slipperorchidblog.com

The Orchid Zone’s P. rothschildianum ‘Rex’ FCC/AOS x ‘Mont Millais’ FCC/AOS cross set a new standard in roth breeding some time ago, blowing way past the previous ‘Charles E.’ FCC/AOS x ‘Borneo’ FCC/AOS cross.  No one had seen roths as imposing, formidable and majestic — it was quite a historic day in the San Francisco AOS judging meeting when OZ brought in this roth crop.  Some in the room were astonished, and some were…crushed.  The grex was awarded a number of FCCs and AMs, and also received an AQ (Award of Quality), and deservedly so.  Of course, the judges passed over some of the best ones (as usual — sort of like calls against the USA in World Cup soccer), but at least they didn’t get them all wrong.  Not that that would ever happen, of course.

OZ took the best of this grex and did what they do best: bred onwards and upwards.  I once asked Terry Root if I could see ‘Mont Millais’ FCC/AOS.  He said he had sold the whole plant, and no longer had it.  I was astounded, and asked him why he had let go of such an historic plant.  His response: “Why do I need it?” (meaning he believed he’d gotten all he could from its genes which resided now in MM’s progeny).  There is some deep breeder wisdom here, for those interested in pondering…

These seedlings derive from the best of the best of the progeny from the’Rex’ x ‘Mont Millais’ group, ‘Rex’ x ‘Nan Chou’, as well as other highly select plants Terry keeps for breeding. Many people think that the ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ plants that got the FCC’s are the best of that crop. WRONG! (and that’s a good thing for all of us).  Great breeders keep their greatest plants in reserve — submitting for judging could actually lower their value, especially if you get a bad score because of bad judges. (Ahem… I won’t enter into my usual tirade on this point.)

In any case, the very best of the roths that OZ produced have been bred, and their progeny are being released. Here’s a rundown:

NOTE: Pricing was valid when I originally put this list out on my price list.  As these seedlings have now gotten significantly bigger, and will be re-potted into larger pots soon, prices will go up.  I’m thinking it’s 50/50 that Terry will let me get some more at these lower prices, so if you’re interested, please email me ASAP.

a) Z7071 ‘Mighty’ x ‘Red Baron’
‘Mighty’ is from the ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ cross. I believe it bloomed later than its sibs that received the Award of Quality. ‘Red Baron’ is from the ‘MM’ x ‘Nan Chou’ cross, the latter parent being a particularly dark plant in Taiwan. The owner sent pollen to Terry, who put it on ‘Rex’ and grew up the resulting seedlings. As I recall, some of the recent roth FCC’s came from this cross. In any case, ‘Mighty’ x ‘Red Baron’ is probably the “favored” cross here, although there are many dark horses, and sometimes you get surprised (which is why you should cover all your bets by buying more roths of different crosses!)

Price: $100

b) Z7110 ‘Wide Horizon’ x ‘Chester Hill/OZ’
‘Wide Horizon’ was from the ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ cross, and its name says it all — a very wide-reaching flower.

‘Chester Hill/OZ’ has an interesting story: Terry Root obtained pollen from Carter & Holmes of ‘Chester Hill’ AM/AOS. While it’s an older cross, I believe Terry liked it because of its petal stance and color. He put this pollen on ‘Rex’ FCC/AOS, and bloomed out the progeny, one of which had particularly large flowers. This is the plant I refer to as ‘Chester Hill/OZ’. He then took this plant, and crossed it with ‘Red Baron’, which was produced from a cross of ‘Nan Chou’ x ‘Mont Millais’. ‘Nan Chou’ is among the deepest colored roths Terry has ever seen.

Price: $75

c) Z7134 ‘Chester Hill/OZ’ x ‘Colossus’
‘Colossus’ is from ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’. I think the name tells us a lot — must be pretty big. Actually, it is well-known that ‘Rex’ produces large flowers, so those genes must be shining through.

Price: $75

d) Z7135 ‘Chester Hill/OZ’ x ‘Red Baron’
(Both parents already described above) Price: $75

e) Z7136 ‘Red Baron’ x ‘Mighty’
This is the reciprocal cross of Z7110. It seems to me that if TR did the reciprocal cross, both of these parents must be superb. There are some who say that the capsule (pod) parent has an added influence on color. I suppose this is possible since the maternal parent contributes extra genes in the mitochondrial DNA found in the egg, but everything I’ve heard is anecdotal. But if this theory holds true, then these progeny will produce darker colored flowers than ‘Mighty’ x’ RB’ cross. So don’t miss out!

Price: $100

f) Z7137 ‘Red Baron’ x ‘Wide Horizon’
Both of these plants (previously described) appear to be good parents, since they’ve been used in multiple crosses.

Price: $75

g) Z7172 ‘Dazzler’ x ‘Buff’
I saw ‘Dazzler’ in bloom last year, and it looked fantastic. Then TR told me this was a crappy blooming. Wow. If what I thought was a really great blooming didn’t hit TR’s standards, then I wonder what it’s select progeny will do! ‘Buff’ is Rex x MM, so I would expect these progeny to bloom out very robustly.

Price: $75 or $100 (sorry, will need to confirm)

h) Z7174 ‘Red Rider’ x ‘Buff’
‘Red Rider’ is from ‘Rex’ x ‘Nan Chou’ and ‘Buff’ is a ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’. This is a parallel cross to ‘Mighty’ x’ Red Baron’. If you’re looking to get some excellent 2nd generation plants, it is definitely a good idea to spread your bets — it’s well-known that the “best” parents don’t always produce the best progeny. This is true in all kinds of breeding: orchids, dogs, cats, horses, and let’s not forget humans. A few examples come to mind…

Price: $100

Some of you may not know this, but there were many, many ‘Rex’ x ‘MM’ progeny grown up from flask, and while they’ve become hard to find these days, I saw a number of them here and there the last few years. These were primarily the runty ones, slow and difficult to grow, that had finally reached maturity — years after their more vigorous sibs had already bloomed (maybe several times). I fully expect the same situation to happen with this generation of OZ roths. So if you’d like to get the strong, vigorous growers from this new crop of roths, now would be a good time…