January's Clear Win!

[Piper]

[Snort!] Yeah, but I remember a rawhide chewie after you registered, and extra dog treats for each post, so you hardly suffered for your effort...

Darn - now my methods have been exposed. Well, yes. Outright bribery was involved in several cases. Come on, though. Seven is a lot of arm-twisting...

Julie

[orchidaddict789]

Congratulations, Julie!

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Thanks Julie! Congratulations. I think you are gonna love the orchid Lou is sending tomorrow!

Cheers!
Brutal_Dreamer

[Piper]

Wahoo! It's here!! My mystery prize was waiting for me last night when I got in. I must confess, I was sweating it out, worrying that Louis might send some multifloral paph with with the leafspan of a condor (I'm rather snug on space). I wouldn't have loved the plant any less, but I would have had to knock out some walls to keep it...

Au contraire! It's a little guy. Not as in runty, but more petite. I believe compact is the orchid term, or in this case mini. It's a Hknsa. (Ctna. Jamaica Red x Slc. Mahalo Jack) 'Red'. I think it's quite cool that it's a hawkinsara, considering the Pale Male post I made this morning (before I knew what genus this was.)
http://www.rv-orchidworks.com/orchid...4819#post14819

Here's a shot. The upper flower might open a tad more. The lower one has just started to open.

Thanks again, Louis and Bruce! The plant is wonderful and the mystery was fun. Ok, everybody else - sign up friends, family, neighbors and strangers...who'll be the next winner?

Julie

[Piper]

Louis,

What is the provenance of this little darling? Did you breed it? Or was it one of those little guys hidden and forgotten on the back bench?

Julie

[LJA]

I completely missed your post here yesterday--you're very welcome!

To answer your question, neither of the above! I actually brought a bunch of the intergeneric catts in to grow out and bloom, both to see how they'd do in our local market here, and specifically, under our growing conditions. We've had some pretty strange weather the past several months--lots of things that shouldn't be budding until a month or two from now are popping out.

In any case, this is a good thing. A lot of customers have come in, loving the big standard catts, but, not having the light to grow them successfully and bloom them, they've gotten disappointed. I'm hoping these little guys can fill a niche.

We've got the Ft. Worth show coming up in two weeks so I'm taking a bunch down there too, to see how well they fare.

So, that's how it came to be here, and from here to you! I'm really glad you like it; many people love them; other's won't touch them with a ten foot pole, so it's nice that you're in the first category!

[Piper]

Wow - you've really added a bunch to the Catt-alogu in the last couple of days. Last I looked, the new ones weren't up. That's why I assumed mine was a hidden bench warmer. Nice assortment - good luck with them!

Just a suggestion on the Hknsa: without having seen one before, I wouldn't expect the plant to be as compact or the flowers as miniature as they are. From the picture in your catalog, that could be a full-sized catt (to my eye, anyway.) How about adding "A compact plant with delicate 2" flowers. Easier to grow in intermediate light than full-size cattleyas." (Or some such.)

It's opened more fully and I snapped some better shots with truer color and more light. I'll post one after my camera batteries recharge...

Julie

[LJA]

How about adding "A compact plant with delicate 2" flowers. Easier to grow in intermediate light than full-size cattleyas." (Or some such.)

Good idea, actually. I usually put things up all at once and get blocked after a while for things to say about them. But you're right, and the last thing I want to do is mislead....

[Piper]

All right, ixnay the other photo. I'm happy with this one. The second flower has now fully opened and a bit of tissue over the flash gets the color and quality of the flower pretty close.

Louis, are the other hawkinsaras that you have blooming? If so, how many blooms or buds are they showing? I read that one hybrid put up 5-7 buds. At the base of the 2nd stem on mine is that tiny bit of brown that you get when the plant decides it's done enough and aborts production of subsequent buds. That gives me hope that with good care, there'll be more flowers next time round.

Julie