Well, I have rigged up the travel arrangements for my Phrag. wallisii for tomorrow's judging! Special thanks to Rick and Marilyn from Windy Hill for all of their helpful tips! I combined the two.

This isn't ideal - the petals from the first flower are a little closer to the box than I'd like, but safety is an issue also, so will have to do. I'm bringing a mister also, thanks to Pete for that suggestion!

Also, note the last photo - it appears the dorsals are turning quite yellow, so I think its' days are numbered. Hopefully no browning tomorrow morning, the long petals are still nice and fresh looking, at least to my eye.

So, wish us luck!

(my apologies for the fat cat in the photo!)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/268b2c85.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/93a2e49a.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/ca312070.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y134/ahmcd33/710c8400.jpg

H,

Best of luck.

Jeff

Beautiful and GOOD LUCK!!! Have fun and keep us posted.

Travel safe! Best of luck with the judging!

Looks good Heather. hope the judges like it :clap: let us know the out come.

good luck beautiful plant. either way you win with a cat that size :jawdrop:

Hahahahaha!!! NY - that was very amusing, we all laughed and Mosi looked very proud when I told her she was being judged!
:lol:

In all seriousness, thanks - will be sure to let you all know - I don't expect more than education, but at least can share that side of it all. For all the others that have never done this. I would imagine it is easier as part of a society at a show, but hey, what the heck!! :D

Good lord that thing has long petals...have to admit mine has petals half that size.

Don't worry about the flower turning brown...they drop while still in their prime, but that yellow color is normal. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Jon

My sincere best wishes to you also and no matter what happens, you STILL win with a beauty like that.

Stunning, and good luck

GREAT LUCK!!!!!!

Nothing like spamming! I was trying to do something simple, can a manager or moderator delete the first few. I used the back button instead of the edit button doh...

Nothing like spamming! I was trying to do something simple, can a manager or moderator delete the first few. I used the back button instead of the edit button doh...

As you wish....


(you okay this morning Tadd?) :poke:

Thanks everyone! Very much!!! :love:

You guys have seen the progress from almost day one!

As they say in show biz, break a leg! :lol:

Very Nice Heather

Congrats!!!

Uri

PS: I've one spiking do you mind to save a pair of pollen?

Report:

Ok, that was a really good experience. The car ride was extremely nerve wracking, I ended up not using the box at all, and just holding the pots. The botanical garden was also having their annual plant show, so it was a zoo, but we lucked out and got a close parking spot. OMG, the stares and comments from the public were constant, it was a little embarrasing for me, despite my online presence, I'm really shy and don't like attention focused on me. I know, hard to believe! I wondered how many people were hoping they could find one like mine at the plant sale! :lol:

We got there when the judges had breaked for lunch. My mother actually knew one of the judges! That was a great ice breaker and Betty got me settled in and helped me figure out what to do. Many of the judges had nice comments about the wallisii.

About half an hour later, the judging began. First up was an interesting Miltoniopsis which was discussed at length and ended up with a HCC of 77 points. There was a lot of spread in the numbers, which is apparently frowned upon. They did much better with the next two, a nice Phal, and a Laelia purpurata, both of which got AMs of 82 pts. There were actually two of each of those same plants, but the other two plants were not nominated. The last, the Laelia because it was a first bloom seedling, they made a point of saying it would be doing a disservice to the plant to point it now - which I noted.

So, then came the wallisii. They were very nice in the description. Comments were made about the other 13 awarded plants, that the petal measurements of mine and the number of flowers were right in line with the other awarded wallisii. The dorsal and synsepal could have been longer - mine is 13 and 11cm and awards were more in line w/ 16 and 14cm. The petal width was also acceptable compared to the other plants. I took pride that the judge doing the description pointed out that "the grower had obviously done an excellent job of making sure the petals had ample room to grow to their fullest extent." :D You guys know my tower of pots well!

Unfortunately, the oldest bloom, as we suspected was not fresh enough for them to nominate the plant for judging, and they said it had great potential when it had a few more growths. Which is exactly the two things I thought would be problematic.

After they finished, Glen Brown, who was the contact I called for the information about the location and judging, mentioned that it was the first time that I had ever shown a plant and that he thought it was an excellent choice for me to show. Then, everyone, one women in particular, thanked me for bringing it and said that they hoped I came back often and looked forward to seeing more of my plants. I thought that was very nice.

We stayed to see a wonderful Masdivallia awarded an AM of 82 (I think it was J and L showing the plant.) My mom liked it very much, I'll see if I can find a pic online of it. It was a really beautiful one and great specimen.

On the way out, the man who had the awarded Laelia stopped me and said I should most definitely bring back the wallisii - he said it was definitely awardable as a larger, more mature plant. Thinking back on the disservice comment earlier, I actually feel really good about the judges choice. You know, the plant might score higher the next time it blooms than it would have now. Now that I know what goes on at these events, I understand the judges perspective much better and I'm glad that they respect my plant enough to not rush things.

Oh also, there were two people there who did not have a plant entered, and they were really rooting for me I think - they kept trying to photograph it and had the same experience I've had, it is a beast to photograph it and to travel with it.

So, (if anyone is still reading this insanely long post!) THANKS so much to everyone here (and Marilyn!) for your support and encouragement and GREAT PATIENCE watching this plant from sheath to bloom. You don't know how much I appreciate all of your knowledge and time and effort. I'd never have had the courage to do this without all of your good wishes!

Peter Phen - a special thanks to you for continuing to nudge me to get this plant, and for creating this forum.

Wonderful experience and I really had fun reading it! Thanks for sharing it with us and you must have been very proud when people were gawking at your walli! :lol: I'm glad you had fun and that is all it is about fun fun fun! :clap2:

Great Job! Hope it continues to grow and prosper in your home! Sounds like a very positive experience!

Hi Heather, thanks for the update from the show. It sounds like you had very nice time.

Good Job Heather. It's a great plant, and will only get better every year.

A judge friend of mine told me its a hard road to awards of species paphs and phrags that already have a long award history like wallisii. But it looks like yours will be a great contender over time.

Yes, I also agree that your walli has great potential, 22" petals for a first time bloomer is excellent!

Hi Heather!

What happened? What was it like?

Those petals are amazingly long! Beautiful!

Susan, scroll up! :wink: