Cattleya warneri amoena 'Dona Lena' x amesiana 'Memoria Roberto Kautsky'

[naoki]

This is a recent acquisition (May 2015, from Bela Vista). That's why it is flowering out of season (still in Brazillian season, I guess)!

I haven't had a big flower Cattleya species for a long time. But this flower reminded me about the excitement from my highschool era (30 years ago). My parents had a few Cattleyas which never flowered (among hundreds of Cymbidium). I read about the Cattleya care by myself, and decided to take care of them all by myself. And after a year, it rewarded me with a huge flower (the largest single flower I have ever seen at that time)!

It is interesting (but not surprising) that the flower is more of tipo even though the parents are paler colored forms. I'm guessing selfing of this would make some paler kids.

A bit more info at my Orchid Borealis blog site.


Cattleya warneri amoena 'Dona Lena' x amesiana 'Memoria Roberto Kautsky' on Flickr


Cattleya warneri amoena 'Dona Lena' x amesiana 'Memoria Roberto Kautsky'; on Flickr

 

[Ozpaph]

beautiful

 

[Migrant13]

That's a colorful one. Great photos too.

 

[SlipperFan]

Love your close-up of the lip.

 

[naoki]

Hmm, this one is still flowering in a wrong time of the year. It bloomed a little earlier (Aug 25) than last year (Sept 15). But it hasn't adjusted the clock to the northern hemisphere. I wonder if it is actually C. labiata. My plants do start to grow roots after blooming like C. warneri, though. We'll see when it will flower next year.

The color difference is partly due to the lighting, but it seems a bit paler this year than last year.


Cattleya warneri amoena 'Dona Lena' x amesiana 'Memoria Roberto Kautsky' on Flickr

 

[John M]

Beautiful! 'Bet it smells nice, too! To me, it looks like warneri, not labiata.

 

[NYEric]

Nice throat.

 

[Stone]

They are unlikely to be warneri if they are flowering in autumn I think. More likely labiata.

 

[naoki]

Thanks, John, I don't have enough experience to tell the difference!

I have expected that it would go to the normal schedule by the 2nd season, too, Mike. But I don't know what cues they use. If it is day (night) length, I haven't changed it during the winter. I'm going to try shorter day this year, so we'll see.

 

[naoki]

This plant flowered in the fall of 2015 and 2016 (the first 2 years after import). But it started to flower in the normal time (spring) in 2018 and 2019. I forgot to record it in 2017, or it didn't flower. So it did take 2-3 years to change its growth/flowering schedule. I've heard that the longer pseudobulb may indicate that the plant wants a little more light (I did reduce the intensity recently). But it produced more flowers (5 flowers) this year, and the size of flowers seems to be a bit bigger!

 

[Ozpaph]

Did your parents grow cymbids in Alaska???

 

[naoki]

Did your parents grow cymbids in Alaska???

No, I grew up in Japan (SW of Osaka), so that's where we could grow them in unheated greenhouse. I'm trying some Japanese and Chinese Cymbidium species indoor in Alaska, but they are slow going.

 

[abax]

Gorgeous flowers. Reminds me of prom corsages of a long gone era.

 

[BrucherT]

No, I grew up in Japan (SW of Osaka), so that's where we could grow them in unheated greenhouse. I'm trying some Japanese and Chinese Cymbidium species indoor in Alaska, but they are slow going.

I would love to hear more about your and your parents’ Chinese Cymbidiums. I’ve recently acquired endifolium, sinense, kanran and quiebiense and sure would appreciate any and all specific advice, tips, observations. Maybe a new thread topic but info on these seems hard to come by. I love them and it makes no sense to me they they’re not more widely appreciated here.

 

[naoki]

I would love to hear more about your and your parents’ Chinese Cymbidiums. I’ve recently acquired endifolium, sinense, kanran and quiebiense and sure would appreciate any and all specific advice, tips, observations. Maybe a new thread topic but info on these seems hard to come by. I love them and it makes no sense to me they they’re not more widely appreciated here.

My parents had a greenhouse full of typical hybrid Cymbidium (my uncle, who had a flower shop, brought left-over orchids to my parents' house every year). There were a couple of Japanese Cymbidiums potted and left in the yard (watered by rain etc). Some of them are still there after 40 years or so, probably in the same pot. The climate (of my parents' place) is too warm to induce good flowering, though.

I can read Japanese Cymbidium books, but their culture doesn't quite work with indoor growing. I have only a couple species (C. goeringi, C. faberi, C. qiubeiense, and one more which I fogot) for only 3 years or so. They are slowly growing, but they haven't flowered, so I don't have too much to say about it. In Japan, people use pebble/rock based media, so I was originally using 100% LECA (not semi-hydroponic). They dry out too quick for my place (I don't have those super tall pots which Japanese people use). It might be ok for C. qiubeiense with thick roots (maybe they like to dry out?).

Let us know how yours will do!

 

[NYEric]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ozpaph]

great story. thanks