I'm wondering how long it would be before I'd have a big enough plant to divide and share. This one, which I bought less than a year ago, has put up two big new stems in that amount of time, and as I said before it also bloomed in March, and was in bloom when I got it, so it seems to be a really vigorous plant. Jim? Ursula? Kathy? When could you divide a big, vigorous Cattleya alliance orchid?
Daylilies are easy to breed true compared to orchids, though. They mature to blooming size fast, so you can see what you've got in probably two years, then you can make divisions to dependably multiply the cross you made if it's a winner. Not so with orchids.
Down side on buying crosses like mine, even if you did find one with the exact same parentage, there's no guarantee it will be exactly the same as mine. That may be why it doesn't have a registered name yet - they have to cross them enough times to dependably get the same characteristics before the Orchid Societies will register its own name. Using a parent like Edisto with a lot of different sports (as Jim said above) you could get a lot of variation for a long time - years and years possibly, as each time they do a cross they have to raise a plant - or batch of plants - from seed for 3 to 5 years before they bloom to see what they've got. Try this if you're curious. Google "Blc. Edisto" and take a look at the various sports of just that one parent.
On the up side, there are LOTS of wonderful purple orchids available. Go with a Dendrobium rather than a Catt hybrid anyway. Their flowers last longer and they're less expensive. I had a beautiful purple one blooming for most of June and July. It's a NoID that I rescued from a Lowe's clearance rack. This Blc. of mine will most likely keep its flowers only about 2 weeks. I'll bore everyone with just a couple more shots now that the third flower is open - you can see the new stem coming up at the very bottom of the picture. The plant is climbing out of its pot, too.
