IRA BUTLER TROPHY

From such beginnings, Ira became interested in orchid hybridization, first with Cymbidium, then Soft Cane Dendrobiums and finally native orchids. His native breeding started with Dendrobium kingianum, a bright and hardy plant that grows on a rock. He pollinated flowers with Dendrobium falcorostrum and Dendrobium speciosum and was surprised to find pods full of ripe seed by Christmas; they were so much faster than Cymbidium crosses. The seeds were sown in flasks and some planted out before the next winter. This was the beginning of his seedlings of Dendrobium Bardo Rose and Dendrobium X delicatum which he used to give away at Orchid Society meetings.