Geeez! My should last til next summer at 50 then!
oke: I tried to get Wendy to make a division of this plant for me way back when she got it 2 1/2 years ago; but, she wouldn't....and reluctantly, I had to agree. It clearly needed time to be coddled a bit....to allow it to grow roots and regain some strength and vigour. As you say, this species can be tricky.....for some people at least. .....but, I'm patient.
Ahhhhh! Bite your tongue, Paphman910!
However, if anyone can make a strap leafed Paph come back better than ever, it's Wendy. I saw her plants about a week ago and they (mostly strap leafed Paphs), including this wilhelminiae, were a feast for the eyes....even the ones not in bloom!:drool: Her plants are gorgeous! I'm kinda hoping that a bit of this wilhelminiae will "drop" off the next time Wendy repots it.
..John I know you when I ordered a Paph rothschildianum from Clargreen Gardens many moons ago! Yes, I remember you mentioning that back in 2006. Too bad your friend killed the plant. The breeding was nice.
The Paph wilhelminiae almost died when I got it with barely any roots. Bummer. Do you remember where you got it. Did it have named or awarded parents?It declined in size 12 inch leafspan to about 3 inch leafspan. Over the next several years ( 12 years) it grew to about 16 inch leafspan and flowered with 3 buds on a flower spike. It was a very dark flower like the one Wendy posted. I really liked the hooded dorsal with the black dorsal stripes. After it flowered it make many new growths and I knew it was going to be a healthy plant. After all that work and time....and finally seeing that it was a good one, I'm surprized that you could bring yourself to sell it. I don't know that I'd be able to do that, after putting in all that effort. Of course, I'm glad that you did sell it to Wendy a couple years ago. It's grown well for her and maybe one day I'll be able to talk her out of a piece!:wink:Wendy was asking if I had any specimem plants for sale and I said yes and she got Paph wilhelminae from me. I remember when she got it. It was multigrowth; but, as you say, not many roots. The leaves were a bit soft too. I guess it didn't like being mailed. Perhaps it took longer in the mail than it should have, or, maybe it was a bit too warm in transit. It perked up pretty quickly for Wendy though, because basically, it was just a bit desicated, not diseased of course. It's actually turned into quite a vigorous, robust plant. I wish you had a bunch more of these.
Paphman910
Very nice.
Ooo. These are Wendy-licious! The best ones posted yet this winter IMO. I still say it's wilhelminae though.
-Ernie
