My first cattleya! Received this division of C. Clark Hermann 'Chicago' (Marjorie Hausermann x Fred Cole) a few weeks ago through a trade with Darwin, aka the 'orchidtrader'. It already had five buds so credit goes to him for flowers.
I was not able to duplicate Darwin's 5 flowers from last year. But I am happy with two flowers from a young division.
C. Clark Hermann 'Chicago' (Marjorie Hausermann x Fred Cole) is another classic white hybrid. Did more research to find that C. Marjorie Hausermann is C. Henrietta Japhet x C. Ethel Leder. And C. Fred Cole is C. Henrietta Japhet x C. Vesper Bells. So C. Henrietta Japhet is a parent of both. Does anyone have a C. Henrietta Japhet blooming ??
C. Clark Hermann has a complex petigree. C. Clark Hermann is about 1/3 C. loddigesii and 1/3 C. mossiae. The remaining 1/3 comes from seven different catt species !
Getting better at flowering my Cattleyas. This fall C. Clark Hermann 'Chicago' has four big flowers. The fragrance fills the sunroom in the morning / early afternoon.
The flowers are also looking good for a longer period. They have been open for three weeks now. Not sure if that is due to better cultivation during the growing season or perhaps just due to the cooler temps this time of year.