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April 2007
APRIL MEETING April 9, 2007 Christopher Croom: How to Smell an Orchid Christopher Croom won the 2004 AOS Dillon-Peterson essay competition with his article on scents: "Fresh Peaches to New Car Interior," featured in the May 2005 Orchids magazine. His presentation will cover some of the orchids discussed in that article, and discuss research on how orchids produce their scents, and how our noses detect them. He will also help us understand the relationships between orchids, their scents and their pollinators. Christopher is currently the editor of the San Diego County Orchid Society Newsletter, while working part-time as an orchid consultant and nurseryman, and full-time as a middle-school physical sciences teacher. Harry of Andy’s Orchids nicknamed him “Dr. Fragrance.” He has 250 species orchids, all of which are grown outdoors or in a light garden. Display Table: Sales Table: Raffle: COMING UP NEXT MONTH May: Annual Orchid Auction (no speaker) June: Potluck and annual business meeting July: Helen Hersh on Culture for Paphs and Phrags August: Picnic NEW BEGINNERS PROGRAM FORMAT We are trying a new format for providing information for beginners and novice orchid growers. Instead of the "pre-meeting" session at 6:30 p.m., we will take time during the regular meeting to have an experienced member offers some growing tips for each month and answer a few questions from the audience. This session will take place after the society business and before the plant table review. Doors will still be open at 6:30 p.m. for set up and socializing. Let us know what you think. FREE POTTING CLINIC ON APRIL 16 Members are invited to a free potting cllinic on Monday, April 16 starting at 7 p.m. at the Center for Urban Horticulture in the greenhouse behind the parking lot (not in our regular meeting room). Potting mix and pots will be provided. Bring up to three of your orchids that are bursting at the seams and get a hands-on lesson in how to re-pot them. You can bring a friend as well (non-members can join on the spot or pay $10 to just participate in the clinic).
Sedirea japonica, a classic Japanese orchid that is heavily scented of lilies and citrus. Photo by Walter Teague. THE NOSE KNOWS: A PRIMER ON FRAGRANT ORCHIDS When hobbyists select orchids for their collections, scent is invariably a factor in the selection process. Orchid flowers can offer a veritable potpourri of olfactory delight to adventurous growers. With sweet, spicy, citrus, vanilla and floral notes, the orchid fragrance palette is as varied as are the insect pollinators that the scents may attract. Pleasantly scented orchid blooms are often compared with the fragrances of other more familiar flowers or with easily identified odors such as orange and cinnamon. Rarely does one hear an orchid scent referred to as that of a specific orchid, excepting vanilla, but then the flowers of Vanilla species do not smell at all like the well-known flavoring. The familiar vanilla fragrance develops instead during the fermentation of vanilla fruits (vanilla beans). Many of the same compounds which produce the odors of familiar objects like oranges, cloves or cinnamon bark, give rise to fragrance in orchid flowers. Limonene, pinene and methyl epijasmonate are a few of the many natural compounds which can make up an odor or fragrance. When these and/or other compounds are combined in varying proportion and released into the air, we get the distinctive odors which we associate with known objects or flowers.
One hears of fragrance somewhat ambiguously referred to as the scent of ‘spring flowers’ or more specifically to smelling like roses, lilies, jasmine or violets. For example, Phrag. schlimii flowers can smell of roses, flowers of Lycaste cochleata and Thunia marshalliana smell like oranges, while blooms of some Catasetums are scented of ginger, cinnamon and cardamon. Some orchid scents are sweet and heavy while others are sharp or spicy. Fragrance character can change with the time of day as can fragrance intensity and freshness. Certain orchids have two fragrance peaks, one in the morning and another at dusk. Some components may cease being emitted as the flowers age or upon pollination, permitting other odors to dominate and thus changing the fragrance character. Fragrance components become oxidized or otherwise altered during the flower life. Flowers of the Yellow Lady’s-slipper can be fragrant the day of opening if the air is warm. The staminode, synsepals and petals are the richest source of scent. The heady, sweet fragrance will continue to be emitted on warm, sunny mornings for up to eight days but the scent character changes as the flowers age. Even if pollinators are present, they rarely visit older flowers. Male flowers of many Catasetums become heavily fragrant a few days after opening, producing a wave of fragrance daily from about 10 am to 5 pm. As few as eight flowers emit sufficient fragrance to scent more than 5000 cu. ft of living space! Furthermore the dried flowers can retain fragrance for several years making them a useful addition to a potpourri. Female flowers are not at all showy but emit the same fragrance (to the human nose) although not nearly as much as do the male flowers. Cockleshell-type Encyclias provide us a wide range of sweet and spicy fragrances. Each species has a different quality of scent with most fragrance being emitted during the day. Blooms of Encyclia fragrans, are sufficient to perfume a large room with a sweet vanilla scent. The odor of other Encyclias varies from that of clover honey to fruity, somewhat like that of Mock-orange (Philadelphus) flowers. Many of the Encyclias are most fragrant mid-morning. White-flowered orchids are often strongly fragrant of jasmine, lilies, lily-of-the-valley (muguet) or narcissus. Many develop their fragrance in late afternoon or evening. Compact, night-fragrant orchids can be easily moved into the living area when in full flower, adding a delightful fragrance dimension to the interior. Baskets of flowering Lady-of-the-Night orchids (Brassavola nodosa) located in the patio or entertainment area will provide evening pleasure. Hybrids of this orchid may retain the fragrance character. The rosy pink blooms of Oncidium ornithorhynchum smell of grape and baby powder. This same odor can appear in hybrids such as Onc. Remembering Carmen (Vera Arthurs x ornithorhynchum). Fragrance is a rewarding option for the hobbyist to explore. Fragrant orchids come in all sizes and colors and can be found in most genera. They may be grown under a variety of conditions according to type just like any non-fragrant orchid. One can collect one type or a variety to have fragrance on tap throughout the year. Grown well, the orchids will flower and present the grower with a double dose of pleasure, beauty and fragrance. Some fragrant orchids to try (our speaker will undoubtedly have many more to offer):
– Marilyn H. S. Light WEB SITE OF THE MONTH In honor of Wally Orchard, a longtime Northwest orchid grower and member of NWOS who has moved to the Oregon coast, here is the company he is working for now: If you love Disas and unusual flowers, you'll want to check them out. RECOGNIZE A SPECIAL NWOS MEMBER! Nominations are being accepted for the Gary Baker Service Award. This annual award recognizes an NWOS member who has gone above and beyond to help the Society and its members. Know someone who has done something special? Send their name and brief explanation of why you think they deserve to be honored to George Grantham by April 30 at georgegrantham@hotmail.com. CLEAR OUT YOUR DIVISIONS AND EXTRA PLANTS (AND PICK UP SOME NEW ONES!) AT OUR ANNUAL AUCTION ON MAY 14 When you are repotting your plants and making new divisions remember to set aside some of those divisions to sell at the auction next month! The society will take 20% of the sale amount of the plants that you sell and you can choose where that 20% goes: the library fund, the NWOS scholorship fund, UW slipper fund, or the general fund. As of this writing, we don’t have an auctioneer so if anybody is interested let Jamie Notman know at the April meeting. An auction form is available on the web site and will be attached to the May newsletter so that you can start making plans. THE NWOS NEEDS YOU The following positions are open now or will become open in June. If you want to learn more, contact John Burke, chair of the Nominating Committee, or Jay Perez. All terms are for one year unless otherwise noted.
DISPLAY TABLE Congratulations to the ribbon winners at the March display table:
And thanks to our judges: Abby Chang and Joff Morgan. If you are interested in helping to judge the plant table, just let Mike Foster know—everyone is welcome, no matter what your experience level. WELCOME NEW MEMBERS Please welcome these new members to our Society:
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