Sir Elton has orchid named after him

SIR ELTON JOHN has had a flower named after him at an Orchid Conference in Singapore.

The Rocket Man hitmaker, who is an avid flower lover, flew out to the country to be honored with the Doritaenopsis Sir Elton John at the 20th World Orchid Conference.

Sir Elton follows in the footsteps of his late pal Diana, Princess of Wales, actor Jackie Chan and former South African leader Nelson Mandela, who have all had blooms named after them at the event.

The singer stopped by the Sands Expo and Convention Center last week (13Nov11) with his partner David Furnish and their son Zachary, and was presented with the phalaenopsis hybrid orchid ahead of his concert in the country.

And he's delighted with the flower, which has large white petals with a magenta pattern and golden lip.

He says, "We've had orchids in our home all the time, so it'll be great to grow our own, so we're going to do that. I have had a lupine named after me and even a rose but never an orchid and this is a great honor as I am an avid lover of gardens.

"Thank you for your kindness for this as it is an eloquent list of people I seem to have joined and this is indeed the most beautiful specimen of orchid."