SYMPOSIUM ... from page 9
cellent organization and
presentation, James led attendees through the many
steps involved in posing
your plants and flowers to
get the best pictures. We
even learned a few new
tricks on how to use masking tape to produce the
best presentation without
harming the plant.
Our luncheon was planned
for our breakfast location
on the 18th floor. Unfortunately we had over 60
auction items to be moved
there from the lecture
room. The logistics were
considerable considering
the number of items and
the distance to our luncheon site. How would we
ever quickly move all of our
materials to the 18th floor?
The time table of the meeting was definitely working
against us. Yet, when asked,
our group pitched in and
carried all of our items to
the luncheon as they proceeded to the elevators.
By the time I arrived upstairs, our team of workers
(volunteers) had the items
moved and attractively arranged on the tables. Great Joan Bateman and Mandy at the Orchidaceae sales table.
work everyone!
Les, James and I sprang
into action as we neared
the end of our luncheon.
The clock was ticking, and
we had lots of items to
move. A quick introduction to the bidding process,
and we began by moving in
rotation from item to item.
As we neared the end, one
plant in reserve awaited the
final bid. Starting low, the
plant (a blue Phal. Equalacea) quickly jumped to
$10 bid, then $25 bid and
in no time it moved to
$100 bid, and the bidders
24
Phalaenopsis | Third Quarter | Volume 23 | 2013
dwindled to just two: Olie
Garrison and Yung Yu Lin
from Brother Orchids. At
the $600 level, Olie called it
quits and graciously yielded
to Mr. Lin. Applause followed as this was one of the
highest bids ever during an
IPA Symposium auction.
The action was quick and
spontaneous moving all 60+
items in the allotted hour.
When the smoke cleared, we
had raised over $4000. My
thanks to Les, James, Carri
and George for all of their
help and special thanks to
everyone who bid making
for a fun and exciting event
and a great fund raiser for
the IPA.
Our next presenter was eagerly awaited by everyone.
We were all anxious to know
more about the latest in blue
Phalaenopsis breeding. Rob
Sheppard, who had written a most interesting article for the IPA Journal on
his experience in breeding
blue Phalaenopsis, was on
the program to present the
topic, “Hybridizing for Blue
Phalaenopsis”. As could be
expected, Rob’s experience
has had it highs and lows
in developing those elusive
blue hybrids. “But do not
become discouraged”, Rob
advised. One year most
of his seedling population
bloomed magenta and not
blue. Persistence will win
out over the long haul, and
the development of consistent blue flowered offspring
will take some time. Our
challenge is to break the
barrier of small flowers and
move into large flowers with
the same blue color. This
process will take a while so
stay tuned for that break
through.
George Killgore helping to
organize the auction plant.