Cattleya bowringiana
 

The two plants had their first blooms recently. It used to be a common cattleya available but was replaced by newer crosses of it. It was difficult to get till several years ago, a local nursery created some seedlings.
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This is one of my favorites along with the skinneri. A member in my orchid society brought in a gigantic one to a meeting and it looked like an azalea bush. Such a lovely species!

How long do the bowringiana’s blooms last for you?

I'm excited to see this bloom as I have a new plant that is a cross between L. anceps and C. bowringeana. It hasn't bloomed yet; maybe I will get some of that beautiful color!

That's awesome. I too love Cattleya bowringiana. Such a vigorous and carefree species. I'm glad that it's making something of a comeback in collections today.

They last only 2 weeks .

---------- Post added at 09:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:07 PM ----------

It deserves growing. Compared with skinneri, the species grow well in my garden.
I also have some coerulea, which is also vigorous and would grow to large plant.
Alba version is still rare here and wish i can get one.

I've heard differing reports about bowringiana's scent--many say it has no scent, while others say it smells divine! Can anyone describe the scent to me (if it has one)? And would there possibly be a difference in scent if you had different forms of the species (coerulea, pink, purple, etc)?