Floofy catts in bloom

Blc. Memoria Crispin Rosales is a hybrid created by Bracey’s nursery in 1959. It is a cross between Lc. Bonanza and Blc. Norman's Bay. The flowers are very vibrant and glowing with purple and magenta. The lip is a deep velvety scarlet purple. The fragrance is very nice.

The Memoria Crispin Rosales is a classic purple cattleya that seems never going out of style. This particular clone ('Shining Moments') blooms very late but in time for Christmas! The plant is stately and the flowers are very large (8-9 inches or more)!

The parentage percentage of the Blc. Mem. Crispin Rosales is listed below for our information enjoyment!

C. mossiae 1.56% L. purpurata 4.69%
C. labiata 15.63% C. mendelii 6.25%
C. dowiana 29.69% C. percivaliana 6.25%
B. digbyana 3.13% C. warscewiczii 7.81%
C. gaskelliana 3.13% C. lueddemanniana 9.38%
C. warnerii 3.13% C. trianaei 9.38%

Cheers. Hoa.

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Very nice unusual yellow catt. One of its grandparents is the B. digbyana, hence the frilly lip! Very fragrant!
Cheers. Hoa.

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Amazing collection of Floofies Hoa! It must be a real treat to walk into your growing area to see all these in bloom... I guess you must have quite a few plants right?

You are right about reposting C Horace... it looks even more spectacular with the larger image!

So when you acquire plants, do you tend to look for awarded clones?

cheers
tim

Hi Tim,

Thanks for your compliments.
I have a lot of orchids, a hobby and an interest that have run out of control for several years! I have >1000 orchids; with >300 catts, >300 species, ~100 phals, >100 paphs and half a dozen phrags, >100 oncidium intergenerics, ~100 cymbidiums and zygos, a dozen vandas, etc...

When I buy plants, many factors influence my decision, depending on what is being offered and what I am planning to buy. For example, for cattleyas, it is clear that awarded clones provide far superior flowers and often more robust plants than non-awarded ones, so I will likely go for them. I buy hybrids or recent crosses too if I know of the parentage or have seen the blooms, or they are novelty crosses that have not been tried previously or often. For species, one of the interests there is figuring how to cultivate them so it is OK to buy bare-root plants from some vendors that you see probably only once in your life! Some species that I have, I actually have the divisions of the awarded mother plants, they again tend to be more robust and give more spectacular blooms that are worthy of your time and money.
With paphs, most often they only offer hybrid crosses (on a few rare occasions, divisions of the awarded plants are available with exorbitant prices!) raised from seeds, so that are what you end up with. But thanks God that many of them bloom out very nicely. But I would do the same culling procedure on them too to select for good plants. Sickly plants or plants with deformed/inferior flowers, off they go to the compost heap!

Dear Gin and jenn,

Also thanks for your compliments. Hope you guys enjoy the show!

Happy Holidays and Cheers.
Regards. Hoa.

So - even though you may not sell, you are a professional grower!! Where's the invitations to your annual open house??? Over a 1000!!!

__________________
Diane

"NA BEAN DO'N CHAT GUN LAMHAINN"

yeah, party at Hoa's house!!!

gosh, u have as many... no more..... Catts than I do orchids! I need to find me some more growing space!

I think that what you say about the various factors influencing purchasing is true... at this stage, though I can't afford awarded clones and they do not tend to be around for sale often, I will keep an eye out for them though... so far I've only managed to get one which is a Paphiopedilum Gael 'Camira' AM/AOS.

Of course, I find that I enjoy flowers of any orchids when they come into bloom... I guess it must be the thrill of just getting them to flower...

Dear Diane and Tim,

Thanks for the comments!!! It was fun reading you guys' posts. My orchid purchases have slowed down significantly but I am still acquiring more plants. 2000 orchids will happen sooner than I have thought.

Professional grower, eh? Close but I am not quite there yet. There are still a number of orchids I still have yet to master. Masdevallia, odontioda, odontoglossum, miltoniopsis, mostly certain cool growing orchids, to name a few. Actually I am doing better with these guys this year after changing my growing system for them. Where I live, it might be a bit too hot for them during the summer/early fall, especially during the infamous Santa Ana wind spell when temperature could shoot up to above 90 F, but it could become too cold for them during certain winter months when temperature drops below 40 F. Without a specialized cool house for these guys or living even closer to the ocean, it will be difficult to grow them well.

Open House at my place? Maybe at some point in the future after I fix up the greenhouse some more! Hehe! But you guys have to promise to show up!

The fun with the orchids comes in many ways. Besides fascinating blooms that captivate me, like putting me into a trance-like state, blooming an orchid also gives me a thrill, like Tim said. All of the work and things you have tried, finally the sucker blooms after so many years! And the thrill of blooming a particular orchid certainly will grow with time since with the same plant after the first bloom since next year, you would see more and more spectacular blooms. Seeing an orchid completely covered with gorgeous or out-of-this-world blooms is quite an unforgetable experience.

Cheers. Hoa.

Smallish (but not that small), perky white catts, nice fragrance of course. The plant has many growing leads and the flowers just open from the first maturing bulb.
Cheers. Hoa.

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More Floofy! Dark purple splash on lavender catt with a solid dark purple lip! Purple everywhere, hehe! Very large bloom, 8 inches at least and just open! If I can get a better picture, I will re-post it.
Cheers. Hoa.

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This cattleya species is a true Christmas orchid (maybe only for the Northern Hemisphere). It blooms exactly a week before Christmas! The blooms have an ethereal quality to them, a delicate and glistering texture that is very hard to capture. But don't be fooled by the fragile-looking flowers. The longevity of the blooms from this species is well known, at least 5 weeks, far exceeding our average floofies.

Cheers. Hoa.

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