ry he Orchid Societies Council of 
Hi Victoria (OSCOV) introduced the 
annual Victorian Orchids of the Year com- 
petition in 1992. Photographs of all 
orchids that have received OSCOV awards 
in the current year are considered, together 
with any others submitted by Victorian 
growers. Success in this competition relies 
not only on growing an orchid of award 
quality but also on taking photographs of a 
similar standard. As a consequence, those 
orchids with the highest awards do not 
necessarily win this competition. Seventy- 
six OSCOV awards were granted in 2008 
(7 Awards of Merit, 37 Highly 
Commended Certificates, 6 Awards of 
Distinction, 22 Cultural Certificates, 2 
Awards of Quality and 2 Certificates of 
Botanical Merit). The OSCOV Judging 
Panel met in February 2009, first to select 
the winners in the various categories and 
then to decide the overall winner. Digital 
photographs, rather than transparencies, 
have been used for the last two years. The 
results of the Judges’ adjudications are as 
follows: 
The Victorian Orchid of the Year for 
2008 (sponsored by OSCOV) was 
Paphiopedilum Double Arrow ‘Castle 
Creek’ AM/OSCOV, grown by John 
Martin and Andrew Francis of Castle 
Creek Orchids at Merrigum (northern 
Victoria). This striking “Maudiae-type” 
Paphiopedilum hybrid was also the 
Victorian Paphiopedilum Hybrid of the 
Year (sponsored by the Ballarat Orchid 
Society) and Victorian Seedling of the 
Year (sponsored by Atlantis Orchids as 
the Harold and Florence Coker Award). 
John and Andrew will receive a Gold and 
two Silver Medallions, together with a 
large framed photograph of their winning 
orchid. 
Neil and Fay Allison of Drouin will 
receive the OSCOY-sponsored Gunter 
Haar Memorial Trophy (a large framed 
photograph of their orchid and an OSCOV 
silver medallion) for winning the 
Victorian Cultural Certificate of the 
Year with their magnificent specimen 
plant of the Brazilian species Cattleya lod- 
digesii ‘Impassionata’ CC/OSCOV. All 
trophies will be presented at a dinner to be 
held in conjunction with the OSCOV 
Show at Springer’s Leisure Centre 
(Keysborough) in August. The winners of 
all other categories will receive smaller 
framed photographic prints of their 
orchids and OSCOV medallions at this 
dinner. 
The Victorian Australian Native 
Orchid Species of the Year (sponsored by 
the Yarra Valley Orchid Society) was 
Dendrobium falcorostrum ‘Baw Baw’ 
HCC/OSCOV, grown by Chris Pegg of 
Traralgon. Sarcochilus Patricia Abell 
6 
Ws 
‘Missy’ AM/OSCOV, grown by Le-Anne 
and David Brown of Cranbourne, was 
Victorian Australian Native Orchid 
Hybrid of the Year (sponsored by the 
Mornington Peninsula Orchid Society). 
Victorian Paphiopedilum Species of 
the Year (sponsored by the Stawell Orchid 
Society) was Paphiopedilum fairrieanum 
“Merrigum’ HCC/OSCOYV, grown by John 
Martin and Andrew Francis of Castle 
Creek Orchids. Kathie Lam and Jean- 
Frangois Rossi of Hampton Park won the 
Victorian Other Species Orchid of the 
Year category (sponsored by the Orchid 
Species Society of Victoria) with the 
African species Cyrtorchis arcuata ‘Lam’ 
CBM/OSCOV. 
Andy Tran of Doncaster won the 
Victorian Cymbidium of the Year (spon- 
Victorian Award of Quality for the Year — a group of five seedlings of Masdevallia Latin Sun. 
=. 
sored by the Cymbidium Orchid Society 
of Victoria) with Cymbidium Valley 
Champion ‘Gorgeous’ HCC-CC/OSCOV. 
The Victorian Cattleya of the Year 
(sponsored by the Mid-Murray Orchid 
Club) was (Sophrocattleya Tangerine 
Jewel x Thwaitesara Dal’s Emperor) 
‘Indy’ , a first-flowering seedling grown by 
Brendan Larkin of Cranbourne. Once 
again Clive and Agi Halls of Mount 
Beenak Orchids have won the Victorian 
Masdevallia of the Year category (spon- 
sored by thé Warrnambool and District 
Orchid Society), this year with 
Masdevallia Dazzler “Beenak’ 
HCC/OSCOV. They also won the category 
for Victorian Award of Quality for the 
Year with a group of five seedlings of 
Masdevallia Latin Sun. 
Clive and Agi Halls of Mount Beenak 
The Australian Orchid Review, June/July 2009 
