New Judging Registrar
At the judges meeting on the 6th November Ern Kettle stepped down as the Judges Registrar, a job he has done for 20 years. Glenda Coutts was elected to replace him and Ern has agreed to be one of the assitant registrars so he is not going away too far. This will necessitate a couple of minor changes to the OSCOV executive but most will see little change and these changes will be ratified at the next OSCOV executive meeting.
Photograph Gallery Updated
I have updated the phograph with some more photos as well as renaming all the orchids to fit in with the current RHS naming - in particular with the Oncidinae alliance. These changes may cause problems in the future and OSCOV is looking at advice for our societies.
Melbourne Orchid Spectacular
The show was judged on the 25th August and champions and Class Winners can now be found on this site. I must congradulate Gippsland Orchid Club on winning the Champion Display and Castle Creek Orchids for winning Champion Orchid. Some photograhs of the show have been posted now. On Saturday 27th August we held our annual dinner. OSCOV was formed in April 1992 making this our 20th year. During that whole time Ern Kettle has been our Registrar of Judges. On Saturday night after some well chosen words from Clive Halls Ern was presented with a gold John Pascoe Fawkner medal from the Royal Horticultural Society of Victoria for services to horticulture. He is the only person in Orchids to have received such an honour. As well as this we presented the winners of Orchids of the Year with their framed prints. Overall the show was a great success in terms of spirt and enjoyment and the display. The finiancial situation will take us longer to work out.
20th World Orchid Conference
This will be held in Singapore between the 13th and 20th of November 2011. I know quite a few Victorians will be attending as it is rare to get this event so close to Melbourne. For more information you can follow this link.
Photograph Gallery Upgraded
The Photo Gallery has just been upgraded and now contains almost 1500 photographs of largely awarded orchids. Also dont forget the over 130 Articles on Orchids - These can be copied by anybody as long as the source is given.
Victorian Country Clubs Challenge - 2011
This event was held over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of July in Kerang. Congratulations have to go to the Mid Murray Orchid Society on holding such an enjoyable and successful weekend. Next year it will be held in Warnambool. Results can be found on this link.
Melbourne Orchid Spectacular & International Orchid Fair
August 26th - 28th
Planning is well underway to again present a most successful show. It is the largest annual show and sales event held in Australia. We hope to continue the success of past years and if anyone needs any help please contact a member of the executive. As part of the fair a number of flasks are coming in from Taiwan and being co-ordinated by Easy Orchids. The list can be found on this link and it is advisable that you order prior to the show if you want anything special.
Victorian Orchids of the Year - 2011
At the recent delegates meeting it was decided to make a small change to Orchids of the Year for 2011. The Victorian Culture Certificate of the Year will be split into two sections. Victorian Cultured Species Orchid of the Year and Victorian Cultured Hybrid Orchid of the Year. The Gunter Haar Award will go to the best orchid out of these two sections. By removing the need to obtain a Culture Certificate in the current year means that growers can submit orchids that did not receive a cuture certificate in the current year. This is often because the orchid already has a Culture Certificate or was shown at a society without judges or sufficient judges to award it.
Normal requirements for entry into the Victorian orchids of the year apply:
1) The photos must digital images of the plant flowering in that year and not be altered in any way.
2) The plant must have been judged by the OSCOV Judges or exhibited at a Society that does not have judging.
3) The orchid cannot have previously won that catagory unless it has received a higher award that year.
4) If it is a hybrid it must be a registered cross
All awarded plants are automatically entered. The entries can be submitted in the same way as growers have for non awarded orchids in the past. That is by sending the photographs (high resolution and unaltered) to the Awards Secretary. It is worth noting that this was how the Victorian Species of the Year was submitted as it was not awarded last year (it had been awarded in previously). So photograph those good plands and submit them.
The form for entering an orchid (awarded plants are automatically entered) can be found here.
Victorian Orchid of the Year - 2010
Victorian Orchids of the Year 2010 was judged today (13th February 2011). Full details of all winners can be found following this link. Congradulations must go to David Wain for winning Victorian Cymbidium of the Year - 2010 and Victorian Orchid of the Year 2010 with his Cymbidium Drouin Masterpiece 'Renae' HCC/OSCOV. Congradulations also must go to Marita Anderson and Chris Waterman for willing the Victorian Cultural Certificate of the Year - 2010 and the Gunter Haar Award with their Masdevallia Night Shade 'Peaches and Cream' CC/OSCOV. This competion is open to all orchids seen by an OSCOV judging panel or seen at an OSCOV society that does not have judging at its meetings. Although many of the orchids were awarded others were submitted by their owners and the Victorian Species Orchid of the Year 2010 was not awarded last year (it had been earlier).
Melbourne Orchid Spectacular - 2011
August 26th - 28th
Planning is now underway for this years show with the setup on Wednesday 24th August and judging on Thursday 25th August and the show open to the public from Friday 26th August until Sunday the 28th August. It will again incorporate the Victorian International Orchid Fair. More details will be published as details are finalised.
Vale - Rex Johnson
It was with great sadness that we heard of the pasing of Rex Johnson. He lived in Tasmania but made many trips to Melbourne and a regular participant in the Melbourne Orchid Spectacular. He was a member of the OSCOV Judging Panel as well as an AOC judge in Tasmania. He has entertained us at Country Club Challenges and OSCOV dinners as well as being an informative speaker on orchids. He was repected by all that knew him and will be sadly missed.
Below is the vale that appeared in the NEMOS newsletter. Rex was also a member and supporter of a number of other Victorian Orchid Societies.
REX JOHNSON (1940-2011)
Our well known Tasmanian member, Rex Johnson, died on 11 January after battling cancer for the last two years. Rex and his wife Lyn joined NEMOS in 1998 and managed to attend at least one of our meetings each year. Both Rex and Lyn were orchid judges, belonging to the Australian Orchid Council panel and also to the Orchid Societies Council of Victoria’s panel. They came to Victoria to judge at the OSCOV show at Keysborough each August, and displayed their orchids either on the NEMOS display or on their own personal (Tasmanian) display.
Rex and Lyn had a large, diverse collection of orchids at their property in Underwood, a small country town near Launceston. Together they won many prizes for their orchids, despite the severe frosts that Underwood experiences each winter. Rex was an informative entertaining speaker on a variety of topics – he gave talks on Tasmanian native orchids, horse manure and sphagnum moss, orchid pests and fertilisers at NEMOS. Rex was at one time a firm believer in the merits of horse manure as a potting medium for cymbidiums but gave it up when the weeds (that he used to call companion plants) beat him!
Rex was also an entertaining after-dinner speaker, and I vividly remember the occasion at the OSCOV dinner some years ago when he entered the hall apparently riding an emu! He also wrote informative articles on a wide range of orchid topics. Some appeared in this newsletter and others in various volumes of OSCOV’s Orchids in Victoria series of booklets.
Rex will be sadly missed by all who knew him. We offer our sympathy to his wife Lyn, their three children and eight grandchildren.
Brian Milligan
Vale - Vic Pearce
1925 - 2010
It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of Vic Pearce. He was one of the founders of OSCOV, a great and knowledgeable orchid grower and a gentleman. He was awarded an FCC for his Paphiopedilum micranthum 'Gowrie' in 2003 which also won Orchid of the Year for 2003. He was a commitee member of and involved in a number of societies and was President of Southern Suburbs Orchid Society. He was fundamental in the setting up of OSCOV. The first meeting that lead to the formation of OSCOV was held in his house and he went on to be a foundation Vice President. It was Vic that organised insurances to give cheap insurance to all OSCOV societies. I personally have attended many meetings in his house. He was respected by all and will be sadly missed.
Stephen Early
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