How big is the bloom? It's very pretty....looks a bit like one of my favorites, H. Showmaster.

I bet the 5-years of waiting seemed forever!
K

The flowers are about 4.5 inches in diameter. Quite large with respect to the bulb. I was shocked to see such a tiny bulb produce a flower that large.

It's not at all what I would expect from this cross. Quite impressive and surprising!
K

It reminds me very much of a deeply pigmented Charisma. Is this a cross you made yourself? Very pretty.

Donna

Yes, it is a hybrid of my creation. Picture #7 from the top shows the pod from which I eventually obtained the hybrid described in this post. There are other siblings which have not yet bloomed. I agree with you that the coloration resembles that of H. Charisma. The overall size is however much smaller. So small it should be named "H. Chihuahua". The bulb could be literally potted in a small coffee cup.

I never would have thought that exotic star x Lima would have made a flower that color. It's very pretty. Congrats.

Louana

A close up showing the back side of the flower. Traits of H. Exotic Stars are more evident here.

{{gwi:412306}}

Guess I probably meant H. Charisma as well (as I was reminded byDonna's post).
K

The flower is the right size for H. Charisma. Have you ever owned this variety? Is there any possibility that you could have mislabeled an offset from it? I am sorry to raise this possibility, but a lot can happen in 5 years...

Bill

Bill, your is a very legitimate question. At the that time, I only owned those two specimens: H. Lima, and H. Exotic Star. Shortly thereafter, my specimen of H. Lima died. I have never owned or temporarily had a H. Charisma, and I have no contact with other growers or aficionados. I am very confident about the origin of this hybrid.

Cool! I am convinced.

Perhaps you've inadvertently discovered who the parents of Charisma were!! I don't recall ever reading what the cross was that produced Charisma. Your flowers are very pretty! Perhaps the next time you will be rewarded with 4 flowers!

Donna

This post was edited by dondeldux on Thu, May 29, 14 at 18:28

There are few other "siblings" that sport similar bulb size, but they have not bloomed yet. It will be interesting to see if similar coloration schemes are repeated. And yes, it will be nice to see more flowers per stem, though the bulb is really very small. :)

H. Chihuahua! I love it!
C