Cymbidium Club of Australia Inc. | April 2020

Volume 37 No. 2 | April 2020

Possible Diary Dates 2020 • 9 April : AGM - CANCELLED

• 14 May

• 11 June

• 9 July

• 7-9 August: National Orchid Extravaganza • 10 September • 8 October

• 14-16 August: St Ives Orchid Fair • 2-4 October: Southern Orchid Spectacular

CymbidNews is published monthly - March to November inclusive and is the Official Newsletter of the Cymbidium Club of Australia Inc. | www.ccansw.com.au

Meetings are held every second Thursday of the month, March to November inclusive, at the Allan G Ezzy Community Centre, 1 Newport Street, Pemulway NSW commencing at 8.00 pm.

DISCLAIMER: Whilst all care has been taken in producing this Newsletter the Cymbidium Club of Australia Inc. disclaims all liability for losses and any misadventure which may be attributed to the use of any material contained in this newsletter.

MANAGMENT PRESIDENT: Dr Geoff Le Marne 9449 9648 VICE PRESIDENT: George Serhan SECRETARY/TREASURER & CORRESPONDENCE: Judith Brooks, 51 Chamberlain Rd, Padstow Heights 2211 (9773 9197)

All correspondence to: Judith Brooks: jahamilton.17@btinternet.com

COMMITTEE: David Brooks, Betty Chan, Nat Cicciari, Bill Goodridge, Trevor Hughes & Seong Tay PATRON: Kevin Black EDITOR & WEB: Toni Benton, 4754 5480 editor@ccansw.com.au

Cym. Enzan Summer Cym. Winter Court x Cronulla

Cymbidium Club of Australia Inc. | April 2020

President’s Blurb for April 2020

Hi everyone,

As you all know life has drastically changed due to the corona virus and gatherings such as our monthly meetings are not only a health risk but specifically prohibited. As such we have suspended our monthly meetings until further notice. I would however encourage members not to go into total hibernation but to stay in touch by regularly visiting our webpage https://www.ccansw.com.au/ and Facebook page. Why not post photos of cymbidiums as you flower them for us all to enjoy? I’ll certainly try to do the same. I wish all of you the very best in the months to come - stay safe and healthy. I’m not sure if we will continue to publish the newsletter whilst the meeting’s aren’t on but we’ll see.

Kind regards, Geoff Le Marne

Meeting Minutes for 12th March, 2020

Apologies: M Vlismas, N Cicciari , A & D Gaffa, K Black, J & H Palmer, B Janes

Raffle Plants – Maclure's Quest 'Starquest' x Zen Era 'Elizabeth'; Maclure's Quest 'Starquest' x Dural Dream 'Picture'; Gwen Thomas 'Old Gold' x Coraki Glowing 'Beejay'

Meeting commenced at 8.05pm with a welcome to all by Geoff Le Marne. Hoping everyone was well and had a pleasant break. Thoughts went out to all those affected by the fires and various stories were related about individual experiences and those of others we know of in the orchid world. Many people's orchids showing possible effect of heat and smoke levels over the summer.

Welcome to Jon & Penny Hestelow – they have been Members for many years, but first time attending a meeting.

Geoff provided an outline of the year to come as no plants had been brought in for the “Plant Dr” discussion.

A call out was made for new Committee Members as the AGM is to be held in April. Nat Cicciari has indicated he will not be standing this year. All nominees welcome – please forward to Judith Brooks as soon as you can.

April meeting will also be a Trivia Night, to be created by Trevor Hughes and Kevin Black. Unfortunately Kevin will be unable to attend the meeting, so a replacement to assist Trevor is needed. May will see a visit from Michael Coker, who will give a presentation on Pests and Diseases. In June, David Brooks will be looking at natural remedies for dealing with common cymbidium pest problems.

July is the Winter Show, August the National Orchid Extravaganza, September the Spring Show.

For October, we have invited Pauline and Kevin McLean along to talk about orchid breeding and flasking. And then we have our Christmas Party in November, as usual.

A suggestion was made to instigate a BYO mug for coffee/tea to each meeting. This will help us cut down on waste. Judith Brooks will look into providing mugs to Members who regularly attend meetings. In the meantime we have plenty of stocks of disposable cups to use.

Thanks were made to Toni Benton for agreeing to become our new Editor of Cymbid News and also to Sandra Cheetham for her many years of service as Editor and helping with all the printing and advertising for the Orchid Extravaganza.

After a supper break, the meeting resumed at 9pm. Discussion ensued around the problems of the summer heat for cymbidium spiking – fortunately the days are now cooling. Various Members seem to be having a successful season, others not doing so well.

Secretary’s Report - April 2020 PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL FURTHER CLUB MEETINGS HAVE BEEN CANCELLED AT THIS TIME DUE TO COVID-19. WE

WILL NOTIFY YOU ONCE IT IS DEEMED SAFE TO RESUME OUR MEETINGS. Well, what a start to the year!! The fires spilling over from late last year causing such an incredible smoke haze, the baking hot days, the complete lack of rain – none of which bode well for our cymbidiums in the affected areas. Then we get flooding rains, which fortunately helped put out the endlessly burning fires. And now, COVID-19 requiring us all to social-distance and isolate.

As you should now be aware, for the safety of all our Members, the decision was taken by the Committee to cancel further meetings for the foreseeable future. Since taking this decision, the Government has also restricted the number of individuals able to gather together, so we will not be able to resume Club Meetings until these restrictions are lifted.

In the meantime, I am looking for extra content to put onto our Facebook page and website to keep our Members and other orchid enthusiasts interested and informed. If any Member has pictures and/or wants to take a short video tour of their nursery/collection, please send it through to me so I can upload it. If pictures, please ensure you provide names for the orchids shown. Also, if anyone wishes to write an article or give a review of what they are doing with their orchids – repotting, fertilising, staking, etc, I'm sure that would also be of interest.

Judith Brooks

Cymbidium Club of Australia Inc. | April 2020

Cym. (Measles x Champagne Robin ) ‘Janine’ Cym. Jacinta’s Pride ‘Jemima’

Cym. Templestow’s Charm ‘Baker’

Cym. Last Tango ‘Li le Rod’

Cym. Sarah Jean ‘Ice Cascade‘

Past Champions from the National Orchid Extravaganza Shows

Cymbidium Club of Australia Inc. | April 2020

Neutrog Australia Pty Ltd 288 Mine Road, Kanmantoo South Australia 5252

T (08) 8538 3500 F (08) 8538 3522 E info@neutrog.com.au W www.neutrog.com.au

Past Champions from the National Orchid Extravaganza Shows

Cym. Khanebono ‘Jacinta’ Cym. Regal Flames ‘Queen of Hearts’

Cym. Lancashire Khan ‘Debonair’ Cym. Golden Embers ‘Golden Tee Pee’

Cym. Sarah Jean ‘Ice Cascade’ x devonianum

Cym. Vanity Fair ‘Hollywood’