Phal. Misty Green undoubtedly merits an important place in the Phalaenopsis hall of fame. The hybrid was registered in 1981 by George Schwartz for Joseph Redlinger as a hybrid between Phal. Barbara Moler and Phal. Bamboo Baby. Presumably, Mr. Schwartz wanted to register the hybrid for one reason – or at least 10 reasons: the 10 awards that he had received for various clones of Misty Green at the time that he registered the hybrid.

Writing about Phalaenopsis Misty Green at this point is a little like Macaulay Culkin writing an autobiography. Sure, he’s made some movies but there’s so much ahead of him. The first Phal. Misty Green hybrid was registered in 1983. Eighteen years later, it’s just too early to say anything. I have plants of Phal. Misty Green ‘Nilsa’, AM/AOS as well as ‘Moncho’, AM/AOS (the latter being one of the most vigorous plants I have ever grown) and I can’t wait for the crosses I've made to bloom. Considering Phal. Misty Green’s record to date, some of these hybrids should be magnificent. (N.B. For those new to phals, you have to realize that yellow phal. breeding only began in earnest  about 30 years ago.)

From 1980 until 1994, Phal. Misty Green continued to rack up AOS awards – 27 of them in all. In much the same as its award history, Phal. Misty Green is the parent of several hybrids registered every year, not many but enough to come to a total of about 90 to date. This is interesting. Because both parents were awarded and accessible, Phal. Misty Green was made and remade. In addition, at least one selfing of an awarded clone was made. Stem propagations were made and remade. The price for many was reasonable. Seedlings were readily available. And, exceptionally important, they were very fertile. Because so many seedlings were available, almost anybody doing some hybridizing in the '80s had a plant of Phal. Misty Green.

In the first generation, Phal. Misty Green may not be unique but it is surely one of the top phal. producers of all time. A list of its first-generation hybrids reveals almost 20 hybrids with awards (Dtps. Memoria Rene Chauvin, Phal. August Gold, Phal. Brother Dawn, Phal. Brother Princess, Phal. Buena Cerise Sparks, Phal. Chula, Phal. Corona de Oro, Phal. Everglades Sunset, Phal. Gemstone’s Hawaiian Mist, Phal. Goldberry, Phal. Golden Circles, Phal. Golden Peoker, Phal. Grapefruit, Phal. Misty Moon, Phal. Pine Hill, Phal. Selsal’s Arrakis, Phal. Yellow Lightning), or about 20%. This may not seem like much but it is probably one of the highest percentages in the history of phal. breeding. Is it really better than its parents or has it just been bred better?

As far as great stud plants, you have to remember what happened with Beta and VHS. Although I have never seen a Beta machine, I am told by many people who should know that Beta was much better that VHS but today Beta is a thing of the past and everybody has VHS. Advertising and hype do a lot to shape and form our opinions. Every breeder ran out and purchased Phal. Deventeriana (and then bred with it). Even people new to breeding know that Phal. Deventeriana is a "must have". But how many people have a good Phal. Misty Green and how many people who are new to breeding run out and get one. Many of the "old-timers" are remaking old crosses using superior parents, both species and hybrids, such as Phal. Misty Green, and the results are outstanding.

One of the more interesting (and widely available) hybrids of Phal. Misty Green is Phal. Flight of Birds. Anyone who takes the time will quickly realize that Phal. Misty Green is both a parent and grandparent of Phal. Flight of Birds. (It is a hybrid of Phal. Pine Hill and Phal Misty Green. Phal. Pine Hill is Phal. Lorraine Kenney x Phal. Misty Green.) Yet, only one of the awarded clones seems to have any yellow at all. (Breeding a plant back to its parent is inbreeding or linebreeding. You intensify the characteristics of the plant – both the good and the bad. The offspring of such a cross usually produces some of the best (and some of the worst) offspring possible. Because of the possible gene intensification, the resulting plants are may often be homozygous for most of their traits (and therefore be somewhat dominant in breeding).

In addition to Phal. Flight of Birds, some of the more important offspring (in breeding) of Phal. Misty Green are Phal. Chiayi Spot (never really available in North America), Phal. Goldberry, Phal. Golden Peoker, Phal. Misty Moon and Phal. Green Mist. Their offspring have all been registered in the 1990s and it is really premature to comment on them. However, because of the mutation with Phal. Golden Peoker ‘Brother’ producing the ‘ES’, JC/AOS clone and others, expect a LOT of breeding with it – both the mutated and regular forms.  (Since writing this article, there have been 2 (!!!) FCCs given to offspring of the mutated P. Golden Peokers.)

Let's look at this plant again in 10 years.  There may be some surprises.

Awards

N.B. These descriptions are very brief and can be somewhat misleading. For example, the ‘Kathryn Foss’ clone appears to be similar to the ‘Moncho’ clone, only 3 points less and .4 cm smaller in natural spread. But, if you take the time to consult the Awards Quarterly, you will see that the petals are about ½" narrower.

The opinions expressed in the plant of the month articles are those of Howard S. Ginsberg and are based on various discussions, observations and research which includes American Orchid Society Awards by James R. Fisher and David A. Bishop (available from the American Orchid Society) as well as the Wildcatt Database (available from the Wildcatt Database Company). The Wildcatt Database may not be perfect but it is far and away better than whatever is in second place.