I bought it because of the color

[Fairorchids]

In this thread, feel free to add photos & stories about why you purchased a particular plant. My opening story:

I have purchased a number of plants from an Ebay seller on the Westcoast. On occasion, after winning an auction, I will make him an offer on something else that did not sell.

One such plant is Ctt. Colors of Life 'Fair Orchids'. It is a nice flower, not quite award quality, but with a spectacular color. It is difficult to describe, but it straddles the line between orange and red.

It is a compact growing Cattleya, with flowers approaching 4" NS.

[Dulcinea]

I don’t understand the naming. Is this a plant you grew? If not why the “Fair” in the name?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Dulcinea

I don’t understand the naming. Is this a plant you grew? If not why the “Fair” in the name?

Cultivar names may be attached to any plant that has not yet had one assigned.

Kim bought that plant, so he is perfectly within his rights to call it 'Fair Orchids'.

A caveat to that, though. If, for example, that particular plant was a mericlone and someone else had theirs - let's say Ctt. Colors of Life 'Dulcinea' AM/AOS - awarded and the award was recorded with that cultivar name, Kim would ethically have to rename his to the 'Dulcinea' cultivar.

Likewise, if 'Fair Orchids' is awarded, and other clones of that would carry the same cultivar epithet.

If, on the other hand, 'Fair Orchids' and 'Dulcinea' were siblings or the offspring of identical crosses using parents of the same names, and not clones, the two epithets could stand independently.

[Fairorchids]

Ray,

Thanks for the detailed, and very correct, explanation.

Dulcinea (& others):
I usually buy more than one of any seed grown plant that interests me. Then, as I bloom them out, I give the 'keepers' clonal names. That tells me that I don't want to sell that plant, and also helps me connect flower photos to the correct plant.

Eventually, as the plant grows large and I make divisions, I start selling those. The clonal names link to the flower photos, and the buyer gets to see exactly what they are getting.