I wonder if anyone has any favorite mini cattleyas to recommend, mostly for fun making a shopping list once shipping is easy again in the spring.
I recently had to toss a virused LC 'Amethyst Star' that I loved because of the peppery fragrance, so any fragrant varieties are welcome suggestions. I do like coeruleas quite a bit -- I have a C. Lake Tahoe 'Blue Sky' that I've enjoyed a couple flowerings from. I'm not a big fan of splash petals.
"Tough" plants are a plus. Bonus points for primary hybrids. There's something cool about them...
Do check the Sunset Valley Orchids website - and get on their mailing list to take advantage of new releases before they become available to the general public.
Yes, I recently did this exercise (going through SVO availibility). Out of the three I ordered (last month), two have buds on them already. That's my comment as to quality.
I was concentrating on warm colors (yellow and red), can't say I remember anything shading blue, beyond purplish.
On the SVO website, there is a section under Cattleya for coeruleas. Just a few at the moment, in general they tend to sell out of things, the best time for good selection is when there is a new release. Reason to get on that email list!
If I exclude the ones with splash petals, I think my favorite small Cattleyas are Cattleya aclandiae, C. Mini Purple 'Blue Hawaii' and C. Hawaiian Prominence 'America'. They are all fragrant and small.
As for mini Catts...my favorite is definitely Cattleya cernua. It is not fragrant, unusual in my collection, but I love it anyway.