Paph Bel Royal

First time flowering of this division I purchased a year or so ago. There was a recent post talking about the most expensive Paph they have bought. Well this is mine and as far as I am concerned it was worth every cent. I nearly never got this plant as it was lost in the mail. It was the middle of summer, temperatures were ranging between 35oC and 40oC and it was sent bare-rooted. Australia Post told me they couldn't find it and I was resigned to the fact it was gone. It showed up 3 weeks later.

I think this is an above average clone of Bel Royal. I compared the size of the flowers against several awarded clones in Australia and it is significantly bigger than any of those clones, including an AM awarded plant from last year. I like the petal stance as well apart from the top flower. Having said that, I put it in our spring show this weekend and it didn't seem to excite the judges much, so what do I know.

I was a bit dissappointed with only 3 flowers given the size of the plant, but the parent plant gets 6-7 flowers a spike so I'm sure this will improve as the plant gets more established. The best years are ahead of this plant.

David

That has got to be a strong plant having survived that delivery- desaster!
Flowers are beautiful! :clap:

very nice david

Stunning!

Your plant looks healthy. The flowers are very symmetrical. Colors are deep.

Maybe because it could not make up to 6-7 flowers on a spike that's why the judges wont give an award? I am not so sure. However as you said when it clumps up and creates 6-7 flowers per spike, that would definitely attract everyone's attention.

Mocchaccino said:

Your plant looks healthy. The flowers are very symmetrical. Colors are deep.

Maybe because it could not make up to 6-7 flowers on a spike that's why the judges wont give an award? I am not so sure. However as you said when it clumps up and creates 6-7 flowers per spike, that would definitely attract everyone's attention.

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I certainly wasn't expecting an award. I wouldn't award it myself with only 3 flowers. It was considered inferior to a sequential hybrid which I thought wasn't that great. I guess you just had to see the hybrid to understand my cynical remark.

David

Beautiful flowers! :clap: And also very nice photos!

emydura said:

I certainly wasn't expecting an award. I wouldn't award it myself with only 3 flowers. It was considered inferior to a sequential hybrid which I thought wasn't that great. I guess I'm biased.

David

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However I think when you grow it for a couple of more years it would certainly worth to be awarded.

Since it is the first bloom, I think there is still a room for the flower size to increase more, especially when it clumps up.

Moccha

That's a great plant with very nice blooms Imo (too bad we can't see the winner )!!!! I am sure that within your magic hands it will bring up lots of these beuaties in the coming years!!!! Jean

Really nice colouring and great photos, again!


P.s - So what did it cost? (ball park)

Mocchaccino said:

However I think when you grow it for a couple of more years it would certainly worth to be awarded.

Since it is the first bloom, I think there is still a room for the flower size to increase more, especially when it clumps up.

Moccha

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I think with a couple of more flowers this should be awardable. Time will tell.

Flowers can get a bit bigger on a larger plant. But the flowers are already huge (15cm petals) - 2 to 3 cm longer than the Bel Royals awarded here. So I'm happy as they are.

JeanLux said:

That's a great plant with very nice blooms Imo (too bad we can't see the winner )!!!! I am sure that within your magic hands it will bring up lots of these beuaties in the coming years!!!! Jean

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Thanks Jean. I'll take some photos tomorrow of this and other things.

Ozpaph said:

Really nice colouring and great photos, again!


P.s - So what did it cost? (ball park)

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$265 from memory for 2 big growths. I'm considered the tightest guy on earth so I can't believe how much money I sometimes spend on Paphs. But it is hard to come by plants of this quality here. You should have seen the photo of it with 6 flowers.

David

That's a reasonnable price for this size plant and it has a lot of potential. Good buy!

Spectacular blooms, David!! :clap: :clap: :drool: :drool: Thank goodness the plant did not get lost in the mail.. However I am still at the price...

that's a very high quality plant if u ask me.

It's very nice and the colour is stunning. With a few more flowers I'm sure that award will be in reach. :clap::clap::drool:

Very beautiful and impressive!

Super plant and flowers David. This is a division so it has a clonal name already, right? Also, why has the seller not already taken it to judging, esp with 6 flowers?

Gorgeous, high quality flowers. You did good to get a piece of this. Considering the stress it endured in it's recent past, I think 3 huge flowers of good form and size and colour is exceptional. This will be awesome in the future!

Just in relation to the issue surrounding the judging at our show this weekend. When I looked closely today, I realised they put the winning certificate against the wrong plant (which was a pretty average sequential hybrid). It should have been against a Mt Toro. It was a nicer plant but still debatable whether it was better. At least it made more sense. Anyway I will post a few photos from the show shortly.

SlipperKing said:

Super plant and flowers David. This is a division so it has a clonal name already, right? Also, why has the seller not already taken it to judging, esp with 6 flowers?

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Thanks Rick. No, it doesn't have a clonal name. It wasn't sold with one. I emailed this person whether it had ever been judged but never received a reply. She generally sells quality stuff, often awarded divisions.

David

emydura said:

Thanks Rick. No, it doesn't have a clonal name. It wasn't sold with one. I emailed this person whether it had ever been judged but never received a reply. She generally sells quality stuff, often awarded divisions.

David

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Is this the same seller on ebay who offered a several growths St Swithin and Rolfei..?