Cattleya Big Ben ‘Blue Mountain’ (C. Portia x C. mossiae coerulea)

[southernbelle]

Love this one! Second bloom for me. First time 1 spike, 4 flowers. This time 6 on one spike!! Most flowers I’ve ever had on one spike. Second spike forming.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

Nicely bloomed!

 

[monocotman]

Lovely! Looks to be a bit of a beast.

 

[southernbelle]

Actually, not too bad. It’s tall, but easy to train upright. Not like some others that grow out of the pot in a year! The flowers separated themselves with good spacing on the stem so that’s really nice.

 

[terryros]

Deb, that really is a nice plant. A clear cut coerulea with a very long track record. Only three species (mossiae 50%, labiata 25%, and Guar. bowringiana 25%). The bowringiana now makes Big Ben a Cattlianthe (usually abbreviated Ctt.) instead of Cattleya. The 85 point CCM for this plant had 60 flowers on 8 spikes, so it must be able to have 7-8 flowers per spike. Wow!

 

[tomp]

Kudos and bravo!

 

[GuRu]

Great flowers, nicely presented and grown. Well done, Deborah.

 

[Guldal]

I can only join the chorus!

 

[Paphman910]

Love the color of the flowers! So beautiful!

 

[Theodoreorchidking]

Gorgeous

 

[southernbelle]

Deb, that really is a nice plant. A clear cut coerulea with a very long track record. Only three species (mossiae 50%, labiata 25%, and Guar. bowringiana 25%). The bowringiana now makes Big Ben a Cattlianthe (usually abbreviated Ctt.) instead of Cattleya. The 85 point CCM for this plant had 60 flowers on 8 spikes, so it must be able to have 7-8 flowers per spike. Wow!

Thanks Terry for the history. And the correction on the name designation. I can’t correct the title of the thread or I would. Maybe Ray will correct it for me. So where does Portia come from?
I originally got this plant from Jerry very early on. He’d just returned from a show and brought it back. He said it was really nice so I bought it. That plant ended up being lost to virus several years later (probably by my contamination). I liked it but that plant never bloomed like this!
I asked Dave Off and he had one, so I got this one. It’s a meristem. It’s really nice the way it generates all those flowers on an inflorescence yet spaces them out and positions them so nicely. No grooming required. It sort of grows itself.

 

[Ozpaph]

nice blue

 

[terryros]

Thanks Terry for the history. And the correction on the name designation. I can’t correct the title of the thread or I would. Maybe Ray will correct it for me. So where does Portia come from?
I originally got this plant from Jerry very early on. He’d just returned from a show and brought it back. He said it was really nice so I bought it. That plant ended up being lost to virus several years later (probably by my contamination). I liked it but that plant never bloomed like this!
I asked Dave Off and he had one, so I got this one. It’s a meristem. It’s really nice the way it generates all those flowers on an inflorescence yet spaces them out and positions them so nicely. No grooming required. It sort of grows itself.

Portia is a very old primary hybrid, registered in 1897 by RHS. I think the strong coerulea color of bowringiana comes through in Portia and is maintained in Big Ben.

 

[southernbelle]

Portia is a very old primary hybrid, registered in 1897 by RHS. I think the strong coerulea color of bowringiana comes through in Portia and is maintained in Big Ben.

I actually looked it up after I asked, (sorry should have done it before.). I’m still amazed by your research into the CCM with 7-8 flowers per spike!! I guess I shouldn’t feel as good as I did about 6 flowers on mine, because this baby obviously grows itself! But, it gives me great anticipation for what this plant is capable of.

 

[southernbelle]

Thank you, everyone!! I really appreciate your encouraging comments.

 

[LourdesCruz]

Love this one! Second bloom for me. First time 1 spike, 4 flowers. This time 6 on one spike!! Most flowers I’ve ever had on one spike. Second spike forming. View attachment 42862View attachment 42863View attachment 42864

Absolutely stunning. Enjoy