Paph. Harrisianum 'USBG' specimen

[Ed M]

Paphiopedilum Harrisianum 'USBG' is blooming out in my greenhouse today. Its a primary hybrid of Paph. barbatum x villosum registered by Veitch in 1869, making it one of the first few orchid hybrids made. There's a good chance that this may be a piece of one of the original plants. I got it as a single growth "trash" piece off of the compost pile at the United States Botanical Gardens greenhouses about 1985, and they have a lot of the older plants. They maintain quite a few of these Harrisianum plants and its known among Paph growers on the east coast. The size and shape of the flower is not as good as the awarded 'G. S. Ball' clone, but it still makes a nice show because of its vigor. It currently has eleven blooms and seven buds on a plant in an eight inch pot.

 

[slippertalker]

Well done, Ed!

 

[carrilloenglish]

Truly impressive! The color is breathtaking and the plant is in immaculate shape -- not a single blemish.

You always display wonderful plants and picutres.

Ed, can you describe how you take your photos? What are you using for a background? What kind of lighting?

Christian

 

[Ed M]

Thanks. Christian, my photo set-up is very simple. I use a large piece of black velveteen for the background. Black velveteen absorbs nearly all the light hitting it and shows no shadows, so its the best for solid black background. The piece I use is five feet wide and eight feet long. For lighting I use three 500 watt halogen "work lamps" on a tripod. This can be purchased at Lowe's or Home Depot, etc. for about $60 US. I point the lamps at a white ceiling above to reflect the light back downwards to the plant to appear as natural lighting. I then set the white balance on my digital camera to adjust for this light. My digital camera, an Olympus C-5050Z sits atop a substantial tripod. The photos are typically taken at the smallest apperature to achieve deep depth of field, at ISO 64. Shutter speed is usually 1/4 second to 1 second in length. Hope this helps.

 

[GuRu]

Very impressive specimen, really gorgeous. It takes much ability, knowledge and patience to grow such a beauty.
Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[NYEric]

Argh! This makes me queasy. So well grown and photographed!

 

[paphjoint]

Great plant you got there!!

 

[goldenrose]

I'm SPEECHLESS! That is truly SPECTACULAR!

 

[Rick]

As usual, great growing Ed:clap::clap:

 

[SlipperFan]

Beautiful specimen, indeed. Lovely photo, also.

 

[Ernie]

Ed, nice job... and I'm loving your avatar.

-Ernie

 

[JeanLux]

Congratulations for the plant, marvellous picture. Jean

 

[Mrs. Paph]

What a monster! Nice growing!

 

[Scooby5757]

For 100+ years old she looks fine! Color is great too, not too mention the culture. Bravo! (as usual)

 

[toddybear]

What a truly spectacular specimen!

 

[paphioboy]

WOW..!! I am SSOO drooling over this...

 

[Grandma M]

Congratulations. That is a fabulous plant and flowering. I love specimen size plants.

 

[dustywoman]

What can I say? I'm blown Away!!!!!:drool: