Surprise Cattleya

[JScott]

I bought this a while back as BLC Lawless Zauberflotte 'Palmer's Apricot' and this is the first time it has bloomed for me. If you will google that name, and look at my pictures below, you will see that this plant is definitely not that haha. I emailed the guy I bought it from with a couple pictures, and he says that he is pretty sure it is Cattleya Lueddemanniana semi-alba var. coerulea. I suspected that it was probably a species, but I'm not an expert on the species, so I wasn't sure which one.

It's probably not something I would have bought for myself on purpose, but now that it is here in my house in bloom, I'm very glad to have it, so I guess it was a happy accident.

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

I agree with plant name assessment and I believe you're much better off with this plant. It is a first bloom and looks to be a very good quality Lueddemanniana.
Lucky catch and f properly grown , next bloom will be much better

[Tindomul]

I am no expert, but after lusting after this species for sometime I will have to agree that this is one. Great fortune has befallen you. It is a stately orchid indeed.

[DeaC]

Yum...almost 360 deg. of blooms! TY

[JScott]

I don't have a lot of pinks and lavenders as those aren't really my favorite colors. I'm more of a red/yellow/orange guy, which is why I said that I probably wouldn't have bought this on purpose, but the form is so great, and I love the lip, and it offers a color that I don't already have in my collection. This is definitely better than the one I thought I was buying, so yes, great fortune has befallen me.

[Optimist]

Sometimes I don't like the color of the orchid, but after a while, it grows on me. I like two-tone orchids, and especially spots or stripes, so if I get a solid color orchid, or a red with pink lip, (yuk) or pink with red lip (yuk) I just think it is "Yuk" for a while, and then, I suppress the little demanding critic in my soul, and think, "Hey, this is pretty nice." When it goes away, I miss it. Nature gives us such beautiful things.

[estación seca]

It is a very beautiful flower, and you are very lucky to get such a mix-up. Lueddemanniana is a great species, and this plant has great form for the flowers.

Semi-alba usually means the petals and sepals are pure white, and the lip is colored, so this isn't what I would call a semi-alba. Coerulea colors are hard to photograph. If the petals and sepals seem distinctly bluish, it is a coerulea. If it seems to you more pink than bluish, it is not a coerulea. In either event it is an exceptional color form.

[JScott]

Originally Posted by estación seca

It is a very beautiful flower, and you are very lucky to get such a mix-up. Lueddemanniana is a great species, and this plant has great form for the flowers.

Semi-alba usually means the petals and sepals are pure white, and the lip is colored, so this isn't what I would call a semi-alba. Coerulea colors are hard to photograph. If the petals and sepals seem distinctly bluish, it is a coerulea. If it seems to you more pink than bluish, it is not a coerulea. In either event it is an exceptional color form.

When he emailed me that, I thought that I didn't think it could be semi-alba with colored petals (I had mentioned the color of the petals in my email, as it is very light and difficult to see in a picture), but he's the orchid guy, not me, so I didn't question it too much haha. And yes, it does look more pink than blue. But at any rate, it's beautiful and I just love it, and I'm quite lucky that it came to me by accident.

[Leafmite]

Congratulations on the flowers! I have a bunch of seedlings that haven't bloomed so I am now crossing my fingers that they are all what I carefully have chosen or, if not, something I really like anyway.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Oh my I would be very pleased indeed. It's gorgeous.