Jackfowlieara Tzeng-Wen Prince Azalea

[gjanick2]

I ordered 8 orchid plants (they sent 2 freebies) and they sent me 10 from a great dealer in Guangzhou China. Guangzhou is not too far away from Zhuhai China (where I live). I believe Guangzhou is China's 3rd largest city.

Anyway, the plants that they sent to me are very healthy and in beautiful condition and quite large, many in spike or even blooming.

This Jackfowlieara may be my single best orchid that I own. I did as much internet research as I could, and there is very little out there on Jackfowlieara Tzeng-Wen Prince, and their is nothing that I could find on the variety Prince Azalea. The Guangzhou dealer knows their stuff. They are great with Western nomenclature and scientific names. My plant is definitely the Prince Azalea, maybe making it quite rare (I hope). The dealer only grew 2 of these, so I am happy to have acquired it.

Anyway, the stems grow unusually quite tall. My plant has two sheaths, and the dealer told me that I will have blooms in the not too distant future.

I have attached five pictures. The first two pics are of a previous bloom. the next three pics are of the plant I now have.

I of course am planning to be able to someday post pics of this plant in bloom.

If anyone has any knowledge to give me, please feel free to do so! Thanks, Greg.

[Gthumbz89]

Interesting. I have never heard of this hybrid, but I am confident that it will grow under normal cattleya conditions.

[Roberta]

I did a little research - one parent is Jackfowleara Apple Blossom, a wonderful and vigorous plant with medium-size flowers (7-8 cm or so) but lots of them. the other parent is Slc (Sophrolaeliocattleya) Muffin, all of its components are now Cattleya so the parent would now be C. Muffin... that parent is a mix of some smaller members of the Cattleya group, one of which is Sophronitis coccinea - which I am sure is the source of the red color. All of the parents and grandparents of this hybrid are very tolerant of temperature - it should be able to tolerate winter night temperatures just a little above freezing if it can warm up during the day, and would have no problem with heat if shaded from direct sun. So if it is possible to grow this outside (perhaps on a balcony) it would be very happy.

The variety part of the name (here, 'Prince Azalea') just refers to a specific plant, I would guess that the breeders cloned a particularly good plant (so that it is genetically identical to the source plant) These cultivar names are not registered anyplace unless a plant is awarded by one of the national orchid societies, so the cultivar name doesn't necessarily mean a lot. But it is the plant name (genus and grex - the specific hybrid) that is registered, and so one can look up the parentage - which can tell a lot about the care of the plant. (Some hybrids, with less tolerant parents, can require a greenhouse or other special condition. This one can manage a very wide range of cultural conditions)

[gjanick2]

Roberta, thank you so much. That took a lot of your time to find out all that info! Thank you!!!

Which parent gives it the tall stems? Do you know?

Also, I live in Zhuhai China (subtropical) where it never has snowed and the coldest it can ever get is 6C. Most the winter it is around 12C.

Guess what, all 40 of my orchids are on the balcony with a southern exposure sunlight, trees above providing dappled sunlight. So it is almost perfect conditions for most orchid plants. The only thing that I must watch out for is typhoons. Last August, we had a devastating typhoon hit us directly with 230KMH winds. Of course I will bring them inside.

Thank you so much!!!!! Greg.

[Ray]

Good work, Roberta!

This is precisely why it is so important to use the proper nomenclature - including punctuation - when documenting plant names.

[Roberta]

I think that the Jackfowleara Apple Blossom is contributing to the size - and it is really not that big. The species in C. Muffin are smaller. So this one will stay a reasonable size (important since you live in a small space) This plant will be quite happy on the balcony. (And I hope no more typhoons!)

(Research is easy with a good data tool... I love Orchidwiz! And knowing a little bit about the plants... things I grow)