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Sunday, January 25, 2009

In Bloom: Paph. wardii and Hsinying Alien

Paph. Hsinying AlienI'll admit this Paph. Hsinying Alien has lovely, but actually somewhat average flowers. They have good size and clear markings. The real charm of the plant is in foliage, shown in the next photo.

Paph. Hsinying Alien foliageThe foliage has striking contrast between a light yellow-green background and a lovely emerald green foreground. I honestly purchased the plant just for this wonderfully marked foliage. I'd like to breed some paphs specifically for striking foliage. I think they would make great windowsill plants, looking fancy year round. Many paphs have great foliage, so I should have no problem putting together a good genetic palette.

At the moment, I have a couple Paph wardii plants in bloom as well. They also have lovely foliage, they are not high contrast, but do have interesting markings. As an added bonus, they are compact, have wonderful color and shading in the flowers, and great lasting power. I have one listed in my shop that has been in bloom for two full months already, and its just a first bloom seedling! I think I might cross the wardii onto the Hsinying Maru. It should yield exciting foliage on vigorous plants, and flowers with stronger color. I'm also tempted to take the other pollina from this wardii and stick it on my Paph. primulinum flavum, for no particular reason, so probably won't do it.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I agree with you this is a very nice Paph. The flower is pretty but the bonus is the striking foliage which makes it a delight to the eye when not in bloom, something rare in any type of plant.