“Portraits of Cymbidium Excellence: Grand Champion Cymbidiums of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show”
Our April meeting will be a live presentation by Heidi Kirkpatrick on the cymbidiums awarded Grand Champion at the Santa Barbara International show.
This year’s Grand Champion cymbidium was awarded to Cal-Orchid for (Beautiful Orphan x Big Strike) ‘Macho Man’. Note: The plant’s parent names are listed in parentheses followed by the cultivar name in single quotes.
SBIOS 2025 Grand Champion Cymbidium: (Beautiful Orphan x Big Strike) ‘Macho Man’
“Portraits of Cymbidium Excellence: Grand Champion Cymbidiums of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show” by Heidi Kirkpatrick
A survey of winners at the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show, Heidi’s presentation provides an excellent overview of almost 80 years of trends in cymbidium hybridizing. Learn about the evolving standards of beauty in prize-winning cymbidiums, along with tales of the hybridizers and exhibitors who brought the winning plants to the Show.
Heidi Kirkpatrick is the plant registrar and historian of the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. She is a past editor of the Cymbidium Society of America Journal and sometime contributor to Orchids and Orchid Digest. She began growing orchids while living in Maryland in the 1990s and was delighted to discover that orchids grow really well outdoors in Santa Barbara! Heidi has been a member of OSSB since 1998.
Orchid Society of Santa Barbara Display 2025
A big ‘Thank You’ to everyone who provided plants for the society display, participated in setting up the display (led by designer Phil Watt), manned the sales booth (led by Angela Watt), and volunteered their time for a myriad of other tasks at the show this year.
OSSB Display Show Awards
Best Species Cymbidium – Show Trophy, Cymbidium tracyanum – Exhibited by Phil and Angela Watt
Best Red Cattleya – Ronna & Eric Hoffman Trophy, Slc. Jewel Box ‘Dark Waters’ – Exhibited by Lance Schroder
A complete listing of 2025 Show awards and 1945 to 2025 Grand Champion Cymbidiums is on the SBIOS website: https://sborchidshow.com/awards/
2025 Membership Dues
Annual membership fee is $40 for individuals, $50 per household. Due in January, pay no later than March. See Angela Watt during the meeting.
Location Reminder
We are now meeting at Maravilla on the 2nd Wednesday. Directions: From Calle Real, enter Maravilla and bear left. On the right is a lawn with a flagpole. The meeting rooms are to the left of the lawn/flagpole. To park, continue to drive around a loop that will lead you to the parking lot. Additional parking is available to the right as you drive in, any parking space without a number is available. Meeting Rooms: AOS Judging in the Galleria Room, Orchid Society in the Valencia Room. OSSB on the web: Orchid Society of Santa Barbara