Bloom Event - Bulbophyllum Valley Isle Queen

Me and this orchid are still in our courtship phase - we haven't really got to know each other properly yet. I only got it a few weeks ago and it is really still settling in. It is a bit of a monster plant compared to many Bulbophyllum species and hybrids, and now that it is in flower I see that holds true for the blooms too. I have been watching this bud growing.....and growing.......and growing for a couple of weeks now, wondering when it was going to finally open. I had read that it would be a big flower and that wasn't wrong.

Bulbophyllum Valley Isle Queen is a hybrid between Bulbophyllum Jersey (itself a hybrid of B. lobbii and B. echinolabium) and Bulbophyllum echinolabium. This is a hybrid from the Eric Young Foundation on Jersey, and it has a lot going for it. I have read conflicting reports on whether this hybrid is scented with some saying it will 'scent' the entire room (meaning stink to high heaven) and others saying there is no scent at all. The flower was only open this morning, so it is a bit early to comment on scent but there isn't anything as yet. I suppose I should hope it stays that way although I can't deny I'm a little disappointed.

The flower itself is intricately marked on the petals and has the characteristic rocking lip of Bulbophyllums. I don't know how long the flower will last yet as I'm not familiar with Bulbophyllums, really. There are so many of them that I can't expect them all to perform the same.

You can see the detail in the flower a little better in this photo. It is quite thick textured so I'm hoping it'll last for a week or so. Notice that there are more buds developing from the spike. This hybrid is a sequential bloomer so hopefully the flowering period will be quite long. There are more spikes coming, too. Three more, at last count. 

Once the plant has put out new growth and matured that, I'll feel more confident about growing this one. There's no reason it shouldn't do fine, of course, I'm probably just a bit paranoid about it because I'm not so familiar with the genus. Clearly once new growth commences it'll need a bigger pot. Or at least a wider one. Bulbophyllum tend to be rather shallow rooted so there's little point in putting them in a pot with any depth to it.