Borburn is a plant not so much for its progeny but for its parents. At the time the grex was made (registered in 1937 by Armstrong and Brown), I bet there was great hope that this would be an amazing revolution in paphs. It's a cross of two of the very best breeders of the day: Bordube 'Eau de Nil' and Chardmoore 'Mrs. Cowburn'. Chardmoore needs no introduction for those people with any knowledge of complex paphs - it's one of the parents of Dusty Miller, which made Miller's Daughter, the best white grex in the world prior to the early 1990s. It's also left its mark on spotteds, reds, and tans; I'll eventually get to it in the pictures and write a bunch more on it.
Bordube 'Eau de Nil' is a much more interesting thing, because it's not available at all. It is probably the original source of solid yellow color in paphs, through Dervish (x Grace Darling), and so on through Denehurst, Mariano Martian, and Todd Clark or Magic Mountain. Denehurst is a great breeder...Unfortunately I have never seen Bordube 'Eau de Nil' - not a photo, painting, and never a plant. It's on the short list for sure. Do any of you have it? The other fairly well-known offspring of Bordube is McLaren Park.
Borburn was awarded by the RHS in 1946 (interestingly enough its parent is listed as Chardmoore 'Mrs. Coburn') to an L.W. Brummitt, then made its way across the sea with Mr. Bracey to be awarded an AM/AOS in 1951. In 1956 it recieved a B/CSA for Dr. Lenz in Southern CA. Then in 1961 it received an HCC/AOS and HCC/ODC for Arthur Freed Orchids.
I guess the flower itself is again not all that special, but it has such an interesting story. I really like Bordube crosses - they make me feel like I'm getting closer to the real thing!!
Bordube 'Eau de Nil' is a much more interesting thing, because it's not available at all. It is probably the original source of solid yellow color in paphs, through Dervish (x Grace Darling), and so on through Denehurst, Mariano Martian, and Todd Clark or Magic Mountain. Denehurst is a great breeder...Unfortunately I have never seen Bordube 'Eau de Nil' - not a photo, painting, and never a plant. It's on the short list for sure. Do any of you have it? The other fairly well-known offspring of Bordube is McLaren Park.
Borburn was awarded by the RHS in 1946 (interestingly enough its parent is listed as Chardmoore 'Mrs. Coburn') to an L.W. Brummitt, then made its way across the sea with Mr. Bracey to be awarded an AM/AOS in 1951. In 1956 it recieved a B/CSA for Dr. Lenz in Southern CA. Then in 1961 it received an HCC/AOS and HCC/ODC for Arthur Freed Orchids.
I guess the flower itself is again not all that special, but it has such an interesting story. I really like Bordube crosses - they make me feel like I'm getting closer to the real thing!!