Cattleya gaskeliana Alba and others.
 

first bloom flowers are not fully open. flowers larger than normal for a first bloomer.

dislike the shape,and the size of the lip, could be bigger and , substance is typical for the species.

what I do like, the yellow in the throat is very pale, usually the yellow color is stronger.

Attachment 84328

P. Vitellina

Attachment 84331

this is very common Mexican species, this one has larger than normal flowers with strong vigorous and big Bulbs,
this is a recued plant from a fallen tree, otherwise if left there the plant will simply die.

flowers started to open 6 weeks and it is a successive bloomer this pictures are the lasts on both spikes, looks like this flowers will take another 14 days easily, Easy to grow plant.

last one is yet another mexican found species, B, cucullata. (very easy to grow)

Attachment 84332

Cheers

Antonio.

Love the gaskelliana!

Brooke

Hi Antonio, nice plants!
What's the big rounded pseudobulb plant in the right up angle of the brassavola pic?

HI, that's is a laelia speciosa,

Attachment 84344

this is the previous bloom, typical color form (there are ones that go nearly deep red color) , size of flower: nearly 22 cm wide, with good shape with the exception of the petals that could be wider.

this plant holds sentimental value, the first orchid I bought in Mexico after good 20 years of me being away from the orchid world, she was the one that pushed me back to grow orchids again.

picture of the plant :

Attachment 84345

Antonio.



.

Thank you!! HUGE flowers :)

Fabulous!

I love that vitellina! It is not very common here in the States and actually seems pretty tough to find. Hopefully I can find one as nice as yours!

thanks isurus i will be flying to the US on sept, if you cant find it by then , i will be more than willing to fly with a division (3-4 growths with a front), that plant is probably 20+ growths, flowers are about 3.5-4 cm wide.

the plant is easy to grow, it requires good light, (a bit less than cattleyas) and it is a intermediate grower, it tolerates cold temperatures of about 5-6 degrees celsius without any problem.

this plant can bloom for several months, a friend of mine recorded 4+ months on the same spike as it is a successive flowering plant, very much like p. cochleata, i wonder why such a beautiful and rewarding species is not commonly seem in the states.

she likes a dryer rest after flowering, (a few weeks) with no water but good humidity, and needs cooler nights to trigger the flowering. (per my experience)

as a plus the plant can form specimens quickly if left unchecked.

Antonio.

Antonio,
I'd love to grab a cutting from you! I'll send you a private message.

Nice, love the P. Vitellina especially!