The second Phrag. I bought, before I knew much and became a species snob. :lol: Cross is besseae var. flavum x hirtzii. This is my second Phrag to re-bloom, the first of hopefully many buds to open. I think this blooming is significantly better, so far, than the first. The form is much better and petals twistier. Also, there is a hint of red on the ends of the petals which I don't recall last year. Also, it is slightly fragrant, which I totally don't understand because to my knowledge neither parent is. How can that be?
:confused: The fragrance is not very nice, however.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6k4l0/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/mm05.jpg

I like it, looks great! It also looks like a creature rising up from the ashes. How big is the flower?

I like the shape and form of the flower, even though I am not crazy about all of the green

It is actually more yellow now than green, but doesn't come across well in this photo.

Peter, I think it is close to 3" - definitely much larger than little besseae.

It is actually more yellow now than green, but doesn't come across well in this photo.

Peter, I think it is close to 3" - definitely much larger than little besseae.

Thanks! Probably it gets the size from the hirtzii parent. Have you seen a MM made with the red bess?

Thanks! Probably it gets the size from the hirtzii parent. Have you seen a MM made with the red bess?

Yes, I don't like it as much, I love the color yellow! It is much more pink.

Yes, I don't like it as much, I love the color yellow! It is much more pink.

I agree also! There are way too many red ones out there. Just wait when kov and its hybrids are out and available! A whole new generation of Phrag hybs! I can't wait to get my hands on one. :lol:

I like yellow, so it is green first and as the flower matures it turns yellow. I may have to add this to my list, which I now need to carry in a truck :shock:

I like yellow, so it is green first and as the flower matures it turns yellow. I may have to add this to my list, which I now need to carry in a truck :shock:

Yes, it is quite green the first day, and yellows and the petals twist over the next couple days. Also, it blooms for like 7 months, one after another. I got it in bud in May '04 and it just finished blooming last fall, and the new growth put up this spike starting in December.

I had a list like that once...;)

I think I should just get rid of my list and just buy every slipper I find, that way I won't miss out on anything. :lol:

Park Bear - NOW you're talking like a true paphnut! :lol:

Update on plant...this blooming is so much better in a lot of ways. The plant is holding onto the blooms MUCH better. I've had two open at once since Friday, and last year I was never able to have two open at once. Very happy. At least two more buds maturing also.

Oh, one poor thing, The second bloom has a horn on the pouch which is kind of funny looking. Oh well. No horns on the newest bloom.

:lol:
No sooner than I posted that and guess what just happened? Haha, Murphy strikes again!

Nice picture. I wish it wasn't shaded out on the top. How big is it now?

It is 21" w/ 2 growths and a new start. Ok, here's a new photo for you, not a glamour shot, but you'll get the point anyway.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/04e26a99.jpg

Heather that is very nice looking . :lol:

Really, now, it is not a very good photo. I'm trying to get my store open for the year and totally hectic. Otherwise I would have taken pains to remove the calendar and wait for some sun. SORRY!

I like it with 2 flowers open at once.

I like it with 2 flowers open at once.

Me too, but I knew I had to get the photo in today, or it would likely drop by the time I got to work in the a.m. It is holding them better, but I didn't wish to take chances and when the camera died I just figured I wasn't going to get a pic.

Same thing going on w/ my St. Peter (another super easy one, I almost reccommended!!) Holds the first bloom a couple days longer than last year, as the new ones are opening.

I hate to admit it (as a species snob), but I think this is an improvement over the parent species.

I hate to admit it (as a species snob), but I think this is an improvement over the parent species.

Really? The besseae too?
I can understand about the hirtzii though...:wink:

Rick, can you shed any light on why mine has a scent when neither parent does? That's really stumping me.

with my limited genetics knowledge, I would guess the fragrance thing must be some kind of recessive gene that is present in both parents, but I'm sure others will know much more, like Rick or Steve.

My genetics isn't anything to brag about either PB, so your answer is as good as mine.

There could also be some recombination going on too.

Your turn Steve.

Are you sure its the flower that smells? Did you forget to wash your hands :embarass: :embarass:

Or maybe, Heather is just imagining the scent? :lol: Heather, didn't you say your Berenice was also fragrant? I don't know of any fragrant Berenice.

No, I am not imaging it and absolutely it is the flower. Today, it is actually quite strong. It is on my desk here at work and I just sniffed it w/ my hands behind my back. It had the scent on its' first blooming and again now on its' second.

My Berenice smells fainly of roses.

(Hrrmph!)
:cheeky:

It is truly a mystery. Very strange indeed!
:cheeky:

Very strange indeed!
:cheeky:

Me? or the plant? :jealous:

(see, now you've hurt its' feelings, the older bloom just dropped.)

Well, you may have the world's first fragrant Paph and Phrag hybrids. :lol:

Maybe I can advertise them now on Ebay as RARE and make some cash! :roll:

(j/k of course!)

i don't think it's entirely accurate to say that so and so species has no scent. it very well may have a distinct scent designed towards its pollinator, and we only say it has no scent if we humans cannot smell it. most paphs have some type of scent to me, but if it's faint, and not particularly descriptive, we rarely say they are fragrant.

Good point.

I don't HAVE hirtzii so I am only going on besseae also. But my Mtn. Maid is MOST DEFINITELY FRAGRANT.

(as is my RARE Berenice.)

LOL! :D

That could be very true.

Thinking about the ways various insects see in UV and polarized light makes flowers look different to them in ways we can't see either. So I could easily see that could be true for scents too.

I also just recalled that I can't smell allot of insect pheromones (moth sex attractant, bombical, to think of off the top) at the levels easily detected by them.

Well, Thanks to Dan for asking Glen about the fragrance issue today. He said :

the only Phrag with a chance of fragrance is shlimii, your's might have been mislabled. He said that Mountain Maids do not have a fragrance.

To which I replied that perhaps that could be the case if I had the Mountain Maid with the regular besseae, and it were pink, but it was clearly made with the yellow form, so I don't think it is mislabelled, and it doesn't smell like schlimii (fruity/raspberryish.) So, I'm back to square one, I've got a fragrant freak of a Maid!

(and NO I am not imagining it!!!) :mad:

Your MM is defintely a MM made with the yellow besseae and not a schlimii. So, you may have a rare fragrant MM in your collection! Good for you! Phrag schlimii is not the only frgarant Phrag species, fischerii is also fragrant. Also, to some people caudatum flowers smell like urine but mine have no pee smell at all, thank goodness!

That is sort of what my "rare and fragrant" MM smells like, but sweeter. Blech....

That is sort of what my "rare and fragrant" MM smells like, but sweeter. Blech....

There's a lovely name for it:-

Phrag Mountain Maid 'Sweet Pee'..

and then ppl will always mistake it as a spelling error and change it to "sweet pea"

:twisted:

Cheers
Tim

I'm going to ask Steve about this in his new fragrance thread. AND I am going to email Tom and John at Parkside and see what they have to say.