Cattleya walkeriana

[smweaver]

I bought this over a decade ago and it didn't have any other description than the word "lavender" after the genus and species names. It consists of twenty-eight fully leafed pseudobulbs and six leads. An easy grower and reliable bloomer. And, of course, the fragrance is outstanding.

[Grautier]

Very, very nice!

[thefish1337]

Amazing! I wish I could get mine to grow as tightly as that.....

[Leafmite]

Beautiful!

[My Green Pets]

So much for this being a tricky species!!
Outstanding!!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by smweaver

I bought this over a decade ago and it didn't have any other description than the word "lavender" after the genus and species names.

Lavender is a pretty good description - and totally adequate. Beautiful flowers and excellent capture.

[isurus79]

Wow, great growing and beautiful flowers! Congrats!

[Jeff214]

Beautiful blooms! I wish I could grow this species as well as you.

[smweaver]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

Originally Posted by thefish1337

Amazing! I wish I could get mine to grow as tightly as that.....

This is a bit of an illusion--or maybe manipulation is a better word to use--as the "tightness" comes from me judiciously pruning the plant to achieve this look. This is admittedly unorthodox, but I completely prune off the flowering growth (the growth that the flowers appear on, not the large growth that produced that mini-growth with the flowers) once the flowers fade. The older growth that the abbreviated flowering growth came from usually will break a new lead from the second eye (this isn't always the case, I've found, but it has worked about 80 - 90% of the time). This method allows for the removal of all the flowering mini-growths (or whatever the correct term for these is) and lends to an appearance of "tightness" (see attached photo) that would not otherwise occur if the plant were left to grow as it pleases.

I know this is definitely not how you're supposed to grow this species--and my first effort at surgery only came after poking around the grow area one night after having probably more than a few glasses of red wine--but it's worked for this particular plant. On the other hand, I wouldn't dare try this on a one-lead plant.

[isurus79]

Oh wow, what an interesting technique!!