Nothing new and exciting blooming Downunder?

[Australis]

Fisrtly, we shared the information some yeeas ago now that when none of the Wimber Day 6n and 3n seedlings came as genetic albas, it was pretty clear that Cym. kanran album was in a second alba group. Nobody else was talking about this at the time.

Surely you mean Cym. dayanum?

[MrCym]

Yes, a typo, it was Cym. dayanum album!

[MrCym]

The upcoming VOC meeting shows Dr. Randall Knowsitall as a speaker.... I'm sure the membership will be all agog at his latest snippets of Cymbidium wisdom....NOT! As I've seen so often in the orchid world, some are doers and some are bullshit merchants.

[Australis]

The upcoming VOC meeting shows Dr. Randall Knowsitall as a speaker.... I'm sure the membership will be all agog at his latest snippets of Cymbidium wisdom....NOT! As I've seen so often in the orchid world, some are doers and some are bullshit merchants.

VOC?

Randall is giving a talk at the COSV this month, but it's on intergenerics, not Cymbidiums per se. Apart from Grammatocymbidiums there aren't many in the way of Cymbidium intergenerics, it will be interesting to see what his presentation actually covers. It will also be interesting to gauge the level of interest since I can't actually recall seeing any Cymbidium intergenerics ever shown at the COSV meetings I've attended (nor at our shows; I think I've seen Grcym. Pakkret Adventure once at a different club).

[MrCym]

There are NO significant Cym intergenerics apart from Grammatocymbidiums! Someone smart like Kobsukh has already identified that a plant which is 25% Grammatophyllum is much easier to bloom under a wider range of environmental conditions too.

As for Ansidium's, I have genuine, hands-on experience with this loser. My dear friend Carmen Coll from South Africa, gave me one of her Ansidiums bred from Showgirl and Ansellia africana. It grew at about the same speed as Randall's orchid knowledge. When it finally bloomed with one miserable spike in the late 1980's I immediately gave it to the Geyserland goats. Even they were unimpressed!

Those that know what they're doing in orchid hybridizing, DO! The wannabes or never were's are a pimple on the industry back-side......

[Australis]

Thought I'd mention that I attended the COSV meeting tonight and Randall gave a decent presentation. I think most of it was appropriate for the target audience and covered both the faked Cymbidium intergenerics (e.g. Phaiocymbidium) and the genuine ones. It was interesting to see some of the other intergenerics, although obviously Grammatocymbidiums and Kobsukh's work were the dominant part of the presentation.

[MrCym]

Did he post a picture of an Ansidium? What other intergenerics did he refer to? I think Kobsukh has the handle on Grammatocymbidiums and there's really nothing else of consequence likely to appear. But I'm ready to be amazed.....

[Australis]

Yes, there were a few Ansidiums. Their reluctance to bloom was duly noted too.

There was a short, interesting section on bridging species and some photos of Catasetum group species breeding with Grammatophyllums and another of the Cymbidium group. Nobody seems to have pursued it further yet, but theoretically those hybrids may be compatible with Cyms.

Also a few others (can't recall if it was Eulophia or Eulophiella). Whilst obviously not a finished product, it suggested some potential in future.

[MrCym]

Grammatocymbidiums are far enough for me! I've heard these rumors and I always say: what do you think they will add in terms of beauty? Hell, we have totally WT types coming out our ears by now, Sam sells culls as garden plants in Qld!

[Australis]

One of the intergenerics shown was actually a good example of a bad idea! It was such an ugly thing.

But the Grammatocymbidiums are definitely the jewel. Getting into the Catasetum group might be interesting too for the different spike habit and flower structure.

However, an interesting one (to me) was one of the intergenerics (a Gramm. with another genus, I'm afraid I can't recall which) that was basically a windowsill plant. Imagine tiny Cymbidium-like plants in a range of patterns and colours without dealing with floribundum's quirks.

Anyway, it's all years away yet but still food for thought. Personally I'm hoping to see what I can do with Gramm. stapeliiflorum (assuming I can keep it alive and flower it).