C. Prism Palette ‘Carnival’ (C. Colorama x C. Horace) AM/AOS

[southernbelle]

This is a division of Waldor’s awarded plant. Dave Off says he thinks it’s the best of the Prism Palettes. Photo captured the colors perfectly. It would have had two flowers but one shriveled.

 

[Ozpaph]

A true classic. Lovely

 

[terryros]

Deb, I understand this breeding. Colorama was registered in 1962 and has not been AOS awarded. The only picture I found probably shows why. The unique tricolor is there but the shape, and maybe size, are not there. So, why not mix it with the large and greatly shaped Horace? Yep, the hoped for result in 1973 preserved the unique coloration but markedly improved the size and shape. ‘Carnival’ looks great, but I would love to see ‘Rainbow’ that was AM awarded in 1980. It had 5 flowers and was measured at 16.2 cm width! ‘Carnival’ was awarded with two flowers at 14.5 cm width. I don’t know how the ‘Rainbow’ flowers even fit on the spike!. All the other Prism Palettes have had only two flowers when awarded except one that had three. That makes ‘Rainbow’ really stand out. Your challenge is to grow ‘Carnival’ well enough to get 3 flowers.

 

[NEslipper]

Beautiful, congrats! Does it have a nice fragrance?

 

[LadySlipper]

That's so beautiful!

 

[southernbelle]

Deb, I understand this breeding. Colorama was registered in 1962 and has not been AOS awarded. The only picture I found probably shows why. The unique tricolor is there but the shape, and maybe size, are not there. So, why not mix it with the large and greatly shaped Horace? Yep, the hoped for result in 1973 preserved the unique coloration but markedly improved the size and shape. ‘Carnival’ looks great, but I would love to see ‘Rainbow’ that was AM awarded in 1980. It had 5 flowers and was measured at 16.2 cm width! ‘Carnival’ was awarded with two flowers at 14.5 cm width. I don’t know how the ‘Rainbow’ flowers even fit on the spike!. All the other Prism Palettes have had only two flowers when awarded except one that had three. That makes ‘Rainbow’ really stand out. Your challenge is to grow ‘Carnival’ well enough to get 3 flowers.

“Your challenge is to grow ‘Carnival’ well enough to get 3 flowers.” I had 3 last bloom, but this time I must have underwatered as the little nodes for other flowers dried up. This flower is just a bit over 13 cm because of significant recurve in the petals.

 

[southernbelle]

Beautiful, congrats! Does it have a nice fragrance?

Yes, a lovely soft fragrance. Almost like a floral perfume.

 

[NEslipper]

“Your challenge is to grow ‘Carnival’ well enough to get 3 flowers.” I had 3 last bloom, but this time I must have underwatered as the little nodes for other flowers dried up. This flower is just a bit over 13 cm because of significant recurve in the petals.

Curious why you think underwatering may have caused the bud drop? Cattleyas are generally considered pretty drought-tolerant as far as orchids go. I ask because although it’s anecdotal, I feel like the most spectacular plants I see in bloom at shows have desiccated, yellow leathery leaves and shriveled pseudobulbs - they often look quite unsightly, yet they’ll have these tremendous displays of flowers with 3-5 blooms per stem. It makes me wonder if I’m overwatering and should instead stress my plants out a bit more to get them to think they need to send up a “last hurrah” blooming.

 

[Paphman910]

Very Beautiful!

 

[southernbelle]

Curious why you think underwatering may have caused the bud drop? Cattleyas are generally considered pretty drought-tolerant as far as orchids go. I ask because although it’s anecdotal, I feel like the most spectacular plants I see in bloom at shows have desiccated, yellow leathery leaves and shriveled pseudobulbs - they often look quite unsightly, yet they’ll have these tremendous displays of flowers with 3-5 blooms per stem. It makes me wonder if I’m overwatering and should instead stress my plants out a bit more to get them to think they need to send up a “last hurrah” blooming.

I’m one who always assumes I did something wrong when I see a flaw with the plants, as I’ve learned so many things through what I call ‘semi-failure’. Buds didn’t drop, they started to form and never did. So, who knows if I underwaterwd or not, but I do suspect it. Professional growers i know water a bit more often when orchids are in spike. I think I just notice and start that process a bit late.