The local orchid club had their meeting last night and the guest
speaker was an orchid grower in KC. One of the plants he brought to
offer for sale was a phal hybrid with such dark blooms they looked
black, there was no white or lighter markings. The blooms were small,
between 2 and 3 inches and the plant was in wonderful shape.

He didn't have a tag or name, and didn't remember off-hand where he got
it. Apparently in order to grow for the bloom market, he buys untested
/ unidentified plants. They are heavily discounted for volume buyers.


Anyway, it was striking. I didn't buy it, didn't want to pay $35 for a
NOID and drive 40 miles in 20F to get it home. I am intrigued, does
anyone know of such a bloom, the lineage, what it may be called, and
where it was propagated? Next time I'm in KC, I'll try and find out
more about it, if he's able to get any more information from his
supplier.

TIA, Nancy

Most super dark Phals are of the Golden Peoker lineage, as far as I can
tell. This one sounds like Ho's Fascinating Mirage.

Check it out
http://www.cattleya.idv.tw/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=371 9

Cheers,
Xi

Nancy G. wrote:

> The local orchid club had their meeting last night and the guest
> speaker was an orchid grower in KC. One of the plants he brought to
> offer for sale was a phal hybrid with such dark blooms they looked
> black, there was no white or lighter markings. The blooms were small,
> between 2 and 3 inches and the plant was in wonderful shape.
>
> He didn't have a tag or name, and didn't remember off-hand where he got
> it. Apparently in order to grow for the bloom market, he buys untested
> / unidentified plants. They are heavily discounted for volume buyers.
>
>
> Anyway, it was striking. I didn't buy it, didn't want to pay $35 for a
> NOID and drive 40 miles in 20F to get it home. I am intrigued, does
> anyone know of such a bloom, the lineage, what it may be called, and
> where it was propagated? Next time I'm in KC, I'll try and find out
> more about it, if he's able to get any more information from his
> supplier.
>
> TIA, Nancy
>

Thank you very much. With a name I was able to search and also found
phal Ever Spring Prince "Light" black orchid. There are two
possibilities now.

He did have another of the black phals with white outlining the petals.
That may have been a sibling of the one I described.

Oh well, it was still too, cold for the drive. With my luck something
would have gone wrong with my car, and at 20F and wind chill , I didn't
want to risk it.

Again, thank you.

On 7 Dec 2005 07:24:03 -0800, "Nancy G." <MNancyG [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

>Thank you very much. With a name I was able to search and also found
>phal Ever Spring Prince "Light" black orchid. There are two
>possibilities now.
>
>He did have another of the black phals with white outlining the petals.
> That may have been a sibling of the one I described.
>
>Oh well, it was still too, cold for the drive. With my luck something
>would have gone wrong with my car, and at 20F and wind chill , I didn't
>want to risk it.
>
>Again, thank you.

If you think there is a possible plant on offer. .. Carry one of
the cheap Styrofoam coolers in your car. Take it in to the
meeting (sale) it will warm inside enough to get your plant home
in safety..
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

No problem, glad I could help. From what I've seen though, Ever Spring
Prince cultivars generally present with dark plum, but nothing that
could be mistaken for black.

Do you remember the shape of the petals? Ever Spring Prince has the
"classic" phal shape, whilst Ho's Fascinating Mirage has more of a star
shape, simply due to the lineage. The latter has about 20% of amabilis,
aphrodite, sanderiana, schilleriana, and stuartiana. By contrast, the
former has about 62% of those same species in it's background.

Cheers,
Xi

Nancy G. wrote:
> Thank you very much. With a name I was able to search and also found
> phal Ever Spring Prince "Light" black orchid. There are two
> possibilities now.
>
> He did have another of the black phals with white outlining the petals.
> That may have been a sibling of the one I described.
>
> Oh well, it was still too, cold for the drive. With my luck something
> would have gone wrong with my car, and at 20F and wind chill , I didn't
> want to risk it.
>
> Again, thank you.
>

There was no white on the forward petals. The substance of the bloom
looked more like Ho's Fascinating Mirage. Small blooms but heavy
(thick) waxy petals.

I should have taken the chance and bought the darned thing. It will be
a while before I find another like it. I wish I had at least taken my
camera. I'll get a chance to go there after the weather lifts a bit.
Right now KC is under a winter advisory and expecting between 10 and
14" of snow. Unusual because it is so cold for that accumulation.

The grower has space in one of the old quarry "caves" so his plants are
"finished" to bloom under halogen lights with all climate controlled
conditions. It was an "honest" plant, with good roots in good mix.
Not the overhandled abused plants that I usually see. The biggest
problem I could see with it was the crown and leaves faced nearly
straight up. That is an invitation for crown rot, and phals are
vulnerable naturally.

Xi, I appreciate your help in this.

Nancy