Orchid Memories

When I first started to plant orchids, I just based my choices from the beautiful photos printed inside the catalogs and price lists which I requested from orchid nurseries abroad. I remembered a few nurseries like Kasem Booncho Nursery,T Orchids,Kultana Orchids from Thailand,Yamada and Kawamota from Hawaii, Koh Keng Ho from Singapore and a few from USA like Orchid Glade and GEM Orchid. The addresses I just select from the advertisements in The American Orchid Society magazine at the library. At that time internet was never heard off.

I would bring these catalogues to the local orchid nurseries and discuss with them. Sometime I am lucky to get a few of the plants of my liking. But most of the time they gave a counter recommendation of those in their stock. I would buy seedlings from all kind of crosses in the tumbpots, 2" or 3" pots sizes and hope to owned an award winner. Crosses from the fanciful parentage would be my first choice.I still can remember such names like Vanda La Bella Margarita, Emma Van Deventer,Tan Chai Yan, Josephine Van Brero and the national flower of Singapore Vanda Miss Joaquim.

Aranda Christine no.1 and Wendy Scott were the plants for cut-flower. Earlier on it was Arachnis Maggie Oei "red ribbon", James Storei and Oncidium Golden Shower also known as Dancing Lady. As for Cattleya it was Crispine Rosales and Lucky Strike. In the two tone yellow red lip hues we have Lc. Amber Glow and Dorset Gold. Whereas for white we have Queen Sirikit and Queen Dowry. In the Vandas kingdom, we have two tone (upper white and lower brown) Sanderiana from the Phillipines and blue tesselated Corulea from Thailand. Majority of the vandas that we see today originated from crosses and back crosses from these two species. Storei from the Philippines is an all time favourite for renantheras crosses. Well known crosses with this stud in the blood line are Brokie Chandler, Nancy Chandler, Kalsom, Red Feather, Prince Akihito, Tom Thumb etc. Well known intergeneric are Lena Rowold, Ernestara Helga Reuter, Renanthopsis Star Fire and Sagarik Wine. In future articles I may brag about How To Select Seedlings and Famous Stud Plants. No promise.