Rescued Catt finally bloomed :)

[camille1585]

Almost exactly 2 years ago I rescued a poor Catt from the dumpster of the garden center where I worked. The poor thing was nearly rootless and badly dehydrated, and looked mostly dead but I gave it a shot. I cleaned it up and potted it in very chunky CHC, and gave it lots of TLC. New growths appeared, followed by new roots. A few times it put out sheaths, but they always dried up and did nothing. Finally last week I was rewarded with the very first blooms, 2 spikes of 5-6 blooms each.

Ufortunately I'm not not to enjoy them since I left it in the care of my mom while I'm in the USA for 4 months. The funny thing is that when I left mid april, there were no spikes at all! I'm wondering if they popped out of some of the dried sheaths. The other funny thing is that it spent October to march on a north-east facing windowsill that hardly gets any sun at all, and only got sun from april 1st onwards. And it bloomed anyways.

Any ideas on what type of intergeneric it might be? I'm not looking for a name, which is impossible, but just looking for some idea of what genera it might be composed of.

It looks like the blooms didn't fully open, I don't know if it's a defect, or the blooms are not fully opened, or the insecticide my mom sprayed while it was spiking might have deformed them.

[WhiteRabbit]

that's awesome Camille! They're lovely. My currently (finally) blooming Catt type got sheaths late summer, those did dry before it bloomed from them, but even before the sheaths dried they began to swell, and I could see the beginning of buds as the sheaths began to dry. Maybe yours follows a similar pattern?
Regardless - awesome it bloomed - sorry you aren't there to see it tho. Good growing!

[trdyl]

Lovely indeed!

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

that's awesome Camille! They're lovely. My currently (finally) blooming Catt type got sheaths late summer, those did dry before it bloomed from them, but even before the sheaths dried they began to swell, and I could see the beginning of buds as the sheaths began to dry. Maybe yours follows a similar pattern?

Mine formed sheaths last spring-summer too, but they were completely empty when they dried. I even peeled one open, and there was nothing in there at all. I don't even know if they came from dry or new sheaths since my mom has notta clue, and didn't even notice the spikes until they were quite large!

[Junebug]

Very pretty! You've done a great job.

I have a noid Catt. that blooms the following season from completely dried sheaths. The sheaths go brown and completely dehydrated and then just like magic the buds appear.

I lack the knowledge of what species might influence this trait. Sorry.

[tuvoc]

Sweet one, Camille. I have an aurantiaca hybrid that does something similar. It completes new growths in the fall, and the sheaths dry up. In the spring, it puts out new growths with green sheaths, and then blooms from both old and new growths. Just a thought.

Kim

[justatypn]

I am remembering when you first posted, hope it was you, that you rescued from a dumpster. Either or, very nice. Good job mom and Camille