This is not always the case ,as Alice & I found out on our recent visit to London, England. In the planning of our 3 day stop in London we checked out what was going on at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and were delighted to see that Kew Orchid Festival "99"" would be in progress on the very Sunday we would be there. So a visit was incorporated in to the "lets do " list.

Now is when the luck part "kicks in". In reading ORCHIDS the publication of AOS, we discovered that the RHS London Orchid show would also be in session at the Horticultural Hall in Westminister on Sunday March 21 . What a bonus for orchid viewing. This also, however created a problem in logistics. Not to worry! The underground train systems to the rescue. From South Kensington to Westminister Abby {for church} to Kew Gardens {garden visit, orchid exhibition, orchid art collection, etc.} to Horticultural Hall ,Westminister {orchid show }and back to the hotel in the Kensington section. An interesting journey to say the least. The best part however were the activities. Orchids by the thousands in the Prince of Wales Conservertory.many of which we have only seen in bloom in books. One section of the facility was dedicated to massed orchid hybrids. In the Tropical and Temperate Orchid Zones there were displays of naturally occurring orchid species growing as they would in nature.At the Victoria Gate Terrarium we viewed a display of rare plants including the lovely European bee orchid. The Marianne North Gallery showed a magnificent collection {825 +} oil paintings from around the world, done by Maianne North an amazing 19 th century artist who donated all the pictures and built the gallery for The Kew Gardens. This was an unexpected bonus to the visit to Kew. .At the RHS London show at Horticultural Hall we viewed breathtaking displays of cut flowers and plants presented by growers from Europe & The U.K.. Most of these plants were cool weather types, things we do not see in great numbers on the Gulf Coast region. The colors were so bright, the blooms so large it made your eyes cross. We took lots of pictures and would be pleased to share them with you at the June HOS meeting, time permitting. We really felt fortuate that on this occasion our Luck was much better than our Planning Skills.............. ALICE & DONALD AGAFON

Greenhouse for sale. 9x10-ft, pressure-treated lumber with dbl. and triple-tiered wire benches & rods for hanging plants. Very sturdy, nice, 3-1/2 years old. $325. with high-quality knit black shade cloth. 713-461-8605, Nina/Marc

New Orchid Links by Nina Rach

Native Orchids of Pennsylvania Some nice photos - thumbnails expandable to larger images.
http://www.wild-orchids.com

The Literary Orchid
submitted by Nina Rach

On Orchis mascula, a native English & European species:
"There, with fantastic garlands, did she come,
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies and long-purples
That liberal sheherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them."
Shakespeare, Hamlet iv, 7

About Corallorhiza (coral-root), a predominantly North American terrestrial genus with attractive flowers :
"Less than the coral root, you know,
That is content with the daylight low,
And has no leaves at all of its own;
Whose spotted flowers hang meanly down."
Robert Frost, "On Going Unnoticed - Corallorhiza"

On Cypripedium:
"The first of June, when the lady's slipper and the wild pink have come out in sunny places on the hill-sides, then the summer is begun according to the clock of the seasons."
Henry David Thoreau

Houston Judging Center Report
by Marg Putman

May 15, 1999

There were 15 plants entered and 9 considered with 3 awards given:

1. Den. Ahulani Hinojosa 'Granier's Gran Carol' (Lipstick May x May Neal) AM 85 points
2. Enc. alata 'Granier's Gran Sun' (species) AM 84 points
3. Lc. Alarcon 'Gran Blue Princess' (Lc. Canhamiana x C. Dupreana) AM 83 points.

All were owned by Erwin Granier, St. Gabriel, LA

There were 17 Accredited Judges, 4 Probationary Judges, 4 Student Judges and 2 Clerks present with 32 persons attending.
The next judging session will be June 19, 1999 at Houston Baptist University.

Mary Morgan Whisenant, widow of former HOS President Kenneth M. Whisenant, died Wed., Feb. 24^th, 1999, in the Spring Branch Memorial Medical Center Hospital. Mary served for 35 years as Executive Secretary for the Shriner's Crippled Chidren's Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. In her immediate family Mary is survived by sister Ann M. Johnston, who in recent years, attended many HOS special events with Mary.

In addition to serving the HOS in various official positions during their long-term membership, the Whisenants were gracious hosts in their home; whether it was in Houston or, in later years, at Montgomery, Texas. Ken had long hoped for an Orchid Judging Center in Houston, in addition to the already established facility in San Antonio. In respect for that wish having come true, every year since the 1989 opening of our then Supplemental- now Full Service- Houston Judging Center, Mary mailed a "birthday check" to the center in memory of Ken Whisenant. Even during the past several years of living alone and with diminishing health, Mary kept her, now smaller, greenhouse filled with blooming orchid plants.

Among the long-term orchid friends, who helped keep her supplied with plants were J. E. Babe Lorenzen, San Antonio; R. E. Post - former HOS President, now in Texarkana, and Bob and Do Lewis in Houston. The Whisenants' first orchid plant was Laeliocattleya George Lewis. Mr. George Lewis, father of Bob Lewis, was an early years HOS member and an encouraging friend of the Whisenants - along with such well known names as Bob Betts, Mr. Buddy Benz and Wm. A. (Bill) Gee.

On a personal note, Mary Whisenant and I became friends in the early 1960's, both through orchids and our then secretarial responsibilities in the Texas Medical Center. As "Orchid Widows" we enjoyed many telephone conversations. At one point I mentioned to her how I'd been trying to explain how Vanilla came from a seed pod of the Vanilla Orchid to some of my retirement companions. During her next visit to her sister Ann, here in Houston, she brought me a Vanilla Bean in its glass container for display and/or use! I still have it in my own "Show and Tell" as well as fragrant memories - Much Love, Ruth Gee

My personal special remembrance of Dr. Hagerman is during the years when he was able to come to meetings early and visit with members at the Garden Center entrance - greeting members with happy comments about their plants.