Paphiopedilum noid vinicolor in bud

Vinicolor noid paph

     This one caught me completely by surprise.  After the paph failed to produce a bud last summer, I had mostly forgotten about it. Today I was moving the paph around during watering, when I had a moment of 'what is THAT?' as I glanced inside the newest leaf.  'That' happened to be a rather large flower bud that I might have noticed much sooner had I been on a lookout for such.  

     The flower bud is starting from a growth that appeared almost 1.5 years ago (Aug 2012).

Flower bud on paphiopedilum

     Since I've never flowered a paph before, I'm not really sure how long to expect before this one blooms. Judging by how fast its leaves grew, I'm hoping not too long.

     I moved the paph into the terrarium, now that it's spiking, to protect it from the cat.