfly populations in Bermuda. Bermuda is host to several varieties of butterflies and there are many different plants which can be cultivated to encourage each of them. The talk focused on the cultivation of these plants but also gave an inside into the fascinating biology of the Monarch butterfly with its remarkable migrations.

The talk culminated in a slideshow of the butterfly garden at Somersfield Academy which Dörte and Lisa Greene designed and which was constructed by Horsfield Landscape & Design Ltd. with help from the parents and students of Somersfield. The garden received the Michael Darling shield award from the National Trust in 2012.

June meeting


Annual Orchid Sale – Orchids from J&L Orchids

A total of 444 orchids from different genera were for sale. Prices ranged from $35 to $55 per plant.

Once again Cordelia form J&L orchids worked her magic. She really is a super and knowledgeable sales person! We might have thought we knew what we wanted but as she worked her way around, describing the orchids, giving culture tips etc, “wish lists” kept changing and we all wished we had bottomless pockets!

She had some general points for care of newly purchased orchids:
 As soon as you get home: take off the plastic bags and wrappings.
 While the plants have been kept dry to assist in transport, don’t immediately soak them. Rather give them a fine mist and let them dry out for a day before potting.
 Even orchids that like a lot of light have to be gradually broken in to Bermuda’s conditions. So with your new plants gradually move them so that eventually they get the full sun they require. If you put them straight into full sun they will get sunburnt!

Here are a few comments on cultivation of selected plants based on notes from the meeting:

HYBRIDS

Ascocenda Muang Thong – Fragrant. Grows like a Vanda

Brassavola David Sander – Fragrant. Bright light but do gradually

Bulbophyllum Wilbur Chang – 9” flower, blooms sequentially , lots of water, not a high light plant

Burrageara Nelly Isler – shade

Dendrobium Crystal Rose – long sprays, work into full sun

Dendrobium Doctor Judith –compact plant. Is deciduous, leave the bare canes but continue to feed. No rest period. Blooms often

Dendrobium Fire Wings – big flowers

Dendrobium Roy Tokunga – long last flowers. Blooms Spring and fall, Dry between

Epicattleya Middleburg – long lasting fragrant flowers. Compact plant. Gradually bring into bright light

Laeliocattleya Bonanza Queen x Liptonii – large, fragrant blooms. Compact plant. Dry between waterings

Laeliocattleya Mari - large, fragrant blooms. Compact plant.

Phalaenopsis Leopard Prince - lots of flowers

Phalaenopsis New Stripes – big, standard plant

Phalaenopsis Sin Yaun Golden Beauty x Su-An Cricket

Phalaenopsis Sin Yaun Golden Beauty – multi inflorescences

Phalaenopsis Sogo Yukidian – Beautiful trained spikes. Train spikes up and down. Don’t move. Feed all the time

Vanda Lourdes Apostal – Big yellow flowers. Water all the time

Vanda Pakchong Blue - Water

Vanda Ratchaburi Sirirattana – Large pink flowers. Water

SPECIES

Cattleya aclandiae – Not fast growers. Mount. They have a dry time in Winter. Even in moist places, dry times can be created by fans or winds.

Cattleya amethystoglossa – Big plants. Year or two before flowers. Sunny position 

Dendrobium woodsii – long lasting blooms

Laelia purpurata – Easy to grow. Will get big

Leptotes bicolor – Miniature. Small clay pot. Blooms Spring & Fall

Maxillaria tenuifolia – Coconut fragrance

Miltonia x bluntii – Fragrant. Basket or mount. Fairly bright

Neofinetia falcate – Blooms Summer. Traditional potted with Sphagnum moss in a mound with a hollow under the roots. Can be mounted. Do not overwater in Winter

Pleurothallis restrepiodes – Shade loving. Lots of moisture. Plant in pot. Blooms 3 to 4 times a year

Rhyncholaelia digbyana – Fragrant. Leaves waxy and can have silver look. Small tight pot. 

Cattleya mix

Sedira japonica – Very fragrant. Spring bloom. Grow like a Phal. 

July meeting


Greenhouse visit at the Antonitions. Steven first thanked some members (Gigi Johnson, Taran Card and Richard Lee) for their advice on building his own green house. Steven has a bit more work to do, and will be adding some shelves etc. The actual building took him about 2 months. The green house gets 3000-4000 btu light depending on the location in the green house. Steven used:

·      Recycled windows.

·      Cement board and pine lumber to construct the green house.

·      Phylum sheets for the roof-This allows 60% of the light to filter through.

Taran complimented the great bench tonight. Taran asked that it was very important for members to ensure that they leave the plant forms for Maureen to collect, as we are assembling the photos and data as a resource. This will tell us not only the names of the plants, but will provide us information on when the plants bloom and which plants bloom at certain times or more than once a year etc. 

 

September meeting


Collections exhibit for the Agricultural Exhibition

"Collections” as per the revised Exhibition catalogue is a collection of 3 or more plants mounted or potted. These plants are established and growing together. They can be any species, any colour. You should be able to mix species and hybrids.

If you plant more than 3 plants together, at least 3 must be flowering.

Steven and Taran worked on mounting their collections onto cedar roots and branches. Members asked questions throughout the demonstration. It was interesting to see how they used different mediums to secure the plants to the wood, sphagnum moss, size of project, where would you place them. 

 

October meeting 


Member Plant Sale

Following orchid society tradition; the October meeting was again dedicated to a member plant sale. Members brought plants for sale and donate 10% of the sale to the society. Many plants (orchids, succulents, fruit bearing plants and others) changed owners and are no (hopefully) thriving in new parts of the island. 

 

November AGM and meeting

Again, stunning plants from J&L were available to Orchid society members. The auction was lively, well supported and many members left with new additions to their collections. 

 

December Christmas Party

Society members enjoyed the festive season with a delicious potluck dinner at the Visitor Center. Raffle with fabulous prizes rounded off the evening after the presentation of the annual awards.