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THE GROWER ON CALL FOR JANUARY
IS WILLIE STIMMELL, 947-8479e-mail:
wilellas@worldnet.att.net
Growers with Internet access are
encouraged to use the Questions and Answers link on
OSA’s web site. The URL for our web site is:
http://welcome.to/orchidsocietyaz
NEXT OSA BOARD MEETING: The next
scheduled Board Meeting will be Sunday, January 3rd
@ 1:00 PM at the home of Catherine Nelson, 7024 N.
28th Drive in Phoenix. 864-6919
Directions from the intersection
of Glendale Ave. and the I17 Freeway - Travel west
on Glendale Ave. past the I17 Freeway. Turn north
(right) on 28th Drive, which is the gated entrance
of Golden Keys Central. At the electronic key pad
enter 092 (which will automatically call the house)
and I will let you in. My home is located on the
2nd cul de sac, along the west (left) side of 28th
Drive, after entering into the complex. Parking is
available around the park area which is just
straight ahead of the entrance. [Reference map on
page 8 — ed]
NEXT OSA SOCIETY MEETING: The
next regular society monthly meeting will be
Thursday, January 7th , held at the Valley Garden
Center, 1809 N. 15th Ave., Phoenix, Arizona, (phone
252-2120). The meeting, open to all plant
enthusiasts, will start at 7:00 p.m.
Refreshments will be provided
by: Janet Jurn, Joe Freasier, Wayne Baker, and
Sally Graff
JANUARY PROGRAM
I hope you all had a wonderful
holiday season. I also want to thank everyone who
participated in, and prospered by winning bids on
the vast inventory we had at our December’s holiday
auction. It was a very late night for all of us,
however all who were in attendance enjoyed
themselves immensely and took home some great
plants and orchid related items. Now that 1999 has
officially begun, and our membership has grown,
this is the time to review some of the basics of
orchid culture. The focus at the January meeting
will be on the four basics; temperature, light,
water, and air circulation. We will be discussing
the differences between cool, intermediate, and
warm growers and speaking a bit about diurnal
temperature. We will touch base on fertilization of
our plants, their resting requirements, water
quality, etc. We will have available the microscope
to check for pests, and the water meter to test for
the hardness of your water. BRING SUSPECT PLANTS
(OR LEAVES) AND WATER SAMPLE FOR
INSPECTION/ANALYSIS. I would like to make this a
interactive “workshop” of sorts, filled with
questions and answers, little demonstrations, and a
“clearing house” for thoughts on how we can improve
on what orchid growing skills we have. I know this
will be of benefit to our new growers. Those of us
who have grown orchids for awhile – it is our
opportunity to encourage and be a positive
influence to our newer members. We all started out
with little knowledge of orchid care
once upon a time! Reviewing
basics of orchid care on an annual basis helps me
to remember that it is not difficult to take care
of these mysterious plants. By following simple
rules, and making minor adjustments to fit your
growing environment, you and I can successfully
enjoy the beauty of the orchid. Plan on attending
January’s meeting (01/07/99) and come prepared with
questions you may have, samples of water or plants
you want inspected, or bring your wealth of
knowledge to help with the presentation. At the
meeting, I would like you to take a minute and
speak with me about presentations YOU would like to
see at our meetings. Speakers we obtain have their
own expertise and prepared material when they
arrive; however our “in-house” programs can be
designed to the fit the needs and desires of our
membership. To accomplish this, your input is
important and necessary!
Lou Ann Remeikis 1st Vice
President
P/S – Did anyone happen to find
themselves in possession of an extra pair of
florescent light tubes? It seems one of our members
won a bid on a pair of florescent tubes, and
when she went to load her
vehicle with the “winnings” from the night, the
light tubes were missing. There was such confusion
that evening, and I know everyone was trying to
remember to collect everything they had brought AND
bought, and may have accidentally grabbed a long
box which held these light tubes. If you find you
have them, please get them back to one of the Board
Members and we can ensure they get to the rightful
owner. Thank you! Lou Ann
[Regarding Card Program
Referenced on page 6-ed]
<!This page was created May,
1997 by Sherry Leath for St. Jude's Ranch for
Children, Boulder City, NV Last updated on August
6,
Born Again CardTM Recycling
Program
Thirty years ago, Father Ward,
wanting to show our donors his appreciation for
making St. Jude's Ranch for Children possible and
having no money to buy gifts, came up with the idea
of turning the previous year's Christmas Cards into
Christmas ornaments. Father and the children worked
diligently at recycling the cards. The recipients
were so delighted with their recycled cards that
they asked Father and the children to recycle more
cards, but, this time, the donors wanted to buy the
cards. St. Jude's Born Again CardTM Recycling
Program was born.
People from all over the world
send us their used card fronts. The children
precision trim the cards and glue them onto pre
printed card backs which are then sold to the
public through our newsletter, Gift Shop or by word
of mouth. Each child is paid fifteen cents for each
card that he or she makes. This money is divided
between spending money, savings, and the Cottage
Fund (for special group outings).
As part of St. Jude's commitment
to break the vicious welfare cycle and to teach the
children to learn to earn, we have expanded the
recycling program to include Christmas,
Thanksgiving, Mother's Day, Easter and other
special occasion cards, as well as all occasion
greeting cards, postcards, Christmas ornaments or
just about anything else you can think of that
starts with a used greeting card front. Our most
popular requests are for angel and teddy bear
cards. Custom orders with special printing, fancy
cards, gold trim, etc., are also available.
Please send your used card
fronts that can be attractively trimmed to fit our
5"x7" card backs, and that do not have writing on
the back of the card, to:St. Jude's Ranch for
Children 100 St. Jude's Street Boulder City, NV
89005 1618
If you would like to purchase
Born Again CardsTM, please send $6.50 per package
of 10 (along with the type of cards you wish to
purchase) to:St. Jude's Ranch for Children P.O. Box
60100 Boulder City, NV 89006 0100
Call 1 800 492 3562 to order
your cards using your Master Card or Visa, or for
special orders.
Thank you for helping the
abused, abandoned and neglected youngsters at St.
Jude's Ranch for Children. We do not depend upon
funding from government entities. Without You, we
could not exist.
Web Site
THANKS TO BUSINESS DONORS!
OSA's annual December major
fund-raising auction featured items generously
donated by the following businesses, listed in
alphabetical order:
Baker Nursery
3141 N. 40th St.
Phoenix, Az.
Carter and Holmes Orchids
P.O. Box 668
629 Mendenhall Road
Newberry, SC
Donald Hahn
Natural History Books
P.O. Box 1004
Cottonwood, Az.
Gubler Orchids
P.O. Box 3100
Landers, Ca.
Lights, Etc.
4510 N. 16th St.
Phoenix, Az.
Stewart Orchids
3376 Foothill Rd.
Carpenteria, Ca.
By generously donating items for
our December 3, 1998, auction, the owners of these
businesses have demonstrated their support of our
community service agenda. (The first four
businesses on the list have previously donated
items for our fund-raising auctions!)
In the true spirit of the
holiday season, several non-OSA members who could
not attend our auction, nonetheless donated plants.
Thanks to Carole and Al Davis, and Rich and Sherri
Sporski. Your donations were greatly
appreciated!
1999 COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM
SCHEDULE
January 4, at 10:30 a.m., OSA
will present a program for the Desert Pointe Garden
Club in Ahwatukee.
January 27, OSA will present
THREE programs for 45 students at Fuller Elementary
School, 1975 E. Cornell Dr., Tempe. The first
program will begin at 9 a.m., and the last program
will finish at 11:30 a.m. We are pleased to have
been invited to participate in Imagination
Celebration Day at Fuller School. OSA will furnish
phalaenopsis seedlings and all potting supplies
used during the programs, but we also need CLEAN,
EMPTY MILK JUGS which we will fashion into
mini-greenhouses. PLEASE BRING YOUR DONATIONS OF
JUGS TO OUR JANUARY 7 MEETING!!
February 26, OSA will
participate in the 2nd Annual Youth Gardening
Conference, which is co-sponsored by: University of
Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County
Master Gardener Volunteers, The Desert Botanical
Garden, Arizona Community Action Association,
Gardens for Humanity, Mendoza Elementary School,
and others. Many of the members of our audience
will be teachers who want to see how we present our
programs in classrooms. Our workshops will be
featured in the "Get Growing" track at The Farm
Institute at South Mountain. In early February,
when the number of registrants for the conference
is known, we will be notified of the exact
time-slots for our workshops on the 26th. We know
at this point only that our three one-hour sessions
will be scheduled between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Maricopa County Master Gardener and Conference
Planner, Leslie Honaker, stated that our workshops
will be a "fantastic" addition to the conference.
March 12, OSA will present a
hands-on program for the Washington Garden Club at
the Valley Garden Center, at 10 a.m.
If past is prologue, OSA members
know that as soon as this schedule is printed, it
will be outdated by new programs added to the
schedule.
Any OSA member is welcome to
make contact with other groups that might benefit
from our free programs.
Simply ask the contact person
for the group to telephone our Community Service
Program Coordinator, Wilella Stimmell, at 947-8479.
The sooner a program can be scheduled, the better.
We limit our community service programs to two per
month because these presentations are in addition
to all our various other activities.
Wilella Stimmell, CSP
Coordinator.
Abbreviations on Plant Tags:
It is common practice for
hybridizers to abbreviate generic names on plant
tags. Standard abbreviations for all generic names
are listed alphabetically in each volume of
SANDER'S LIST OF ORCHID HYBRIDS, published by The
Royal Horticultural Society. (The RHS is the
International Registration Authority for Orchid
Hybrids. ) Not being able to identify the genera
involved in an abbreviated name, is not necessarily
an indication that you are a "novice" grower.
"Seasoned" orchid growers with many years of
growing experience are often as mystified by
an
abbreviation on a plant tag as
is a novice grower. Test your knowledge of the
plants in YOUR collection. Check the names on the
plant tags. Do you know the meaning of the
following abbreviations on plants that were either
featured on our monthly display tables and/or sold
by OSA
during 1998: (To get you
started, the generic plant name of the first
abbreviation and the parentage are given. The
remaining abbreviations are identified elsewhere in
this newsletter. No fair cheating!)
Bllra. = Beallara = Brassia x
Cochlioda x Miltonia x Odontoglossum Odbrs.
Burr. Odcdm.
Dial. Odtna.
Low. Pot.
Mkra. Vuyl.
Mtssa. Wils.
Oda. Yam.
Assuming that you bought one of
the above plants in bud or bloom because the color
and/or form of the flowers appealed to you, then it
would be reasonable to assume that you bought the
plant in hopes that YOU could bring the plant into
bloom during its next bloom cycle. If you don't
know which genera were used in making the hybrid,
it is unlikely that you will be able to provide the
cultural
requirements of the plant
unless...you are extremely lucky!
Improving on Mother Nature: The
Use of Colchicine to Change Chromosome Distribution
by Wilella Stimmell
Colchicine is a very poisonous
alkaloid extracted from the bulb of Colchicum
autumnale. Since about 1940, hybridizers have used
colchicine to induce polyploidy (doubling of
chromosomes). In general, the objectives in
treating orchids (and other plants) with colchicine
are to intensify color, to increase size of blooms
and/or plants, to increase vigor of the plants, and
to overcome sterility barriers.
Several newer OSA members
observed that various cattleyas for sale at our
November show and cattleyas purchased for our
December auction had "fatter" leaves than they had
previously noted. While the "fat" leaves are not
necessarily proof that the plants had been treated
with colchicine, the observation at least indicated
that many of our growers might not be aware of the
use by hybridizers of this chemical.
In 1947, the "hot topic" in
several issues of the AMERICAN ORCHID SOCIETY
BULLETIN, was the use of colchicine, which was then
still considered "experimental". The first article
to appear in Vol. 16 that year was "Colchicine, Who
Knows?" (pages 82-83), written by Rodney Wilcox
Jones, President of the American Orchid Society. A
more detailed and scientific approach "The Use of
Colchicine to Produce New Plant Varieties" was
presented by H.M. Butterfield, specialist in
Agricultural Extension. The results covered by Mr.
Butterfield were part of the Co-operative Extension
work at the University of California, College of
Agriculture, in cooperation with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. The third article
devoted to the topic was "Some Effects of
Colchicine on Orchids", written by Raymond MacLeod,
University of Connecticut. His conclusions
regarding the effects of the alkaloid on cattleya
and laelia seedlings were: "With laelias the effect
was immediate and larger blossoms were produced.
The seed from these blossoms may produce some
polyploid plants with blossoms similar to their
parents as well as normal plants. The benefits of
treating cattleya seedlings are many, not only does
the maturing of the plant seem to be shortened, but
various novel, and some not too novel mutations
arise, and lastly increasing of the flower size may
result in some of the plants."
Fast forward nearly 40 years. In
December, 1985, the article "Polyploidy in Orchid
Improvement" appeared in that issue of the AOS
BULLETIN. The author, R.J. Griesbach, employed at
the Florist & Nursery Crops Laboratory, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, noted that "the most
reliable method for producing polyploids is through
chemical treatment". He further states: "The
judicious use of polyploidy in breeding can result
in substantial improvements in flower quality, and
its use to break down sterility barriers enormously
enhances the hybridization potential of orchids.
Lines of breeding which were totally blocked by
infertility now can be opened."
While it is true that colchicine
has often been used to induce polyploidy, it is
also true that some hybridizers use the term
"tetraploid" and "4n" (terms most hobbyists
associate with polyploidy) as a selling point for
their plants. The ONLY PROOF that a plant is a
polyploid is by a chromosome count. A vigorous
plant that had been treated with colchicine, is not
a polyploid because it "looks" like it is!
FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
MY COMMITMENT TO OSA
I am extremely honored to serve
as OSA’s President for the 1999 calendar year. I
have already received such an overwhelming amount
of support and help from many of you, my OSA
friends.
I am committed to the goals of
OSA through continued community service programs
and encouraging new friends, both youthful and
mature, to become OSA members and experience the
genuine satisfaction of growing orchids.
Your help, advice and
suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Please
feel free to call me at home (864 6919) or email me
(katorchid@worldnet.att.net) with any concern,
comment or question. (My employer, Maricopa County
Assessor’s Office, has requested that my incoming
OSA emergency phone calls be kept to a
minimum.)
THE CHRISTMAS MEETING AND
AUCTION held on December 3rd proved to be the most
successful and lucrative in OSA’s history! Our
Orchid Event Buyer, Wilella Stimmell, did a
fantastic job in acquiring so many different orchid
species and hybrids from various growers
specifically for our December Auction. Most of the
plants were either in bloom or bud, which
encouraged many of the bidders to up the ante in
order to procure their favorites.
Special recognition is awarded
to our plant sitters, Keith Mead, Norma Kafer and
Pete & Jane Heckel for caring for the auction
plants.
Our auctioneers, Joe Civello and
Joe Freasier, did an excellent job in describing
each plant and item, as it appeared on the auction
block, in detail and with great humor. Their
special skills will quickly gain them universal
recognition as: Professional Orchid Auctioneers.
(Special thanks to Joe Freasier, who had been ill
with a bug just 2 days prior to the meeting.)
The Smorgasbord table was filled
to capacity with many
different types of goodies . OSA
members, have again, showed their culinary talents
in providing the wonderful array of dishes, as well
as keeping up the strength of many hungry orchid
bidders.
We had 5 new members join at the
meeting a total of 7 for the month of December
(they will be introduced in the New Member
Section).
ST JUDE’S RECYCLED CARD PROGRAM
OSA’s Recycled Card Coordinator
for the St Jude’s Ranch for Abused Children will be
Norma Kafer. A collection box and information sheet
will be available at the January 7th meeting. (The
website address is: www.stjudesranch.org/) . Please
help continue this worthwhile project (which was
started by our late, dear Bernice Ehrlich) by
saving your old greeting card front covers (from
any holiday or occasion) which will be collected
and sent to St Jude periodically throughout the
year. [Reference page 2 for detailed information on
the card program — ed]
OSA LIBRARY
Our 1999 Librarian will be
Kathleen Luther. Make it a goal for 1999 to check
out an OSA Library book. Contact Kathleen prior to
the meeting to reserve a book selection or visit
the OSA Library during the next meeting to inspect
the large resource library. (Consult your member
packet for a list of titles and authors)
REFRESHMENT SIGN UP LIST
For the 5th year in a row, Janet
Jurn has agreed to continue as our Refreshment
Chairperson.
She has prepared a sign up sheet
for the snacks and beverages during 1999 meetings.
This list will be circulated at the meetings, until
it is completely filled. I encourage everyone to
take a turn in providing some type of refreshment
or to test out a new goodie recipe on some willing
OSA guinea pigs. If you are not able to attend the
January 7th meeting, please contact Janet to
reserve a space on the sign up sheet for the 1999
meetings.
THANK YOU’S GO TO KEITH
MEAD
A huge debt of gratitude goes to
our number one bean counter/Treasurer, Keith Mead.
He has saved OSA $1000’s in 1998 by personally
running copies of OSA’s monthly newsletter (from
April through December), as well as providing
copies of culture sheets for distribution to the
public at our various events.
He has also devoted a large
chunk of his time in copying, collating, stapling,
folding, labeling, stamping, and mailing the
newsletters. Let’s all thank Keith for job well
done!
SPONSOR AN UPCOMING NEWSLETTER
FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION OR LOVED ONE
This is a great way of informing
all your OSA friends of a special event (a
birthday, anniversary, engagement) or any other
reason to celebrate. Inquiries on how you can
sponsor a future OSA newsletter can be made by
contacting Keith Mead or Ken Gettys.
OSA’S HOSTESS FOR 1999
Ann Cherny will be returning
this year as hostess. She will also be in charge of
the new member services.
UPCOMING EVENTS
February 12-14 - Chinese Week
Cultural Festival Chinese Cultural Center , 668 N.
44th St., Phx.
March 13 - Spring Garden Fair, U
of A Cooperative Extension , 4341 E. Broadway Rd.,
Phx.
March 28 - Valley Garden Center
Spring Festival* 1809 N. 15th Ave., Phx.
*(tentative)
April 2 & 3 - HomeBase, 9890
N. 90th St., Scottsdale
November 13 & 14 - ANNUAL
ORCHID SHOW & SALE Valley Garden Center, 1809
N. 15th Ave., Phx.
Our meetings and events are now
listed with other non profit organizations at
www.azcentral.com. This site has a link to our OSA
web page which is superbly mastered by our own Jim
Johnson. Visit both when you get a chance. Keith
Mead
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