Amen to that sentiment, Maria!

Warm regards,

Blanca

Hmmmm....

We should know by Sunday!!!!
K

YIKES!!!

So far, it looks wonderful! :-)

Indeed!!
More, more photos, please!!

Hmmmm.... Are we guessing that Exitic Star is the papa?
K

Yep.
- Hans sure knows his paps...

Thanks everyone for your input...and a warm welcome back to Jodi!

I am going to "try" to refrain from posting too many more pictures until she gets her "figure".

And yes, it's looking more like Exotic Star...but certainly not the flower I had envisioned in my mind! Not by a long shot!!!

This bud did not have the usually papilio balloon shape before it opened..it just started opening.

She most certainly won't win any beauty contests at the moment and yes, I know it's unfair to judge until she's out completely....but I had a name all picked out for her and I guess the lesson is don't name your kids until you see what they look like!!

It looks beautiful so far. :)

Well, here we are, the best that she can look for the moment. Maybe tomorrow will find her looking a little better...Like I said, not what I expected or hoped for....the flower is extremely narrow and I had to resist the urge to fold back the right and left upper petals...I left them alone, Maybe they will curl back tomorrow?

Are we all in agreement that it is Exotic Star and not some horrible self?

{{gwi:433581}}

I will admit that her profile is prettier than her front view...Just think!! I have about 15 more from this cross!!!!

{{gwi:433582}}

{{gwi:433583}}

{{gwi:433584}}

{{gwi:433585}}

Congratulations! It is obviously from pollination from "Exotic Star" SINCE the veining is now extending into the tips of the Tepals. You are a winner, it is an Improved Papilio so-to-speak

Dear Donna,

I am in... PapExStasy!

When you have a moment, would you please describe her predominant color? I'm not sure that my monitor is displaying the reddish/maroon/raspberry color accurately.

Best, Blanca

It was hard to take pictures of the interior since the flower is so hooded so I brought her outside in the late afternoon sun. The brighter photos were taken with a flash. Maybe tomorrow in the daylight I can more accurately describe it's color. I most likely won't be able to come up with a much more accurate description of the color than you have already stated.

And... maybe the second flower will be better shaped. I'm not particularly happy with the shape as it seems a bit too narrow to suit me.

I am trying to resist the urge to pollinate her and I haven't taken the pollen off the first flower yet. The only thing I have would be my Tango but I hesitate to do that since I always like to grow a bulb for at least a year to make sure it isn't virused. I have some 3 or 4 month old Bogota (healthy bulb) in the fridge...and then again I may do nothing...what would you guys do..go further or leave well enough alone?

Like Hubby says the most vigorous seedling isn't necessarily the prettiest one...

I thank you all for your compliments.....

Donna

Donna, I'm sorry you're not happy with the flower. :\ It is difficult when you have a certain pattern in your mind, especially after a couple of years, and find the flower is something else.

Maybe once it fully opens and is ready for pollinating, you might think its something pretty to have!

I would say: Pollinate it. You never know if next year's flowers might be more bigger, vibrant, etc. Then at least you'll have had pollinated it the previous year and already started on a couple seedlings to carry on its lineage with another father added to the mix to see what else might come.

Oh my what a looker! I'm in hip-heaven!! I was hooraying so loud Hubby got alarmed and thought I'm having a stroke... He agrees it's marvellous :D Congrats Donna!!!!

The color is so intense, I just love it. It took your Exotic Star to produce something like that.
Vigor is a good thing, specially thinking about breeding...

Congrats Donna, really, from the bottom of my heart. Oh I'd love to get some of it's offspring in one form or the other but I know it is pretty impossible. Fortunately I can admire it here.

Above all, I'm excited to see the seedlings of all of you members of this forum to blossom. I'm always looking forward to find and read threads like this of Donna's.

Lena, She is looking much better this morning as the cupped leaves are no longer cupped! She has taken a more curvaceous shape. I think I may owe her an apology.

I don't see any reason why I couldn't send you some pollen at the very least! I will gather her pollen in a few days and of course I will keep some but I'd love to share some with you if you think it' possible...better pictures coming later...

Donna

YAY!!
K

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES.....!!

{{gwi:433586}}

{{gwi:433587}}

{{gwi:433588}}

{{gwi:433589}}

{{gwi:433590}}

These were taken outside at about 7 AM..the sun wasn't quite out yet and these were taken without flash. These colors are very accurate. When I have the time I will dig out pictures of the parents and do a side by side comparison for color. She is definitely more red than papilio..more of a cranberry color. I'm not good at describing colors though...

I guess I DO owe this flower an apology, as I jumped the gun to criticize...I am quite happy!

Thanks for looking,

Donna

Unbeliavable! Those pictures shoot shivers up my spine. I wouldn't be able to leave her for a minute, I'd be by her, admiring, all day!

Thank you Donna for your generous offer. That is so kind of you. If it would be possible to receive pollen from her I'd be sooo happy , but only if there really is some extra to give away. That is such an unique of a plant you have.

I was just wondering, could Tres Chic be the daddy anyway... The red is so, so strong and (now I'm missing the right term here) the "productive parts" are all white...

Lena,

Originally I pollinated the first flower from this original papilio with Tres Chic and none of the seeds were good. It formed a full seedpod and kept me on the edge of my seat until I opened the pod..there are pictures of it in the original thread that I added somewhere up at the top of this thread. Tres Chic was my first choice (with some advice from Hans) and on the other flower I threw caution to the wind and mixed all the pollens that were fresh that I had at the time. The freshest were Graffiti and Exotic Star...I'm really hoping that maybe more than one variety of pollen made it through..would it be lovely to have a Graffiti cross in the next seedling!?1?

If you shoot me your address in a private email I'll put a little pollen in a plastic baggie for you and give it a try. There isn't much and I'll save the rest for possible future use. I'll be glad to share seeds with others (if and when) from this cross but for you (being so very far away,) I think pollen would be the only thing we could do...

I think I see some brown in the red, more of a rusty maroon (in certain light) not the brilliant red of Tres Chic..and yes, she is sitting in the middle of my dining room-computer table and I am looking at her every few minutes...;-)

Donna

Oh Donna that's gorgeous! Hooray! The color is so saturated, it's wonderful. I had four Papillio bulbs bloom (in one clump) this summer and they were mostly green. In the past they'd had more of the maroon color. Yours is spectacular.
Congratulations mama!

A-side from the improvement as to appearance, I assume that the seedling will bloom more RELIABLY than the respective Species KnightStarLily, H.papilio. If, furthermore, the individual flower will last longer, rather than fading as early as H.papilio regrettably does, then your seedling is a true Champion!

Thanks Jackie!

Here is a comparison picture and compared to papilio this one looks more like rusty red now in this picture...but the pap pictures were taken with a flash.

But in order to see how long the flowers last I would have to refrain from pollinating..I probably won't pollinate anyway, just possibly use her pollen later. Let's see how long she lasts....or, how long I can last.....

{{gwi:433591}}

She's just lovely, Donna! Congratulations! :-)

And thank you for the welcome back! :-)

I can see it already... I'm gonna fall right back into gathering a collection that's too large to adequately care for! ;-)

A keeper, for sure... what a beauty! Good, solid work, Donna! :-)

The lower half of the flower, is dramatically better colored as compared to H.papilio. And, bright midribs are visible!

Dear Donna

so very much for the pure joy I felt when the beauty of your creation was revealed.

Hearty congratulations on your spectacular success!

Blanca

Thank You All!!

This morning the sun is brightly shining and there is a glare coming in the window so I can't seem to get a good shot. But, I can see that there is more orange/brown in here than originally showed and this morning she looks to be a very dark rusty red..the green continues to be quite strong not a washed out green at all.

Also, Hans pointed out that there were green stripes in the two lower right and left petals and, there is also a pronouned stripe in the toungue petal too!!

I can't take a picture with flash as the color is so saturated it just blows out as I have trouble with reds in general. Plenty of color though with no flash anyway..

She is more red (rather than rusty red) and green in an overcast light..would be pretty as a Christmas flower if one had a pot full of them...

I'd say she is about the size of a regular papilio but since I never measured one I can't say for sure. I'll measure this one later.

Oh, and one more thing, there is a deformed stigma on one bloom where a pollen sac attached itself and caused it to curl backwards...

{{gwi:433592}}

{{gwi:433594}}
{{gwi:433595}}

You can see her color is looking very rusty this morning...If I wasn't 100% sure, one might think there was some Giraffe pollen thrown in too :-)

One pollen grain fertilizes one ovum, right? You aren't suggesting dual paternity are you?? I'm confused by this comment about Giraffe....

Maybe I need more coffee!
K

Yes, get some more coffee..;-) .what I meant was that if I wasn't 100& sure that I hadn't added Giraffe pollen I might have thought I had, due to the rusty color....Not to cloud the issue, anyway, I didn't have any Giraffe pollen....at that time...

I think what is meant, is that it's sometimes hard to tell because of how closely related many of the varieties are. They have some common ancestry. Plus, genetics is a fascinating thing, in that one can manipulate some things to a certain extent, but ultimately, Mother Nature has the final say on which characteristics will show outwardly.

Alleles will align as they will... and one may not see the exact characteristics one expects, given the parentage... often it's the ancestry that shows up, one more than another...

But I speak more of canine breeding, though I can't imagine it would be much different. :-)

Nice work! That is so great to watch a new cross reveal itself - thanks for sharing! I'm glad you are happy with it now that it is fully open.

It's me again...

Here are her measurements: Her scape is 13" long and her pecidels are 2". The flower width is 5" and the length is 6" both measurements after curling back.

We are going to call her Blanca's moniker "PapExStasy" with Blanca's permission of course...which cleverly uses both papilio & Exotic Star!
So there we have it folks, now I'll just wait until the next seedling blooms and see how long these flowers last. I am not going to pollinate her. Oh, and there is a very small offset already growing..I guess she takes after her Daddy in that respect too...

Donna

{{gwi:433596}}
{{gwi:433597}}

{{gwi:433598}}

{{gwi:433599}}

Sorry I get so carried away with all these photos..

Gasping for air... Breathtaking! And a proper and fitting name!

Since I haven't had a papilio blooming yet I'm curious how long do the flowers last? A couple of days? closer to a week?

I'd love to contribute to your breeding plans by using the pollen on a seed parent of your interest if I have any of that sort; I'll be asking for your advise and suggestions...

Hopefully there's a Graffiti-offspring for you in that batch of seedlings!!

Leena,

To tell you the truth, I have no idea how long papilio flowers last. Hans alluded to the fact that papilio flowers don't last long..I was always so excited to have them bloom and then most always dabbing pollen on them that I can't say anything at all about their longevity.

I am not pollinating PapExStasy as I want to see how long her flowers do last. I will most likely use her pollen on something or other down the road. I want the bulb to grow as big as possible and hope for 2 stalks next year and (even though I know it won't happen), maybe 4 flowers!

I have some cybisters out now but they don't have any roots and last year I wasn't successful using un-rooted cybisters and it was really hard on the bulbs.

Donna

I don't think anyone minds all the beautiful pictures! She's quite stunning!

Sorry for yet more pictures but, I just wanted you to all see how the color is changing. It low light @ 3:30 in the afternon on a very overcast (lightly snowing) day. The pink from Exotic Star is clearly visible in this light.
{{gwi:433600}}From MORE FORUM PICTURES 2012
{{gwi:433601}}From MORE FORUM PICTURES 2012
{{gwi:433602}}From MORE FORUM PICTURES 2012

Its awesome Donna, I would be thrilled if any of mine came out like this!
Mike

That's an amazing hybrid :) Good job!

Beautiful, Donna!

Well, the first bud lasted about 6 days after being just about completely open..it's demise started last night and continues today. I expect the 2nd flower to start to expire tomorrow. I'd say that lasting only 6 days is not particularly good seeing that this bulb was well rooted and has not been under any stress at all..it's still hard as a rock.

I want to thank all of you for following me along with this and I REALLY APPRECIATE all your kind words and positive comments. This wouldn't have been nearly as exciting if I hadn't had all of you to share this with!!

I would say it will be 6 months or more before we see one of her siblings. PapExStasy and I THANK YOU ALL!!!

Donna

That's what makes it all so fun and special, isn't it? Having like-minded persons to share it with! I love bulbs, and mainly amaryllids, and even though I took a little break, I still love looking at photos of the various blooms, and reading the histories, the stories, and whatnot! Sharing in someone's joy when they grow something I like, too, is so much fun! Gardening is for sharing!

Donna, this is so fun to watch. You definitely have a winner there. Thanks for all of the fun pics and updates. You obviously have an eager audience here! :)

Fun name too. Thanks again and definitely keep us posted on her siblings!

Take care all,
Grant

Shes positively Stunning!! if my pap or exotic star ever bloom again... for sure they will be crossed.! Your flower is just exceptional Donna , and I'm so impressed that it took three years . Is that from seed to bloom [sorry if you already posted this]

Thanks again Jodi and Thank you Grant! Glad to see you still check in now and then. Mrs Garfield is doing splendidly and I can't wait for her to bloom..not yet though.

Hi Beetle I am pleased that you like her, her second flower is fading and I have picked off her first flower. Soon she will be just a memory...I am re-posting a picture of the seeds that is labeled pap x "cocktail" and it was taken on 5/9/2010. So this particular bloom took about 2 1/2 years from seed to flower (if my calculations are correct). Of the other 15 or so siblings about 3 or 4 might bloom in 6 months or so but the rest are much smaller. PapExStasy was definitely the most vigirous seedling of the lot, remains to be seen though if she is the prettiest. I'm still hoping that Graffiti's pollen made it through to a few seedlings. I doubt any of the others did but I can hope for a miracle..after all I guess I consider this one a miracle!

Donna

This post was edited by dondeldux on Fri, Nov 30, 12 at 20:15

Donna,

Thanks so much for posting these pictures they are very encouraging and uplifting. What a gem, keep up your great gardening!!!

AJ

I'm glad it turned out very well! Did you save the pollen to play with other flowers when the time comes?

Ashley, nice to hear from you again..those seeds you sent me are still growing, maybe in a few years I'll be posting pictures of YOUR crosses!!

Joe, But of course....!! Haven't used any yet, it's in the fridge and there wasn't really much pollen at all..

My original Exotic Star is sleeping and I had it planted outside in a barrel so it won't have any roots this season so..I bought another one a few days ago. When it blooms I might try the same cross again, but, I WON'T keep any of the seeds. I'll offer them up if anyone wants to give them a try. The only thing is that I notice that this year's Exotic Stars seem to be lighter in color than my original one was..less pink. And, on an unrooted bulb she may not set seeds so easily. But, I might give it a try anyway just to see if the same cross will take again.

I've got a few Fairy Tale x Lemon Star (or the other way around) that look like they might big enough to bloom..I'm hoping before the winter is over one will send up a scape! Not really an exciting cross though but, you never know....Stay tuned.....

Donna

Genetics is an amazing thing... for 30 years, or thereabouts, I watched the various calculations and careful choosing go into the breeding program for our American Bulldogs, and even though we have the technology to sort of "peek into the future", with regard to the calculations on paper from carefully kept data, the end result is ultimately up to Mother Nature. So, even though you think you have a good idea about the outcome of a breeding, you can be extremely surprised!

Thanks for the wonderful journey, Donna... I hope to see more pictures of your crosses soon!