Paph phillipinense var roebellinii

[emydura]

The last of my recent Paph flowerings and I will go out with one of my favourites. First time I have ever gotten more than 4 flowers on a multi. But then the person who sold me this division told me he would get 8-9 flowers on a spike (his growths were double mine in size so I don't doubt him), so it is probably not that much of an achievement. I was hoping to photograph all 5 flowers open at once, but the fifth flower hasn't opened yet and the first 2 flowers are browning off. Flowers don't last long on this species.

Anyway, less than 4 hours to Christmas. The pork, turkey and chicken are ready to be roasted. Everyone, have a good one.

Merry Christmas

David


Paph phillipinense var roebellinii

 

[TyroneGenade]

Lovely plant, David. Did you get this from Ian Walters of Burleigh Park?

 

[emydura]

Lovely plant, David. Did you get this from Ian Walters of Burleigh Park?

No Tyrone. I got it off Ray Clements from Tinonee Orchids. He saw it in the US when he was over there 15 or so years ago. He liked it so much he went to all the trouble of importing it back to Australia. I got a division off his plant. I couldn't believe the size of his growths. The leaves must have been something like 60 cm long. I'd always thought roebellinii was more compact. Anyway my subsequent growths have never gotten close to this which in some ways is not a bad thing. I couldn't fit many orchids in my glasshouse if they were all this size.

David

 

[Shiva]

Nice plant and flowers David.

 

[JeanLux]

lovely blooms, very fine color!!! and (traditional Question) how long are the petals?
Just past 12 in Lux! Have a very good time! Jean

 

[Clark]

Really sweet!

 

[emydura]

lovely blooms, very fine color!!! and (traditional Question) how long are the petals?
Just past 12 in Lux! Have a very good time! Jean

I just stumbled up to the glasshouse in the dark to measure the petal length -17 cm.

Time for me to go to bed. Just waiting for my daughter to go to sleep so I can eat the cookies and drink the milk that she left for Santa.

David

 

[Gilda]

Beautiful !:clap::drool: Great photo too ! Can you or Slipperfan give pointers on how to get a good picture of long petaled multis ? I never can do them justice. TIA !

 

[etex]

WOW!! Awesome blooms!! The photos are great!

 

[GuRu]

Very impressive blooms and a nice photos as well.

Merry X-mas from Germany, rudolf

 

[goldenrose]

:clap: :drool: :drool: Worth any amount of space in the GH! :clap::clap:

Beautiful !:clap::drool: Great photo too ! Can you or Slipperfan give pointers on how to get a good picture of long petaled multis ? I never can do them justice. TIA !

you're not alone!

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

Wow, that's beautiful. I love the way the pouch color just pops. :clap:

 

[Rick]

Very red in this clone. Very pretty!

 

[paphioland]

I like it thanks

 

[jblanford]

WOW!! That looks great David, thanks.... Jim.

 

[tenman]

Roebbelenii is my favorite paph species. Great pics. The plant size may be due to some philippinense in its background.

 

[emydura]

Beautiful !:clap::drool: Great photo too ! Can you or Slipperfan give pointers on how to get a good picture of long petaled multis ? I never can do them justice. TIA !

I'm sure Dot will have better insights than me. I haven't photographed a lot of long petaled Paphs.

I think for Paphs in general it is good to step back a bit when photographing. Not be so obsessed with closeups. As a rule I like to show the plant in the photo. It gives the flowers some perspective and adds another element of interest. As growers we are often as interested as each others plants as the flowers. I think this is even more important for the long petalled Paphs which are better seen from afar.

One problem with the long petalled Paphs is that unless you stake them they tend to naturally arch. This can look nice but can be difficult to photograph. You find you have to photograph from one side or the other which means half the flowers are facing the opposite way. Plus the flowers are often at the same level and hence are covering each other. This all loses a bit of impact. So some sort of staking maybe necessary. I was away for a while this year and hence the spike was well developed before I could stake it. So it is sort of half and half. It doesn't look too bad really. Here is a photograph from last year where I staked it from the beginning so that the spike is totally upright. The flowers are probably a bit better displayed as they are all facing the same direction and are well spaced. Still I think this years semi-arching photo looks nicer. Better composition as the plant and flowers move diagonally through the scene - the plant in the left hand corner with the spike moving to the right hand corner. So maybe a mixture of the two is needed. I think you need to stake it to some degree. You certainly want the flowers above the leaves. I currently have a Berenice which is nearly finished opening that hasn't been staked. The flowers are well below the level of the pot. I have no idea how I'm going to photograph it. It won't look good whatever I do.

You also need to experiment a bit with the composition to get the best look. Trial and error.

David

 

[SlipperFan]

Gorgeous plant and photos, David.

You also gave very good suggestions for photographing them. I'd only add a couple things: Tripod and make sure your fans are off. Also, I try to set the plant in such a way that one flower is facing the camera, letting the others go their way naturally. It doesn't always work out that the best flower is the one facing the camera...

 

[emydura]

Gorgeous plant and photos, David.

You also gave very good suggestions for photographing them. I'd only add a couple things: Tripod and make sure your fans are off. Also, I try to set the plant in such a way that one flower is facing the camera, letting the others go their way naturally. It doesn't always work out that the best flower is the one facing the camera...

Yes, tripods, shutter release cable or timer are all important and you don't want those long petals fluttering in the breeze. I agree about having a single flower facing the camera and working the rest of the composition around it. Having flowers coming off at slightly different angles to your central flower will most likely enhance the photo rather than detract from it.

This is an example of the problems of not staking a long petalled hybrid. All 3 flowers are at much the same height, the first flower is hidden behind the second while I'm looking at the third flower from behind. Terrible composition. Not much I could do about it. By the time I got back from holidays it was too late to stake.

David

 

[John M]

This is an extremely attractive clone. You did well to get a division of it from your friend. Congrats on blooming it so nicely!