FOR THE LOVE OF ORCHIDS
By Susan Fairbairn
What better place to showcase tropical exotic and native orchids, flowers and foliage than the Sunshine State!
Queensland orchid societies bid for, and, were awarded the opportunity to host one of the biggest and most celebrated orchids shows in Australia, the Australian Orchid Council Inc Conference (AOCC).
The 22nd AOCC ‘For the Love of Orchids’ runs from the 31st August through to the 4 September and is open to Australian and international orchid society members, and members of the public.
The conference is being held at the Logan Sports and Events Centre, 357 Browns Plains Road, Crestmead.
The show will cater for and provide prizes for:
- Orchid and foliage displays
- Benched orchids
- Photography; and
- Visual and Floral art.
The show schedule includes 230 individual classes, 21 section champions and 5 major champions which all qualify for Best in Show. The total prize money is $AUD15,925.00.
On the 2nd and 3rd September, there will be a series of keynote scientific and cultural lectures featuring notable international and national speakers including world renowned grower/breeder Fred Clarke of Sunset Valley Orchids in California.
Fred has an impressive progeny of orchid hybrids to his name and his plants have received hundreds of quality awards from the American Orchid Society.
His pioneering work in Catasetum intergeneric hybrids led to the development of several notable hybrids, including the grex, Fredclarkeara After Dark, which produced “the blackest flower ever witnessed”.
This grex has received over 100 awards worldwide. One of the hybrids Fdk After Dark ‘Amazing’, is a fertile clone and will cost the keen collector a mere US$1,000.00.
Fred will present: ‘Cycnoches, Mormodes and Catasetums’; ‘How to become an 80th percentile grower’ and ‘Todays mini and compact Cattleyas’.
Fred will also have orchid flasks for sale in the vendors area. At the conference dinner on Saturday night Professor Kingsley Dixon—the 2016 Western Australian Scientist of the Year— will present a talk ‘Working with indigenous communities to save our tree
orchids’.
Dixon is a biologist and Professor at Curtin University and specialises in orchid
biology, conservation and ecology.
Another Australian speaker is Scott Barrie, the co-owner and manager of Barrita Orchids. He has spent his entire 30 year working life in the orchid business and will present on the latest developments in Australian Sarchochilus hybrids and Epidendrums.
For a full rundown on speakers see https://aocc2022.org/speakers
If you’re looking to buy your first orchid or, add to that growing collection, there is an impressive list of orchid vendors.
The vendors area is open to the public on 2 and 3 September from 9 am to 4.30 pm and on 4 September from 9 am to 2.00 pm.
For a full rundown on orchid vendors see: https://aocc2022.org/vendors .
On 4th September there are two field trips via bus to local orchid rich regions.
Tour one will visit the Canyon/Twin Falls circuit at Springbrook National Park and tour two will take a trip to D’Aguilar National Park at Mount Glorious. For more information and to register for either of these bus trips see https://aocc2022.org/field-trips
The entry fee is $10 per person per day and provides entry to the orchid and foliage show and the orchid vendors area. (Children under 14 are free provided they are supervised by an adult).
If you want to attend the conference lectures, the opening ceremony, or the presentation dinner you will need to register and pay at https://www.aocc2021.org/forms
This has been a brief overview of the 2022 AOCC, for the complete picture visit https://aocc2022.org
See you there!
