It smells very nicely of vanilla!
(iPhone color balance is ATROCIOUS. The purple there actually has a lot more magenta in it, not the weird dark blue the phone thinks it sees)
I am all about the fragrant orchids-- but information on them can be hard to find, and even in an actual shop with the plant in front of you there's no guarantee that a fragrance will be detectable there.
I've been trolling the Trader Joe's orchid shelf hoping to find something, and found this orchid here wilted away to the point all I could tell about the flower is that it was partially purple. But-- gasp-- it had an I.D. tag!! A google search brought up some info that Potinara tend to be fragrant, so I grabbed it. The roots were utterly soggy, stem bulby whatsits shriveling, and the plant was about to die. I talked them into letting me buy it for a discount-- actually, this one and a little Blc Michael's Charm in similar shape-- but man, they do NOT like doing that! Next time I tried to rescue a dying orchid from Trader Joe's, a manager was on hand and totally vetoed it. I said but it's probably going straight into the trash, and he said they "donate" the plants that finish blooming... but who are they donating it to that will know how to resuscitate a dying orchid??
Anyway, I stuffed this one straight into my usual S/H deli pot with aquarium water, broken soggy root mess and all, and just let it roll. Couple months later, it's blooming! I was amazed by the size of the buds compared to the size of the plant. Took about 4 days or so after the flowers opened for the scent to kick in, but now that it has it's fairly strong and very pleasant.
Rescue orchid turns out alive, purple AND fragrant. Score!
Potinara Paradise Beauty 'Marcela' is fragrant, yay!
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