Tis The Season

Cattleya harrisoniana 'Volcano Queen', sometimes known as Cattleya loddigesii variety harrisoniae. These plants produce tall stems of fragrant lavender flowers. I just crossed this one with C. loddigesii var harrisoniae 'Streeter's Choice'. They both have fairly different flowers and some people think Streeter's Choice is a hybrid. In theory, the offspring should show a fair amount of variation if that is the case. Either way, the greenhouse is full of wonderful, fragrant orchids right now. It seems that the summer heat pushed a bunch of them into bloom!