Two recent awards

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Nice plants, but I'd rather bloom them myself and get the award. Of course, that's a pet peeve of mine.
 
It's good to see awards on species Paphs. These are not new species, so there should be substantial award history to compete against.

What show or judging center awarded these beauties?
 
It's good to see awards on species Paphs.

Species? Why the cultivar name if they are species? And I am not trying to be a "smarty" here I really not sure I understand this distinction. :confused:
 
Species? Why the cultivar name if they are species? And I am not trying to be a "smarty" here I really not sure I understand this distinction. :confused:

You have to give cultivar names to awarded species too Ed. That will provide a name for those exceptional examples of the species that starts the naming heritage for future breeding. (Technically you can, and should, put a clonal name on any plant in your collection to keep track of it for breeding purposes).

In the judging aspect of slippers its an uphill battle to get a new example of a species awarded if they have been known in cultivation for any length of time, because the standard is raised by previous awards.
 
You have to give cultivar names to awarded species too Ed. That will provide a name for those exceptional examples of the species that starts the naming heritage for future breeding. (Technically you can, and should, put a clonal name on any plant in your collection to keep track of it for breeding purposes).

Also, if any plant is good enough to divide it should get a cultivar name, otherwise eventually someone could end up with what they think is 2 (or 200) different plants that are really just divisions of the same plant. Species or hybrid makes no difference.
 
Once again readers are confronted with Candace attempting to rain on someone else's parade. Apparently it irritates her that someone might purchase a plant and have it awarded although they didn't personally bloom it. Putting aside the fact that this is her own personal problem, and ignoring her rudeness in attempting to cast a shadow on someone else's moment in the sun, certain points must be raised in defense of this practice.

The distinction between floral quality and cultural awards must be recognized. An HCC, an AM or an FCC is granted to acknowledge the qualities inherent in the plant itself, and is in no way to be construed as a recognition of the exhibitor's skills as a grower. Exhibitors are granted cultural awards, plants receive quality awards. Exhibitors may take pride in recognizing the sort of qualities that the judges value, but that is the limit of the accomplishment. Nothing else is implied.

The judging process is a means of establishing the current state of the art of orchid breeding, and in the case of species it is accomplished through line- and selective breeding. Flawed though it may be (an entirely different debate), judging provides a permanent record of at least some of the best products of breeding programs throughout the world. To argue against exhibiting or awarding any superior plant is an argument in favor of limiting that record. Other than for personal reasons, it is hard to understand the rationale for advancing such an argument.

The implication here is that one should only submit plants for judging that they have personally bloomed. That would exclude plants that are boarded in a commercial greenhouse, since it is the operator of the greenhouse who actually grew and bloomed the plant. This might also be a source of irritation to Candace, but of course she can't know with any certainty exactly who grew any given plant. Perhaps she would be less irritated if the exhibitor simply lied and claimed to have grown the plant him- or herself.

Sadly, some of the best orchid clones don't survive their first blooming, due to a variety of factors, some of which are unrelated to the quality of the plant. Should such plants merely be consigned to oblivion in the name of some misguided principle? I don't think so.

Congratulations Tim and Kate!

Rick Barry
 
I was rather polite, I think. Your rant, on the other hand, quite rude. Many people feel the same as I do. I'm just not shy. And I'm not going to get into this considering there is another thread dedicated to what I call "buying awards". Funny that the people most outraged by what I believe are those who buy the most awards....
 
You don't have to give an awarded plant a cultivar name do you?

Yes. The Award will not be given without naming (the AOS does give you some time to come up with a name if you don't have one ready on the spot). How else will you be able to distinguish it from all the non awarded examples of a species (or hybrid)?

In this case there are thousands of leimianums and emersonii's in culture. Given the years these species have been in cultivation there are probably somewhere between 20 and 50 quality awards given out to these species (all with their own distinctive name). And now Kates Choice is added to the distinctive list of awarded clones for these two species.

Also if future bloomings are even better then they can potentially have the awards "upgraded". They will already be named but the quality award will go up.
 
While it is not against the rules to purchase a plant and then submit it for judging, there is something inherently diminished in my mind about doing so. There is much more accomplishment in growing a plant from flask or seedling status into an awarded plant but that being said it is still nice to have any plant awarded.

While cultural awards are for the exhibitor and quality awards are for the plant, in my experience a very well grown plant is usually what pushes a nice plant to an awarded plant. If your ability to cultivate such plants is above average then your chances of getting them awarded is increased if the genetic possibilities are there. In the end, good culture is the goal.
 
Another way to look at this, is that a quality award is suposed to be given to the plant, and the grower is supposed to be anonamous. (What RB said another way). At shows (and judging centers for that matter) its often apparent who the plants owner/grower is.

I don't care what is getting judged (dogs, cats, chickens, or orchids), I always here the grumblings in the background, that there is bias for the big growers and breeders. Subsequently, I think it reflects well on the judging system that you can get a quality award on a plant without having to have been the grower.
 
Candice, Rick's post was cogent and well reasoned. You appear to have a deep seated problem with the present AOS judging system. If you feel so strongly about this issue why don't you petition the AOS to change the rules for awards? Real simple solution.

Did Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, or Harvey Milk sit back and let injustice flourish? No, they changed the system! Will you become the Rosa Park's of the orchid world? Rusty
 
Nope, no "deep seated" problems with the AOS, but I am entitled to my opinion. The last time I checked, this forum was about free speech. I have already commented fully on the other thread so I really don't feel I need to argue my point or my standards.

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5351&highlight=respect+ethics

Edit: And I agree with Rick's statement about grumbling about awards. I'm sure people in dog showing, cats etc. deal with the same issues.
 

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