Paph. Frostlight 'Julio Franchini' AM/AOS

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tim

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Here's my first complex of the season. This has been a rough beginning of the blooming year - a cool summer followed by heat to push along buds, then excessive heat to blast them. I've already lost a number of buds, and some buds are looking like they'll come out crippled like this one. This is Frostlight 'Julio Franchini' AM/AOS. Frostlight is a cross of two noted breeders - Gigi and Stoke Poges - registered by John Hanes in 1975. In my opinion Stoke Poges is very Hellas-like as a breeder, and tends to operate as a rather black slate upon which to spill the colors of the other parent. Maybe it adds a touch of amber - I just got a Stoke Poges, but I've never flowered it. I'm hoping to remake Hanes Green Gem (x Jolly Green Gem), but we'll see. Gigi is very dominant for color, and it's colored very similarly to this one. I have both 'Malibu' and 'Bonsall' in bud now so I'll show those to you when they open (provided they don't blast). Gigi is the parent of some 100 hybrids, many of which are awarded and include Gigilight, Via Luna Este, Sioux, Sauk, Venture, Vantage, Muir Woods, My Gigi, and a host of others.

I guess the point of this posting is to lament the decline of the complex paph in the US in the mid to late 1980s. This era saw the shuttering of complex breeding programs like McClellans and Gallup and Stribling and the shunting of many of our breeding stock to Japan. Despite being a product of great parents, Frostlight has been used in a grand total of three complex hybrids (and a ridiculous cross with primulinum). It seems that people just stopped making complex crosses just after Frostlights were awarded (in the early to mid 1980s) and these lines were not picked back up until the turn of the century or later. Not even the obvious crosses have been made with Frostlight - no crosses with Winston Churchill or Hellas or even a big green. I think it has attractive color - I'd like to see it crossed with some of the things Gigi was crossed with.

In any event I have a bunch of Frostlight clones and I'll post them as they flower - they're pretty and they grow well...nice traits I think. This clone 'Julio Franchini' was awarded in 1984 to my now-retired AOS judging mentor Fred Jernigan. Thanks Fred!
 

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bay area in california - i closed up my vents for the winter during a week then the temps went to the high 40s, then we had a week in the high 90s in late september. just last week we were having highs in the high 70s and lows in the low 40s in the same day. it's a PITA if you're an hour away from your plants.
 
I like the fall tones a lot, very nice!
At least you guys are in a situation where you can aquire such older plants, even if there's not much breeding going on anymore.

There are some obvious crosses to be made with this plant. If it was mine, I'd put pollen of a sukhakulii hybrid on it since I like that kind of stuff.
 
Tim, That is a very beautiful bloom! Love the colors and shape.
Complex hybrids fueled the fire for my love of paphs. First saw them at my first orchid show- Houston in Spring of '09.It was love at first sight!! Several of the vendors there had real beauties put aside,alas, they were already spoken for!!
 
Tim -

Just curious, why do you consider the cross with primulinum ridiculous? Is it that there are so many obvious choices of crosses to make with standard complexes, or something else?
 
heehee...personal predilections against the pot-plant market I guess. it's just not my cup of tea.
 
Thank you, Tim! I like your threads a lot, especially about the old breeding lines. It is interesting to see your photographs and to learn more about how these hybrids or even clones breed on.
 
Thanks, Tim! If it's any consolation, I never used to be into complex Paphs but have recently been getting into them. Who knows? Maybe they'll come back into fashion someday.
 
oh i thinkn they have/are....it's just that lag in the mid 1980s when vinis and the rebirth of maudiae types were all the rage...now it appears we have a bit of backlash against it - cheap vinis in every store and more people focused on the challenge of breeding and selecting complexes. I think it's funny that you could have a FCC-quality vini from 1985 for $9 at the orchid zone...like a phal!!
 
Thanks, Tim! If it's any consolation, I never used to be into complex Paphs but have recently been getting into them. Who knows? Maybe they'll come back into fashion someday.

Everything old is new again. The orchid market, like so many other things, is cyclical. That is why I try to keep one of everything!
 

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