West Cornwall Orchid Society Show. 07.04.13

While we were in the county we had a chance to take in the lovely display put on by the local Orchid Society. Many years ago I had a house on Madiera where I spent the winters with my husband of the time. I would wake in the mornings to watch the poor sparrows trying to make nests with the strips they had torn from my orchid flowers. There always seemed to be plenty of flowers back them.

The plants are beautifully staged. I wish that I could interest Gloria in them, but she accompanied me under sufferance and would have been quite sulky. Fortunately there was tea and cake to save the day. Gloria objects to orchids because it is the Greek word for testicles. Something about that bothers her educated mind. She speaks excellent Greek and has read all the classics. A few years ago we took a short trip to Athens to study the art and nobody understood a word she said. Apparently modern Greeks have very poor accents.

Coeogyne intermedia looking wonderful.

Pleione Britannia 'Doreen' in exuberant flower. I only knew one Doreen, and she had a small brown dog that ate grasshoppers. I smile when I see the Pleione and now you know why.

Dendrobium cuthbertsonii is a challenge to grow well, and this one was grown very well. The first time I tried I failed rather rapidly. The second plant barely lasted a week though it is reasonable to blame unstable cultivation for its demise. I threw it from a balcony at my husband shortly before our divorce. He kept the winter house and the orchids because I was a little embarrassed. I was a fair shot in those days.

To return to the show for a moment. This is Dendrochilum glumaceum and a triumph for Gloria. The first time she has managed to get a picture of it in focus.

And finally a lovely stand of modern Phalaenopsis, a sweet memory at the end of a marvellous trip to the South west.