EYOF: opening the doors, a little.

[NYEric]

At the 2013 NCDOS/Paph Forum we were very fortunate to have a presentation by Mr. Chris Purver of the Eric Young Orchid Foundation (EYOF). The EYOF, on the Isle of Jersey, between France and England, was conceptualized and created by the late Eric Young, a British scientist, entrepreneur, and orchid collector. Built upon Mr. Young's collection of select plants, the Foundation continued to collect orchids and pursue specific trends in orchid breeding. Also, built upon the work there by Don Wimber, the use of colchicine to increase the ploidy of orchids is heavily practiced in their work. I first became aware of the EYOF when I saw examples of Phrag. Saint Ouen 4N and Phrag. Grouville 4N owned by Piping Rock Orchids. The flowers and plants were larger, formed differently, and of richer color than any of similar plants or crosses that I had seen. Because they had early samples of Phrags. besseae, dalessandroi, kovachii, and andreetae, their creation of crosses with these species has been tremendous. Unfortunately, the EYOF is not a commercial nursery and many of the plants registered by EYOF are not available for viewing in any source I know of. In fact, until last year the last time I remember EYOF plants available here in the USA was when Paul Phillips imported some to Ratcliffe Orchids in Kissimee in about 2006. Because of this, the opportunity to see the products of the EYOF was not to be missed. Besides work with dark Paphs, a very vigorous Paph Gloria Naugle and a product of the extremely incompatible vietnamense x rothschildianum, Mr. Purver, who among other work directs the breeding directions at EYOF, presented slides of their work with multiflowering bessese type Phrags, flavum and light besseae type Phrags and multi-toned Phrags. I was, unfortunately too distracted to take photos of all the plants but when I remembered to take some, this is what I got.

 

[NYEric]

 

[NYEric]

I interviewed Mr. Purver after his lecture and i am happy to share this with the forum.

I asked about Jersey being the home of the Foundation.
Because Jersey is not a member of the European Union CITES documents and fees do prevent export of plants, even to the nearest locations in France or England.

About the bloom duration of Paph. vietnamense compared to the short life span of the progeny of the plants legally released in the USA by Bob Wellenstein:
The petal segments of Paph. vietnamese generally are not of good substance; 3 weeks is about what they are getting. (during his presentation Mr. Purver showed some Paph Wossner Vietnam Star [viet x roths] that were brought from seed to bloom in 3 years.)

Since EYOF does not really sell plants what happens to the "runts" that are not kept for the breeding programs.
The Foundation would not want to release substandard plants so the runts end up in the compost heap.

Due to time constraints, that basically ended our interview. Hopefully we will be able to enjoy the progeny of the EYOF 4N kovachii and andreetae in the not too distant future. I would like to thank Mr. Purver, and the whole NCDOS/ Paph Forum organizing staff for an excellent event.

 

[SlipperFan]

So, how can we get them to move to the US? :evil:

 

[Dido]

thansk for this ncie pic and the information....

 

[Hera]

Thanks Eric. Looks like that was a fascinating presentation.

 

[gonewild]

So, how can we get them to move to the US? :evil:

Drug them in to a comatose state.

 

[cnycharles]

interesting flowers and pictures, thanks for taking and sharing

 

[phraggy]

Thanks Eric for a nicely written and informative article.

Ed

 

[monocotman]

Eric,
thanks.Very interesting. Pity they don't have more of a web presence.
There are a few nice ones for sale at the moment on the Ratcliffe's Uk web site.
I have a large seedling from EYOF of hanne popow x kovachii which should flower next year. Not seen a photo of this cross before.
David

 

[NYEric]

Good luck, I didn't get photos of some that were wonky.

 

[Ozpaph]

It would be lovely if people could be convinced to share their slide programmes on the forum (watermarked if necessary) so we could enjoy them at good quality.

 

[Secundino]

Not only the slides, but also the plants...
Nice insight, thanks!

 

[Cheyenne]

I got to see the talk also and it was a very intriguing talk. Lots of great pictures. It is really amazing to see the work and results they are getting by converting things to 4N. That phrag andreettae 4N is really different than the 2N form. If it can do that imagine what a 4N kovachii will be like. I wish there was more people in this country that were doing 4N work. Great talk I wish you all could have seen it.
On another note, Eric. You didn't post the pictures of the paph Gloria Naugle x vietnamense. That was probably one of the best paphs that I have ever seen. It was like a very full red Gloria Naugle. As close to a red paph as anyone came so far, and a parvi at that. To bad they only got one plant out of the cross. You guys really need to see it. You should of heard the oohs and ahhs from the crowd.

 

[Cheyenne]

Roth posted the Gloria Naugle x vietnamense in this thread you have to download it then scroll down and there is a picture.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/RHS-Pu...chid-Review/2011-issues/March/o-Awards-10pp-2

 

[SlipperKing]

Thanks Eric for the bootleg presentation!
Thanks Cheyenne for the peek at Paph Du Motier!

 

[cnycharles]

It would be lovely if people could be convinced to share their slide programmes on the forum (watermarked if necessary) so we could enjoy them at good quality.

yes, it would. I asked a speaker who was coming to our club if he could send me a copy of his powerpoint presentation so a friend (who couldn't make the meeting), could see it. they declined citing possible stealing of the talk/pictures even though I had stated beforehand that i'd sign an agreement that the talk be deleted after viewing. they said that once it was out of my hands then there was any possibility that anything could happen to it

 

[Shiva]

Thanks Eric. Beautiful phrags. I only wish they could be available here. It's a bit like looking at pretty women in Playboy...

 

[Erythrone]

Many thanks for the pictures and the informations, Eric!

 

[Ozpaph]

yes, it would. I asked a speaker who was coming to our club if he could send me a copy of his powerpoint presentation so a friend (who couldn't make the meeting), could see it. they declined citing possible stealing of the talk/pictures even though I had stated beforehand that i'd sign an agreement that the talk be deleted after viewing. they said that once it was out of my hands then there was any possibility that anything could happen to it

I understand people's reluctance but watermarking them helps preserve their integrity. I would make the point that a good talk is supplemented by the pictures and as such the pictures without a good narrative are only pictures.