I had a lovely surprise when I took this orchid in for judging on Saturday. Although the judges had never seen a Paph. platyphyllum before they were quite impressed by the size of this one ("This paph's on steroids!"), among other things. It was interesting for me to see and hear their reactions as I've lived with this plant for nearly five years and it feels like an old friend to me. I posted pictures of it on this forum last year when it bloomed for the first time and was encouraged to take it for judging........thank you Leslie Ee........but unfortunately it was past its prime by the time we had the next judging session here. So this year I decided to take the ferry to Victoria and attend the session there while the blooms were still very fresh. Travelling with a plant this size in a Toyota Prius was quite the challenge but thankfully the weather was good that day and we had a smooth sailing.
