I've come full circle! - Orchid Board

Whimgrinder · #1 12-11-2015, 01:01 AM

After nearly twenty years of pursuing a wide range of other Horticultural Sirens, I have recently begun acquiring a number of Cattleya species and "heirloom” hybrids for my greenhouse here in the PNW. Oh, I've always held on to a few through these many years - including a specimen of SLC. Jewel Box 'Dark Waters' I've had for nearly thirty years, a couple of home-bred hybrids I did in the early '90s, and my treasured P. Golden Buddha 'Raspberry Delight', to name a few. I'm thrilled to discover that a number of the heirloom hybrids are still around and I've picked up BLC. Fortune, BLC. Ports of Paradise, LC. Drumbeat, and even my old friend LC. George Baldwin!

Here's a photo of me holding my plant of LC. George Baldwin for a hometown newspaper article, circa 1974 when I was a teenager:

And this is one of my home-made hybrids, LC. Edmund Rothwell X C. Fascelis:

Anyway, I'm very excited to enjoy the company of these old friends, and some newer ones, like the incredible BLC. Chia Lin 'Shin Shy' that has been in flower for the past three weeks - wow! I hope I can eventually find a specimen of LC. Bonanza, and C. Horace (going to write a want ad also) and C. Bow Bells. Apparently quite a few of these have survived in collections for decades. Lucky me ;-)

I look forward to engaging the community.
Paul

Subrosa · #2 12-11-2015, 01:45 AM

About time you showed up!

Leafmite · #3 12-11-2015, 09:36 AM

Hello and welcome! Glad to have you here! Your LC. Edmund Rothwell X C. Fascelis is beautiful! I hope you find the others for which you are searching. A place to start might be to call up the orchid growers that have been in business for a while, especially the ones that do their own hybridizing, and see if they have any of these in their personal collections or know who does. Good luck!

Whimgrinder · #4 12-11-2015, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subrosa

About time you showed up!

I might have known there'd be some "intersecting sets" occur when I joined!

---------- Post added at 06:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:49 AM ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leafmite

Hello and welcome! Glad to have you here! Your LC. Edmund Rothwell X C. Fascelis is beautiful! I hope you find the others for which you are searching. A place to start might be to call up the orchid growers that have been in business for a while, especially the ones that do their own hybridizing, and see if they have any of these in their personal collections or know who does. Good luck!

Thank you for the welcome, Leafmite. Glad you like my humble little Cattleya too. What it lacks in sophistication, it makes up for in enthusiasm; it just finished blooming with five spikes and about 80 blooms in total! And it does this twice a year. Great vanilla fragrance too. What's not to like?!

I have found several great old clones from Hausermann's (wonderful big plants, inexpensive, and old-school customer service) and Waldor (got BLC. Norman's Bay 'Low' from them a while ago) and - though I'm much more cautious about shopping there - I see some of these old clones showing up on fleabay fairly often. The problem is figuring out who is safe to buy from.

If anyone here has divisions/back bulbs of any of the classics for sale or trade, feel free to PM me, thanks!

Paul

wintergirl · #5 12-11-2015, 11:10 AM

Welcome to OrchidBoard

Very cool picture of you as a 16 year old orchid collector.

Subrosa · #6 12-11-2015, 11:16 AM

Seriously, it's great to have you here Paul! People, we just acquired a wonderful asset to the community. You will be hard pressed to find a person more generous with their experience or plant material than this man!