The first plant in 2024 is Dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes (Den. Aussie Parade 'Carrot Splash' AM/AOS x Den. spesiosum 'Windermere' HCC/AOC). This is the Aussie Dendrobiums time!

Dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes was originated and registered by Australian O.N. in 2009. 

Dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes has several Australian Dendrobium species in the background, including Den. speciosum - 50 %, Den. tetragonum - 31.25%, and few other, including falcorostrum and kingianum.

Previous Awards:

There are 3 AOS awards and one AOC award for Den. Australian Robbie McInnes.

Description:

The candidate plant has 82 flowers on 8 inflorescences up to 15 cm in height, some inflorescences are staked. Plant growing in 4 inch (10 cm) pot in bark mix. Plant is 52 cm wide and 35 cm in height (without inflorescences).

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 4.0 cm;                   NS V - 7.0 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 0.6 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 3.5 cm;

Petal W - 0.3 cm;               Petals L - 3.5 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 0.9 cm;       Lat/Sepal L - 3.4 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 1.1 cm;     Lip/Pouch L - 1.4 cm.

Judges' Comments

Kris Mason (Accredited Judge, Cincinnati Judging Center)

Beautiful color and pattern combination. I like the consistency of the markings and the shape and contrast of the lip. Overall, the form is nice. Flower count is within range.  Natural Spread acceptable. The width of segments is same as other awards, length is slightly longer. Display of flowers on inflorescence is nice. Flowers are held slightly in foliage affecting over all display. I pointed this at 78 points.

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Eighty-two nicely formed, good size and well-colored flowers on eight inflorescences on a well-grown plant (leaf grooming? - maybe next time) too small for a culture award but could qualify in future.

Seems that the Australians are not as enthralled as American judges with this cross: The only other than AOS award was a 76.2 HCC in Australia which plant in many respects is superior to the AOS awards. Perhaps they believed that this cross is under-flowered. Speciosum parent produces around 80-90 flowers or more per inflorescence: kingianum and tetragonum, not so much. This plant seems to be able to produce 30 flowers or more per inflorescence, at least in Australia. Since it's growing in USA, we seemed to have accepted an average flower count of 10 or so (about 6 - 14 range).

In my opinion, a low to mid level HCC would be appropriate.

Hendrik van der Hoven (Associate Judge, Western Canada Judging Center)

Dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes (Den. Aussie Parade x Den. speciosum)

A well grown plant with pleasing colored flowers appearing to be well spaced on the inflorescence.

If one however look at the awarded Den. Aussie Parade then there is very little difference between it and this hybrid.

As per Baker Den. speciosum often have several inflorescences appear at the same time with up 100 flowers per inflorescence. (Den. Aussie Parade has as one parent Den. speciosum).

I would not consider judging this plant as it is hardly an improvement on the parents.

Andy Braun (Student Judge, Atlanta Judging Center)

My initial thoughts were that the flowers are crowded and not presenting out of the foliage. However, looking at the previous awards, this presentation is similar. That aside, I do like the color, balance, and proportion on this flower. The lateral sepals are wider and give a fuller appearance. Also, the flowers on this plant are flatter than previous awards. I would nominate this flower for a quality award. I would also consider a cultural award. Eighty-two flowers on eight inflorescences on a plant in a four-inch pot is worthy of recognition.

Andy Braun

Atlanta JC Student

Joe Bryson (Accredited Judge, Florida North-Central Judging Center)

Sergey, This plant is comparable to the AOS 81 pt. award. More floriferous, but color is not as intense and markings not as dramatic. Great picotee on the Awarded clone. Size is very comparable. Form and bi-lateral symmetry looks good but I would have liked to see a single flower for award discussion. Could go for a cultural award, leaves are somewhat sun bleached it appears; bright light probably aided in the floriferousness. Overall, I'm a sucker for Aussie Dens, so based on what I see, it is close to the AM awarded clone, form is good, color a little less, and floriferousness a little more. I would go for a quality award high HCC to 80 point AM and CCM of 80 points (leaf blemishes detracting from higher score).

Christian Carrillo (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

This is a lovely, clean plant with a lovely, full presentation. I find this candidate to be very similar to the awarded clone 'Fair Orchids' – both in color, physical aesthetics and size. Yes, some segments are larger than the awarded clone, but some segments are also smaller. As per color, the candidate is not as nicely marked as the awarded clone 'Fair Orchids' but the candidate still has nice markings that are deep and regular in patterning. We must also acknowledge that the candidate has 32 more flowers than the awarded 'Fair Orchids' (yet not as many flowers as some other awarded plants). Without question, the candidate plant has excellent presentation and form. I wish I was able to get a better understanding of the arrangement of the flowers, it's hard to really tell if there is harmony and symmetry from the photographs -- this could make a huge difference in scoring. While I don't see myself nominating this plant, I can see pointing it a high HCC or a very low AM. 

Christian

Linda Horton (Accredited Judge, Dallas Judging Center)

I would be working in the range of a low AM as the lip is broader than the AM awarded. Form and color are good.

Linda Horton

Paul Wetter (Senior Judge, West Palm Beach Judging Center)

Thanks for arranging Virtual Judging of Den. Australian Robbie McInnes (Den. Aussie Padre x Den. speciosum

This is a nicely grown plant with attractive flowers.   The four previous awards showed nice color patterns and form.

This plant has an expected color and form based on species in background but could be better. The size and floriferousness are also as expected.   

I think I would like to see either improvement in color and or more uniformity of patterning that is seen in some of the previous awards, so would not nominate for judging at this time and reassess this nice plant after subsequent blooming.

Best regards

Paul Wetter

Larry Hennessey (Student Judge, Louisiana Judging Center)

Outstanding specimen plant with good flower count. Flower color yellow with sharp color contrast to random fuchsia markings on the sepal and petal margins. Lip color outstanding with fuchsia overlay. Flower count is good and size is larger than previous awards. Definitely worthy of a flower quality award, possibly a low AM. Would be considered for a cultural award but flowers appear crowded and some are lost in the foliage.

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Thank you, Sergey, for sending along this candidate. I'm a big fan of the hybridization taking place in Australian with the Dendrocoryne section of Dendrobium species. The plants are relatively easy to grow, tend to bloom when young, and will continue to bloom off of their canes for a number of years; when they are mature they can make quite the display and many have been recognized with cultural awards. Though the flowers are often stellate, the inflorescences can be quite floriferous and bouquet-like; depending on the dominant species the inflorescences can be arched to erect and the flowers well-arranged. While a few of the species (i.e. Dendrobium speciosum) can be quite large, most of the species are compact or medium sized. These traits, coupled with the wide range of colors and patterns that are available, make this a highly desirable group for hobbyists.

When I think about this hybrid, I imagine that the objective in introducing Den. speciosum to the mix was to increase floriferousness, get more length to the inflorescence so that the flowers are displayed beyond the foliage, and to strengthen the inflorescence so that it can easily support the flowers, all while preserving the lovely color/patterns and attractive form found in Den. Aussie Parade.

Our candidate plant is displaying many of these aspects - it's producing multiple arched inflorescences with flowers that are colorful, relatively good sized and, for the most part, pleasingly arranged; in addition, the flower count per inflorescence is decent. The plant is well-grown and appears to be of medium size and stature.

Looking at the award record, our candidate plant compares favorably to other awards to the grex in terms of size (overall and individual segments), general color, and flower count. The inflorescences are trying to get the flowers beyond the foliage, but some appear to be struggling with the weight of the flowers. The patterning on the flowers is not as intense as the most recent award, nor is it as regular as the first two awards. The form is a little more challenging. It appears that some of the lateral sepals recurve near the base as the flowers mature; in addition, the petals are held nearly porrect, often on slightly different planes. Personally, I would like to see the flowers with sepals in the same plane and petals held less forward. 

I would not be inclined to nominate this plant on this flowering. That said, if it were nominated, I would score it in the mid-HCC range.

All the best - 

Bob W.

Pam Noll (Student Judge, Alamo Judging Center)

Nice well-grown plant, the pseudobulbs similar to the D. speciosum parent.  The inflorescences are not as long and arching as D. speciosum, however, so the flowers are held somewhat within foliage. They are an attractive yellow color lightly marked with raspberry blotches along the proximal half of the sepal margins; the raspberry color likely from D. kingianum through Den. Ellen.  The lips are bright raspberry with a central white stripe, adding to the eye-catching quality of these flowers.  Though the Lip and Lateral Sepal measurements of Robbie McInnes are an improvement over the the D. speciosum parent, measurements with other segments of both parents are not enough of an overall improvement for me to nominate this plant for scoring.

Sincerely,

Pamela Noll

Emily Quinn (Accredited Judge, Dallas Judging Center)

Lovely flower. I note that flower count is what it needs to be and presentation is as expected. Form appears good. Interestingly I see that NS is smaller than other awards, but the petals are longer. Perhaps more porrect. VNS is larger. The lip is very nice, AM colorful and more broad. Color of the sepals and petals is ok. Something in between the HCCs and the AM on previous awards. I would score somewhere in the range of 79/80.

Emily Quinn, Dallas JC

Deb Bodei (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes (Den. Aussie Parade x Den. speciosum)

Beautiful plant and certainly beautifully grown. Compared to prior awards on this cross and prior awarded parents with similar species in the background, the plant is not there yet to be considered for a cultural award. However, the grower is doing a great job of getting it there one day. A nice compact plant in line with the latest hybrid trend and also very clean.

The flower form is good, but expected for the latest in this type of breeding. The vertical spread is a little over 10% larger than the average awarded for this same cross, while all the other measurements are about the same.  A good number of the flowers appear to be very flat, but others have the more typical nod of the dorsal and not as flat. The Aussie Parade parent also has a very flat flower, and is also large. The candidate color is consistent and pleasant, but looks much like the Aussie Parade parent and not a standout. The flower count is slightly higher by one flower than the average awarded Aussie Parade but of course nowhere close to speciosum.

I would pass on a flower nomination for this blooming and do not see an opportunity for any other award at this particular time.

Thank you,

Deb

Deb Boersma (Associate Judge, Great Lakes Judging Center)

Dendrobium Australian Robbie McInnes 

A charming example of Australian Dendrobium breeding with the stellate flower form. From the photos it appears that there is inconsistent form from flower to flower with some having a very straight, erect dorsal while others appeared to be hooded, petal stance inconsistent from flower to flower.  I will make my comments looking at the single flower, close-up photos with the photo displaying the horizontal ruler.  The flower form looks quite symmetrical, dorsal is erect and the petals have good stance. The lateral sepals present nicely, not too ‘bull legged’. It looks as though the lip is slightly skewed to the left but that could be the angle of the photo.

The color is pleasing with the contrasting cordovan markings on the margins of the sepals and the lip. I think the bolder markings on the margins of the sepals on the awarded cultivar ‘Fair Orchids’ is more dramatic than on this candidate and more appealing to me. With 10 flowers per inflorescence, it compares to the other awarded cultivars in regards to floriferousness. In terms of size, it is a little smaller than ‘Timothy Henry’ but comparable to the other two awarded cultivars. Looking at the photo with the ruler presented horizontally, it looks to me that the natural spread horizontal was measured from tip to tip of the lateral sepals but it looks as though the petals, from tip to tip, are actually wider so I believe that the natural spread horizontal is actually a little bigger than what was recorded. The arrangement of the flowers could be a little better.

I would nominate this plant and would score an HCC 77-78, had the contrasting markings on the sepals been more prominent I would have scored a little higher.

Kudos to the grower.

Exhibitor - Sergey and Elena Skoropad, NJ (Accredited and Associate Judges, Northeast Judging Center)

Virtual Award Description

Eighty-two stellate flowers on eight up to 15-cm inflorescences; sepals and petals lanceolate, bright yellow, fuchsia markings on proximal margins; lip trilobed, recurved apically, acuminate, cream overlaid fuchsia, central cream stripe; column yellow; substance firm; texture matte.

Grower's Advice