Pleione 2015

[Maren]

Definitely better than a rocking chair.

[Tim Harberd]

Still trying to ‘whittle down’ the Marco Polo seedlings! Maybe this year I’ll ‘bite the bullet’ and drop a few more. This is one that won’t be dropped….. H168.2...

What do other people look for in a cultivar? This one scores for me with decent stem length, decent size (here 89mm across) erect top petal, upward facing flower and non-droopy side petals. It is, however, not free flowering.

I am surprised by the variation in these seedlings.. Given that they are presumed hexaploid, (and one parent is a species) I would have expected them to be quite uniform.

Tim DH

[SteveC2]

Hello Tim,
I would add the ability to bulk up in number quickly and a reasonably long lived flower, such as in Piton.  I am not too bothered about the stem length as long as it can support the flower, unlike say many Eiger clones. 

[Johan K.]

Pleione 'Toff' (1)

Pleione Vesuvius 'Phoenix' (2)

[Maggi Young]

This pan of Pleione, held by it's happy growers, Margaret and Francis Higgins, won the Forrest Medal for the most meritorious plant in the SRGC Show at Nairn yesterday -  photo from Sandy Leven

[Luc Gilgemyn]

This pan of Pleione, held by it's happy growers, Margaret and Francis Higgins, won the Forrest Medal for the most meritorious plant in the SRGC Show at Nairn yesterday -  photo from Sandy Leven

(Attachment Link)

OMG.... 

[Maren]

Hi Maggi,
do you know which pleione it is?

[Mavers]

Magnificent!

Wow.

[Maggi Young]

Hi Maggi,
do you know which pleione it is?

No, Maren, I'm told  it was only  labelled as "Pleione var."   - some thought that it might be 'Tongariro' 

[vigor]

two unexpected species
the Pleinoe chunii is mixed in P. grandiflora
and the second which I thought to be P. yunnanensis turn out to be P. X taliensis （？）

[Steve Garvie]

Pleione x confusa



Three different forms of Pleione grandiflora







Does anyone have the yellow-flowered form of Pleione grandiflora for sale?

[SteveC2]

I was tempted by a pot of the Anthura "grandiflora hybrids" at Harrogate, big bright flowers, big bulbs, albeit three definite forms in the same pot, very cheap, what was there to dislike, other than the usual problem of what actually are they?

As they were bone dry I thought that it would be o.k. to separate them and repot them into the three forms, which I suppose represent the original three plants placed in the pot.  This proved very easy as there was next to no new root growth. 

But back to the usual question.  The name Glacier Peak was being mentioned earlier in the discussion, but looking at Paul's excellent website, grandiflora is incredibly variable and certainly there are pictures of plants which match these plants seemingly perfectly.  Then I compared one of flowers on one of the new bulbs with the flowers on the supposed grandiflora yellow lip that I bought at the London Orchid Show last year.  Identical.  Next I looked at the photographs of Glacier Peak, plus the pot of flowers which have originated from a single bulb that I bought from Maren at the first London show I attended, in 2009?  Identical to one of the forms.

Result, I now have three nice pots labelled grandiflora???

[Pete Clarke]

A new flowering for me, coronaria x Edgecombe. I am a little disappointed by it, I hoped for a better lip colour.
My favourite Edgecombe.

[Alex]

Pete, I have to agree about the coronaria x Edgecombe, but the selected Edgecombe is wonderful! Still the best cross ever made in my book.

Alex

[SteveC2]

Why I love Pleione!  How much colour can you get in a 6 x4?