This was our AGM with Chris and Marian Stephens giving a talk together with photos on ‘Bees, Honey & Flowers’. This was very interesting and they brought some of their honey to sell. They did not want a fee but we gave a donation to the Green Leaf Trust which helps young people with mental health problems and who work with Chris and Marian with the bees as well as helping to maintain the surrounding area and learning about conservation.
Tony Tweed won the ‘Novices’ table with his Thunia Gattonensis, and David Kohn won the ‘Winners’ table with his Laelia tenebrosa.
The International Orchid Show at BBC Gardeners’ World was also in June where we were invited by the BOC to put a small display on their stand. Andy took our orchids and set out the stand whilst Bill followed to help him man the stand during the show. When it came to the judging (all classes are amateur, not trade) our exhibits did exceptionally well:
In the Dendrobium class Bill won a 1st for his Dendrobium unicum – much admired for its vivid colours. He got 3 ‘Highly Commended’ awards for his Dendrobium cuthbertsonii hybrids and 1 for his Anguloa Blanche Pierre.
Andy received a 1st with his Bulbophyllum eberhardtii, which also was voted Best Amateur Species in the show, as well as a 2nd with his Coelogyne nitida. In the Pleurothallidinae class he got a 1st with his Scaphosepalum verrucosum (for those of you who remember Bill Haldane, this orchid was one of his and has been in flower ever since). In the Masdevallia class he won a 2nd with his Masdevallia Pat Akehurst. AND as if that wasn’t enough, the cream of it all was when Andy was asked to put the Bulbophyllum in front of the RHS orchid judging committee and received a Certificate of Cultural Commendation.
Didn’t they do well! And as Andy says, the only problem now is that little old Suffolk Orchid Society has a lot to live up to! (Reports by Carol Tweed).
Here’s a video that Andy took of our GWL stand:
