Cattleya nobilior var. amaliae
 

Here's one of my light colored nobilior amaliae. These flowers are almost white, but true white are not common. Very fragrant.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3480/...d3bf8026_t.jpg

My favorite time of the year in either hemisphere, nobilior season!

Gorgeous, Mauro.

I know you love these, Chris!

The veining on the lip is just amazing! Really nice!

OK... That's it Mauro!!!! I've had just about all I can take of you and your beautiful orchids!!!!! First, you are always displaying exquisitely photographed pictures of unbelievably beautiful flowers. Then you bump me out of the calendar competition with your submission after I told you that you couldn't enter the contest. And now this wonderful white catt with superb markings on the lip. It's getting down right cold up here and you are beginning to have wonderful spring weather... so I'll be on the next flight out of here... just pick me up at the airport.....please. :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Wow, huge flower for such a little plant, can't really find where the leaves are:)

Mauro that is a gorgeous nobilior !!!! I absolutely love the white with the veining on the lip. That is it I'm moving to Brazil next year. Any real state available in your neighborhood ??? :biggrin:

Oh, yeah, spring... that means more flowers... more photos to tease you :rofl:
I'm picking you up at the airport Howard, but tell me, can I bring my fierce dragon for you both to meet?:rofl:

Come on over, Rolando! We can always find room for you!:lol:

Oh, yeah, the dragon.... that fierce dragon that protects all your beauties... sure why not. I'll have him/her eating out of my hand in no time!

Oh, and I get first choice as to accommodations.... Roly you get what's left over... maybe you could bed down with the dragon... what do you think?????

I know... I know... the last one who tried to make my dragon eat out of his hand has now only one hand left...:rofl:

Roly, things are getting ugly for you....!!:lol:

Wow, that one is stunning!

I love the makings on the lip contrasting the white.

Mauro, how often do you water this mounted one during the "dry" season that amaliae undergoes in the wild? How about the ones in moss? Are they still happy? Thanks!

Chris, I grow my two (still!!) mounted nobilior along with my Vandas. So, you can imagine they are watered every single day, the year round.
Those in moss are also watered during the dry period (from may through mid-September here), but in a less frequent basis, two times a week. But, you need to know that they are planted in clay pots in a mix having more or less 30%-40% of Styrofoam peanuts. Through that addition the moss does not compact, I manage to have good drainage and the vital air around the roots is easily renewed every time they are watered. Yes, they are happy!

Rosim. I'm glad to see your cultural comments above. By coincidence, I just gave some advice this morning to someone in the SW US concerning his C. nobiliors and his amaliae. Your climate in Brazil is vastly different from our near tropical climate, so I don't like to tell someone elsewhere how to grow their plants. Like you, I prefer to focus on what I think the plant's needs are ... based on my own experience.

Many people seem to believe religiously in the drought in winter theory, based on the dry natural habitat in winter. However, I think that because of the elevation of the habitat, atmospheric inversion must bring down moisture in the form of night dew for the plants. Whether or not this is the case, like you, I have also found that the roots need a lot of exposure to air and light and need frequent moisture. I find that our amaliaes are a bit slower growing

I also hesitate to tell people that the roots need to "dry out" between waterings, because that may imply dessication to some. I also stress the need for frequent watering of the roots if a plant is mounted or in a very coarse and dry medium. But accompanying good air movement is essential to prevent roots from staying constantly wet. And I do emphasize the need to control but not stop watering if temps are into the 40's.

If we meet these needs of the nobiliors and the nobilior amaliaes, we can grow them successfully ... whether it be in your climate or mine

I see we think the same way, Catwalker, especially in relation to telling people living in different climatic condition how to grow their plants.
The points you raise in you post are good as well as the way you deal with them.
You are also right as to the dry period question as far as nobilior and other orchids of that region are concerned. The dry period is real, it happens, but it means that it doesn't rain, not that the plants living there don't receive any water. You are right again as you mention that there's the night dew, especially in the dawn, supplying some moisture to the plants. If that were not the case, it would be intolerable for these kinds of epiphytes to stand five months loosing water every time they had to open their stomata to capture the vital CO2 for their daily photosynthetic needs.
Just on a side note, I don't like the idea of letting the roots dry out between waterings too. If you don't have a good understanding of what 'dry out' means all you get is a slow grower plant. This is especially true with seedlings and young plants for obvious reasons.