Like everything else in this economy attendance at our orchid show was down.
But those who *did* attend made the vendors very happy by buying in lots of
$100 or more. So what's up with that? The AOS and Orchid Digest magazine
have noted declining membership and ennui in local societys. Could this
indicate a shake out? Fewer members but the one's that remain are truly
interested? I have no answers, but even attendance at rgo is down.

We got 4 new memebrs at our show. More than last year. Brings us up to 104
members, IIRC. The number usually declines after January, when dues are
due.

I still use the 'dead orchid unit' when deciding to make a non-orchid but
orchid related purchase. Like if I join this club how many dead orchids
could I have saved with any information I'd have gotten from this purchase?
So club membership still rates high in the avoidance of dead orchids
category. Some of these online groups continue to rate high, becasue
they're free!

I've been trying to study splash petals cattleya breeding. Not gettign
anywhere quick, but I'm still poking around the subject. There seems to be
2 sorts of 'splash', or maybe I'm wrong. One with the splash at the tip and
one where the margins of the petal is one color and another is along the
mibrib. Rosanski's orchid page shows both 'sorts' pretty well
http://www.rozanskiorchidhouse.com/products.php?cat=14
Granted many of these are mericlones of the ones that splashed the way the
hybridizer thought the cross should turn out. For example you could google
C Moscombe (a parent in many splash petal breeding) and see some pretty
whacked out looking orchids. But the progeny look great. Flat petals, etc.
Which is why I wondered 'How'd they do that?'

So that's what I've been up to.

You?

K Barrett