Paphiopedilum Bel Royal 'Memoria Terry Turner' AM/AOC

[emydura]

I am really happy with this flowering. After many attempts, this plant finally has got past 5 flowers. A taller spike as well with better spaced flowers. Certainly better than when it got awarded. An absolute beast of a plant. It is even bigger than the 2nd photo suggests.

 

[Ray]

Excellent!

 

[Murray F]

Excellent growing and well flowered

 

[Guldal]

Holy mackerel, David! That's something of a plant and wonderfully flowered!
Kudos for culture and congrats on the floriferousness!
Kind regards, Jens

 

[Ozpaph]

Great flower display.
Monsterous plant.

 

[Djthomp28]

Fabulous!

 

[GuRu]

David, that's impressive in both of them....the lovely flowers and the flower count and the state of this well grown plant. I think a plant in that size would do very fine on my windowsill.

 

[rauhaariger]

Gorgeous, how long have you had this plant?

 

[spujr]

Nice, well grown! Mine always flowers in the spring (April, may). Are you located in the southern hemisphere?

I got 4 large growths on mine so hoping for a nice bloom in a few months. The first bloom had 5 flowers, second 6, and the last was 5 again.

And yes, this cross (yours especially) is a huge plant! Might be the biggest toy can get in the paph genus.

 

[emydura]

Gorgeous, how long have you had this plant?

Thanks. I bought it as a 2 growth division in February 2010. I remember it was posted to me bare root in the middle summer. The parcel went missing and I feared it was lost. It eventually showed up 3 weeks later. The temperatures basically ranged between 35 to 40oC every day during that 3 weeks and the plant was very dehydrated by the time I got it. But it recovered well.

 

[emydura]

Nice, well grown! Mine always flowers in the spring (April, may). Are you located in the southern hemisphere?

I

Yes, I live in Australia. So my plant flowers at a similar time to yours. In fact, I could set a calendar to this plant. It flowers at this time every year. Fortunately always in time for our Spring show. It has won grand champion a couple of times previously, but last weekend it was beaten by a Pterostylis curta of all things.

 

[LadySlipper]

That's so beautiful!

 

[Justin]

Incredible growing!

 

[Rhouse]

Wow wonderful display. Thank you for sharing this with us. You should be really happy with what you’ve accomplished

 

[Guldal]

It has won grand champion a couple of times previously, but last weekend it was beaten by a Pterostylis curta of all things.

Not many Paph-persons among the judges, I presume? Or maybe they thought: we can't just carry on, every year, to give that prize to David J., no matter how glorious his plant may be! And lastly, maybe the commitee of judges, this year, were made up by staunch Australian nationalists?!
Never mind, what ever their reasons/motives were, they do not detract from the impressiverousness of your plant and flowers!

 

[spujr]

Yes, I live in Australia. So my plant flowers at a similar time to yours. In fact, I could set a calendar to this plant. It flowers at this time every year. Fortunately always in time for our Spring show. It has won grand champion a couple of times previously, but last weekend it was beaten by a Pterostylis curta of all things.

Thanks! One more question, do you find the flower stem needs careful training as it extends? Mine always wants to take a nose dive straight down and I have to really stake it carefully to get a straight stem.

Again, well deserved rewards!

 

[emydura]

Thanks! One more question, do you find the flower stem needs careful training as it extends? Mine always wants to take a nose dive straight down and I have to really stake it carefully to get a straight stem.

Again, well deserved rewards!

Yes, I do carefully stake the spike, but then I do that with all my multi's. I believe staking is important if you want to see the flowers displayed at their best. But this plant has a very strong stem. You can see from the first photo that there is only one clip. When I put it in the show, I put that clip below the first flower and the stem still held perfectly upright.

One thing that amazed me about this hybrid, was the speed with which the flowers opened. I assume this must come from the kolopakingii parent. All 6 flowers were opened within 2 weeks. I normally find that each flower in a multi normally takes a week to open and anything with lowii in it takes 2 weeks.

 

[emydura]

Not many Paph-persons among the judges, I presume? Or maybe they thought: we can't just carry on, every year, to give that prize to David J., no matter how glorious his plant may be! And lastly, maybe the commitee of judges, this year, were made up by staunch Australian nationalists?!
Never mind, what ever their reasons/motives were, they do not detract from the impressiverousness of your plant and flowers!

I didn't know the judges myself. They come from interstate to ensure impartiality and they often differ from year to year. In some ways it is pretty cool that an Australian terrestrial can win grand champion of an orchid show. It doesn't happen often. But personally, I thought the Bel Royal was better, but obviously I have a bias towards Paphs. And I am comfortable with saying this as the Australian terrestrial belonged to me.

 

[Guldal]

I am comfortable with saying this as the Australian terrestrial belonged to me.

Great revelation, great fun!