I love the elegance of the twisted, long petaled Phragmipediums. When I see them I think about ballerina slippers pinned into a shadow box. These have been on my wishlist for a while. Unfortunately, these lovelies can get a bit large, like 3+ gallon bucket large. Recently I was browsing eBay and came upon a compact, long petaled hybrid that I decided to try out. Now introducing one of my summer additions: Phragmipedium wallisii-Conifera.
It is 50% wallisii, 25% caricinum, and 25% longifolium and is very similar to a Phragmipedium Grande, just much smaller. It is about 14 inches tall with a 12 inch leaf span. So it fits nicely in my east window. It's pot is sitting in a shallow water dish. I water it once or twice a week. Once the water in the dish evaporates I water it again with pure water from my dehumidifier. I never allow it to dry completely but I don't keep it sopping wet.
The petals are continuing to elongate adding an increased the elegance to the flowers. It is a successive bloomer and has been in bloom for over two months. My one wish is that the flowers had more color. The color complaint is to minor I won't be looking for another clone anytime soon. Depending on how well I do with this one, I will get a couple of additional compact, long petaled Phrags. Maybe the contested Phragmipedium popwii or warscewiczianum is in my future.
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