Holy crap did I get a phal. wiganiae at No Frills?

[ALToronto]

I got one too, also at a No Frills! I'd been on the lookout since this was posted, and last night I saw two plants exactly like the one in Cheryl's photo. The poor things were practically in the doorway, with cold air blasting away at them. I picked the one in better condition.

This can't be a mistake on the part of the grower. The flowers are quite small, I wonder if this was intentional, or if it's a hybrid that turned out to be less than expected. But hey, for $10 I can't complain - it certainly brightened up a dreary winter day.

[quiltergal]

What!!! You don't like Frankenflowers???

Looks like you are correct in your ID. There are only so many hybrids that have leaves like that.

FYI it is a primary hybrid of schilleriana and stuartiana. Good eye Cheryl!

[Wild Orchid]

I'm happy for all of you who found unique plants. But I'll be honest with you, I feel this is a rather harsh post.

I personally find some of the species.... quite ugly.. but that's a beauty in the eyes of the beholder. And so, back to Phals - why hurt feelings of those who like large flowers and bright colours? There's nothing wrong with NoIDs either, seriously! The plant doesn't know any difference and whether it's been assigned a mouth-full of latin/asian name in a registry - or not.

As a community, I think we need to be more careful with each others feelings. My


"I'm so used to seeing all the flashy fuschia, dyed blue, pillowy white phals that they rarely catch my eye at all anymore. As a rule I generally don't buy or rescue them because their flowers have lost the uniqueness that drew me into orchids in the 1st place.....not those slap you in the mouth fuschia, palm sized, bubble like phals you normally see at the grocery store. Sure there were plenty of those, and the massive white discs that the, once elegant, white phals have become and the DREADED dyed ones (sigh, is there not enough brilliant colour in the orchid world? We have to dye them blue now?) but among all the hybridizing that has essentially blended anything unique from a phal into a few varieties of lacklustre throwaways ."

[violetta]

Originally Posted by mattryan

love to see pictures of your orchid when it blooms. This is the find I got at a no frills it was the only 1 like it. I snatched it up right away, I couldn't believe my luck. I hope you like

Cheryl

I bought exactly the same plant from IKEA a few years ago. It was the only time I saw a Phal with mottled leaves being sold there. The spikes branch out a lot. The flowers are cute but too small, like a mini Phal's, and they don't last long.
At least it has pretty leaves

This is a picture of my Phal:
http://i48.tinypic.com/r0zj8l.jpg

[Gage]

Wow beautiful and interesting Phal!

[Connie Star]

I have both a schilleriana and stuartiana that have bloomed and I don't like the flowers any more than I like the floofy phals that I can't resist, noid or not. The leaves I love. And since they are small they give me room for more orchids.
Orchids are like children- each is unique, each has it's charms. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.

---------- Post added at 08:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 AM ----------

Gives me an idea, though- maybe I should try crossing them????

[let_it_grow]

I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone with my post. I just get irritated at the mass marketed flowers that are not hybridized for any specific reason other than to make bigger flowers. I think hybridizing is an art, a little of this and a little of that and you can make something extraordinary but when you mix and match for no reason you end up with flowers that all look the same. The diversity of orchids is unlike any other flower in the plant kingdom. Isn't that why we love them? Because they are unlike anything else. Flowers that smell like rotting flesh cause their pollinators are flies, flowers shaped like birds or bugs. I have 51 orchids currently, many of them are NOID phials and other NOIDs and I care for them just the same. But I'm saddened when I look back even just 15 years ago and the phials you saw then are much prettier (in my opinion) than the ones of today. Although I tell myself I will not rescue phals anymore I still find myself walking out of flower shops with phals that need some TLC. I am an addict to the core. I'm actually moving to a bigger place in a month and a half cause I have officially run out of room with chids still on my list. A problem I'm sure lots of us have

[Oscarman]

Beauty certainly is in the eye of the beholder. Thank goodness we don't all like the same things.

Unfortunately the phalaenopsis genus has fallen victim to mass marketing. It is the latest and greatest (?) disposable house plant.

[Ray]

Please learn to use the Enter key and break your posts into paragraphs. Posts like the one below are EXTREMELY difficult to read. So much so, I often don't bother, and that pretty much defeats the purpose of posting in the first place, doesn't it?

So, I was browsing at my local discount supermarket when I stumbled upon a phal that looked very unique. I'm so used to seeing all the flashy fuschia, dyed blue, pillowy white phals that they rarely catch my eye at all anymore. As a rule I generally don't buy or rescue them because their flowers have lost the uniqueness that drew me into orchids in the 1st place. But this pretty little lady was different. Banded leaves, smaller more "species like" flowers, white with a hint of blushing pink and subtle little freckles on the iridescent surface of the petals, not those slap you in the mouth fuschia, palm sized, bubble like phals you normally see at the grocery store. Sure there were plenty of those, and the massive white discs that the, once elegant, white phals have become and the DREADED dyed ones (sigh, is there not enough brilliant colour in the orchid world? We have to dye them blue now?) but among all the hybridizing that has essentially blended anything unique from a phal into a few varieties of lacklustre throwaways is this little gem. She was almost completely shrouded by the obnoxious "look at how big I am!!!" phals but I saw her. I pulled her out, 1/3 the size of the others and not another like her in the bunch. This is the 1st time in 10 years that a phal had caught my eye. I inspected her, checked her roots, the leaves, I was sorta puzzled by the banded leaves and was inspecting every leaf to make sure it wasn't a disease or anything. I even googled it to make sure that phal leaves actually come like that. But there was nothing wrong with her, she was perfect. 2 branching flower sprays with many flowers. I snatched her up and continued shopping. Hey, for $9.99 its worth it for just the one show. I took her home and I couldn't believe that I bought a phal and not only that, I actually really liked it. Over the summer she got some earwigs in her pot as she hung from the tree and they had their way with her roots, when I brought her in she was a mess, I cleaned her up, changed her pot and kinda put her off to the side and figured "meh, she might make it, she might not" I think I had forgotten how brilliant her flowers were. She was strong and she hung on, grew and grew, new roots and leaves and then I see a little spike and it all comes back. Her delicate pretty flowers, the branching sprays. Well, today as I'm window shopping on eBay for orchids I see one with leaves like my little lady, "hmmmmm, I wonder if that looks like mine?" I do a bit of searching and I find a hybrid called phal. wiganiae and its her!! I don't mean it could be her, I mean there is no way that there could be an orchid hybrid out there that looks more like her. I would call this a 99.9% certain ID, which is impossible with grocery store phals. So is it possible that I have actually IDed the unIDable? By accident? And not only that but I got something good at a discount grocery store? It was like the grower put her in the wrong bundle. One labeled "Walmart" another labeled "loblaws inc" and one labeled "home depot" where all the obnoxious ones go and the rest to flower store suppliers? Maybe she was supposed to go in the last bunch and there wasn't room? Maybe it was an accident? Who knows. All I can say is that I got a phal. wiganiae for $9.99 at No Frills. I'd say I did pretty good.


Will post pics as soon as the blooms open

[vjo]

Didn't anyone ever teach you that if you couldnt say something nice not to say anything at all !!!!