Bloom Event - Cattleya Ann Balmores

What a stunner. I had forgotten just how big the flowers on this plant are (either that or the flower size is increasing as the plant puts on bigger growths). They are larger by far than the flowers on my Vanda blue magic or any of my Phalaenopsis.

When I first got this plant, there was no purple on the petals at all, they were pure white. The flowers did not open quite so fully (these flowers are almost flat looking from the front). As I remember, this plant was among a mix of 'Cattleya large flower mix' that I got from a big plant distributor on the continent (yes, the same one that supplied me with the half dead Brassias; shame on you!). It was in a poor state with no live roots, broken down potting medium, pseudobulbs cut off, really shameful. I had credit for the plants, but they shouldn't have been sent out in that state. Says a lot for their quality control, doesn't it? Mostly, the plants were so poor they went straight in the bin, but I kept this one as it was still showing signs of life.

It slowly recovered. As any orchid grower will tell you (and as I have pointed out in a previous post), Cattleyas are painfully slow to do anything until they've a mind to. I repotted into fresh growing medium immediately, but still had to wait months for the plant to put out new growth and, in turn, new roots. Luckily this one roots out while the new growth is relatively young, so recovery was a little faster than it might have been. Now we are a couple of years down the line, the plant is growing (comparatively) fast, and pseudobulbs are increasing in size season on season. I have even managed to sever the rhizome a few pseudobulbs back and the plant has responded by producing a second lead which will begin to flower in a year or two.

Another view. I don't know why I fell in love with this one, but I think it is absolutely beautiful. Add to that it has a good scent and we have a real winner on our hands. I don't know if the flower count will increase in the future, but the size certainly has.  The blooms measure six inches top to bottom and across. I expect them to last around two weeks.

I have it potted in coarse bark to keep the root zone well aerated, and the pot appears to be quite full of roots. There is still space for another season or two of growth but after that I will have to decide what to do with it next. Cattleya are not easy to accommodate once they start to reach a large size as they take up a lot of horizontal space. It would seem a shame to divide it, though.