Masdevallia amabilis - My first Masdie blooming

[Paphy]

This is my first Masdevallia. It seems to really like living outside under 70% shade cloth. But it's Spring now and I worry about August temps here in So Calif. We'll see, may have to bring inside.

The two blooms shown here have lasted a 8 days so far although I did see less intensity in color today. The other three blooms are now a cpl/few days away from popping so I hope the two that are open last until I get all five showing at once for a group pic.

The 11 day old bloom pics are on page 2.

[u bada]

wow yeah that looks very happy... beautiful colors on that one...

[Paphy]

yeah, i'm very happy with it. The saturation of color is just as depicted, i.e.. its honest, no bump in photoshop.

[u bada]

I saw some amabilis at Andy's and the colors were similar but yours is amazing and really nice form to flower, does it have a cultivar (sometimes referred to as clonal) name? maybe if all goes well you can win an award for this one

[Paphy]

Originally Posted by u bada

I saw some amabilis at Andy's and the colors were similar but yours is amazing and really nice form to flower, does it have a cultivar (sometimes referred to as clonal) name? maybe if all goes well you can win an award for this one

I actually got this from Andy when he was at our (NHOS) Westminster show. I got to know him and he hand picked this one out for me. Anyway I don't know cultivar from clonal but as far as I know it's just a regular old species. There's no other name listed. I think it came straight from Ecuagena (sp?).

Award? I'm just happy it's alive. Seriously. There was some miscommunication with Andy and I swear he said he had his in full sun. It never really felt right but I put it out and after about 2 1/2 hrs something inside screamed get it out, NOW! And so I did. Then each day leaves yellowed/browned/fell off. What once was a beautiful plant was reduced to 3 1/2 leaves. I call Andy. He says it may have been too suddenly intro'd to my condition. Anyway to play safe I put under 70% shade cloth. And wow, each day a new leaf for like 7 days straight. The spikes were unaffected. So what you see now in the photo is a plant on the comeback. I hope I don't find another way to stress the poor thing. Learning curve going on here.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Outstanding. I was going to ask but now I think you have answered my question. I think I almost got this one but found out it is high light but cold growing. I decided if I had it in high light it would get to hot.

Yours looks wonderful.

[twinofmunin]

Gosh, those colours are insane. So beautiful. Glad that it's happier for you now.

[Paphy]

Originally Posted by No-Pro-mwa

Outstanding. I was going to ask but now I think you have answered my question. I think I almost got this one but found out it is high light but cold growing. I decided if I had it in high light it would get to hot.

Yours looks wonderful.

Hi No-Pro-mwa- Yeah, Andy has it listed as:

"Bright to Shade; 2000-3000 Footcandles (bright indirect light,strong shadowing)"

and

"Cool to Intermediate; 48°F min. to 78°F max."

But in our discussion he was confident that the limits could be pushed. He has done so himself. However we do both live in basic similar conditions, both about same distance from the beach. We've just had some fairly wide fluctuating weather from cold to hot and back and forth. Couple days ago it was over 85 for cpl days. Little amabilis was unfazed. How many days in a row at that can she cope? Time will tell. I think as long as you get cool enough nights then the plant gets relief and can go on to battle another day and digest the heat. On those days though even though it was warm/hot air there was sufficient wind to help out. What I'm worried about are the dead heat days where it's just still, like an oven.

I will say this, this little one seems to be a real trooper. In all my plant growing I have had the good fortune of learning to sense which individuals have real vitality and which just simply don't. The strong ones just have this strength of will to overcome certain living conditions and I'm telling you, this one just has the goods.

---------- Post added at 01:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:56 PM ----------

Originally Posted by twinofmunin

Gosh, those colours are insane. So beautiful. Glad that it's happier for you now.

twin, thanks, and yeah if you like magenta-fuschia than this species has plenty of that to offer. These shots here are showing it at peak color about 3/4 days after popping.

I just learned how to work the macro setting on my camera. When the other 3 blooms open I'll sit down with some critical lighting and try to get some good shots that show the sequence of color intensity as the bloom develops.

[u bada]

Andy has his under shade, at least 50% shade, but maybe as much as 70% from what i saw...

A cultivar name can be given to a seedling of a species if it is particularly exceptional. Afterall, if you propagate a bunch from seed it is highly probably that they will not be the same. If awarded then you could clone it under that cultivar name. This is especially true for breeders that find a single plant of a species that has larger flowers or an errant color than others of same species... while I don't think clonal varieties are awarded to growth habit and such... some species, if not given a sub species taxonomic indication, may have a more prostrate growth, or a more vigorous growth habit, then these would definitely fuel a breeding program.

This amabilis for instance, if more heat tolerant, could lead a new breeding program for heat tolerant amabilis, patented, and could be cloned indefinitely, and that nursery/ grower could make a fortune if picked up by mass market... happens in garden plant industry all the time.

Looking at other pictures I took at andy's there was one i pictured that looked similar though...

[WhiteRabbit]

What a beauty!