C dowiana - aurea & rosita types
 

These are typical representatives of the C. dowiana aurea & C. dowiana rosita type. They grow quite easily under warm to intermediate conditions, bright light & we bloom them very easily in summer.

Ahhh, Cattleya dowiana, what a species! I have yet to see one in bloom live...

Wow! The aurea is spectacular.

Kim

I love this species! I have the rosita that is yet to bloom from TOF and the dark, rosita type that was offered from H&R a few years ago. The H&R one was spectacular in its first bloom last summer and is currently putting out its second growth of the year! This is one of my favs!!

They're both beautiful. Since this species supposedly has short-lived blooms, can someone who has firsthand experience with it define what "short-lived" means in this case, please?

Steve

I would not call these flowers short-lived. For orchids, short-lived usually means a day, a few days or less than a week. C. dowiana flowers can last 3 weeks.

Of course, being summer bloomers, the flowers can be subjected to extreme heat or dryness of summer, in which case the flowers can easily wilt & die (like any other flower would under those conditions). In addition, if flowers are exposed to smoke from smoking, from summer barbeques, or even ethelene gas from ripening fruit, they will also wilt. Like us, if they are kept from extreme & drying temperatures or heavy rain, they are more likely to retain their composure.

Wow. The rosita is amazing.

Both are gorgeous!