South Coast Orchid Society

     On a visit to Masatoshi Miyamoto's nursery in Hawaii, Kay purchased several seedlings of an unnamed hybrid identified as "No. 580". The parentage at the time was ((Blc. Robert Gifford × Lc. Waianae Sunset) × Blc. Waikiki Sunset). It proved to be an excellent hybrid, and she eventually secured permission from the nursery to register it as Blc. Great Island, in 1984. Naturally, it was first necessary for someone to register (Blc. Robert Gifford × Lc. Waianae Sunset), which was done also in 1984 by Edhi Widjaja of Surabaya, Indonesia, as Blc. Warni Sutiati, but without crediting Miyamoto as the originator, as he very likely was — another mystery.

     Kay used Great Island in several crosses, of which only one was registered. That hybrid was Blc. Alfred Hibbs, registered in 1987. The full, round lip of Great Island is distinctive among the orchids shown in Kay's slides. Beginning in September, 1983, Kay's slides show a number of first-bloom seedlings with a lip and coloration very similar what she would eventually register as Great Island, never identified by name on the slides, but clearly showing her enthusiasm, with such labels as "my hybrid" and "perfect".

     Kay's notes give the history of Blc. Alfred Hibbs, from the pollination on December 1, 1977, then "cut and sowed" June 8, 1978, along with two other hybrids using "my 580", the seedpods from all three processed by Amado Vasquez of Arthur Freed Orchids. The seedpods resulted in 35 bottles grown at Stewart's, of which 27 flasks were brought "home" January 22, 1979 and grown in Kay's "small greenhouse".

     As only the one hybrid was registered, and given how pleased Kay clearly was with the resulting swarm of gorgeous flowers, we are convinced that the mystery hybrid is in fact the result of her cross, C. Eltanin × Blc. Great Island, which she registered as Blc. Alfred Hibbs. Eltanin, little known today, was a very large, full white with a wide, yellow throat, created by the Westenbergers, and then used by Landamar Orchids (Bill and Gloria Eckles) in a number of hybrids, none of them registered.

     The question of "who was Alfred Hibbs?" has a surprising answer. Kay's daughter Eleanor ("Glo") Helin had a long career as an astrophysicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. One of the engineers at JPL was Albert ("Al") Hibbs, a friend of the Francis family who had been their neighbor when they lived in Altadena. "Al" Hibbs was generally listed in the local press as "Albert" (he was for a long time the public "voice of JPL" in TV news broadcasts), but occasionally, in error, as "Alfred", so we think Kay had him in mind when she named the hybrid, but got his name wrong.

     If any other photos of Blc. Alfred Hibbs have survived, we have been unable to locate them, although it is possible there may be more information in the archives from Stewart's Orchids at the Huntington Botanical Center.