Building a Cattleya Collection

[Leisurely]

And don't forget the C. walkerianas. They are the greatest provided you can find them. They grow best on a slab or in a basket with bright light. They like to ramble and are on the small size.

[Paul]

If I were to suggest only one, an old cross that is one of my very favorites & one I really think any 'collection' should contain:

Slc. Jewel Box 'Dark Waters' -- vibrant red, compact plant

For a white, Ctna Maui Maid 'December Bride' (or better yet -- if you can find it -- Ctna Maui Maid 'December Bride' x 'Leah' Wonderful fragrance. Mini to compact in size, does IME require high light.

Quite a few beauties out there. I would recommend, though that you look at the blooms before buying (don't go by written descriptions) and, in the case of hybrids, inquire as to how much variability the cross has.

[Phantasm]

You ask a very difficult question since it depends on how far back you want to go.

A good book such as this will help: Amazon.com: The Classic Cattleyas: Arthur A. Chadwick, Arthur E. Chadwick: Books

There are many lovely older large cattleyas such as BLC. Memoria Crispin Rosales, BC Mount Hood, C. Horace, BLC. Fortune, BLC Goldenzelle, C. Ruth Gee, SLC Jewel Box, BLC Ports of Paradise, etc and so many, many, more.

If you can find some old Stewarts catalogs, they have many of these plants and a lot more in color. Carter and Holmes still puts out a color catalog with many standard cattleyas.

If you are looking for heirloom type cattleyas, that is a completely different level of collecting and much more money......

[cb977]

Although I think the big floofy Catts are gorgeous, they're not my favorites

All-time MUST-HAVE favorite: C Chocolate Drop! (parents are aurantiaca and guttata) and any of it's hybrids

I also love C aurantiaca, C aclandiae, C guttata, C amethystoglossa, C bicolor...and any of their hybrids

[peeweelovesbooks]

Originally Posted by Phantasm

You ask a very difficult question since it depends on how far back you want to go.

A good book such as this will help: Amazon.com: The Classic Cattleyas: Arthur A. Chadwick, Arthur E. Chadwick: Books

There are many lovely older large cattleyas such as BLC. Memoria Crispin Rosales, BC Mount Hood, C. Horace, BLC. Fortune, BLC Goldenzelle, C. Ruth Gee, SLC Jewel Box, BLC Ports of Paradise, etc and so many, many, more.

If you can find some old Stewarts catalogs, they have many of these plants and a lot more in color. Carter and Holmes still puts out a color catalog with many standard cattleyas.

If you are looking for heirloom type cattleyas, that is a completely different level of collecting and much more money......

which ones are the heirloom type cattleyas?

thank you everyone for your suggestions!!! It's so hard to choose since a lot of the blooms are gorgeous!

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by peeweelovesbooks

which ones are the heirloom type cattleyas?

thank you everyone for your suggestions!!! It's so hard to choose since a lot of the blooms are gorgeous!

This title is coined for those very rare and unique hybrids that are genetically special. They are available by division that can sell for several hundreds of dollars each if available. I would consider them living museum pieces, and virus free divisions are quite valuable.

[cday2inflorida]

When I cleaned out my massive amount of orchids and decided to concentrate on Cattleyas and Laelias and then only species and primary hybrids, I became much more experienced grower.
I've grown orchids for years. I bought whatever looked good to me. It was a hodge-pod of all types. I took a deep breath one day and listed everything on ebay that was not a catt or laelia and then only species. I decided that spots and dots coupled with fragrance would give me a wealth of plants that I could collect. I do keep species/primary hybrids that are not spotted, but they still have to fit the criteria of being either catt or laelia.
I now have such a stunning collection of what I deem a perfect orchid world.

[Leisurely]

Hi Thumperinflorida,
Would you mind posting some pictures please. I am in a similar situation that you were in and I would also like to do something starting with getting rid of some very huge dendrobiums and a C. bowringiana that will fill a large trash can.

[cday2inflorida]

Jerry...promise to post a few pictures. I just need to go take some.
It was hard getting rid of them. But once shed, I made a concerted effort to only look for what I had made my mind up to do. Honestly, I saved a fortune in NOT buying anything that wasn't on my list. ;-)

[Leisurely]

Thumper,
getting rid of them is the problem I am having. It's kinda hard to toss beautiful specimen size, flowering dendrobiums into the garbage can. I would donate them to my local orchid society for the silent auction table but they don't have a silent auction anymore.