Cattleya Bow Bells 'White Sands'

[terryros]

SlipperTalk has some excellent chains about outstanding white Cattleya hybrids. Searching Bow Bells and Bob Betts will bring up most of these.

A few months ago, I found that Shogun Orchids in Hawaii had a division of Cattleya Bow Bells ‘White Sands’ for sale with a mature growth in sheath that I couldn’t pass up.

I don’t know about RHS awards, but in AOS, the last Bow Bells award was for ‘Michael Barnett’, an HCC in 1968. Forty-nine years later, on September 9, 2017, in Hawaii, Matthias Seelis of Shogun was awarded an 86-point AM for Bow Bells ‘White Sands’. The plant averaged four flowers/buds on each inflorescence. The horizontal spread was 18.8, and the vertical spread was 18.0. Here is the award photo from the judging center taken by Glen Barfield.



Where did this ‘White Sands’ plant come from? In a video presentation, “A brief study of award-winning white Cattleyas,” from Feb 2021, Katherine Leonard in Hawaii said Matthias does not know whether his plant arose from a sib or selfing cross of the original line of Bow Bells. She noted that Matthias knows of other outstanding Bow Bells cultivars that have never been shown to judges.

My Bow Bells ‘White Sands’ division opened two flowers last week. The flowering growth was smaller than the other two, but the flowers are still 17.5 cm wide and have excellent coloration. The configuration is not as full as the awarded ‘White Sands’. Here is a picture of my flower.


It will take a larger, multi-growth plant with excellent culture to reach the size and configuration of the awarded ‘White Sands’ cultivar.

 

[monocotman]

Congrats Terry on your purchase. Lovely flower but still room for improvement!
If I were in the US I would be looking at his divisions very seriously. He has some stunning stuff.

 

[terryros]

David, how are you able to get plants right now?

 

[monocotman]

With great difficulty!
The odd thing comes up on eBay.
There is only one vendor selling cattleyas in the Uk and they’re nearly all mericlones from SE Asia.

 

[terryros]

I am so glad that you accumulated such an excellent collection of plants while you could.

 

[southernbelle]

SlipperTalk has some excellent chains about outstanding white Cattleya hybrids. Searching Bow Bells and Bob Betts will bring up most of these.

A few months ago, I found that Shogun Orchids in Hawaii had a division of Cattleya Bow Bells ‘White Sands’ for sale with a mature growth in sheath that I couldn’t pass up.

I don’t know about RHS awards, but in AOS, the last Bow Bells award was for ‘Michael Barnett’, an HCC in 1968. Forty-nine years later, on September 9, 2017, in Hawaii, Matthias Seelis of Shogun was awarded an 86-point AM for Bow Bells ‘White Sands’. The plant averaged four flowers/buds on each inflorescence. The horizontal spread was 18.8, and the vertical spread was 18.0. Here is the award photo from the judging center taken by Glen Barfield.

View attachment 49095

Where did this ‘White Sands’ plant come from? In a video presentation, “A brief study of award-winning white Cattleyas,” from Feb 2021, Katherine Leonard in Hawaii said Matthias does not know whether his plant arose from a sib or selfing cross of the original line of Bow Bells. She noted that Matthias knows of other outstanding Bow Bells cultivars that have never been shown to judges.

My Bow Bells ‘White Sands’ division opened two flowers last week. The flowering growth was smaller than the other two, but the flowers are still 17.5 cm wide and have excellent coloration. The configuration is not as full as the awarded ‘White Sands’. Here is a picture of my flower.
View attachment 49096

It will take a larger, multi-growth plant with excellent culture to reach the size and configuration of the awarded ‘White Sands’ cultivar.

Lovely flower! Matthias is an excellent source. It sort of bugs me that AOS has stopped awarding Bow Bells, I’ve been told, as the flowers are so consistently good (or something of the sort). Choosing not to pull and judge awarded plants happens here, even with things like George King ‘Serendipity’ which can be so discouraging to a newer exhibitor with one that is really nice and larger than the awarded.

 

[terryros]

Lovely flower! Matthias is an excellent source. It sort of bugs me that AOS has stopped awarding Bow Bells, I’ve been told, as the flowers are so consistently good (or something of the sort). Choosing not to pull and judge awarded plants happens here, even with things like George King ‘Serendipity’ which can be so discouraging to a newer exhibitor with one that is really nice and larger than the awarded.

I agree with you, Deborah. Already some impediments to going to judging. Why add another. An award officially designates a plant as an outstanding cultivar. This certainly matters to someone trying to breed or clone to trade and sell plants. However, if we are running of judges and judging events, maybe they are trying to discourage entries and focus on newer things.

 

[southernbelle]

Who knows, but I would think the goal would be to increase participation, especially among less experienced exhibitors. It was not my plant, but the exhibitor was crushed when he inquired and was told it was already awarded, he wouldn’t want to have to pay for it to be upgraded.

 

[Jmoney]

very nice Terry! I got a piece of 'White Sands' from Matthias last year but it hasn't bloomed yet. I asked him about the origins, as I have always been fascinated by the historic cultivars of BB...he said it was not one of his crosses and "got it from a private collector in Illinois. she had a beautiful specimen of white sands and sold me two pieces in 2015".

I asked him if he knew where the plant originated or who sold him this cultivar but he didn't get back to me. I believe he got the FCC on his Taida Eagle Eye from a batch of mericlones from Taiwan so I was speculating whether this may be from a sib BB cross or selfing. But I don't claim to know anything for sure.

 

[terryros]

Who knows, but I would think the goal would be to increase participation, especially among less experienced exhibitors. It was not my plant, but the exhibitor was crushed when he inquired and was told it was already awarded, he wouldn’t want to have to pay for it to be upgraded.

Don’t you think the exhibitor should have the choice about that? I think anyone bringing a plant for judging must know that having an award registered requires a fee. I can imagine that someone who has grown a plant particularly well and gotten more and bigger flowers might want it judged to a higher point total, even if it stayed AM. Maybe it would even go to FCC. That could be part of the fun of the hobby for that grower.

 

[terryros]

very nice Terry! I got a piece of 'White Sands' from Matthias last year but it hasn't bloomed yet. I asked him about the origins, as I have always been fascinated by the historic cultivars of BB...he said it was not one of his crosses and "got it from a private collector in Illinois. she had a beautiful specimen of white sands and sold me two pieces in 2015".

I asked him if he knew where the plant originated or who sold him this cultivar but he didn't get back to me. I believe he got the FCC on his Taida Eagle Eye from a batch of mericlones from Taiwan so I was speculating whether this may be from a sib BB cross or selfing. But I don't claim to know anything for sure.

When I think about all of the moving around of plants that have happened during the last hundred years I am not surprised that we have lost track of where something has come from. I also understand how labels get switched or lost. Sometimes, Bow Bells might not even be Bow Bells! Some heritage orchids are like antiques where the provenance becomes important. If you can reliably track the heritage back to the original plant it is more valuable than a plant that seems to be Cattleya xxxxxx

 

[southernbelle]

When I think about all of the moving around of plants that have happened during the last hundred years I am not surprised that we have lost track of where something has come from. I also understand how labels get switched or lost. Sometimes, Bow Bells might not even be Bow Bells! Some heritage orchids are like antiques where the provenance becomes important. If you can reliably track the heritage back to the original plant it is more valuable than a plant that seems to be Cattleya xxxxxx

I ask where the person who is selling the OP got it from and if it’s clean. If a seller can’t cite his source, then I’m not convinced it’s an original. ”A guy at a show in MD said it came from a guy in CA, who said it’s an original“ doesn’t verify anything to me.

 

[southernbelle]

Don’t you think the exhibitor should have the choice about that? I think anyone bringing a plant for judging must know that having an award registered requires a fee. I can imagine that someone who has grown a plant particularly well and gotten more and bigger flowers might want it judged to a higher point total, even if it stayed AM. Maybe it would even go to FCC. That could be part of the fun of the hobby for that grower.

Yes, I agree totally. Unfortunately not all judging centers seem to handle it that way. Amazing Matthias was able to get White Sands awarded after so many years of no Bow Bells awards. Good for him! Which brings up another point. A division of an awarded cultivar of Bow Bells is an original of that cultivar.

 

[Jmoney]

I ask where the person who is selling the OP got it from and if it’s clean. If a seller can’t cite his source, then I’m not convinced it’s an original. ”A guy at a show in MD said it came from a guy in CA, who said it’s an original“ doesn’t verify anything to me.

right on, an "original" is only as good as the provenance i.e. the trust one has in the source.