Phal. Pink Panther - Orchid Board

camille1585 · #1 05-31-2015, 02:41 PM

At last, my favorite Phal is back!!! This hybrid is a textbook example of a Phal blooming itself to death. I got it back in mid 2008, and it was in CONSTANT bloom until it's death 2 years ago. What I mean by that is that each individual bloom lasted 4-7 months (petals are very thick and waxy). Then the spike would elongate, and a new spike would also start from the base. By the time of it's death it was blooming on 4-5 spikes at once, and had produced 4 keikis as well.

However it focused so much on flowering that there was hardly any root growth going on, and after suffering a minor bout of root rot (needed repotting) it never bounced back. I cut the spikes/keikis and attempted to save it, but it never recovered.

Luckily 3 keikis survived, and all 3 are happily growing, with 2 of them in bloom. Those 2 are identical. They started spiking at the same time, produced the same number of buds, and the blooms are opening at the exact same time. This time I'm not going to let them bloom willy nilly for years on end, they are going to be forced to rest periodically.

As to the name, Pink Panther is a trade name, and I'm unable to find out what it really is. There is a registered Phal Pink Panther, but the parentage/background just doesn't correspond to this plant, none of those plants could have contributed the thick waxy petals and barring that the trade named Pink Panther has. (I got this one from a garden center, and they were quite common at the time)

Photo of both plants together:

Phal. Pink Panther by Camille, on Flickr

Plants separate, showing their identical growth pattern.

Phal. Pink Panther by Camille, on Flickr

wintergirl · #2 05-31-2015, 03:11 PM

Wow, those are lovely. Glad the keikis survived.

sweetjblue · #3 05-31-2015, 08:50 PM

I can see why your so happy that it's back!

Very beautiful and it's a real plus that the blooms last for so long!

Camille, is it fragrant by any chance?

Judi