It is interesting to note that the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year is celebrated annually for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival (元宵節) on the final day, which is today for 2015, soon to be joyfully experienced in the first Full Moon Tonight… for the Year of the Goat, the symbolic meanings and cultural significance of which are well encapsulated by the following Wikipedia excerpts:
The Goat (Chinese: 羊; pinyin: yáng) is the eighth sign of the 12-year cycle of animals that appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
The Chinese commonly regard sheep as an auspicious animal, and the Year of the Sheep, therefore, heralds a year of promise and prosperity. “Yáng” (羊) is a component of another written Chinese character “xiang” (祥), which means auspiciousness, and the two were interchangeable in ancient Chinese, according to one source. It is also a part of the character “shan” (善), which counts kindness and benevolence as among its meanings.
In Chinese astrology Goats are described as loving-peace and “kind” and “popular”. With the addition of the wood element, the Goat characteristic is thought to love peace and to be helpful and trusting, but yet also to be “clinging” and of a nature resistant to change.
Chinese New Year
History’s “Bet You Didn’t Know” web series focuses on some of history’s little known facts.
Can also be viewed at history.com/topics/holidays/chinese-new-year
Photo & Video Contributions
Those who are interested in contributing photos or videos can upload them to the Queensland Orchid International Facebook Group.
Excellent or exceptional photos and videos uploaded to the group may be featured in the following Gallery of this post to provide exemplary visual documentations of Orchids for Chinese New Year Celebration.
Blue Orchids
On this special day, SoundEagle would like to invite all of you to celebrate the occasion with not just lanterns, fireworks and sumptuous Chinese food but also orchids of any colour persuasion, blue or otherwise, via the simultaneous presentation of photos, graphics and friendly discussions shown below, the subjects of which range from Chinese New Year and cultural heritage, image manipulation and colour perception, to gene splicing, genetic modification, mutation, crossbreeding and selective breeding for true blue orchid flowers.
It is early March, the start of a new season! If you are interested and creatively inclined, then gather your best-looking and most spring- or autumn-worthy (flowering) orchids, bring them indoor or outdoor for enjoyment, and decorate or surround them with old or new gifts, souvenirs, memorabilia, models, jewellery, decor(ations), ornaments, plush toys and so on to mark the beginning of the new season and the end of the Chinese New Year during the bright hours of the day or by the Full Moon Tonight… with festive Lanterns.
Take photos or videos and upload them to the Queensland Orchid International Facebook Group to celebrate the occasion and the new season, impressing us with your spirit and creativity!
Blue orchids! kindly rate 1-10 Oh My What a Beautiful Day 🙂 Unlike ·· Share
K-w SoundEagle, Alison Viatos, Charlie Robino, Craig Scott-Harden and 32 others like this.
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Craig Scott-Harden Sorry to say this is a fake, I guess it could be dyed? However I really don’t think so, I think photoshop!!!! 17 February at 00:33 · Unlike · 1
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K-w SoundEagle “Seeing is believing” has rung very hollowly in this photo, Craig . . . . . 17 February at 00:37 · Edited · Like · 1
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Craig Scott-Harden It is an older shaped hybrid! One might say it’s part of the Blue Rinse Set???? 17 February at 00:51 · Unlike · 2
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Greg Steenbeeke Looking at the discolouration in the foliage I would guarantee someone has modified the colours using image manipulation. 17 February at 06:24 · Edited · Unlike · 2
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Michael Vaughn Definitely photoshop on that one. The saturation is off. Unless there are some new discoveries I haven’t heard about it is my understanding that there are no truly blue orchids. A few come close to the eyes perception of blue. Vanda coerulea and some of its hybrids would be an example. A lot of “blue” orchids are lavender color mutations. For instance Bletilla striata, a normally dark pink flowered orchid, has a cultivar ‘Murasaki Shikibu’ with dark lavender flowers. 17 February at 06:16 · Unlike · 1
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Greg Steenbeeke Michael, most of one genus (Thelymitra) is blue. While many of the commercial genera have no blue species members, there are genera which certainly have blues (Disa is another). 17 February at 06:26 · Unlike · 2
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Michael Vaughn I’m not sure if there are any labs trying to genetically modify blue pigments into orchids. Florigene and Suntory worked genes into roses to have them make the blue pigment delphindin. Although from everything I’ve seen I can’t call it an initial success. The innate acidic pH of a rose alters the expression of the pigment and is basically yet again a lovely shade of lavender. 17 February at 06:27 · Unlike · 1
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Michael Vaughn You stimulated my curiosity Greg Steenbeeke , so I did some research. I’d seen pictures of Thelymitra, but had always thought that the blue must have been more a trick of the camera. But apparently the chemical that makes them blue is the same as in Blue Cornflower (Centaurea cyaneus). 17 February at 11:59 · Unlike · 2
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Greg Steenbeeke That’s not a big surprise Michael – thanks for uncovering that. The main species of Thelymitra I am familiar with has a similar array of flower colours to cornflower too – from blue through to pinks. This album shows many of these variants:
https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer… 17 February at 15:08 · Unlike · 1 -
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TracyLyn Grenfell No, it’s not mine. I used the photoshopped one to do an image search in google 18 February at 00:25 · Unlike · 3
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Stephen Lynch oh please behave people, the only non naturally occuiring ‘blue’ orchid is a phaleanopsis in Japan that ws kept in a dimly lit glass case with security and you couldn’t get closer than ten feet to it. The result of splicing ‘apparently’ a chromosome of a blue flowering weed into the genetic string of a white phaleanopsis, in my opinion it is a party trick nothing more. 18 February at 07:06 · Edited · Unlike · 1
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Michael Vaughn This link has a photo of said blue Phal. Very interesting. I wonder how long until these get into TC?
http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/…/35088-scientists…
Just came across this article about Scientists make world’s 1st blue orchid Genetic engineering use to… -
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Michael Vaughn It’s a bit fun that the parent plant of the blue gene used for splicing was the weedy Asiatica dayflower. If you ever get it in your garden you will understand the poetry of such an obnoxious weed being used to create such beauty. 18 February at 11:51 · Unlike · 2
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Stephen Lynch i find it crooked ugly and a joke, some scientists need a slap nothing good ever comes of screwing with nature, to me a NON hybridizer it is an abomination. 18 February at 16:17 · Unlike · 1
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Michael Vaughn GM always creates a lot of controversy. I’m more fine with something like making an orchid blue than all the GM food here in my country. Something like modifying an orchid to be blue is rather benign and has no environmental impact towards humans or nature at large. Even if it were a plant that could normally crossbreed into wild populations I’d see no issue as long as it were turned into a sterile triploid. It saddens me that companies like Monsanto have sullied a rather interesting technology by mucking with our food. 18 February at 16:27 · Unlike · 2
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TracyLyn Grenfell Monsanto needs to be blown up. I base that opinion on their disgusting antics that can be seen in the documentary ‘David V’s Monsanto’. That was absolutely disgusting. 18 February at 16:31 · Unlike · 1
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Barbara Haywood Fake and freekin ugly as sin in my opinion for what it’s worth. Plenty of beauty out there without creating this freeky piece of work. B. 18 February at 16:36 · Unlike · 1
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Michael Vaughn I am good friends with a rep from a plant patenting company. He mentioned to me that, as if some sort of twisted joke, that here in the US to genetically modify an ornamental crop is so cost prohibitive it has essentially been made illegal. It wouldbe impossible to recover the R&D costs.The US just approved of a GM apple that won’t brown when cut, but we couldn’t GM an ornamental crabapple to be immune to rust and scab. Nationwide I can’t even fathom the amount of fungicide sprayed yearly to try and keep rust and scab off of a tree used purely for aesthetics. Now that’s some irony. 18 February at 16:37 · Unlike · 1
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Michael Vaughn As an avid, or obsessed, plant collector I can understand the appeal. Historically as a people we always seem to demand plants do what they don’t do naturally. If it grows tall we want it shorter. If it grows short we want it taller. If it comes in orange we want it in yellow. We’ve been selectively breeding since the dawn of agriculture. I myself am always looking for a new variegated or dwarf mutation. GM is a much more efficient way to go about it from an ornamental perspective. I just don’t want to eat anything that’s had it’s proteins and enzymes mucked around with.Conversely there is a sort of beauty in the inefficiency of standard breeding. For someone to see the untapped potential of the plants innate genetics, or seeing the potential of some chance mutation. There are a few breeders here who are managing to cross plants that were deemed impossible to cross by essentially tricking them naturally. It’s an impressive art form. 18 February at 16:45 · Unlike · 2
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Mick Talbot On seeing the first manmade orchid hybrid in 1856. John Lindley is said to have shouted “My God! You will drive the botanists mad.” __James Veitch in Hortus Veitchii,1906. 18 February at 17:51 · Unlike · 2
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Craig Scott-Harden Well hell thats only fair!!!! The Botanist are having a fair go at driving us mad!!!!!! 18 February at 19:09 · Unlike · 1
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Greg Steenbeeke Not going to stop yet either Craig ….he he he he he … 18 February at 19:13 · Unlike · 2
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Craig Scott-Harden Damn, ya know I’m going to Kakadu in April after Barramundi!!! Geeez I hope they take the bait that quick!!! LOL 18 February at 19:21 · Unlike · 2
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Greg Steenbeeke The grunter I was catching in the upper Mitchell near Mount Carbine didn’t even wait for the bait to hit the surface. Very good eating too 18 February at 19:26 · Unlike · 2
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Craig Scott-Harden Ya know Barbara, there are people that say “I don’t need to get dressed up for Halloween” so I guess your right!!!! 18 February at 21:54 · Unlike · 1
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Craig Scott-Harden I don’t know it’s as if the bunch have flown the coop!!! Could be that the love birds Alison Viatos and K-w SoundEagle are snuggled up on a perch somewhere??? Yesterday at 01:24 · Unlike · 2
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Craig Scott-Harden They’d better not up there knocking off my potential Barra’s Yesterday at 09:51 · Unlike · 1
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Craig Scott-Harden I think I can trust Charlie, he’ll only take what he needs! As for the other 2, I’m sure they’ll be knocking off something???? Yesterday at 10:39 · Unlike · 1
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Charlie Robino Fishing tomorrow while I have the chance. Cyclones to the north and south. Barra are on the bite, so are the Cobia. Grunta are also taking baits around the edges of the shail, and of corse the Jacks are going crazy. Cheers Yesterday at 20:11 · Unlike · 2
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Alison Viatos Happy Chinese New Year to everyone esp kw !! I had some Malaysian friends over today for lunch & the menu ( esp for you Craig the foodie ) was rice paper rolls of prawns , roast pork & all the trimmings incl lots of fresh mint , basil & coriander .several dipping sauces .my friends surprised me & brought a steam boat ( satay celup ) with lots of vege , fish balls etc & we had cake & fresh figs & honey .we played big 2 ( a card game) & are planning to see the parade & fireworks in the City Sunday . Kung Hei Fat Choi ( happy new year ) . Yesterday at 21:45 · Unlike · 1
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Craig Scott-Harden Mmmmmm Alison those rolls sound yummy!!! Charlie keep your head down that Cyclone Marcia sounds like it’s set for bumpy ride! Barbara are you going to visit the Orchid Fair at Beenleigh, lots of vendors I don’t know and that I have never seen their wares!!! Love to get up there for that one!!! 23 hrs · Edited · Unlike · 1
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✿❀ Sharing the Joy and Knowledge of Growing Orchids ❀✿ -
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Craig Scott-Harden Hey Barbara, if ya see any really unusual Bulbo’s keep me in mind!!! 13 hrs · Unlike · 1
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