Paphiopedilum Druid Spring

[mrhappyrotter]

The cross is Paph. primulinum x druyii.

[Engage boring old man story mode]

I have a wonderful neighbor that loves orchids, though her understanding of orchids is that orchids are phalaenopsis, and phalaenopsis are orchids. She likes to buy blooming phals, and then she gives them to me when they are done blooming so that I can restore them, and then, on occasion, send back a plant or two when they are blooming.

Me on the other hand? I actually am not a particularly good phal grower. I don't know why, but they've always proven troublesome to me. Regardless, after showing my neighbor some of my slipper orchids, she seemed interested enough that I decided to buy this Paph. Druid Spring so she could enjoy.

When I purchased it, I chose this plant because I knew it would be fairly easy to grow and bloom. It was one I knew I'd enjoy, but also one I hoped she would enjoy as well. My neighbor mostly buys pink or purple phal hybrids, but she's a big fan of yellow (which is my favorite) so I thought this would be right down her alley. Plus, I chose one that was fragrant, albeit only faintly. It has the typical primulinum scent, which is sweet and reminds me of beer or sourdough bread.

Fastforward a year, and it turns out my neighbor doesn't like paphs. So, now that this plant is back in bloom, I'll hold on to it. I like it anyway. It's yellow. It's fragrant. And it's a druyii hybrid, which as you probably know is a pretty rare species. The hybrid itself is quite common, but I find it to be very attractive. This particular clone has fairly large flowers. When I was selecting a plant, the choice was easy. This one had the biggest and most fragrant flower of the bunch as I recall.

What I find interesting is that under my growing conditions, the foliage is now much larger, and the flower is bigger as well. I was actually hoping it would be a fairly small grower, so it would fit under the lights, but in fact, it takes up a lot of space.

Anyway, it's not the most exciting of crosses, and certainly not the best example of this hybrid, but I like it, and I'll definitely keep it.

I find it likes to grow fairly wet and warm. It can probably deal with a bit more light than the average paph. I grow it alongside the parvies, but because it's a much taller plant, it gets more light than they do.

[Disengage boring, old man story mode]


Starting to open:

In the dark (maybe I'll snap some shots tomorrow, in real light):

 

[troy]

Nice bloom!!

 

[17andgrowing]

Lovely!

 

[NYEric]

The primulinum makes these plants bulletproof and easier to bloom than druryii. Thanks for sharing. Best laid plans...

 

[Trithor]

I like that a lot. The chocolate marking over the lime/yellow is a favorite. To be honest if I had known that this smelled like beer, I would probably have a whole greenhouse full of them! Funny, I feel kind of thirsty now.......

 

[Ozpaph]

Its a good cross - like a fancy druryi

 

[mrhappyrotter]

I like that a lot. The chocolate marking over the lime/yellow is a favorite. To be honest if I had known that this smelled like beer, I would probably have a whole greenhouse full of them! Funny, I feel kind of thirsty now.......

Heh. If you're going for the fragrance, skip the hybrids and get Paph. primulinum. The hybrids are hit or miss in terms of scent, and usually very faintly scented compared to primulinum. Or, you could just dump a bit of beer into their lips, and then all your paphs can smell like beer. But then, that'd be a waste of beer.

 

[Erythrone]

Cute!

 

[neno747]

Nice!!

 

[SlipperFan]

That is a very nice one. I like the lines.

 

[Secundino]

Lovely story! Had to laugh, that's good, now the day is bright, though we need some rain urgently.
A pity that those 'common hybrids' are seldom seen over here.

 

[Leo Schordje]

You have a very nice one, not all of them are that nice.

I kept two seedlings of Druid Spring had them for many years now. It is a great hybrid, because for me, druyii doesn't get around to blooming very often. I really need to make a spot for druyii under the brightest of my lights, but my Phrags have that space taken, I can never choose which Phrag gets kicked out of the bright light zone? But Druid Spring blooms easily for me, and from the primulinum, I will always get at least 2 flowers in sequence, once during a 'good year' got 4 flowers off the same stem. Definitely a keeper even if it does eventually become a space hog.

Good growing and a great hybrid, from one "old man" to another. Sadly my nose can no longer detect the scent of primulinum. In my youth, to me they smelled sweet and floral, but now I get nothing. Even roses are harder to detect.