What is the origin of the Vanda Miss Joaquim?

Answer 1

her real name is Ashkhen Hovakimian (Agnes Joaquim)

The eldest daughter of Parsick and Urelia Joaquim, Agnes developed a keen interest in gardening as did her mother and several of her siblings. From 1881 onwards, family members collected prizes for their flowers, fruit, vegetables and floral arrangements in the annual flower shows, with Agnes usually winning the most prizes. She excelled in the 1890s, collecting ten firsts and two seconds in 1893, followed by ten firsts and five seconds in 1894, and seven firsts and eight seconds in 1895. Although the Straits Times considered the 1897 Flower Show to be a failure, concluding that 'with the exception, perhaps, of a languid interest in a few orchids, the European is no lover of flowers', Agnes won prizes for orchids, other flowers and fruit. Amongst her awards in 1898, was the first prize for orchids, but her crowning success occurred the following year. With its splendid exhibition of numerous and gorgeous orchids, the 1899 Flower Show was lauded as the best for years. The highlight was Agnes' orchid which, the Straits Times noted, was named after Miss Joaquim and raised by her. Agnes had lived just long enough to see her orchid win first prize for the rarest orchid and be publicly recognised for her achievement. Suffering with cancer, she was dead within three months.

Answer 2

Vanda Miss Joaquim is a hybrid between the Burmese Vanda teres and the Malayan Vanda hookeriana. There is controversy whether the flower was actually bred or discovered by Agnes Joaquim. One argument is that the plant is a natural hybrid and was discovered by Agnes Joaquim, who spotted it in her garden at 2 Narcis Street, Tanjong Pagar, in 1893. Another account claims that Agnes Joaquim, an experienced horticulturalist, created the hybrid rather than discovered it. The plant was taken to H. N. Ridley, the director of the Singapore Botanic Garden at the time, who first described the plant in the Gardeners' Chronicle on 24 June 1893. The new hybrid was displayed for the first time outside Singapore at the Royal Horticultural Show in London in 1897. It was shown to the public in Singapore in 1899, when Agnes Joaquim won a prize for it at the Flower Show. Sadly she succumbed to cancer three months after that.