Blue Cattleya.....recommendations needed

[plumania]

I would like to get some blue cattleya. I have cariad's mini quinee which has slight bluish color and is a mini. Another one I have is a gaskelliana.
This one looks appealing-Cattleya Minerva fma. Coerulea on SBOE website but I do not know if it is more of purple or really blue.
I read that Granier produced some of bluest cattleyas but I do not experience with them and do not know where to get them. Seems like blue ones are hard to find.
Looking for blue cattleya, specially with a nice scent.
Can someone help?

[Fairorchids]

There are coerulea varieties of many Cattleyas, and also in some other orchid genera. However, few are really blue; most are simply 'less violet/pink/purple' than the standard form - in particular in the lip coloring.

Most of the Cattleya sellers list a few coeruleas, and you can also find them on Ebay. I have seen a few on Exotic Orchids web site.

[tucker85]

Breeders haven't had as much success breeding bluish cattleyas as they've had with phals and vandas. The closest to blue that I have is C. Dinard 'Blue Heaven'. It's a beautiful large cattleya and it blooms twice a year for me. But it has a tendancy to grow out in unusual directions.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Blue orchids are sort of a specialty with Jewell Orchids - David Johnston (owner) is a friend of mine. Check out their website at Jewell Orchids

[plumania]

Originally Posted by tucker85

Breeders haven't had as much success breeding bluish cattleyas as they've had with phals and vandas. The closest to blue that I have is C. Dinard 'Blue Heaven'. It's a beautiful large cattleya and it blooms twice a year for me. But it has a tendancy to grow out in unusual directions.

Thanks Tucker. I googled this one, not sure how to judge the color in those pics. May depend how the pic was taken.
What do you mean by unusual directions?
Is it a rambler with tall canes?
Fragrant?
A picture would be great.

---------- Post added at 09:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Orchid Whisperer

Blue orchids are sort of a specialty with Jewell Orchids - David Johnston (owner) is a friend of mine. Check out their website at Jewell Orchids

Thanks. It looks good. Do you have any of those blues? Hard to tell how blue the flowers are, from pics. That is why I am asking here.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by plumania

Thanks. It looks good. Do you have any of those blues? Hard to tell how blue the flowers are, from pics. That is why I am asking here.

Well, although the blue orchids are a specialty of Dave's, they are not really my thing. I probably have more reds, whites, yellows, oranges, greens and whatever color combos occur in my species plants. My only "blues" are a couple Vandas.

Nothing wrong at all with the blue varieties, though. I do know Dave provides healthy plants, I have a Brassavola nodosa from him, I've seen other healthy plants he has provided to others at our Orchid Society (Northeast Georgia Orchid Society), and I would order from him again (in fact, a couple species he offers are on my wish list). I wanted to recommend Jewell to you because I know Dave provides nice healthy plants, and has a good selection.

Have fun shopping, let us know what you get!

[tucker85]

When I say it grows in unusual directions I mean that the pseudo-bulbs usually grow out to one side or the other rather than growing up. With large cattleyas that can be a problem because it's hard to stake them. I think I have a division of mine but I didn't put a name tag on it. I'm fairly sure I know which division is the C. Dinard. It's not the greatest looking division but I'd be happy to give it to you if you want it. I'll PM you with my info.

---------- Post added at 10:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 AM ----------

I don't remember if C. Dinard is fragrant or not.

---------- Post added at 10:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 AM ----------



This is my C. Dinard 'Blue Heaven' from November of last year.

[isurus79]

I grew Blc. Volcano Blue which was pretty darn near blue...sometimes. Depending on the temp that it experienced, sometimes the flowers were blue, sometimes more purple:

Fairly blue in 2010:
Blc. Volcano Blue 10-10-2010 by Isurus79, on Flickr

More purple in 2009:
Blc Volcano Blue 'Volcano Queen' 10-26-2009 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Just about any Cattleya bowringiana coerulea hybrid will be very blue, but unfortunately they usually have no scent.

[Orchidgirl83]

That Volcano Blue is gorgeous!

[lotis146]

I bought several plants from Jewell Orchids through eBay and I can attest to them always being healthy. I will no doubt continue to get Orchids from them - in the future when I've lifted by collecting moratorium. I also have Cariad's Mini Quinee 'Angel Kiss' although it hasn't yet bloomed and may not do so for another year or two. But I did recently get Lc. Aloha Bleu 'Basket O'Blue' division from them. It hasn't bloomed yet either but is blooming size. Not sure if I just found a shriveled up sheath () as I'm fairly new to Catts and net pots but this plant has a nice newer growth with lots of new roots. Whenever it decides to bloom I will certainly share, mostly I just wanted to share that Jewell Orchids is a great sell. Good luck in your search, I'm hoping for some more blue guys too.