danny wrote:
Why wouldn't you want to give the same level AOS award to the plant? That
would put the plant in the AOS judging system, so that it could be used for
future comparison when considering other awards for the species/grex. Are
the RHS awards looked at by AOS judges when they are scoring a plant? I
didn't think that was the case. If someone didn't put XX/RHS on the tag,
would you even know it was an RHS awarded plant when you were looking at it
on the judging table?
That is an excellent point, and well taken. And no, we don't look
at the RHS awards (we should, and I was just thinking about writing a
paper on that topic). However, I don't really believe in putting
something into the AOS judging system just to put it on record. I know
that many people do, there is an honest difference of opinion there. If
somebody didn't put the RHS award on the tag, then it is likely to get
an AOS award if it is sufficiently new. Older plants get judged by the
current standards, it would be hard to give some of the old FCCs an HCC
today. But even if the RHS award is on the tag, it can still get an AOS
award, there is no rule against it.
All that said, if somebody knows enough about the plant to put the
RHS award on the tag, then they know that the plant is valuable. I
don't know why an exhibitor would want to add an AOS award to the list.
You wouldn't get any more money for selling it or its progeny, at least
to the kind of people who would pay extra for that kind of thing. The
awards are equally good. That is my opinion, of course, and others feel
differently.
And as a final point, I definitely think that the AOS should
consider looking at RHS awards in the research phase of judging. The
systems are similar enough that they can be rationally compared, and the
more information the better, in my opinion. I base my score on a
representation of the 'ideal flower' for a given type of breeding. Sure
would be nice to know what is possible on the other side of the pond,
for developing my image of what is possible.
If someone brings a plant to a monthly judging session, then your "It would
cost them another $35 dollars" argument wouldn't apply at all. If an
exhibitor in a show doesn't want to pay $35, they can simply mark their
plant "Not for AOS Judging". I know many judges are reluctant to do
something like upgrading an 80 point AM/AOS to an 85 point AM/AOS because
they don't think there's any point, and I kinda agree with them there.
Witholding an award from a plant because it has an award from a judging
organization in another country doesn't make any sense at all.
I debated mentioning that in the last post... Yes, if a plant is
brought specifically for AOS judging, then obviously the owner would
like to pay for an award. We see about half our award plants at shows,
and you would be surprised at how many people don't put "Not for AOS
judging" on their tags.
As for withholding an award, I don't think I said we would do
that... A plant will be judged on its merits. If a plant has a
previous AOS award to the same clone, we know what to compare it to. Is
it better than the previous award? How does this improvement compare to
the current state of the art? If a plant has an RHS award, we lack the
literature to see what it looked like at the time it was awarded. That
doesn't prevent us from comparing it to what we think is current.
Nothing on the tag precludes a plant from an AOS quality award.
Would I pull an awarded plant for judging out of an exhibit at a
show? Probably not, unless I know that the bloom is superior to its
previous award. It just isn't time efficient (or customary, for that
matter) to pull every awarded plant and reevaluate it to see if it is
better than the previous award. Nobody has time for that. But if a
person brings it to AOS judging, we will look at it. In our region we
look at everything that comes to the judging center, rather than
nominating plants from the floor.
It is certainly complicated...
Rob
--
Rob's Rules:
http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit
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