Blue violacea

[Ben Belton]

Sorry Camille. They are a little cheaper here. You can get seedlings which will bloom in a year with good care for $35 directly from Orchidview.

Knert, they will bloom fairly small, so I hope you don't have wait too long. Good luck with it.

The fragrance is unlike any orchid I have. Very strong. The plant is worth having just for the fragrance.

[nenella]

Stunning! Good colour and I like the shape. Congratulations!
I love the photo too you should consider entering it in the OB calendar photo competition
thanks for sharing!

[orchid-eric]

This one is beautiful ! I really have to get one of these. Thanks for showing us!

Eric

[quiltergal]

I have just contacted Orchidview and am going to order a bellina from them (has the 'Ponkan' breeding I've been looking for) and one of the blues. They currently have 4 blue hybrids to choose from. Not sure which one to order.

[Ben Belton]

I'm not sure I would be good help for picking one out. However, I have seen their cultuvar 'Blue Chip' in bloom and it was beautiful and big for a violacea. (Keeping in mind they are generally small) Anyway, one of their offerings is (Blue Chip x self) I plan on getting one or two of those next time I am down.

If you want something a little different, they are starting to pot out seedlings of micholitzi x violacea (blue). Could be fun.

[Brooke]

Since Ben is such a nice guy I know he won't mind me adding pictures of my Norton blue seedlings to his thread. This is Blue July 4th x Gaston Bleau



This is Blue Genes x Indigo Blue



These pictures are from last years blooming but they are both currently in bloom. I bought these as unbloomed seedlings from the Nortons in March 07 and they bloomed the next year. What they are doing in creating a blue violacea is amazing.

Ben did you get any of the blue vio x bellina coreula (Phal. Samera) seedlings? Or have you seen of this cross bloomed out? I got a compot last summer but mine won't bloom until next year.

Brooke

[Ben Belton]

Originally Posted by brooke

Ben did you get any of the blue vio x bellina coreula (Phal. Samera) seedlings? Or have you seen of this cross bloomed out? I got a compot last summer but mine won't bloom until next year.

I got 3 plants of this, but they are still in compot. They have grown better than you would ever expect for a bellina primary, but still small. Mike has a spike on one of his, but he thinks it will probably stall like bellinas like to do so much.

[luckygrower]

After reading this thread I had to get some and they arrived Thursday. I bought
1. Gulfstream Blue x self
2. Blue Genes x Indigo Bleu
3.Blue July 4th x Gaston Bleu and
4.Blue Chip x self
I hope I can grow them as well as you and get them to bloom.

[Ben Belton]

Originally Posted by luckygrower

I hope I can grow them as well as you and get them to bloom.

Trust me, you won't have any trouble doing that. I've been so busy lately my plants have suffered. They've crossed so many of these now, its hard to get a bad one.

I put them at the brighter end of my Phal light. Other than that, I'm sure you can do better than me.

Good luck. You'll enjoy them and the fragrance will knock you out. I could probably never keep one in the house. I'd have a headache they are so strong.

[Brooke]

I looked at my Samera seedlings and there is no way any of them will spike this year. One has a sixth leaf growing but the leaves aren't close to being the normal size.

I had some of the Norton vio seedlings grow spikes late the first year and hold through the winter. I ended up with three spikes on a first time blooming seedling - it made quite a show.

Brooke