When has an orchid "bloomed" for naming purposes?

[MateoinLosAngeles]

I wonder when a hybrid is considered "in bloom" for registration purposes. I have this new hybrid that has a flower bud currently opening up, I would say halfway through. I didn't buy it in bloom or in spike, it grew the spike fully under my care. It would be cool if I got to name it but who's technically the first person to make an orchid bloom?

In my mind "blooming" is when the bud has visibly fully opened into a flower but I'm not sure if the RHS might have different definitions. I don't seem to find them though. How do you know that a bloom has "fully opened" if you've never seen this flower before?

[Ray]

There are two questions there - when is the flower “blooming” and who can register a hybrid. Both are up for debate.

Personally, on the “open” question, I would lean in the direction of “when the flower shape is no longer changing.” Is that official? No.

As to “who can register”, maybe I’m just confused by the requirements. Supposedly, the first person to flower a plant has the right to name it, but then there’s the requirement that if you are not the breeder, you must get their approval, if possible.

[Louis_W]

I dont think its literally the first person to bloom the plant ever. Its more like the first person to bring it in to be registered, in bloom. Often, if it is a promising award worthy plant, the grower will want to name it themselves.

I think its probably kosher to alert the breeder that your plant has bloomed and allow them to register it, and they may ask you if you would like to name it. It seems like thats what Fred Clark does anyways
.

[Bayard]

If you made the cross and it hasn’t already been registered, you can fill out an application with the RHS.

You provide a photo of the flower and the parents used in the cross - and pay a small fee.

If you flower any seedling, you can name that plant, regardless of whether it has been awarded or not.

If someone else has already made the cross, you can contact them and ask if they intend to register it.

[Roberta]

The registration form does request that if you aren't the originator of the cross, that you have permission of that person to name it unless there is a good reason that the originator can't give permission (like if they are deceased) It also is just common courtesy to ask - the originator may have plans already for a name and it is just plain rude to try to preempt that.

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Thank you all for your responses. Of course, I was planning to contact the originator of the cross, and I actually did this morning when I saw the plant finally in full bloom! (attached! )

The RHS sheet to register a new hybrid does require to specify who the originator is and who got it to bloom first, so if you bloom it but didn't originate it and write yourself down as both first grower to bloom it and the originator, that would be flat out lying/fraud.

However, to keep things within the question of this thread. The term "first to bloom" feels questionable. I appreciate Ray's definition of "when the flower shape is no longer changing." However, in my case, I have a Cattleya with one parent having flat flowers and the other one having donkey ear flowers, so if you have a new hybrid and the flower comes out to have the "donkey ear" shape, one could be expecting it to open up more. I guess the solution is to visually document every step of the blooming process and keep documenting after "you think it won't change anymore," just in case you are surprised to see it change even more.

I was wondering if there was any official process to define this. Still, I guess not enough people are pursuing naming a hybrid to create a conflict in which 10 people claim to have been the first to bloom an orchid on the same day.

I might drop a line to the RHS orchid registrar and see if they have anything to share. It would be interesting to satiate my curiosity.

[Dimples]

It could very well be an undefined metric. One of those ‘you know it when you see it’ situations where everyone agrees that the flower needs to be open, but avoiding getting too specific with requirements to avoid unnecessary headaches.

---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:35 PM ----------

Lovely color!

[Ray]

Unless things have changed since I last registered a cross, you only need to submit a photo if it is a primary cross.

[Leafmite]

The color is very nice!

[MateoinLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

The color is very nice!

Originally Posted by Leafmite

The color is very nice!

Thank you! I love it too. I'm very fond of flowers with almost neon colors. This one is really spectacular as it is such a faint orange that it can really go from bright yellow to deep amber orange depending on how light hits it throughout the day. The photo does not make it justice.

I've been in contact with the originator and it looks like we might get to name it. I proposed "Blc. Kumquats Dream" we'll see if it sticks and if indeed we can't find anyone who has bloomed it before.

It has a very faint scent during the afternoon of lilac+rose with hints of honey. I'm assuming I can only detect it in the afternoon because that's when my temperature is warmer. I might turn up the heat to 80ºF and give it a bit more light to see if I can get a good sniff!!

Other than that, the only peculiarity I've noticed is that this particular flower does like to close off at night and open up in the morning. Quite noticeably, which I haven't experienced as much in other orchids, I would say it closes by about 10-25%. Will try to take a pic at night for comparison.