# Four labiatas and an aberrant mendelli



## monocotman (Oct 29, 2021)

It’s peak blooming season for the autumn labiatas.
First up is a division of the well known rubra clone ‘Schuller’.
This is the plant’s second year with me and first time it’s flowered. Nice sharp bloom, good shape and deep colour. It’s also vigorous. This year it produced two successive growths.


Next is labiata coerulea ‘Anja’.
Again a first time bloomer but a bit of a disappointment. The colour is ok but the shape is appalling. Hopefully there will be improvements in future.




Next is a seedling semi alba. This looks promising. The flowers are much larger than last year.


The last labiata was bought as a flammea clone ‘RS 6’. This is the second year it has bloomed on a well established plant and so far, no sign of any flammea markings. I will check with the vendor on this one.




Lastly is a pale mendelli which has insisted on flowering in the autumn, rather than the spring for the second successive year.


David


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## alex.sorensen51 (Oct 29, 2021)

Regardless,the RS6 has a beautiful delicate color,I'd keep it.


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## Paphman910 (Oct 29, 2021)

So beautiful!


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## tomp (Oct 29, 2021)

Glorious collection. Seeing that line up makes my day.


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## dodidoki (Oct 29, 2021)

Great collection!Thanks for sharing!!


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## GuRu (Oct 29, 2021)

David, lovely flowers you show here. On the first sight my favourites are C. labiata rubra 'Schuller' and C. labiata semialba. As you already mentioned only your C. labiata coerulea 'Anja' needs an improvement.....so fingers crossed for future flowering.


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## SouthPark (Oct 29, 2021)

Looks great to me! Very nice. Nice and natural and beautiful.


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## DrLeslieEe (Oct 29, 2021)

Well done… looks like your labiatas are ahead of mine to bloom.


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## Guldal (Oct 29, 2021)

Impressive display, David. Well, done!


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## Ozpaph (Oct 29, 2021)

a few to catch the eye


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## My Green Pets (Oct 29, 2021)

My favorite is the first one, pa-zow!


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## southernbelle (Oct 30, 2021)

monocotman said:


> It’s peak blooming season for the autumn labiatas.
> First up is a division of the well known rubra clone ‘Schuller’.
> This is the plant’s second year with me and first time it’s flowered. Nice sharp bloom, good shape and deep colour. It’s also vigorous. This year it produced two successive growths.
> View attachment 30238
> ...


David. All are lovely, although I agree with you on the second one’s form, but the color is really nice. Give it another year! These are a slam dunk IMO!


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## monocotman (Nov 1, 2021)

Just had a reply about the problematic flammea from the vendor
I think your picture is not flamea `RS` but tipo `Guzman`, that will have been an mistake from us at potting or relabeling after that, I have attached a picture of flamea `RS` . The `Guzman` is an very old forest collected plant , it came from Brazil in the 1990ies ,

But you are right in thinking of showing the flamea marks stronger or less. We had years, maybe with not enough sun, where `RS` flowers without the little splash stripes in the petals.

This is the promised flower. Not quite on a par with Leslie’s warneri flammea but nice none the less! I hope to have a division of this next spring but with Brexit still complicating the import of plants, who knows.


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## terryros (Nov 1, 2021)

David, did you get your 'Schuller' from OL? My plant has sulked a bit but is coming back. What is the breeding on your mendelii?


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## monocotman (Nov 2, 2021)

Terry,
the Schuller clone came from Max Strauss in Germany. He has top clones and top prices but you get what you pay for. He generally sells divisions, not mericlones and they are a decent size.
The mendelli is interesting. It has a clonal name of herrenhausen. This is a botanic garden, formerly a palace, with a huge orchid collection. So I’m thinking that it came from there. It could be quite an old cultivar. I will check.


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## terryros (Nov 2, 2021)

monocotman said:


> Terry,
> the Schuller clone came from Max Strauss in Germany. He has top clones and top prices but you get what you pay for. He generally sells divisions, not mericlones and they are a decent size.
> The mendelli is interesting. It has a clonal name of herrenhausen. This is a botanic garden, formerly a palace, with a huge orchid collection. So I’m thinking that it came from there. It could be quite an old cultivar. I will check.


You know how difficult it can be to purchase high quality species! I have a "Schuller" x self once bloomed plant, which means it is no longer "Schuller". The bloom had potential, but nothing like yours. My mendelii is hoped to be a "Stuart Low" selfing. "Stuart Low" was incredible, but your division has a much better chance of being better than my selfing. Thanks for letting us see your species and primary hybrids.


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## BrucherT (Nov 3, 2021)

monocotman said:


> It’s peak blooming season for the autumn labiatas.
> First up is a division of the well known rubra clone ‘Schuller’.
> This is the plant’s second year with me and first time it’s flowered. Nice sharp bloom, good shape and deep colour. It’s also vigorous. This year it produced two successive growths.
> View attachment 30238
> ...



Abundant beauty here. I’m speaking up for the coerulea: it’s sumptuously, sensually spectacular. Let’s celebrate its curves and waves instead of denigrating its “failure” to become a goddamn dinnerplate dahlia. A judging system that fails to appreciate the wondrousness of this flower is a moral failure and an insidious, absurdist joke upon both the judges and all humanity. In sum: I want this plant, as it is, in its gloriously incomparable perfection. Gimme.


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## monocotman (Nov 3, 2021)

Terry, finding high quality cattleya divisions is certainly a challenge. Leslie has it sorted. I think the techniques is to cultivate aquaintances and to get in the know. These plants have to be earned!
Brucher, thanks for the offer but it’s staying with me!


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## DrLeslieEe (Nov 3, 2021)

BrucherT said:


> Abundant beauty here. I’m speaking up for the coerulea: it’s sumptuously, sensually spectacular. Let’s celebrate its curves and waves instead of denigrating its “failure” to become a goddamn dinnerplate dahlia. A judging system that fails to appreciate the wondrousness of this flower is a moral failure and an insidious, absurdist joke upon both the judges and all humanity. In sum: I want this plant, as it is, in its gloriously incomparable perfection. Gimme.


Agreed lol. I love the natural delicacy and softness too.


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## monocotman (Nov 4, 2021)

Terry,
I may have mentioned this in another post but if I was living in the US, I’d be looking at the offerings of Steve Christofferson on eBay. He has high end Cattleya divisions and seedlings every week.






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my favourites from this weeks offerings are the two contrasting clones of Arthur Chadwick’s iconic cross ‘Powhatan’. As it’s a dowiana cross, both have quite a species look to them.
He has a fresh set of plants every Monday,
David


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## terryros (Nov 4, 2021)

Thanks for that reference,David. I will begin watching.


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## NEslipper (Nov 9, 2021)

I agree the rubra is something special, but the more catts I stare at, the more I’m starting to appreciate those with a more “natural’ or less line-bred form like your coerulea. All of them are winners in my book!


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## BrucherT (Nov 11, 2021)

monocotman said:


> It’s peak blooming season for the autumn labiatas.
> First up is a division of the well known rubra clone ‘Schuller’.
> This is the plant’s second year with me and first time it’s flowered. Nice sharp bloom, good shape and deep colour. It’s also vigorous. This year it produced two successive growths.
> View attachment 30238
> ...


That coerulea is the bomb. Can’t believe you’re not humbled by its absolutely spectacular natural beauty.


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