Blooms Around The House

 Cattleya bowringiana variety coerulea 'Blue Angel' HCC/AOS.  This is a "blue" variety of the normally lavender species (see below), caused by a rare genetic mutation.

 Cattleya guttata variety coerulea

 Cattleya bowringiana (tipo)

 Hoya australis.  This one is super fragrant at night!

 Laelia pumila (sib cross)

Paphiopedilum henryanum 

 Paphiopedilum sukhakulii variety album.  The is an albino variety of this normally black spotted species!

Phalaenopsis Ox Happy Girl 'Sweetheart'

Cattleya (Guarianthe) bowringina

Cattleya (now Guarianthe) bowringiana blooming in the sun room. These large lithophytic orchids are native to Belize and Guatemala where they grow near streams up at around 500 through 3000 ft. They are easy growing tolerant plants that will clump into large specimens fairly easily. As opposed to Cattleyas such as aclandiae or walkeriana which are not at all fond of wet feet, these will tolerate damp potting media, probably due to their lithophytic origin. I've always loved the diamond dust sparkle on these flowers when seen in the sun as well as the sizeable clumps of flowers.

Cattleya bowringiana

Cattleya bowringiana. The person that sold me this plant said it was growing along the side of the road in Belize. It's a bright, nicely colored clone that just happened to be in bloom when I popped into the greenhouse to water this morning. It's hard to see in the picture but these flowers sparkle like diamond dust in the sun. Not much in the way of frangrance though. It's now decorating the baker's rack by the window where it is safe from any creepy crawlies that might have a hankering for flower salad. It's still a small plant. When it grows up, it will be 2-3 feet tall!