Outstanding cattleyas

[orchidphile]

Hi, everyone. I'm looking to expand my cattleya collection, and I'd love to know which ones really stand out in your collection. If you have plants in the cattleya tribe that always seem to be in bloom or that fill the whole house with fragrance, please share their names. If you had a disaster and lost your whole collection, which ones would you rush to replace?

[Subrosa]

C. iricolor is by far my most powerfully fragrant orchid. Bc Hawaii Stars 'Paradise' blooms several times a year from multiple leads. Most Jackfowlierara are very easy growers and highly fragrant.

[bogdan]

Cattleya (Lc) Canhamiana
Cattleya labiata

[Paul]

Much, of course, depends upon your personal tastes. Many minicatts will bloom several times a year but most are not fragrant. Even with those that are fragrant, there is no guarantee that you will like the fragrance. "Outstanding", therefore, is very subjective. That said, IMO, one of the most outstanding catts is neither greatly fragrant, nor does it generally bloom more than once a year .... I would say Jewelbox 'Dark Waters'

[Merita]

My Hsinying Pink Doll Hsinying blooms several times and its fragrance is felt throughout the garden, its hybrids have fragrance but in smaller proportion. Akiko Sato is also noted for its fragrance. I try to look for those two qualities but it is not so easy.

[orchidphile]

Thank you so much to those who've responded so far. I'm getting some great ideas. It's all terribly subjective, but it's still nice to know what people like and what performs well for them. Sometimes I seek out proven performers, and sometimes I just fall in love. I have a Ctna. Maui Dipper that I recently acquired just because I loved it. I have no idea if it will be a good performer or will bloom more than once a year, but the flower is so lovely and the fragrance so nice that I'll be thrilled if I get one good bloom a year.

[JScott]

Rlc Williette Wong 'The Best' and Blc Miya's Fascination 'Odom's Wildfire' are probably the first two I would replace if I lost my collection. Cattleya Canhamiana would be toward the top of the list, but that one has already been mentioned (BTW, there are two clones of Canhamiana commonly available, Azure Skies and Cobalt. Of the two, I prefer Azure Skies). Cattlianthe Jewel Box is also a remarkably fine plant, which again has already been mentioned.

[Roberta]

Consider C. Quinquecolor, a primary hybrid of C. forbesii and C. aclandiae. It gets durability (very tolerant of a range of temperatures, robust grower from multiple leads) and blooming 2-3 times a year from the C. forbesii parent, and a really pretty flower from the C. aclandiae parent. Not particularly fragrant but one can't have everything.

[smweaver]

Many (most?) of the larger, standard-sized cattleyas bloom seasonally, as do the species. In other words, they don't repeat bloom throughout the year. The way to overcome this tendency is to have plants that bloom at different times of the year.

Everyone has his or her own taste, and mine runs pretty much exclusively to species cattleyas (although I admit there are some very nice hybrids as well). If you've never grown Cattleya mossiae, it's well worth adding to a growing cattleya collection. Even in a collection consisting of fancy hybrids, a well-grown mossiae will easily hold its own. It's an easy to grow and bloom species, and the long-lasting flowers are simply stunning (in my opinion), with a fragrance that is very hard to beat. I guess, now that I think of it, the Cattleya mossiaes in my collection are the only plants I have that it would truly be heartbreaking to lose.

Good luck with your search.

[Roberta]

I love Cattleya percivaliana. It only blooms once a year (mine are just finishing) but it's a beauty. Relatively long lasting flowers. And it is cold-tolerant, grows and blooms in my back yard, so it tolerates winter night temperatures close to frost. Would it be happier warmer? Sure. But doesn't insist on it.