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O.N.T. Newsletter for October 2005

Next meeting:

Date:              11 October 2005

Time:             19h30

Venue:          Dutch Reformed Church - Hall Waverley

Speaker:       Video Presentation

Topic:            Orchids at Kew

This month we will have a Video presentation illustrating the orchids of Kew Gardens.  Kew Gardens have had a long association with Orchids.  To this day, Kew Gardens is particularly active in the conservation as well as the description of orchid species.

Next Management meeting :

Date:        18 October 2005

Time:       19h30

Venue:    Home of Emille & Marietjie Houghton , 322 Galtonia str. , Sinoville

Dear Members

Spring is turning into summer and we have been experiencing some very hot, dry and windy days.  It is important to mist daily during these conditions so that the new growths and roots, your plants are pushing, are not damaged.  To identify symptoms of drought stress, look at the colour of your leaves, dull, grey-green and drooping leaves usually indicate that watering is due.  If new growth show concertina pleating then it is a definite indication that you must increase watering/relative humidity.

Previous ONT meeting

(13 September 2005)

The president off ONT started of by commenting on the field trip that was held on the weekend of 10-11^th September. It was a great success, with around 25 members being able to view the extensive collections of Stevenson’s Orchids, Afri-Orchids and van Rooyen’s Orchids on Saturday and Douglas McMurty’s collection on Sunday.  ONT would like to thank the owners of the collections for their hospitality.  Special thanks goes to Christo Page who organised the trip for us.  On that note, ONT would also like to thank Christo for hosting a very successful Greenhouse visit.

SAOC orchid judges, Christo Page and Pieter de Bruin, in association with the learner judges Nollie Cilliers and Tinus Oberholzer, discussed the plant table.  The winning plants were as follows:

Best African Species:

Jumellea kirkii

Owner: Herman Steyn

Best Exotic Species:

Epidendrum capricornu

Owner: Christo Page

Best Hybrid:

Cattleya x guatemalensis

Owner: Christo Page

Judge’s Choice:

Oncidium stramineum

Owner: Prof. D. van Rensburg

Bruinslich Trophy nomination:

Cattleya x guatemalensis

Owner: Christo Page

Arrie Arnold Wisseltrofee nomination:

Oncidium stramineum

Owner: Prof. D. van Rensburg

Best Oncidium for the evening:

Oncidium stramineum

Owner: Prof. D. van Rensburg

The plant table discussion was followed by an elaborately illustrated, well-researched and informative talk on the oncidiinae and their hybrids by Christian Giesel.

November meeting:

Nollie Cilliers will give a talk on the parvisepalum section within the genus Paphiopedilum

New Members:

The following new members are welcomed and we wish them a long and fruitful association with the ONT.

Mr. Brits (Petrus)

Mr. & Mrs. Swartz (Hennie & Riekie)

Mr. Cheng (Paul)

Miss. Steenberg (Thea)

Mrs. Steijnberg (Jessy)

Mr. Steenkamp (Werner)

Mr. Gagiano (Arend)

Mrs. Lin (Vicki)

Mr. Bezuidenhout (Frikkie)

Mr. Heenop (Phillip)

Dr. Myburg (Gerrit)

Mr. & Mrs Louw (Willem & Ria)

Mr. Eksteen (Frikkie)

The ONT now has more than 100 members, placing us amongst the top three orchid societies in the country.  The unprecedented growth the past few months is largely due to our very successful shows and hard work put in by members and especially our ONT committee.

Great effort – keep it up!!!

Gauteng Study group :

Date:        8 October 2005

Time:       14h00

Venue:    Home of Joan Elvin

(for directions, contact Pieter de Bruin)

Topic:      Species ID presented by Joan Elvin

Remember that plants can also be submitted for SAOC judging at this meeting.  You are reminded to notify Christo Page at least 48 hours before the meetings if you would like to have a plant judged.  Contact Pieter de Bruin if Christo is not available.

Orchids South Africa Journal:

This year’s journal is at the printers and we should be receiving it close to the end of October 2005.

Social events :

Year-end function

It’s difficult to believe but Christmas is almost upon us and some people are already starting to hear the sounds of jingle bells in the distance, which means it is time for year-end function invitations again.

This year, the ONT committee decided to have a three course sit-down dinner, with service.  The date has been set for Friday 25 November 2005 at 19h00 for 19h30.

The venue will be the hall across the passage

of our usual venue.  ONT will supply limited beverages (glass of sherry, 2 bottles of wine per table and punch).  Please bring other or additional refreshments if you so desire.  The entertainment for the evening will be a light after-dinner talk presented by Prof. Denis van Rensburg as well as an auction of orchid plants (most probably a Rhodesian auction, which should prove to be quite entertaining).

Dress code will be smart-casual.  Tickets can be bought from Marietjie Houghton at R25.00 for members and their spouses or R50.00 for non-members.  Please RSVP before 15 November.  This should be a great evening and we hope to see all of our members there - the more the merrier!

Dates to remember :

October 29-30, 2005

Umhlatuzana Species Orchid Society Annual Show

September 4-10, 2006

13^th SAOC National Show & Conference in White River.

Website of the Month:

This month we feature a website from Diablo Disa’s.  This website is the most complete website on the genus Disa that I’ve seen to date.  It features virtual greenhouse visits to many of our local Disa growers, superb photography and culture tips.  Although the nursery has closed down the site is still a must visit!

http://www.disas.com/

Did you know:  Our indigenous Ansellia africana is used locally to ward off evil spirits and lightning.  I wonder if it will be effective against the receiver of revenue (SARS).

ONT Spring Show:

Our spring show will be under way at the time of posting this Newsletter.  Next month we will feature a summary of the results of our show.

SAOC Colour Fund donations:

Our own SAOC journal, ORCHIDS SOUTH AFRICA, is published annually as a non-profit publication.  In order to provide its members with a quality journal, the editor strives to include as many colour photos as the colour photo fund allows.  However, to include colour photos in a publication is very expensive and therefore the committee of the ONT would like to appeal to its members to make small donations to increase our annual contribution to this fund.  For more information please contact Joan Elvin on

Tel: (011) 465 2896 after hours

Congratulations

ONT would like to congratulate James Sonnenberger, from the Gauteng study group, for passing his final learner judges exam in August 2005.  James is now an accredited SAOC judge.  ONT would also like to congratulate Mike Rakow, from the East Rand Orchid Society, for having been elected an SAOC director.

Greetings,

Please Note: The opinions & recommendations made in articles that  appear on this website, are those of the individual authors, and not those of the Orchid Society of Northern Transvaal (ONT). The ONT neither adopts nor endorses such opinions & recommendations and disclaims all responsibility for them. This includes products advertised on this website.