Unusual Phalaenopsis Orchids Created by Hybridization

When you select a Just Add Ice Orchid for yourself or to give as a gift, have you ever wondered how a single variety of flower could be purchased in such an amazing range of beautiful colors? Do these unique plants sport such remarkable stripes and surprising spots in nature? Nature exhibits almost limitless diversity. In their native environments, Phalaenopsis orchids, for example, can be found in every color of the rainbow except true blue. Man’s imagination, however, often extends beyond what Mother Nature creates; and he must give nature a little nudge to bring his ideas to fruition. Many of the more unusual colors and extraordinary markings available on Just Add Ice Orchids today have been achieved through years of hybridization.

Hybridization is the process used by horticulturalists to create new varieties of plants, including Phalaenopsis orchids. By painstakingly cross-pollinating Phalaenopsis orchids that exhibit different desirable characteristics, horticulturalists are able, over time, to change the genetic makeup of an individual plant and produce a new orchid variety that exhibits the most desirable characteristics of both parent plants. In plant cultivation for both decorative and agricultural use, hybridization can be used to manipulate nearly every aspect of a plant’s characteristics and growth, including color, markings, size, scent, hardiness, nutrient level and yield.

Of course, cross-pollination also occurs in nature which accounts for the incredible 21,000 and 26,000 naturally-occurring orchid species native to our planet. Since the popularization of orchid cultivation in the 1800s, horticulturalists have used cross-pollination to add to nature’s bounty by creating more than 100,000 new orchid hybrids. The end result is an outstanding selection of Just Add Ice Orchids of nearly every imaginable color.

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