Stanhopea tigrina 'Glory of Mexico' AM/AOS

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

well it finally opened. just as I was on Holiday with family cruising around Mexico. fortunately some friends kept an eye on things and emailed me a few pics. Today however I got to see it person. Plant had 4 spikes and flowers were/are massive, no measurements taken but easily 7 inches plus across.
It bloomed last year as well but it was blistering hot and dry and flowers did not quite get to open and they melted. Did not get a fully opened flower in good enough shape for a photo last year. This year was much different. A few cloudy days as it was developing the buds (cooler) and prior to leaving for trip I brought it to our local OS display which has 70 percent shade on top plus pergola framing so it was basically in Phal level light and it has been raining daily, so .. much cooler than my area.

[Roberta]

Glad that you at least got to see the pix. These things do seem to know when vacations are going to happen... have had the experience of leaving buds and coming back to spent flowers several times.

[DeaC]

This is a beast I could make friends with! Stunning.

[orchidman77]

Amazing! I can't wait to grow this species whenever I have room. It's always been a favorite and I'm so glad you could enjoy the blooms this time.