Cattlianthe Jewel Box Mix Up

[PlumCrazy]

So... I know you guys are tired of me hearing complain about blooming orchids - but - I've done it again...

I saw a beautiful orange orchid at Hausermann's and had already decided to try my first windowsill-type Cattleya and when I saw it knew that was the one! I grabbed the one next to it since it had four orange buds on it and looked in good shape. I glanced at the tag. Then in a few days when the buds opened and doh!!!! I discovered I had Cattlianthe Jewel Box 'Dark Waters' AM/AOS. Didn't pull the tag out far enough. Saw the Cattlianthe Jewel Box not realizing I needed to read all of the way down to 'Orange'' Total noob mistake!!! Lesson learned.

It's not what I wanted, and not my favorite, but I'm trying to let it grow on me. First of all, the color is nice. This picture really doesn't look accurate on my computer. The blooms are a deep, velvety blood red. The back of the flowers do still have an orange tint.

And then there is the scent. Fabulous! I'd describe it as similar to roses. It is strong enough that I smell wafts of it at my desk about 6' away all day long, but the scent is very light, not overpowering.

Interestingly, it seems that this orchid has kind of a cult following...

And now I'm just hoping they'll still have the 'Orange' in September when I hopefully get to go to Hausermann's again.

[estación seca]

I think this will grow on you. It and its siblings are among the most popular orchids of all time. There are good reasons they are still available after all these years.

You don't have to wait. They will ship it to you. Their packing of larger plants is superb. I asked them before - they almost always have both 'Dark Waters' and 'Orange' available, even if not listed on their Web site. Just a week or so ago they had small mericlones of both listed.

[PlumCrazy]

Originally Posted by estación seca

You don't have to wait. They will ship it to you. Their packing of larger plants is superb.

Yes, thank you for mentioning that.

The issue is on my end. I'm not supposed to be getting any more orchids, but here is what else I brought home:

Miltonia Bert Field 'Eileen' AM/AOS - in bud
Coelogyne mayeriana x self
Galeopetalum Starburst 'Parkside' AM/AOS

Whoops.

When I got home and started to unloading the car, my husband was just like, "I'm not turning around to look..."

The plant stand has been in the garage in rough shape since we found in someone's recycling pile last fall, so I painted it and they fit perfectly on it, so I don't see the problem

[estación seca]

Wowl nice work! And plenty of room for more plants.