My cattleya forbesii is blooming. All the credit to these fantastic blooms goes to the nursery, Currlin Orchideen, because I only bought this plant in June, and when it came it had already a sheath with 3 buds developing inside it.
You will notice from the picture that mine is a quite tall forbesii. Most of the c. forbesii I have seen where quite smaller than this one. Apparently this cattleya starts flowering at a young age, and in the following years it keeps making taller pseudobulbs. But I hope mine won't get much taller than this.
Cattleya forbesii is not as popular as many other cattleya species or hybrids, because it isn't too colorful or showy, and the blooms are not too large. But it has a very nice fragrance. Inside the lip it has very intricate markings, very beautiful.
In my opinion this species deserves more recognition.
This is becoming one of my favorite cattleyas. It makes me smile every time I look at it.