Dendrobium 'Merlin', Epidendrum ciliare, xBrassolaeliocattleya 'Ojai': I went the the USBG Orchid Show again

Amy arranged a guided tour so we had the inside information on the concept, the execution, the plants....everything. Two weeks later, some of the plants are the same, some have been changed out, and it's still a wonderful show.

One of our guides was Clive Atyeo, who tends the orchids for the Botanic Garden and has done so going on 20 years. Before that he worked for 27 years for Merritt Huntington at Kensington Orchids eventually becoming head grower. While it was great to be able to tap his encyclopedic cultural knowledge, his stories were the best.

The middle orchid, the Epidendrum, is a huge plant; and was a donation. While repotting it, Clive discovered his own label in the pot; it was a plant that he had previously owned. Merritt allowed him to sell his own plants at Kensington Orchids and apparently 20-odd years ago he sold this plant that then grew and grew and was eventually donated to the USBG. Wow.  There were other good anecdotes and he'll be doing a repotting workshop at Brookside Gardens in Glenmont later this month.