Otaara Hwa Yuan bay 'she shu'

[Orchidgirl83]

I got this plant May 2012 from my local plant nursery in bloom. That first winter I almost killed it from root rot, which really upset me, since I had repotted it earlier that summer because there were so many roots the pot had split! This is the first time it has bloomed for me. I got one bloom from this bulb, and two other pbulbs have buds growing.

When the flowers opened, they were a very dark reddish purple, and the lip and splashes were almost black. The first picture was taken two days after it opened. The flower lightened to its current color after about four days. It does have a very sweet scent, kind of like a Sharry Baby, but I have to almost stick my nose right in it to smell it.