Those of you that often read my rantings on this or other forums must know by now I prefer true Philodendron species over hybrids varieties. This one breaks my rule! This is LariAnn Garner's Philodendron 'Maharlika' which is a second generation (F2) hybrid between P. bipinnatifidum x P. stenolobum. As a judge of the 2009 International Aroid Society Show and Sale last weekend in Miami I found this to be one of the most stunning plants in the entire show. Believe me, there were many phenomenal plants on display. You can't tell from the photo but this is a very large leaf blade! My guess would be four feet since I didn't have a tape to measure the leaf. I'd display this plant in my personal collection in a heartbeat! LariAnn is a regular on UBC and in my personal opinion is one of the best hybridizers I've ever known. Congratulations LariAnn. This is an incredible work of love!
Pretty cool. Do you have pics of the show? Did people bring in entire plants, or just leaf cuttings (wondering why the photo only shows the leaf)? Are the plants judged on the whole plant, presentation, or just certain aspects?
I purposely cut the leaf out so the detail could be seen. In a room full of large plants leaf detail is often difficult to see. The entire Fairhchild Tropical Botanic Garden auditorium was filled with living plants. In fact, the display went out the door onto one patio. Many were as tall as 12 feet. Lots of plants had leaf blades four foot long or longer which made for a stunning display. I would guess there were at least 100 large plants plus all the specimens available for sale. We judged the plants on how well they were grown, absence of leaf scaring, size, oddity, rarity and many other features. I'm posting a couple of links to photos taken by IAS president Lester Kalus http://good-times.webshots.com/album/567213594PFlJsi http://good-times.webshots.com/album/567238418iLBtDy By the way, LariAnn won several other prizes and I'm in hopes she'll post photos of her trophies.
She already has! But there in this thread: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=53992
Well, yes, I did, and I am very grateful to you for your suggestions! In case you didn't see my other post, your other suggestions, "assegai", is appropriate for a different selection of my meco philo hybrids with very narrow wavy leaves. I'll have to post a picture for your review. LariAnn
Cool LariAnn! I'm so proud that mecos have been garnering such attention among the larger aroid community because of people like you. And if you don't mind, I'll post some pics of ur new hybrid (Maharlika) on the meco site. all credits to you of course.
What do we have to do to drag you down to Miami on September 18 and 19? LariAnn is a speaker and I can't run vary fast in this chair. Some sit and talk! Steve
