An old favourite of mine - and a hybrid that doesn't seem to be talked about a whole lot. A primary hybrid between Cattleya/Guarianthe bowringiana and Schomburgkia/Laelia splendida, the plant has large clusters of smallish, (for the Cat group at least), lightly scented, beautifully coloured blossoms throughout the warmer months of the year.
This is my plants' second flowering for the year, though it's a bit of a weak effort as unfortunately it stayed outside during a hot snap at the end of summer and copped some 110F days with low humidity just as the spikes were forming.
Perhaps my favourite thing about this particular hybrid is the growth habit. Whilst being quite a large and vigorous orchid, it takes up less bench space than some of my more sprawling mini-cats. The canes grow uniformly upright - without any staking - and are closely spaced on their rhizome, meaning as long as you've got a bit of vertical space, these are a brilliant 'larger' orchid for greenhouse growing.
I grow this guy warm-to-hot, under 50% shade with 80-90% humidity and watering every 3-4 days in summer, less throughout the rest of the year.
Photos!
Schombocattleya Splendid Bow / Laelianthe Splendid Bow.
Bud just opening.
Fantastic growth habit. Very neat and tidy without any training.
Full plant shot.
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Laelianthe/Schombocattleya Splendid Bow
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