ugly orchids!

[thakshila smith]

Originally Posted by Leisurely

Stefano, they only do that kind of thing in Brooklyn.

Stefano. Is that enough for u? ..There are some flowers not in good looking .But those are very rare ones.
But "ugly" is not suitable for those poor once.

[Duane McDowell]

For me, any orchid that is suffering is ugly. For instance, I have two Lepanthes that had the decency to die quickly and quietly. Their tiny skeletons take up almost no space, and they don't look bad enough to take the time to pull them out of the terrarium (and they could sprout again any time - right? Right?).
On the other hand, I have some minicats that I rotted the roots off of down at the greenhouse. They've been in the midst of a slow recovery or slow death for months now. They are truly ugly.
I love big floofy catts.
I love dramatic Paphs.
For me, the aesthetic ends up being all about the balance between foliage and flowers. If the foliage is awful, the flowers had better be fantastic (Onc. Sharry Baby). On the other hand, fabulous foliage can excuse an uninteresting bloom (some of the south american terrestrials, Jewel orchids, etc)
I really like the ones with sort of a "rock garden" appeal:
Den. cuthbertsonii
Sophronitis species
Lepanthes calodictyon
Trisetella species
Phal. Dawn Treader (Be Glad line breeding)
Paph. Faire-Maude types
Complex white paphs
Complex x species type Paphs - bred for floriferousness (gratrixianum, henryanum, fairrieanum, barbigerum or insigne crossed with complex types especially)
Kefersteinia species
Dryadella species
Cym. Golden Elf 'Sundust'
Pterostylis species
Corybas species
These can all be wonderful IF they are grown well. If they are grown poorly or if they are young plants, they can all be ugly...

[Wrebbitrocks]

Originally Posted by gnathaniel

Can't say as how Paphs ever exactly reminded me of female anatomy...

When I was a kid (my dad started taking me to orchid society meetings when I was 8 or 9) I always giggled about all the adults fawning over Paphs and Phrags that often, to my childish eyes, looked like a bunch of scrotums (or is that scrota?) on flower spikes. I still crack up a little (inside, at least) at OS meetings when someone brings out a Paph with a particularly veiny-looking pouch.

I sincerely hope I haven't offended anyone too much by recounting the above tale of a childhood observation...

--Nat

LMFAO *KNEE SLAPPER* she says its the inside part thats folded in right beneath the pollen. but yes your observation seems to fit the bill also. I personally dont find it offensive and im sorry if anyone does but it IS funny my mahja also says that the warts on the petals look like a google search of "syphilis"

[Orchidflowerchild]

Originally Posted by Wrebbitrocks

LMFAO *KNEE SLAPPER* she says its the inside part thats folded in right beneath the pollen. but yes your observation seems to fit the bill also. I personally dont find it offensive and im sorry if anyone does but it IS funny my mahja also says that the warts on the petals look like a google search of "syphilis"

I *STILL* think Paph venustum looks like a disease of the nethers. Still like it, though.