For my personal taste cattleyas are the quintessential orchids. They have the classic shape and colors that I associate with orchids. Here, in South Florida, cattleyas are pretty much effortless because they can grow out in the back yard with almost no care at all. They can tolerate drought conditions, they can grow in high or low light (although they don't bloom as well in low light), they'll grow in or on almost anything, and they can handle temperatures down to almost freezing. The only thing that can hurt them is overwatering. The down side is that you only have flowers for a few weeks out of the year. In warm weather my catts bloom for 2-3 weeks, in cool weather they can last 4-5 weeks. Some of the new compact and mini-cattleyas can bloom several times a year but most of those don't have the classic cattleya appearance. I'm impressed if you've managed to bloom C. Violacea because that one has always given me trouble.
Last edited by tucker85; 10-09-2012 at 12:50 PM..
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