Cattleya jenmanii

[smweaver]

First-bloom plant. The flowers have been open for four days, and the scent today is really strong. Two new leads and one more spike of three buds still forming.

[Jeff214]

Lovely! How is the fragrance - the authorities say its one of the best!

[smweaver]

Originally Posted by Jeff214

Lovely! How is the fragrance - the authorities say its one of the best!

It's a strong fragrance--and the scent is good. But to me it's not one of the best. This is purely subjective, but I would rank mossiae and gaskelliana has having two of "the best" species cattleya fragrances. If you've ever smelled any of the large classic white cattleyas (and I know there are exceptions to this generalization, as Rhyncholaelia digbyana--another one of "the best" scented candidates--is in the background of many of the older classic cattleya hybrids also), a lot of their great scent from those two species being in the background. C. jenmanii's is well worth growing, however, if you do enjoy growing cattleyas for their fragrance.

[Jeff214]

Oh that's a bit of a shame. I got a few C. jenmanii seedlings after reading about its fragrance. One finally sheathed this year. So far I like C. mossiae, C. gaskelliana, and C. schroederae. Although mossiae seems to smell like burnt rubber towards the end...

Still wonderful blooms!

[orchidman77]

This is beautiful! I've got quite a few jenmanii seedlings (albas and 4N rubras, both from H&R) and I'm anticipating some lovely blooms. I like that the plants are supposedly more compact. How big are the blooms?

David

[smweaver]

Jeff, I don't think you'll be disappointed with C. jenmanii's fragrance. It's just not one of my favorites (although I'm sure it's a favorite of a lot of people).

David, the blooms on this plant are close to four inches in width. I don't know if that's typical, as this is my only plant of this species--and it's a first-bloom "adolescent," so maybe they will get a little bigger as it matures.

Steve

[isurus79]

Very cool! A species I haven't grown but probably should.

[smweaver]

It should do well for you in Texas, Steve. Everything I've read has indicated that it prefers warm temperatures (although it survived last winter in my standard ∼ 50 - 55 F night temperature range without any noticeable damage). And it stays relatively small, which gives you a reason to acquire several without feeling too much guilt. :-)

[orchidman77]

Originally Posted by isurus79

Very cool! A species I haven't grown but probably should.

I've got a surplus, so I'm happy to send you some once you get settled! The albas are larger than the rubras, but my space is limited so several will need new homes.

David

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by orchidman77

I've got a surplus, so I'm happy to send you some once you get settled! The albas are larger than the rubras, but my space is limited so several will need new homes.

David

I'll definitely take you up on that!