Lc. Orglade's Grand Cu Chang Beauty

[SillyKeiki]

Hello, fellow orchid enthusiasts.

I find myself currently away from home spending my winter holidays with my family, and although I do love my family, it was with no small amount of regret that I had to leave my orchids behind and alone for more than two weeks.

I was, however, well prepared for such event, with self-watering pots for potted plants and water tanks for the Vandas.

Sadly, the Lc. Orglade's Grand Cu Chang Beauty I bought this summer has finished maturing its last growth, produced blooms and actually bloomed while I was away.

Fortunately, I also had a secret weapon. A Xiaomi surveillance camera with WiFi connection!

I might not be there smell the surely pleasant fragrance, but I managed to put together some nice footage to show you the blooming process, and I wanted to share it with all of you. Please enjoy.

(Sorry, I have failed to find somewhere to upload such a heavy .gif, so you will have to click the external twitter link if you want to see the thing.)

Twitter

(The flower started completely upside down and had to re-orientate itself.)

[Leafmite]

That is a beauty!

Orchids are certainly rascals when it comes to blooming. Mine always try to finish blooming before orchid meetings or shows and start just after them. Every once in a while, they fail and I get to show them off.

[SillyKeiki]

Maybe they have stage panic? :P

[SillyKeiki]

I finally got home and could take a few decent pics of my flowers. They also smell very good! Stronger in the daytime. The lip has velvery reflections, and the petals and sepals have that beautiful snow glitter effect that I love!

[Kim Brown]

Absolutely gorgeous! Interesting that in some photos, the lip is a hot magenta, while in the last two, it's more of an amethyst purple.

I have Lc. Orglades Grand 'Orchis', but mine bud blasted this season.

[SillyKeiki]

Kim, the color change you pointed out is due to the fact that in the last two pics I brought the orchid inside under artificial lights. Under the sunlight it always looks better and truer. I am sorry to hear that your Orglade's Grand suffered bud blast

[Kim Brown]

Originally Posted by SillyKeiki

Kim, the color change you pointed out is due to the fact that in the last two pics I brought the orchid inside under artificial lights. Under the sunlight it always looks better and truer. I am sorry to hear that your Orglade's Grand suffered bud blast

My late spring to mid autumn flowering Cattleyas how flowered just fine, but my winter flowering ones have either bud blasted or just stopped dead in their tracks. Winters here in Denmark are very dark, so I've come to the conclusion that natural light in the windowsill is not enough for those.

I know from experience that purplish nuances can be difficult to capture, with the camera either picking up on the red or blue components of the colour depending on the lighting conditions.