Some of you may have seen these photos in another forum. For those who haven't, this is Paph dianthum which is currently flowering for me. I bought this orchid never believing it would be so nice. It would now have to be one of my favourites. I have also just purchased a single growth division of a parishii clone that I am waiting to be delivered. I believe the individuals flowers are not as good (smaller and the petals are more pendulous) as dianthum, however you get a lot more (up to 9 flowers). Looking forward to seeing it flower. Anyone growing this species?

David

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/emydura/paphdianthum3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v148/emydura/paphdianthum4.jpg

Well, gosh, it's about time! Welcome David and thanks for posting your gorgeous plant! Post some more, will ya? ;) You've got very nice plants, you know.

(I think you forgot to mention the award it got, btw!)

Very nice! And on 2 spikes, beautiful! It is one of my favorite multlforal species! Thanks for posting!

Yes Heather. It won Champion Orchid at our recent show. I'd never won anything major before so that was a thrill. I also won Reserve Champion with a Paph Psyche (I'll post a photo shortly). I don't know what it is like in the US, but there is a real bias towards Paphs in the judging. You are almost guaranteed of taking away the trophies if you have anything half decent. Particularly with the Brachy's. I'm not complaining as that what I grow but I sometimes feel sorry for the other growers. Well just a bit. :D

David

Emydura , dianthum in you post can never bloom with 9 flowers ... It can reach at most 4 flowers only ... I believe the one you are talking about is parishii native in Thailand which is also one of my favorite ! I knew there are clones that can bloom more than 10 flowers but I still cannot get one for myself ...

Very nice David. and congratulation on the award. I also love dianthum.

Eric

Avery - I was referring to parishii when I said 9 flowers. I have just purchased a parishii division that hopefully will have as many flowers as you suggested. I'm not sure how common plants with that many flowers are.

I saw a posting of Paph dianthum from a guy in Britain which had 4 flowers on a first flowering seedling. I'd expect it will get one or two more when the plant grows up. And the flowers were breathtaking. Better than mine. I was happy to get 3 on one spike this year. Last year I had two spikes as well with only 2 flowers on each spike.

David

I have bought and flowered three plants labeled Paph. dianthum. All of them had droopy petals with minimal twist. Perhaps they could have been mislabeled parishii?! Regardless, I was disappointed with all of them and gave or traded all of them away.

I still love the species and want one but I'm going to wait until I find a blooming unit or a true dianthum division!

Gee, thanks a lot for posting the nice dianthum photos....they just cost me $30... :(

Although I've been burned in the past I couldn't resist buying yet another dianthum seedling...at least this grower is withing punching distance if it doesn't bloom true!!! :evil:

Well better luck this time Garland. The dianthum in this post I bought as a large division. Had no idea what it was going to look like though. Just lucky.

I'd have thought parishii would have been more sought after than dianthum. Those plants that have 9 or so flowers on a spike can look pretty impressive.

David

Well better luck this time Garland. The dianthum in this post I bought as a large division. Had no idea what it was going to look like though. Just lucky.

I'd have thought parishii would have been more sought after than dianthum. Those plants that have 9 or so flowers on a spike can look pretty impressive.

David

I think parishii is more rare - they are very hard to find these days! I think mine is trying to spike, not sure yet though... sure hope so!!!

Actually both the species are now very hard to find, especially parishii. Both the species are beautiful and are my favs!

Both the species are beautiful and are my favs!

You say that about practically everything...:poke:

Hard to pick a favorite! :)

Check out the dark dianthum and all the other nice stuff from this Vietnamese website!

http://pages.zdnet.com/saigonmedia/saigonorchidsandflora/index.html

Charles Lamb has dianthum germinated on Troy Meyers site. I have a young parishii, and one of the members of our society has a parishii that was in bloom last year. It had gobbs of flowers, with nice dark petals. The flowers are kinda small compared to other multi floral species. Another diff between parishii and dianthum is that dianthum grows lithophytically on limestone. Parishii is usually epiphytic.

Check out the dark dianthum and all the other nice stuff from this Vietnamese website!

http://pages.zdnet.com/saigonmedia/saigonorchidsandflora/index.html

Yes, that's DARK and having discussed this photo previously, I can't believe it is accurate. Anyone else?

Just, well, for those w/out having seen a true dianthum bloom, the darker color, often termed "mahogany", on the pouch is provided by the magenta on the inside mixing w/ the green on the outside, making the bloom look brownish. The petals are similar, and I just can't see them EVER truly being *this* dark.

I've seen this website before. Almost all the photos are dark, with lots of red added. But I hope they will be able to sell legal helenae and traenlinianums someday.

I agree! Those pics are all so very dark.