Pollenatrix

Phrag. Kovachii sites in Peru destroyed

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. "

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.

Invicible 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

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?

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 ?