# Paph Bel Royal



## emydura (Sep 17, 2011)

First time flowering of this division I purchased a year or so ago. There was a recent post talking about the most expensive Paph they have bought. Well this is mine and as far as I am concerned it was worth every cent. I nearly never got this plant as it was lost in the mail. It was the middle of summer, temperatures were ranging between 35oC and 40oC and it was sent bare-rooted. Australia Post told me they couldn't find it and I was resigned to the fact it was gone. It showed up 3 weeks later.

I think this is an above average clone of Bel Royal. I compared the size of the flowers against several awarded clones in Australia and it is significantly bigger than any of those clones, including an AM awarded plant from last year. I like the petal stance as well apart from the top flower. Having said that, I put it in our spring show this weekend and it didn't seem to excite the judges much, so what do I know. 

I was a bit dissappointed with only 3 flowers given the size of the plant, but the parent plant gets 6-7 flowers a spike so I'm sure this will improve as the plant gets more established. The best years are ahead of this plant.

David


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## Wendelin (Sep 17, 2011)

That has got to be a strong plant having survived that delivery- desaster!
Flowers are beautiful! :clap:


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## cattmad (Sep 17, 2011)

very nice david


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## quietaustralian (Sep 17, 2011)

Stunning!


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## Mocchaccino (Sep 17, 2011)

Your plant looks healthy. The flowers are very symmetrical. Colors are deep.

Maybe because it could not make up to 6-7 flowers on a spike that's why the judges wont give an award? I am not so sure. However as you said when it clumps up and creates 6-7 flowers per spike, that would definitely attract everyone's attention.


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## emydura (Sep 17, 2011)

Mocchaccino said:


> Your plant looks healthy. The flowers are very symmetrical. Colors are deep.
> 
> Maybe because it could not make up to 6-7 flowers on a spike that's why the judges wont give an award? I am not so sure. However as you said when it clumps up and creates 6-7 flowers per spike, that would definitely attract everyone's attention.



I certainly wasn't expecting an award. I wouldn't award it myself with only 3 flowers. It was considered inferior to a sequential hybrid which I thought wasn't that great. I guess you just had to see the hybrid to understand my cynical remark.  

David


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## Mathias (Sep 17, 2011)

Beautiful flowers! :clap: And also very nice photos!


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## Mocchaccino (Sep 17, 2011)

emydura said:


> I certainly wasn't expecting an award. I wouldn't award it myself with only 3 flowers. It was considered inferior to a sequential hybrid which I thought wasn't that great. I guess I'm biased.
> 
> David



However I think when you grow it for a couple of more years it would certainly worth to be awarded. 

Since it is the first bloom, I think there is still a room for the flower size to increase more, especially when it clumps up.

Moccha


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## JeanLux (Sep 17, 2011)

That's a great plant with very nice blooms Imo (too bad we can't see the winner )!!!! I am sure that within your magic hands it will bring up lots of these beuaties in the coming years!!!! Jean


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## Ozpaph (Sep 17, 2011)

Really nice colouring and great photos, again!


P.s - So what did it cost? (ball park)


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## emydura (Sep 17, 2011)

Mocchaccino said:


> However I think when you grow it for a couple of more years it would certainly worth to be awarded.
> 
> Since it is the first bloom, I think there is still a room for the flower size to increase more, especially when it clumps up.
> 
> Moccha



I think with a couple of more flowers this should be awardable. Time will tell.

Flowers can get a bit bigger on a larger plant. But the flowers are already huge (15cm petals) - 2 to 3 cm longer than the Bel Royals awarded here. So I'm happy as they are.



JeanLux said:


> That's a great plant with very nice blooms Imo (too bad we can't see the winner )!!!! I am sure that within your magic hands it will bring up lots of these beuaties in the coming years!!!! Jean



Thanks Jean. I'll take some photos tomorrow of this and other things.



Ozpaph said:


> Really nice colouring and great photos, again!
> 
> 
> P.s - So what did it cost? (ball park)



$265 from memory for 2 big growths. I'm considered the tightest guy on earth so I can't believe how much money I sometimes spend on Paphs.  But it is hard to come by plants of this quality here. You should have seen the photo of it with 6 flowers.

David


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## Shiva (Sep 17, 2011)

That's a reasonnable price for this size plant and it has a lot of potential. Good buy!


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## paphioboy (Sep 17, 2011)

Spectacular blooms, David!! :clap: :clap: :drool: :drool: Thank goodness the plant did not get lost in the mail.. However I am still  at the price...


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## Justin (Sep 17, 2011)

that's a very high quality plant if u ask me.


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## Wendy (Sep 17, 2011)

It's very nice and the colour is stunning. With a few more flowers I'm sure that award will be in reach. :clap::clap::drool:


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## chrismende (Sep 17, 2011)

Very beautiful and impressive!


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## SlipperKing (Sep 17, 2011)

Super plant and flowers David. This is a division so it has a clonal name already, right? Also, why has the seller not already taken it to judging, esp with 6 flowers?


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## John M (Sep 18, 2011)

Gorgeous, high quality flowers. You did good to get a piece of this. Considering the stress it endured in it's recent past, I think 3 huge flowers of good form and size and colour is exceptional. This will be awesome in the future!


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## emydura (Sep 18, 2011)

Just in relation to the issue surrounding the judging at our show this weekend. When I looked closely today, I realised they put the winning certificate against the wrong plant (which was a pretty average sequential hybrid). It should have been against a Mt Toro. It was a nicer plant but still debatable whether it was better. At least it made more sense. Anyway I will post a few photos from the show shortly. 



SlipperKing said:


> Super plant and flowers David. This is a division so it has a clonal name already, right? Also, why has the seller not already taken it to judging, esp with 6 flowers?



Thanks Rick. No, it doesn't have a clonal name. It wasn't sold with one. I emailed this person whether it had ever been judged but never received a reply. She generally sells quality stuff, often awarded divisions. 

David


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## paphioboy (Sep 18, 2011)

emydura said:


> Thanks Rick. No, it doesn't have a clonal name. It wasn't sold with one. I emailed this person whether it had ever been judged but never received a reply. She generally sells quality stuff, often awarded divisions.
> 
> David



Is this the same seller on ebay who offered a several growths St Swithin and Rolfei..?


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## Brian Monk (Sep 18, 2011)

Beuatiful flowers with excellent color. I have always had a special place for this hybrid, as it was the first multi I bought. 

I think jusdges can be jaded wha looking at mulit-floral Paphs. afterall, they have seen quite a few of them, and the recently awarded ones tend to be spectacular examples. I didn't see the other paph, so it is hard to say. One thing I don't think most judges are good at is judging a plant's potential. Quite a few of the judges involed in the AOS don't grow many plants. I say this from personal knowledge, not as some wild speculation. So deciding what may be better is not as easy as deciding what is immediately exciting. A plant is judged, though, on its immediate appearance and not on its future (or past). This plant woul dbe well-worthy of an award with a few more flowers. It sounds like it is strong enought to accomplish that.


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## emydura (Sep 18, 2011)

paphioboy said:


> Is this the same seller on ebay who offered a several growths St Swithin and Rolfei..?



I think it is the one. She is from Brisbane. She sold a St Swithin recently for $330 - one flowered and one unflowered growth. It was nice, but that is a lot of money for a St Swithin.

David


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## emydura (Sep 18, 2011)

Brian Monk said:


> Beuatiful flowers with excellent color. I have always had a special place for this hybrid, as it was the first multi I bought.
> 
> I think jusdges can be jaded wha looking at mulit-floral Paphs. afterall, they have seen quite a few of them, and the recently awarded ones tend to be spectacular examples. I didn't see the other paph, so it is hard to say. One thing I don't think most judges are good at is judging a plant's potential. Quite a few of the judges involed in the AOS don't grow many plants. I say this from personal knowledge, not as some wild speculation. So deciding what may be better is not as easy as deciding what is immediately exciting. A plant is judged, though, on its immediate appearance and not on its future (or past). This plant woul dbe well-worthy of an award with a few more flowers. It sounds like it is strong enought to accomplish that.



Thanks Brian. I don't think the judges here would see nearly as many multi-florals as they would over in the US. They are not that commonly grown. I think the problem here is more they don't see enough to be able to judge them well.

Here is the plant that won best multi-floral. It is roebellinii x latifolium. It had just the two flowers so a low flower count like my Bel Royal. I don't think I could reward a hybrid Paph with such a hooded dorsal and the colour is pretty bland. Lovely long petals though. I'm not sure this has much potential down the track. 

I don't actually care that my plant didn't win its class. The guy who owned the Mt Toro is going through some tough times so I'm happy he won. And my dianthum won Champion Paph so I got the main prize. I was just looking at it more from a perspective of what may happen in the future when my plant has more flowers. It is hard not to think the judges were not that impressed given their decision.

David


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## paphioboy (Sep 18, 2011)

IMHO your plant is much nicer than the Mt Toro, David...


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## SlipperKing (Sep 18, 2011)

David, that's not Mt Toro if it is in deed philippinense X platyphyllum. It's 

Paph Duke of Marobough. Like this one.


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## SlipperFan (Sep 18, 2011)

So the judges didn't know what they were looking at???


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## W. Beetus (Sep 18, 2011)

Wow. Superb blooms!


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## emydura (Sep 18, 2011)

Yes, that is that old stonei versus platyphyllum issue. I guess when he bought the plant it was called Mt Toro. You are correct though Rick. I knew that Mt Toro wasn't the correct name but couln't remember the new name. I'm not sure that it has much influence on the judging though. Yours seems a lot nicer. Much whiter. This clone was more off-white which I didn't find that attractive.

David


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## Ozpaph (Sep 18, 2011)

emydura said:


> I think it is the one. She is from Brisbane. She sold a St Swithin recently for $330 - one flowered and one unflowered growth. It was nice, but that is a lot of money for a St Swithin.
> 
> David



I thought it was a lot but my (later) discussions with the seller suggested it was an AM quality St. S. when mature.


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## emydura (Sep 18, 2011)

Ozpaph said:


> I thought it was a lot but my (later) discussions with the seller suggested it was an AM quality St. S. when mature.



So did you get that one? It was very nice. Too high for me in the end. 

David


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## JeanLux (Sep 19, 2011)

emydura said:


> .... And my dianthum won Champion Paph so I got the main prize.....



Congratulations for that David!!!!

(And I like your Bel Royal better, too ) Jean


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## labskaus (Sep 19, 2011)

Brian Monk said:


> One thing I don't think most judges are good at is judging a plant's potential. Quite a few of the judges involed in the AOS don't grow many plants. I say this from personal knowledge, not as some wild speculation. So deciding what may be better is not as easy as deciding what is immediately exciting. A plant is judged, though, on its immediate appearance and not on its future (or past).




I think you're spot on, Brian. But, in our system, judges are supposed to judge what they see in front of them, and not to speculate. What the good judges do: they judge what they see, and when they see potential for more, they buy the plant :wink:

David, that's an exceptional Bel Royal and should receive a high award in the future. Colour and contrast are the best I've seen from the cross so far. Well done, and certainly worth the money.


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## Ozpaph (Sep 19, 2011)

emydura said:


> So did you get that one? It was very nice. Too high for me in the end.
> 
> David



I bailed at under $200! More than that is too much unless I know the providence of the plant and its condition.
I bought the Rolfei and had a good chat with the grower and wound up a member of TAPS!


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## emydura (Sep 19, 2011)

Ozpaph said:


> I bailed at under $200! More than that is too much unless I know the providence of the plant and its condition.
> I bought the Rolfei and had a good chat with the grower and wound up a member of TAPS!



The plant was an old flowered growth and a new lead. There is still a bit of a risk with a division that size, especially if you don't know its condition. Plus there is a fair amount of work ahead of you to get a division that size established. I prefer divisions of at least 3 growths for the multi's. 

That Rolfei did look nice. Good luck with that.

David


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## paphioboy (Sep 19, 2011)

> I prefer divisions of at least 3 growths for the multi's.



Good luck finding plants of this size for sale anywhere..!


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## emydura (Sep 19, 2011)

paphioboy said:


> Good luck finding plants of this size for sale anywhere..!



Impossible isn't it. It is all about maximising profits. Selling single growth or old growth and small new lead divisions. They generally don't have any roots and are nowhere near established. It is high risk. For $330 I would want a more established plant.

David


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## Ozpaph (Sep 20, 2011)

emydura said:


> Impossible isn't it. It is all about maximising profits. Selling single growth or old growth and small new lead divisions. They generally don't have any roots and are nowhere near established. It is high risk. For $330 I would want a more established plant.
> 
> David



Does anyone in Oz regularly sell large plants or even flowering size seedlings? Nicky Zurcher???


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## paphioboy (Sep 20, 2011)

Ozpaph said:


> Does anyone in Oz regularly sell large plants or even flowering size seedlings? Nicky Zurcher???



He's the only one I know of...He has everything from several growths Harold Koopowitz, Houghtoniae etc for very good prices, I think... Below 100 bucks..


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## emydura (Sep 21, 2011)

paphioboy said:


> He's the only one I know of...He has everything from several growths Harold Koopowitz, Houghtoniae etc for very good prices, I think... Below 100 bucks..



Yes, you can get larger plants from him. I'm not sure if he is at the cutting edge of breeding though. He tends to sell a lot of weird crosses that aren't particularly attractive. The few plants I have of his grow like weeds but some of them are hard to flower. There aren't many other options though.

David


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## Ozpaph (Sep 23, 2011)

Well, the Oz guys should get breeding their quality plants!


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## chrismende (Apr 15, 2013)

Fabulous looking plant! Excellent choice to invest in!


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