I agree, Josh. It looks soooooooooo pretty.
Thanks for sharing.

Xuan

Just lovely....I love mine too. Mine wanted to be evergreen and I really had to withhold water for some time before the leaves finally dried up. If I had the room, I would let all my hippies to what they wished. Of course my Papilios always get their way...

Donna

Thanks guys :)

I didn't realize HOW green the bloom was, it really took a lot from H. papilio and the beautiful hues of pinks from H. neopardinum! I think this is a masterpiece, it is breathtaking :)

Donna, of course papilio gets its way! ;) I gave in and ordered a forced papilio, have you had good luck with these blooming?

Josh

Well yes, Josh, You've read my thread on my Papilio from EBay that came with a bud...which gave me two seedpods that were full of seeds. One of which the seeds never germinated, the other chock full of seeds, most all germinated and I am now growing around 20 Papilio seedlings some of which I might add, are rather large!!! All are alive and healthy, but some are way ahead of the pack...! And, that particular plant has 11 very tall leaves plus two good sized bulbets and I am expecting 2 flower stalks this year!!! Now if I am correct, and I will just have to pollenate them, I will probably be looking for homes for some of these seeds. So if and when my plant blooms again and you have any exotic pollen at the time, maybe we can get together and you can have half of the seeds if successful....just a thought...!

Donna

Don't you just love that one Josh!! One of my favorite hybrids :)

"Exotic Star" is one of the very best Hybrids with H.papilio parentage. I feel LUCKY that I possess one specimen thereof. And I feel even more lucky that I pollinated two flowers of H.papilio with it, and that I have a kindergarten of them respective seedlings now. Under the Assumption that "Exotic Star" is actually a PRIMARY hybrid out of H.papilio, these seedlings are statistically "75% Papilio" with the possible spanwidth from 50%(=Exotic Star) to 100%(=H.papilio)[This is pseudoscientific depiction: Solely to indicate that I can expect any intermediate between H. papilio, and "Exotic Star" LOL!] They are not growing fast, and I assume that the first maiden blooms will not emerge before 2012
THANK YOU FOR SHOWING!
That these pictures give me the THRILLS.

Is is established knowledge that "Exotic Star" is a primary hybrid of H.papilio with H.neopardinum?

Donna,

I think that's a wonderful idea, I've already dried some of the pollen out, would you like me to go ahead and send you a few anthers that way they don't freeze and thaw? I would be more than happy to, btw, I got a surprise for you anyways :)

Josh

Donna if you have ONLY 20 seedlings from H.papilio, pollinated with a mixture of pollen from "Grafitti" and "TrèsChic" as far as I remember, then do not discard any of the slightly weaker specimens. Discard but those seedlings that reveal a susceptibility to fungus infection on the leaves.
You can not foresee when or if you ever will perform the crosspollination.

Harder times are still ahead.
Expect the "best" and the "worst" from your babies.
Culling is the worst part.

A culled seedling.
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Maria,

That's a beautiful flower, what was the cross?

Josh

It's one of my older Exotic Star crosses.
Inherited the flower shape of the other parent and lost the wide "wings".
Too much "green" in the cross made the color kinda brownish.
2 flowers per scape is not desirable for me. It "could" improve in later years but still. Why waste time and effort on something you don't like right from the very start.
Not my cup of tea.

Did you cross "Exotic Star" with "Rio Negro"?

Josh, nice Exotic Star blooms. I love that bulb. I think it was Exotic Star crosses with Pink Floyd that I sent you seedlings of. I'm looking forward to seeing those bloom!

Alana

The very pollens came from this.
My non-performing San Miguel's first flowers.
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When this seedling bloomed, I thought...
"Ughhhh...such an ugly Exotic Star". LOL!
Checking the tag later on made me realize that is
was one of my "testing ploidy-doidy" seedlings that survived.
Those were the days when I would pollinate every single flower of my exotics(diploids/triploids) with every single exotic pollen I have.
It was a bad cross right from the start.
I now believe that non-performing or Hippies that perform below average should not be used as parents.
Save myself both headache and heartache later on. LOL!

I'm done with that and in fact rested this season from pollinating the Hippies. Except the yellows which I am "trying" to develop. It's a long and winding road that could drain you out. Now I know why the earlier Hippie hybridizers abandoned their "dreams".

Now don't let my words and experience discourage yourselves from your dreams. This is just me, my situation under my growing conditions. Every gardener and garden is different.

I still and will always advice...

"Pollinate what your heart desires. The 'written words' are there to guide you but do not let them limit you."

Happy pollinating to all!!!

Oh and Advanced Happy Thanksgiving too!!!!

Thank you Josh, but I wouldn't want to put the cart before the horse...I'll take you up on your offer of pollen when I have a Papilio bud or two emerging...I don't want to jinx anything.. but thanks and I will let you know...

Maria, so that is a cull, I guess your expectations are much higher than mine are at the moment, I would have kept that one....I think it's pretty!! And by the way, what is that lovely flower you posted on Cindeea's thread, the one with the butterfly legs?

Hans, the first pod was all Tres Chic and none of them germinated, the second pod was Trec Chic, Lady Jane, Exotic Star, Limona and the very fresh pollen of Graffiti. About 10 of the seedlings are strapping and the others are very small with thinner leaves. But, they are all in 4 pots of 5 or 6 seedlings and all the seedlings in each individual pot are the same..not mixed large and small in one pot...which leads me to believe it is just the placement of the pots in my window, some getting more light than others, all with the same soil and feeding schedule.

Donna

Does anyone know if "Exotic Star" is self fertile? I think I've read a few posts that it was a success?

Josh

I was not fortunate on selfpollinating in 2008 and 2009; 2 flowers each time. It would have meant a lot to me bcz in this case you would, assuming that "Exotic Star" is a primary Hybrid of H.papilio with H.neopardinum, obtain seedlings that represent all ever possible intermediates between 100% H.papilio and 100% H.neopardinum.

Hans,

I agree that it would be a wonderful flower to self, I'm going to continue to try and self each flower using pollen 3 times a day (morning, noon and evening) until each flower fades, hopefully if it is possible I can capture the best time that pollination can take place.

I can only imagine the results you would get from the crosses.

Josh

The term "intermediates" depicts the appearance of these seedlings (F2) but weakly. Through the quasi ad libitumrecombination of the genetic makeup of the respective grandparents (F0) you would obtain some seedlings that these CONSOLIDATE (reveal in pure original strength) some ("good") properties of both grandparents.
I would not at all mind a seedling that it be producing exact copies of H.papilio florets BUT reliably 4 per scape! This was what I had in mind when I attempted to self "Exotic Star"
!SIGH!
BTW: The same applies for my progeny from hybridizing H.papilio with H.cybister "Chico" These look more or less like the respective commercial hybrids "Lima" and "Jungle Star") and they were all self sterile. Go-Figure... An umbel with 6 flowers of H.papilio appearance would be a true spectacle lol! (H.cybister "Chico" would even produce 7 florets on one scape, on one occasion...)

April 22, 2010...I harvested viable seeds from this seedpod. Perhaps it's a pathway for your dream Hans.
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The pod parent...Beautiful,a performer and a papilio sibling with 2 flowers per scape.
H.Yume Mitai
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The pollen parent...Also beautiful and also a performer that can produce up to 8 flowers per scape.
H.Evergreen
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It won't hurt to try something different if you can't get it the "usual" way.
These seeds are already growing somewhere.
Hopefully in 3-4 years time, they'll produce a scape full of "papilio-like" flowers.