Cattleya warscewiczii v semi-alba 'Bedford' x self..?

[pandam00nium]

I'm rather quite ignorant about flowers, but I just want to know exactly what makes this one so special. My father asked me to bid on some ebay auction to buy this and didn't mind going all the way up to $200 for this.

Is this man insane or am I completely missing something? I figured it's best to go to a forum for orchid enthusiasts to determine that. I haven't been able to find much information regarding this specific flower when I search around.

Here is the link to the auction I confusingly bid on. Any feedback would be most appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Cattleya warscewiczii v semi-alba Orchid Plant in bud - eBay (item 260628457054 end time Jul-07-10 17:40:33 PDT)

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Maybe it's a rare variant.

[RosieC]

It does seem a lot but there are some orchids that fetch that and more.

I'm afraid I don't know enough about this one to know if it is one that should cost that or one that someone is just taking advantage of those who don't know how much it's worth.

I think what I would do before bidding on one like that is look arround for others selling it and try and gauge market price... although a large plant can also fetch more than a small one, but from the pics on the link it does not look particularly big.

[RosieC]

The only thing I've managed to find further on this is that the Semi-alba version is a rare one, although not as rare as the alba.

I can't find anything to indicate it's value but it does seem like it is a rare variety.

Does your Father know about orchids... maybe he does know what it is and what it is worth... some orchids can go for FAR more than that, even though there are plenty that you can get very cheaply.

[pandam00nium]

Originally Posted by RosieC

The only thing I've managed to find further on this is that the Semi-alba version is a rare one, although not as rare as the alba.

I can't find anything to indicate it's value but it does seem like it is a rare variety.

Does your Father know about orchids... maybe he does know what it is and what it is worth... some orchids can go for FAR more than that, even though there are plenty that you can get very cheaply.

I can't say for certain, but he does have an extremely vast amount of plants in the backyard. So I only assume that he does have a fair amount of knowledge on orchids.

That's pretty much all I found as well when searching. There's not a whole lot of info on this particular flower, so I was hoping to get a bit more info here in case someone else knew.

Thank you for your input.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Culture is no different from the normal colored variant, if that's what you want to know.

Other than that, I think the price is reflecting it's rarity.

Another thing to consider is that this is not an awarded clone (unless you've not knowingly omitted the awards listed on the tag)...

An awarded clone may fetch an even higher price.

[Royal]

It is tough to put a value on a plant. It's worth whatever someone is willing to pay. As Phillip pointed out, this is seed grown (x self). It may not even bloom semi-alba.

You can get some high quality seed grown warscewiczii from Miranda Orchids, and for less cash. 200 bucks could even get a big division off of somebody's stud bench. Check out Indian River Orchids or send an email to Miranda's. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Another thing to consider is making a pre-order from a South American grower like Floralia or Equagenera. Foriegn growers regularly attend big shows in the US and will bring them along and ship them to wherever you are once they're in.