Cymbidium awards

[Kentucky]

Interesting thread, but I think it's about to lead the unknowing astray. Susan you make a good point about dog standards, but the orchid standards are really the previously awarded plants. There is no general round,full, and flat requirement as some seem to suggest. The RFF requirement is limited to certain genera where that's a reasonable possibility and, in my experience, only strictly applies to hybrids, especially complex ones.

I do agree that some tweaks might help the situation. It looks to me like the standards as they currently exist were really aimed at hybrids while not intending to include species (or primary hybrids) at all. So you take a cupped Phal like mariae or a star shaped Phal like braceana to judging you just hope and pray that judges have adjusted their judgements to consider what nature built. In my experience they have, but I think some support in the written word would be appropriate.

The actual question was about Cyms. Since they don't grow over a wide area most of us never even see one, but my opinion from looking at pictures is that most are same old, same old. I readily admit to the possibility of being completely wrong, but I think a whole lot of judges would share that opinion. So if it's wrong there needs to be positive publicity put out about great and progressive these things really are. Susan, as a 30 year veteran of the dog show world I think I can say that publicity about a breed or an individual dog is what drives the contest. You most likely agree. Some breeds just never win a group or BIS. They aren't even in the running...same deal.

There is something to be said for Greg's dig at Paphs (or Phrags). I don't see that same issue with Phals, but maybe it exists. It would be interesting to see some valid statistics about the percentage of entered plants being awarded at each level versus the entry numbers.

I guess if I were to look for curious details about judging it wouldn't be this one. It would be why the percentage of FCC's is so high in Florida versus the whole country.