[OGD] Geothermal greenhouse heating
My nursery was entirely geothermally heated in New Zealand from 1984-2000. Funnily our biggest problem was in getting water suitable for watering the orchids and we had to pipe this about a mile or so. Every time you tried to sink a well on the property you got thermally heated water! But New Zealand has really failed to take advantage of this resource and most goes to waste. Too much Governmental interference and the indigenous people laying extravagant claims to something that they stole from the previous inhabitants. I often thought that if the area where I had my nursery (Rotorua) had been in The Netherlands, there would have been efficient greenhouses as far as the eye could see, all utilizing the wonderful geothermal resource. If you drilled and got an artesianing bore at say 90 degrees Centigrade, you would cap it and drill again to get better! A renewable and very money-saving resource. AE ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Burrageara Nelly Isler-note spelling Iris!
You silly woman. of course it does not have a patent tag when sold in the United States because as has been clearly explained, it is not patented here! It is protected in Europe. Andy Easton. ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] More drivel from Iris.
This woman is a veritable trove of ignorance. Is there any orchid topic on which she doesn't expound? Most orchids that have patent protection in this country are well superceded before the patent protection has run its course. But the key selling years are kept exclusive. Also even though the said orchid may be pirated offshore, the pirate plants can be prevented from entering the US market. This has happened, with some fanfare, on several occasion that I recall.The European system has some merit (even though it costs more!) in that you must renew protection annually. Growers use the fact that a plant's protection has not been renewed as a sign that the variety has been superceded. Andy ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Product endorsements.
Iris had better watch her typing finger or with the defamatory comments she made about Sun Bulb, she might have to cough up some serious dollars. They are a fine old reputable company and well suited to receive the product endorsement by AOS. It is wonderful that the AOS endorses orchid products that meet agreed standards. It sets a seal of quality that new hobbyists can trust instead of having to buy orchid supplies that have been scraped off some warehouse floor. Notice, they are not endorsing orchid plants but I could see in the future some sort of a system maybe where aggrieved customers could get an arbitrated settlement for substandard plants from growers who signed on to an AOS administered scheme. Let's get into the 21st Century! Andy Easton ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Kathy.
I am well out of the loop now. I suggest you contact Carlos at the e-mail address you posted several days ago and let him answer specific questions. This was his special area of responsibility as I recall. Presume you will be lining up tomorrow to judge the POE?? I'm afraid I'm just too busy this year with the Japan Grand Prix trip looming next week. Andy ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Icones
Ken, I accept that you are a really serious orchid enthusiast with your wonderful collection of plants and a library to match. But I did see an e-mail circulating back about the time that the first year's financials were available for the Delray Beach facility which said that you would be willing to come down to HQ for six months or so at no cost to the AOS to get everything going in the right direction once more. As it originated from the keyboard of one of your close friends I did consider it authentic. It never came to pass as Lee had the full confidence of the then President, Rob Griesbach. Maybe both of us are relics of a bygone era in orchids that may never return or even be approximated in the future. For myself I am sick of people who post on various forums that obviously never read any serious orchid literature and disseminate misinformation by the bucketload. I am equally sick of those orchid people who freeload on the good work that the AOS does, be it at area orchid shows or in education and orchid promotion. Many people making their livelihood from peddling orchids neither support the AOS with membership or in any other fashion. Andy ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
[OGD] Lee.
Bill, you are so correct in a number of areas and Lloyd de Garmo is rightfully indignant. So are a lot of other stalwarts of the orchid world including Ernest Hetherington. Ken, you may have been a Trustee for a short time but you are letting your personal distate for Lee cloud your recollection. You did after all make a strong pitch for his job when I was employed at the AOS! Lee and Merritt Huntingdon were adamantly opposed to the Delray Beach site. Fact! How could anyone come up with guaranteed accurate income figures for a startup operation as unique as the AOS Orchid Center. True, I think the CFO's total lack of commercial savvy was an impediment but did you not read Carlos Fighetti's excellent column in this month's Orchids magazine? Who could have foreseen the anazing changes in the orchid world that have occured since 2000. Not the officers of the organization that's for sure and there was tremendous wave of enthusiasm at the AOS in 2000. I know because I was there, day by day. So things changed. Well then the AOS needs to adapt and change too. In the military, if a battle plan failed did you abandon the fight or maybe it would have been wiser to change your strategy??? I have great confidence in the new President. I have no time for people who snipe from the sidelines. I have supported the AOS finacially as much as I can afford and have been disappointed in the past President's performance. In fact, a feel-good compromise candidate is always a poor choice in my opinion. California has been either ignored or woefully inept represenatatives selected from there for Trustees etc. Again the past President, in his ignorance of the Californian orchid scene did not listen to wiser minds. There are some bright financial minds in the current lineup and inevitably a few of the dregs of previous eras, but overall, the AOS is about as well-prepared as it could be to fight the battle it has embarked upon. How could any genuine orchid lover not wish them success or do bruised egos still sway over wishing what is best for the beautiful flowers that we would all seem to be so passionate about? Andy Easton ___ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
