Phrag Cahaba Gold (Andean Fire x boissierianum)

[mauraec]

This phrag. is the most impressive I picked up - the stalk is about 2 1/2 feet tall, with 2 (now dropped) blooms and 3 more buds to come (crossing my fingers).... this photo was taken just after the second (perfect) flower dropped yesterday, which is why it's "floating in space".

This is a pretty large bloom - about 3" across and 3 1/4" long - and a fiery red/orange with a bit of dark crimson accent.

[Daethen]

WOW, that is gorgeous.

[pavel]

Stunning!

[Dorsetman]

These phrags based on besseae are gorgeous , and the only problem in my mind is that they are all very similar.But perhaps all worth growing, too !

[Jose R. Nieves]

Agree with you Dorset. However they make great plants and the tall spikes are impressive. How do you grow these? Mine like a lot of water.
Jose

[Dorsetman]

Agree with you Dorset. However they make great plants and the tall spikes are impressive. How do you grow these? Mine like a lot of water.
Jose

I have had mine in a bark , 'Coconut husk chunk, and moss mix for some time, but standing in saucers of water in the summer ; but I am just moving a lot into S/H using Hydroleca ( baked clay pebbles).

[mauraec]

These phrags based on besseae are gorgeous , and the only problem in my mind is that they are all very similar.But perhaps all worth growing, too !

Don't worry - I have a very small Sorcerer's Apprentice to help round out the collection - and a couple of them have longifolium var. gracile in them. Four of them are one-of-a-kinds, in that the breeder only had one offspring survive seedling status - a few have been bred with parents from the EYOF, and one is a 4N (which I scarcely understand, but am reading about polyploidy in my 'free' time.

We'll be sorry to have you away for a whole month - to whom will I look for all the S/H advice I'm going to need?

By the way, what do you think of the kovachii hybrids? I was told they don't hybridize very elegantly.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Love this phrag, Maura! Great slipper orchid. Phrag Sorcerer's Apprentice is awesome too.

cheers,
BD

PS Phrag Haley Decker (probably misspelled her first name) is a stunning kovachii hybrid. It was crosses with a phrag besseae hybrid and is a beautiful large pink.

[Dorsetman]

Don't worry - I have a very small Sorcerer's Apprentice to help round out the collection - and a couple of them have longifolium var. gracile in them. Four of them are one-of-a-kinds, in that the breeder only had one offspring survive seedling status - a few have been bred with parents from the EYOF, and one is a 4N (which I scarcely understand, but am reading about polyploidy in my 'free' time.

We'll be sorry to have you away for a whole month - to whom will I look for all the S/H advice I'm going to need?

By the way, what do you think of the kovachii hybrids? I was told they don't hybridize very elegantly.

For reasons involving my wife's health I have not been to the British Paph Society meetings ( which usually involve a drive which is just too far now ) fora couple of years, so I have not seen very many. Personally I don't think kovachii itself an elegant flower . Big, yes . An unusual colour, yes. Fantastic material for the hybridist to work with, yes. But do I want it in my collection ? mmh... there are an awful lot of orchids i very definitely do want, but this one ??? When flasks first appeared over here, at the French WOC, at US500 per flask , I decided that I did not want to spend that much money ; and as it turns out I could not have done, since someone told the CITES police they were illegal so they confiscated them ; at the end of the show the nursery got back a lot of broken glass, after they decided they were legal after all, and "sorry, we had an accident - no we are not liable for the safety of confiscated material"...makes anyone weep !
But kovachii has not seriously tempted me since then. You can't grow everything.

[Jef09071984]

Very nice looking bloom you have Maura