I’m quite looking forward to this one!

In our lab – we use agar jelly as a replacement for the fungas, meaning we can have every single seed germinate, where as only 10 may germinate in the wild.  More information on our techniques can be found in our media libraries.

While in Cape Town in 2007 we linked with a school in the area, but also with local growers.  Lorna in particular has been brilliant at supplying seed of the leopard orchid Anselia africana.  When she e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago and first told me that she had 9 mature pods I was very excited!  Anselia africana is a very nice plant that is easy to sow and grows well in our lab.

I was also eager to find out just what 9 seed pods worth of seed looked like!  We were all very impressed when the envelope was packed full of seed.  This is such a brilliant example Darwin’s prediction that, if left to their own devices, and if every seed germinated – orchids would take over the world in three generations!

Quite a large pile of orchid seed!

A big, big Thank-You to Lorna, and also to our other partners across the globe! We couldn’t do it without you!

This will include a presentation from the Durban team, who’s blog you have been following on here or on the RHS Blog.  There will also be a presentation from me on the Sikkim expedition last April.  It’s looking like it’s going to be a good evening with some of our Year 8 students promising cake and biscuits!

Remember to come along on Monday 14th December (Yes, that’s next Monday!) to the school.  Bring £1 for entrance and prepare for orchids, education and refreshments!  I’ll see you there!

Our Orchid Celebration Evening is a great oppertunity for you to meet and get information from our growers of all ages.  We will have talks throughout the evening about recent expeditions, along with plant sales and those all important refreshments!

If you’re interested in attending this exciting evening of information (we should call it that!) then simply turn up at the school for 7pm on Monday 14th December.  Entrance costs £1 and all of the funds raised go to our partner schools, both in South Africa and in Sikkim.  We expect the evening to finish by 9:30pm.

During this period the team out there will be taking over my job of blogging – meaning that here is the one and only place to get all of the up-to-date information, along with what their doing and photos uploaded straight from the conference!

As always, comments are not only welcome, but encouraged on all posts we make – but particularly about the live expedition posts.  We’ve been having some problems with spam – so do-not fret if your comment isn’t live right away!

The problems arrive in more flat areas where the orchids have no option to migrate to a higher altitude. In these areas, the orchids cannot adapt to the quickly changing temperature and as a result, many have been driven to the edge of extinction.

The lecture takes place at Churchill Hall at 7.30pm.  Tickets are £6 for Friends and £7.50 for non-Friends.

For more information about directions etc, please visit the Botanic Garden’s Website

I’m sure I’ll be updating the Dates pages with dates for your calender over the summer holiday.  Of course – plant’s don’t stop when school does so we’ll be in each day to water.

Next year we’ll be off to London orchid show again, as well as the Botanic Gardens Conservation International conference in Durban, South Africa.  We’ve also got local shows coming up next year including one at the Welsh Botanic Garden and the Bristol University Botanic Garden.  We should also have a redesign active in the early stages of the new year.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for watching, reading and keeping up with me with exams etc.  It’s been a great year and I hope that I’ll see you all for the next 3 years.  No idea what then – hopefully I’ll be able to train someone else, but that’s a story for another day!

A personal record for me as it has only taken 1 and a quarter hours to extract the recording and upload it!

The event is free to OCI members, £10 to non-members (refundable from OCI membership).

Students at Writhlington who have become experts in orchids and raising these exotic plants from seed in a dedicated propagation laboratory have used their skills to help the future of one of the world’s rarest orchid species.

Read More…

Zoe discusses her project with Natasha de Vere

The Day featured a display, by Year 7 and 8 Pupils from Writhlington, all about the School’s pioneering work in Central America and South East Asia.

“The public loved the unusual plants we had on show. We talked a lot about all the animals that pollinate the different orchids which made sense in a Zoo. We also showed how we are using micropropagation to help save endangered plants in Belize and Laos.”

- Zoe Parfitt, Year 7

As well as meeting the public, students were able to discuss their work with leading plant scientists gathered for the Association of British Zoos Annual Conference.