HBOS August 2019 Page 1

NEWS AND VIEWS August 2019

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ORCHIDS

No. 123 P.O. Box 26, Pialba Qld 4655

e- mail hbosinc1983@gmail.com

Web www.herveybayorchidsociety.com

GENERAL MEETINGS:

Our general meetings are held on the FIRST Monday of

the month unless otherwise notified. They are held in

the Presbyterian Church on the corner of Denman Camp

Road and Freshwater Street, Torquay. Doors open at

6:30pm for a 7:00pm start. Plants to be judged need

to be tabled by 6.45pm

The next General Meeting is on 2nd Sept. 2019.

COMMITTEE MEETINGS: Our committee meetings are usually held on the

FOURTH Monday of the month at the Presbyterian

Church with a 6.30 pm start (but not this month!)

Next committee meeting is 26th August at Giles’

place starting at 9.30am.

Guest Speaker for September is: Charlie McMonagle from the Sunshine Coast. Charlie

is a very knowledgeable and experienced grower and will

have plenty of good information to share.

Feature Plant for September 2019 meeting

is: Soft Cane Dendrobium

INTERESTED GROWERS MEETINGS: These

are informal gatherings offering cultural advice and

information exchange which are usually held on the

FOURTH Saturday of each month from 2pm.

The next one will be at Graham Sluce’s home at

2 Conservation Drive, Eli Waters on 24th August

2019.

Bring your hat and a chair and a plate to share.

COMING EVENTS: 6th – 7th September Childers Spring Show.

Plants to be benched on 5th Sept from midday.

Names to Carol Morgan by 2nd Sept.

14th -15th September STOCQ Orchidfest –

Rockhampton. Set up 13th. Names to Carol Morgan

by 9th Sept. Please consider contributing flowering

orchids for our display.

19th – 21st September Maryborough DOS Show

Set up 18th Sept. Names to Carol Morgan by 14th

Sept.

27th – 29th September Our Show!!! Set up 26th. ‘Thank you’ free bus trip Saturday 19th October for helpers at the show. More info next meeting.

An Orchid book library is available at the Church Hall for all members to use.

Please ensure books borrowed are signed out by our new librarian Jenny Bong. Check out the many books available

Den. Yukidaruma ‘King’

New Members, Lucky Door Prize and Competition Results

The lucky door prize winner for August was Bevan Neuendorf

The lucky competition winners were C. Walkom, I. Trace, T. Bade, P. Anderson, R. Elliott, J. Bowyer.

*Members must wear name badges to meetings to be eligible for the lucky door prize*

HBOS August 2019 Page 2

HBOS Inc. Executive and committee members elected for 2019

Patron Ted Sorrensen

President Giles Blaber giles.blaber@optusnet.com.au Vice President Daphne McKenna daphnemckenna@bigpond.com Secretary Ross Skyring rossskyring47@gmail.com Treasurer Tony Russell tkerussell2@bigpond.com Committee & Editor Terri Bade tbade@aapt.net.au Committee Darryl Coombes Leanne Coombes Carol Morgan

Committee Kay Russell Janine Blaber Jenny Bong Committee Thuy Dolkens Keith Lydiate

Committee & Assist Sec Barbara Neumann

Notes:

Anyone with flowering plants who would like to loan them to the Botanical Garden’s Orchid House please contact: Vicki Riley Phone 0448 001 759 or email vicky.riley@frasercoast.qld.gov.au

HERVEY BAY BOTANIC GARDENS AND ORCHID HOUSE

Activities and events for September 2019

HBOS Shirts are available from Tony Russell Ph. 0412 989 004

*Note All events may be subject to postponement or cancellation at short notice. Admission is $3 which includes entry to the ‘Orchid House’ and Tea/Coffee

No activities until further notice due to refurbishment works at the Orchid House

Rockhampton Orchid Society will host the

2019 STOCQ Conference & Show

14th and 15th September 2019

To be held at KORTE'S RESORT

984 Yaamba Rd, Parkhurst Qld.

For registration information, form & show schedule visit

www.rockhamptonorchidsociety.com.au

To book accommodation at the Resort contact Korte's Resort direct on (07) 4936 3153,

mention you are with the Orchid Conference to receive a special discounted rate but I believe they

may be at capacity. Plenty of other accommodation available around Parkhurst.

It is really important that we support this show as it takes a huge amount of time and effort by the

organising committee to put it all together and a resounding success will ensure other Orchid Societies

put their hand up to run similar events in the future.

!! Make plans now!!

Support our STOCQ

initiative.

It will be a good

weekend!

HBOS August 2019 Page 3

INTERMEDIATE:

←1st Rlc. Brunswick Surprise S. Pidgeon

2nd Cym. Sarah Jean C. Morgan 3rd Phal. Hamana Mood x Hamana Egret C. Morgan

SPECIES:

1st Epi. stanfordianum D. McKenna →

2nd Paph. wardii T&C Bade 3rd Paph. venustum T&C Bade

OPEN:

1st Rlc. Fuchs Orange Nugget D. Mc Kenna → 2nd Rlc. Goldenzelle R. Skyring 3rd ( No 3rd place)

JUDGING RESULTS - POPULAR VOTE

NOVICE:

1st Mps. Breathless ‘Beauty’ A. Walker→

2nd Den. (unknown) H. Williams 3rd Phal. (unknown) A. Walker

:M MASTERS:

←1st Paph. (Hamana Curet x Green Gem)

R. Colbran

2nd Phal. K V Isadora N. Smith

3rd Paph. (Raven x Nettie McNay) T. Bade

HBOS August 2019 Page 4

Hervey Bay Orchid Society 2019 Spring Show Theme - “In a Tea Garden”.

27th – 29th September 2019

Xavier Catholic College

Wide Bay Drive, Eli Waters.

Rosters are now available for members to indicate their preferred time slot

to volunteer and support our Spring Show.

Rosters will be available at our Monthly Meetings.

Nam, Malaysia and into the Philippines. Ry.

AUSTRALIAN NATIVE:

1st Den. speciosum R. Colbran → 2nd Den. Hilda Poxon D&L Coombes 3rd Den. (Regal Gillieston x Jesmond Sparkler) G&J Blaber

JUDGING RESULTS - JUDGES CHOICE

NOVICE: Mps. Breathless ‘Beauty’ 69 points A. Walker

INTERMEDIATE: Rlc. Brunswick Surprise ‘ Simon’ 73 points S. Pidgeon

OPEN: Den. Angel Baby ‘Green Ai’ 70 points G&J Blaber

MASTERS: Phal. K V Isadora 71points N. Smith

SPECIES: Paph. venustum 70 points T&C Bade

AUST. NATIVE: Den. Hilda Poxon 70 points D&L Coombes

FEATURE PLANT: Den. Hilda Poxon 70 points D&L Coombes

(Australian Native)

Den. Hilda Poxon

Phal. K V Isadora

Den. Angel Baby ‘Green Ai’

HBOS August 2019 Page 5

Guest speaker for the August meeting was Alan Logan.

Alan is very knowledgeable in relation to local Native Orchid species and gave an interesting talk on his conservation work and encouraged all members to be conservationists when it comes to protecting local species. It might be tempting to take a few plants from the bush but they will rarely do well in cultivation and much better forms are often available for a few dollars from reputable nurseries. Note that all native orchids are protected species and it is illegal to collect them without a permit.

There is something special about seeing a native orchid thriving and flowering in the wild. Many are in flower now! Some of the local species you might come across on the Fraser Coast are shown below.

Cymbidium canaliculatum – This species has a wide distribution

throughout northern NSW, QLD and WA with many different

colour variations but the form that is found most often in the local

area has a yellow/green background with brown/red splotches.

They are usually seen quite high up in the fork or hollow of large

trees and are reasonably common in the shoreline Cypress Pine

trees on the Fraser Coast as well as in Eucalypts. Forms in north

western Queensland can be very dark red and almost black. That is

the form that has been used extensively in hybridizing to produce

hybrids such as Cym. Australian Midnight , Cym. Little Black Sambo,

Cym. Pied Piper, etc.

The specific epithet ‘canaliculatum’ refers to the deep channel

shape of the leaves which are designed to catch any scarce water

resources from dew and light showers and channel them toward

the roots. This species can withstand extended periods of drought

with fibrous bulbs and thick leathery leaves to store water, and

roots deep into hollows and cracks in the tree trunks. They are

easily killed by overwatering in a normal greenhouse situation.

There are two other species of Cymbidium on the Fraser Coast,

which can be distinguished by much longer and ‘grass like’ leaves.

These are Cym. madidum and Cym. suave. Again, growing high up

in Eucalypt trees it can be difficult to see the flowers which are a

pale green/yellow in both species. Cym. madidum (left) has a more

compact plant shape with large bulbs while Cym. suave (below

left)has more open growths and thinner leaves. These are the only

native Cymbidium species in Australia and we are fortunate to have

all three growing in our area.

There are several Dendrobiums that grow locally including Den.

tetragonum (tree spider orchid), Den. aemulum (ironbark orchid),

Den.bowmanii (pencil orchid), Den. linguiforme (tongue orchid).

Den.tetragonum can be recognised by the four sided pseudobulbs.

It grows often close to rivers and streams but can be found in many

‘moist’ locations. There are clusters of greenish/white flowers ,

usually splotched with brown/red, terminally on the pseudobulbs

at this time of the year. It has been used widely in hybridizing for

it’s prolific flowering and interesting shape which it often imparts

to it’s offspring. Den. Hilda Poxon is an example of this.

Den. aemulum does not only occur on ironbark trees and is

common on the Hoop pine at Central Station on Fraser Island as

well as many other areas. It has clusters of small white flowers.

Above &below: Cym. canaliculatum

HBOS August 2019 Page 6

As well as the epiphytic species, there are quite a few terrestrial orchids on the Fraser Coast. These are particularly common in wallum ecosystems between Woodgate and Noosa and on Fraser Island. There is the Christmas Orchid (Calanthe triplicata) which, as the name suggests, flowers around Christmas time. Evidently, the first successful hybrid orchid ever flowered was a cross of Calanthe triplicate x Cal. sylvatica which was named Cal. Dominyi after the hybridiser John Dominy, the head grower for an English orchid firm called Veitch & Sons in the 1850’s. There are several Caladenia species as well as the Wallum Sun Orchid (Thelymitra purpurata) which grows amongst the grasses and sedges of wallum heathland. Somewhat smaller are the Greenhoods (Pterostylis species) that grow in similar habitats. All of these terrestrial species have very specific symbiotic relationships with particular fungi in the soil, or have specific dormancy requirements, and usually do not do well in cultivation so it is important to leave them in their natural environment and enjoy them there. Even smaller still are the unusual little Corybas species, the Helmet Orchids. These small orchids flower from a single leaf growth above the ground. They are found in amongst the leaf litter, again in coastal heathland. They often flower well after some disturbance such as a previous bushfire. It always amazes me that there is such variety of size and form of orchids, and many great examples can be seen on the Fraser Coast if you know what to look for and just keep your eyes open! *Photos from various sources including Orchidwiz. *******************************************

Den. tetragonum

Den. bowmanii Den. aemulum Den. linguiforme

Thelymitra purpurata Calanthe triplicata Caladenia alata Pterostylis baptistii

Corybas barbarae

Corybas aconitiflorus

HBOS August 2019 Page 7

************************************************************************************************************************************

HBOS Inc. has a presence on Facebook. If you are into Facebook then go

to the search bar and type in ‘Hervey Bay Orchid Society’ to bring up the

page, and join the discussions. Julie Arthur is the Administrator for this

site, with the assistance of Carol Jenkins.

Getting to meetings! If you would like to attend the Monday evening general meetings but are unable to get there because you don’t have transport please let one of the committee members know and we might be able to organise that.

(*Notes from Flora) Our August IGG was a beautiful sunny afternoon enjoyed at Tom and Tao Bagnall’s place.

We highlighted some orchids that we don’t normally see at our meetings Max. schunkeana, Den. uniflorum, Bulb orientale (and it didn’t smell!). We also talked about the different intergeneric Oncidiums and their care.

Bevan showed us a couple of his orchids that had improved since he changed his potting mix, which led to a discussion on the best types of mix. It was noted that the roots should be the only part of the plant in the mix, and the plant should fit snugly in the right size pot to allow for one or two years growth. Burying the growing eyes can cause them to rot out, and a large pot may hold too much water in the mix and cause the roots to rot.

Agnes Water Show Display (by Giles) We were challenged by lack of numbers at Agnes Waters. Our display was not our best effort, and we came 4th (out of 4!). Terri did extremely well, with four 1st prizes, three 2nd prizes and three 3rd prizes. He won Class Champion and Reserve Class Champion for Paphs, and those winners also became Grand Champion and Reserve Champion of the Show. The Grand Champion was awarded a HCC on the night. Other people getting a 1st prize were Giles Blaber, Les Napper and Stephanie Miller (Well done Steph!). Other people getting a 2nd prize were Les Napper, Stan Pidgeon and Carol Morgan. Other people getting a 3rd prize were Les Napper and Stan Pidgeon.

HBOS August 2019 Page 8

Sender: Hervey Bay Orchid Society, PO Box 26, Pialba QLD 4655