Large Cattleyas
 

Can any of y'all advise me on varieties of Cattleyas (or any other genus) that are big growers - plants - not flowers. I love large specimens, and living in Central Florida, I have unlimited room. Compact growers are ok, but the larger growers are just incredible to my eye. I appreciate any advice. Greg in New Port Richey (about an hour N of St Pete)

C. Chocolate Drop 'NOK', C bowringiana and C aurantiaca are three that I have which are rather large in plant size. I'm sure there are many more and our other friends will chime in with those :)

The photo was taken in a local show last week. It is now the large cattleyas' flowering season here.
Most of them in the photo are more than 2 feet tall and also have large-sized flowers.
Including Blc. Mystic Isles, Blc. Ports of Paradise, Blc. Amy Wakasugi, Blc. Mem. Crispin Rosales, Pot. Haw Yuan Gold, Lc. Chyong Guu Swan, Blc. Sanyung Ruby, Blc. Pamela Finney, family of Blc. Chia Lin, family of Lc. White Spark and other hybrids that i don't know the exact names.

Thanks, pheli...I forgot about that one!

Among these hybrids, i like Ports of Paradise and Mystic Isles most.

Susanne, that's an old hybrid, but is still an active role in orchid shows.

A few tall species: C. amthystoglossa- about 3 ft tall

varieties of C. guttata and C. leopoldii - 3+ ft some get quite big up to 4-5 ft

C. bowringiana- another 3+ ft tall plant

c. bicolor- some are pretty tall but rather spindly

any hybrids between these species will produce very big plants. The hybrids will have even more vigor.

LOL...I have it! I just forgot about it ;) Mine has a nice new growth happening at the moment :dance13:

Hey Greg,
I'm Jasen, I live in Holiday! There are two great Cattleya growers in the local area. Jesse Rosanski (Rosanski's House of Orchids) is my favorite. He has two greenhouses in Pinellas Park, a few in S. Florida, and a couple in Poland. He has a huge variety of large Cattleya's, and he just got his "Endagered Species" permit. He's very friendly, and sells plants that most nurseries would divide into a few plants. I just got one from him, the other day. Blc. Mamilani Rainbow x Lc. Stephen Splendor, it has 25-30 mature pods, four spikes (5 flowers per), and two more full sheaths. He gave it to me for $35. I'll post pics of it when the rest of the buds open.
The other place is Bud Spence (Fl. Native Orchids), in St Pete. He doesn't have on-line sales, but he has a lot of different species orchids. I would say Rosanski would be your Cattleya man!

C. tenuis and elongata are very tall. You would also do well to look into schomburgkias. S. sawyeri and S. superbiens are large plants with very striking laelia-like flowers.

-Cj

One of my fav large plants is Brassavola nodosa and its hybrids. While the plant itself is not very tall, it grows like a weed and will create a specimen plant very quickly. Brassavola cordata (syn. subulifolia) is similar in its rapid growth, not to mention it has similar flowers.

Thanks for the advice, guys. I now have some work to do! Susanne- How did u fare in the freeze? Spring Hill gets so much colder than here. Jasen- I know Bud quite well, for years. I just forgot about him. Where is the other, Rusenski, in Pinellas Park? I've lived here for 20 years so I know the area well. It definitely sounds like it is worth a visit. Greg

Take 19 South, exit 66th St. Follow 66th St. south to 102nd Ave. N., then turn left. It will be about a quarter mile down , on the right. It's a nice house with a wall around it, you should see the greenhouses in back and big colorful signs out front....can't miss it. If you get to the stop sign...you did miss it. Tell him Jasen sent you up there, maybe he'll hook you up, I've done some side-work for him before. He also has a web site, just google it!