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Posted on 6:39 AM by Wanto and filed under
By Gina Clifford
The outbreak of the First World War interrupted the blossoming new science of hybridization because changes to the social order greatly affected the advancement of orchid cultivation. Many of the estates that had been holders of the large private collections had to be run down because their labour force was called to enlist, many never to return.
The birthplace of orchid hybrids was the nursery of James Veitch and Sons in Exeter, Devon.
Cattleyas and phalaenopsis were found to do well in this climate and could be grown with no expensive heating bills. The same was true in New Zealand and parts of Australia, whose climate favoured cymbidiums, enabling them to be grown without artificial heating.
Every third year, the World Orchid Conference Committee stages an event that alternates its venue between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This sustained interest in orchids has resulted in the publication of many volumes written for the beginner and specialized grower.
The oldest journal in the world is the Orchid Review, started in 1893, which is published six times a year by the Royal Horticultural Society in London. Further information is available on the Internet, where individual websites can be visited and ideas exchanged on a global basis.
The first results were amazing, and orchid seeds were germinated en masse. Where previously perhaps one per cent of seed sown would survive, now there was almost a 100 per cent success rate.
The first part of the 20th century saw an explosion of hybridizing and seed raising.
These are no longer taken from their natural habitats to supply the home grower who, in turn, gets a much better quality plant from the many outlets now supplying orchids.
At the onset of the Second World War, the best of the British stud plants, which were the finest of their kind in the world, were shipped to California, South Africa and Australia for safekeeping. Cymbidium hybrids, in particular, were to prove vital to the newly emerging orchid nurseries in these countries, giving them a much-needed boost to their own breeding lines. The most coveted were C. Alexanderi 'Westonbirt' FCC/RHS (white), the most famous Cymbidium of all time; C. Burgundian 'Chateau' FCC/RHS (bronze) and C. Rosanne 'Pinkie' FCC/RI IS (pink).
The birthplace of orchid hybrids was the nursery of James Veitch and Sons in Exeter, Devon.
Cattleyas and phalaenopsis were found to do well in this climate and could be grown with no expensive heating bills. The same was true in New Zealand and parts of Australia, whose climate favoured cymbidiums, enabling them to be grown without artificial heating.
Every third year, the World Orchid Conference Committee stages an event that alternates its venue between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This sustained interest in orchids has resulted in the publication of many volumes written for the beginner and specialized grower.
The oldest journal in the world is the Orchid Review, started in 1893, which is published six times a year by the Royal Horticultural Society in London. Further information is available on the Internet, where individual websites can be visited and ideas exchanged on a global basis.
The first results were amazing, and orchid seeds were germinated en masse. Where previously perhaps one per cent of seed sown would survive, now there was almost a 100 per cent success rate.
The first part of the 20th century saw an explosion of hybridizing and seed raising.
These are no longer taken from their natural habitats to supply the home grower who, in turn, gets a much better quality plant from the many outlets now supplying orchids.
At the onset of the Second World War, the best of the British stud plants, which were the finest of their kind in the world, were shipped to California, South Africa and Australia for safekeeping. Cymbidium hybrids, in particular, were to prove vital to the newly emerging orchid nurseries in these countries, giving them a much-needed boost to their own breeding lines. The most coveted were C. Alexanderi 'Westonbirt' FCC/RHS (white), the most famous Cymbidium of all time; C. Burgundian 'Chateau' FCC/RHS (bronze) and C. Rosanne 'Pinkie' FCC/RI IS (pink).
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