Recent content by Clark Thomas Riley

Just received my copy of Slipper Orchids in Vietnam, A kaleidoscope of beauty by Chu Xuan Canh. What a great book! The illustrations are dazzling as one would expect and the geographic and environmental information is crucial to understanding the culture of the Vietnamese Paphiopedilums and...

Picked this one up this weekend at the Maryland Orchid Society Show and Sale from Fair Orchids. An unnamed cross with total parentage of: rothschildianum x Anita Baby[Hsinying Anita(Lady Isobel{rothschildianum x stonei} x anitum) x rothschildianum], so about 85% rothschildianum, 10% anitum, 5%...

To answer what would be expected from selfing a primary hybrid, one should expect a spectrum from parent A to parent B, with the population centering on intermediate between the two, which would be similar to the primary hybrid itself. On a theoretical basis, if there were 32 chromosomes in the...

A little history. Sophronitis Arizona cross was made and registered by Robert Liddell. He lived in Tucson, Arizona, which is not normally associated with cool-growing genera like Sophronitis. But his operation was cooled by evaporative coolers — “swamp coolers”. This hybrid is wonderful; big and...

I’ve been using Aircone pots along with others for 30+ years. I find them superior for Paphs. 1) the slit drainage doesn’t need other drainage aids. 2) they drain fast,3) the square shape packs well, 4) easy to line seedlings in comm pots, 5) very durable — several in use for over 20 years.

Looking for a piece of Bc. (Rlc.) Miranda 'Chartreuse Queen' and Cattleya Iris.

I also let mine dry slowly in pots and store in cool, dry basement. HOWEVER, read Sarah’s culture sheet. She is an awesome, award-winning grower and major propagator. Ignore her advice at your plants’ peril. Her bagging technique saves about 95% of the space. Trade off is you need to pay close...

The ProMix I use is a Canadian product, readily available in Maryland garden centers and from Amazon.com, where mine is supplied by Ebershades in Pennsylvania. As to the Habenarioids, there are many (perhaps hundreds) small species. My favorite small ones include Habenarias xanthochila and...

I'll see if I can self the davidii. Hengduan is where I got mine. Keep trying — they're not all that expensive. Be sure to order in Autumn with Habenarias. Too late for this year's orders. I have finetia, malintana, and tonkinensis on order this fall.

Equal parts ProMix MX/Turface/Espoma Soil Perfector/coarse perlite. The granite chips you see are a top dressing to prevent washout and mix splashing on the stem and foliage, which can cause stem rot. The granite chip mulch also keeps moisture even. So, ALMOST inorganic.

One of the pleasures of a long time in the hobby (67 years in my case) is seeing once-obscure genera becoming exciting mainstream. Today, I praise Habenarias and their kin. Blooms today in Baltimore (totally unavailable or unknown in 1957) include Habenarias Bird of Paradise, davidii, and...

If KS says "Keep it," that would be a spectacular addition to the NCOS Auction September 28th, https://ncos.us/ncos-orchid-auction/

It is curious that no albiforum formas of rothschildianum have appeared given the now-huge number of seedlings out there. It's possible there is a critical genetic pathway involved where the f. album would be lethal. Just speculation. For instance, in the non-orchid world, Mertensia virginica f...

A note. We are just now getting 2nd and 3rd generation Paphiopedilum sanderianum plants. Each generation represents a selection of the best and fastest growers. Like with rothschildianum, the flask to bloom time WILL go down and ease of cultivation increase. There are roths blooming 5–6 years...

I can't imagine the cross hasn't been made, but it hasn't been registered as of today, 20 July 2024. About half the crosses registered are primary crosses, including some closely related taxonomically to helenae, so one would expect the cross to work.