This time I would like to present Phalaenopsis Miro Hime (Phal. Hannover Passion x Phal. Ya-Yi Qin). This novelty Phalaenopsis originated by J-Z. Zheng in 2018.

Little history of the breeding.

Phal. Hannover Passion originated by Cheng Hsien-I in 1994. It is a cross of Phal. Gelblieber x Phal. mariae. There are 2 AOS awards to Phal. Hannover Passion. This cross combines 3 species - Phal. mariae, Phal. micholitzii and Phal. amboinensis.

Phal. Ya-Yu Qin originated by Ya-Yu Orchids in 2010. It’s a cross Phal. Coral Isles x Phal. Ho’s Sweet Muscats. This cross combines 4 species:

Phal. violacea, Phal. lueddemanniana, Phal. amboinensis and Phal. micholitzii.

There’s no award on this cross. Photo of Ya-Yi Qin found on Norman’s Orchids.

Description:

There are three lemony/citrus-scented flowers on two arched inflorescences, plus one dormant inflorescence. The plant has 4 pairs of leaves and is growing in an 11-cm pot in New Zealand Treefern. The root ends are maroon and the flower tips are green.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 5.5 cm; NS V - 5.4 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 2.2 cm; Dorsal Sep. L - 2.6 cm (3.0 cm to green tip);

Petal W - 2.2 cm; Petals L - 2.5 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 2.2 cm; Lat/Sepal L - 2.6 cm (3.0 cm to green tip);

Lip/Pouch W - 1.3 cm; Lip/Pouch L - 2.0 cm.

The single flower image is the oldest flower and is showing some signs of aging on the margins.

This Phalaenopsis does not belong to ‘classical multiflowered’ group, please do not expect many flowers on this cross! This cross combines species from subgenus Phalaenopsis, section Polychilos (Breda) Rchb.f.

Judges' Comments

Al Messina

Two round, well colored flowers, smaller and less floriferous than parents; markings sharply discriminated; flattening sepals' apices won't increase score.

Generous to score this a marginal HCC at best. Perhaps on next bloom.

Thanks for allowing me to participate.

Al

Christian Carrillo

I have a lot to say here...

The candidate is a perfect example of Phalaenopsis novelty breeding!!!! Classic and exciting.

Phal. Hannover Passion 'Ching Ruey' is a foundational parent in red, spotted and barred novelty Phalaenopsis breeding. It is still very commonly used today for breeding -- quiet extensively too. It's almost as ground breaking as Phal. Dragon Tree Eagle, almost. Yet when they were mated, novelty Phalaenopsis breeding became truly exceptional. I do know 99.99% that the clone 'Ching Ruey' was used because this is the clone all novelty phals come from with Phal. Hannover Passion in the background. It’s not a fast grower. I have a stem prop of it and it can be temperamental.

The other parent, Phal. Ya-Yi Qin is relatively unknown, by American standards. It does use the famous Coral Isles as a parent but the other parent, Ho's Sweet Muscats, is basically unknown and not commonly used.

As per the candidate -- this is exactly what I would expect to see in terms of color and size and flower count.

The candidate is FULL. Wow, I'm very pleased with the petals specifically -- round and full.

The flower is as flat as it can be. Yes, I know the dorsal cup a bit but ALL novelty phals with the background have a cupped dorsal. It is thick that it just tends to cup. Breeders are working towards flat dorsals.

The markings are clear and crisp. Excellent. Hannover Passion usually blooms with undefined markings, depending on temps. The candidate overcomes this tendency.

The BEST part of the candidate is its lip. I rarely ever see a lip marked like this, rarely.

As per flower count -- two to three flowers per inflorescences is acceptable.

To me, someone who only grows this type of plant over the past couple of years, this flower is DEFINITELY AWARDABLE BUT I WOULD NOT NOMINATE IT in its current state. I think it needs one more year of maturity to increase flower count. I would like to see it with three inflorescences, each with two flowers. Once that happens, I'll stamp it 82-85 points. In its current stage, it's barely pushing an HCC.

Carrie Buchman

Phal. Miro Hime

This flower really resonates with me from the cheery yellow to the sharp crisp splotches. Although the markings on the candidate plant are not strictly symmetrical, they are visually , more so than either parent. The flower appears to be pretty flat and round as well. Phal. Hanover Passion, the only parent for which we have award data, seems to be a bit more floriferous. Without more information on the other parent, it is difficult to say if the candidate is under flowered or not. Its size is comparable. I’d recommend it for a flower quality award.

Kind Regards,

Carrie Buchman

John Sullivan

Phalaenopsis Miro Hime

I like this flower. It seems to me to be a step towards an improvement in breeding with this group of species. The flower is quite flat and it is fuller than anything in its background except possibly a good Phal. violacea. Some may not like the pinched tips of all 3 sepals. I usually find this to be a diminishing feature. However, because the rest of the flower is so flat I think these tips provide a pleasant contrast, especially as they are radially symmetric. This trait is probably again from Phal. violacea. There are 2 slight problems for me here. I would like to see more symmetry in the barred markings. More importantly, I would prefer to see greater intensity in the color saturation. I realize the photo may lack an intensity which could be present. This looks to me to be a good breeder’s plant for future generational improvement. As it is, I could probably go 79-80 points.

Cathy Higgins

The strange thing about this flower is that it has none of the species in its background that I expected to see when I first looked at it. These would be Phal. gigantea, Phal. bellina or even Phal. venosa, which would account for the central white area.

Because there are no prior awards, we have nothing to compare it to regarding size. There have been many awards to amboinensis with few flowers, but it is capable of producing many flowers (I have a primary cross with amboinensis in my GH and it has multiple spikes with each with 3 flowers) and mariae has culture awards with multiple flowers. So there is the potential for improved flower count in the species background. Bellinas and violaceas routinely get awarded with no more than two flowers...so it's a point for discussion whether one should expect more flowers on hybrids from this line of breeding.

I like the round shape and bright red bars. Presentation would have been improved if both inflorescences were headed in the same direction. I would be in the HCC range if scoring.

Cathy Higgins

Peter Lin

Hi Sergey,

I would award this flower Phalaenopsis Miro Hime HCC/AOS.

It has bright yellow color contrasted with clear and clean red markings. Flower is flat.

For this flower to be elevated to AM/AOS – it should have larger and more flowers. See my analysis of parents used in this breeding below. The plant in question is still small in size and has the potential to produce more and larger flowers.

Phal. Hannover Passion ‘Ching Ruey’ AM/AOS has been a very successful parent in novelty hybridizing. The most desirable characteristics of this flower are form and number of flowers. All 3 species in the background of Phal. Hannover Passion can have many flowers on multiple spike. A large, well established plant of Phal. Hannover Passion can have flower at 6.0 cm.

Phal. Ya-Yi Qin is a newer breeding that also brings good flower count. It’s parent Phal. Coral Isles – having species Phal. lueddemannianna in the background is well known to have many flowers. Clone Phal. Coral Isles ‘Lung Ching’ AM/AOS has 12 flowers, 8 buds on 3 inflorescences. That’s 6.67 average number of flower per inflorescence. Flower size is 6 cm x 6 cm. The other parent Phal. Ho’s Sweet Muscats ‘Nobby’ AM/AOS has 22 flowers, 4 buds on 4 branched inflorescences. That’s 6.5 average number of flowers. Flower size is smaller at 4.8 cm x 5.3 cm vertical.

I’m familiar with Phal. Ya-Yi Qin ‘Mituo’. See attached picture that was provided to me from the originator Mr. Zheng. Notice that its flower has very wide petals. Flower size is smaller most likely due to having smaller flower species Phal. mannii and Phal. violacea in the background of Phal. Ho’s Sweet Muscats

Peter Lin

www.BigLeafOrchids.com

Sergey Skoropad

Phal. Miro Hime.

When I saw pictures first time I was expected to find Phal. gigantea and Phal. bellina in the background of this cross. But they are not there! Another interesting thing that Phal. micholitzii presented in both parents, but this Phal. usually is not produced full flowers.

Even hybrids with Phal. Hanover Passion, like famous Phal. LD’s Bear King has more star shaped then round and full flowers.

I found some examples from Instagram

I believe that our candidate has award quality flowers: they are full, flat, nice colored.

At this time when plant has 3 flowers on 2 inflorescences I would score as high HCC but when plant will produce more flowers (and sure it can!) and better arranged it will definitely worth 84-85 AM!

Thanks

Sergey

Deborah Bodei

Please accept my commentary of the candidate, Phal. Miro Hime, based on the following observations:

General Observations:

Nice clean plant, well grown. The flowers are well-presented and pleasing.

Specific Considerations

- an example of popular complex novelty breeding with multiple species in the background

- has an interesting high keeled lip from mariae

- with so many hybrids released that are darker and look similar, it is refreshing to see a lighter color for a change and interesting that it is different from the parents

- the barring is pleasing and symmetrical

- cupping in dorsal is a bit more pronounced than other similar awarded hybrids and does detract from appearance

- I think it can be considered an improvement on parent Ya-Yi Qin but not Hannover Passion

Recommendations for nomination:

Not convinced this plant is an improvement on both parents so I would not be moved to nominate it myself. I would score it if nominated by another judge and I can see it being awarded an HCC if it was. If there were a few more flowers, I think it might have a different presence and it would score higher.

Thanks,

Deb

Exhibitor - Laura Newton, FL (Accredited Judge, Florida North Central Judging Center)