13/09/2025
'Noah's Arc' , 'Opera House' , 'Bilbao'
Usually, I jabber about one plant. This time, Iโll talk about three. About four years ago, a major nursery in Thailand (Nonlawee) started advertising the sale of these three hybrids. Several artistic photos surfaced, and people reshared them widely across social media platforms. Needless to say, the plants were named prematurely. Whatโs more, they were acquired from Indonesia as โoriginal seedlings.โ
However, if we look at these hybrids, they resemble those from the SD ร Boncel crosses made in Indonesia by Del Uchup Piero and others. Hybrids such as 'Rajawali', 'Lithuayu', 'Nabihah', 'Mamad', and 'Mahardika' share similarities with 'Noah's Arc', 'Opera House', and 'Bilbao'. Even if these plants are possibly original seedlings, they still bear a strong resemblance to SD x Boncel crosses already in circulation.
There have also been claims that they contain 'Sawasdee' genes. However, the timeline doesnโt support that parentage claim. 'Sawasdee' was released publicly around 2015โ16. To make such a cross, people would have had to grow 'Sawasdee' to maturity >> get it to flower >> make the cross >> collect seeds and grow them >> mass-produce them. The first people able to cross 'Sawasdee' would have been the owners of Unyamanee Garden themselves. Plus, inflorescences on 'Sawasdee' are not widely seen.
P.S.: If you check these plant photos, youโll notice that the lower section of the plant has wider, bigger leaves (bottom 4 leaves), and some parts are more damaged compared to the rest. The new growth is noticeably more compact and has developed in this manner over the past year. And since I couldnโt care less about Boncel hybrids, they havenโt received much attention from me during that time.
