Coereulea Cattelayas - gems or poop?

[K-Sci]

I ordered a high quality lavender C. nobilior clone from H&R, but yesterday I received a coerulea C. nobilior, apparently by mistake. I don't like coerulea Cattleya:

• Most don't have enough color to even rate the label "pastel".
• Calling them "blue" is deceptive. They're not blue.
• Coerulea cattleyas usually have inferior shape.

The evidence suggests that Coerulea cattleyas don't sell well, even in the red-hot species such as C. walkeriana, C. warscewiczii, or C. leopoldii. Many offered for sale on eBay have been there for months. SVO's, walkeriana clones sell out almost overnight, except for the four coerulea walkers that have been available for months. I could be wrong, but I think this is because, like me, many people think coerulea Catts are lame.

Am I right or wrong?

-Keith

[Roberta]

De gustibus non disputandum est... There is no disputing taste. Personally, I like coeruleas, I am fond of the subtle delicacy of the color (and do have some very pretty ones in my collection) Blue? No... they're not. Soft violet. Real blue is relatively rare in nature, and even more rare in orchids. Cleisocentron gokusingiii and Cleisocentron merrilianum are definitely slate blue - color tends to be stronger in cool weather than in warm, some cultivars better than others. For intense blue you have to go to Thelymitra, the Australian terrestrials - some species are quite blue. But a bit tricky to grow and hard to find. (Well worth it though)

[Shadeflower]

I have soft spot for the coeruleas.
My collection has always been geared toward them since like you say some of them don't even turn out blue or purple at all. So the real purple ones are an elusive gem for me.

The other main reason I pick coeruleas is because coeruleas are always more fragrant. Their form is inferior but this is not my main criteria so if form is your criteria then you will be dissapointed, if you want the most fragrant form then you should have a good one.

If you are really lucky and complain then they might just send the right one for free since they made a mistake.

That's how my mum ended up with her mother's day gift this year

[Roberta]

I wouldn't even make the generalization of form being inferior in any particular color, or fragrance better... so dependent on the characteristics of the individual plants. I'd suspect that to truly generalize, one would need to have a lot more of the same species or grex, in different color forms, than most of us have, to draw conclusions.

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by Roberta

De gustibus non disputandum est... There is no disputing taste. Personally, I like coeruleas...

Individual taste is a good thing. I knew there would be coerulea fans responding to this thread, and you're right, most of them are otherwise good decent human beings.


Thanks for posting.
-Keith

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

The delicate shade of "coerulea" is just a whimsical variance from the mundane color options. I am absolutely in the pro coerulea faction and have had in the past very nice Cattleyas skinneri, walkeriana and nobilior in that shade. As am rebuilding my very modest group of plants, any coerulea cattleya that you want to part with I would certainly not mind helping you out...

[K-Sci]

Originally Posted by K-Sci

I ordered a high quality lavender C. nobilior clone from H&R, but yesterday I received a coerulea C. nobilior, apparently by mistake.

As I expected, Harry made it right, but he refunded the cost of the plant. I had to write him asking if it meant the plant I ordered wasn't available. I still *need* a good lavender C. nobilior.

-Keith

---------- Post added at 05:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:48 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Ben_in_North_FLA

The delicate shade of "coerulea" is just a whimsical variance from the mundane color options. I am absolutely in the pro coerulea faction and have had in the past very nice Cattleyas skinneri, walkeriana and nobilior in that shade. As am rebuilding my very modest group of plants, any coerulea cattleya that you want to part with I would certainly not mind helping you out...

You're in North FL, I assume from your login name, so you're not too terribly far away. I'll keep that in mind. It is the only coerulea in my collection, so I'm ambivalent.
-Keith

---------- Post added at 05:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:54 PM ----------
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Come on, people! I knew my perspective on coerulea Catts wasn't going to get a lot of agreement, but I thought at least one person would agree with me.

-Keith