Cattleya mendelli ‘herrenhausen’

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Well we are off on our travels now. Retired and starting our last adventure.
The house in East Anglia is sold and we’re currently house sitting for friends on the North Wales coast before moving down to Cornwall at Christmas.
The orchids are having to take refuge in a variety of windowsills with less light than they are used to. They will survive even if flowering is reduced for some.
This is another division with a dodgy label. Mendelli should grow in the summer and flower the following spring like mossiae. This one has flowered for three years now in the autumn, like an early labiata. If the label is correct then there should be some sign on the lower lip of a darker colour, but nothing shows up.
I like to flower a lot whatever it is. It’s an incredibly delicate palest pink and has a lovely scent. When I get it to bloom on a large growth it should be really nice.
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David
 
Dear David,
Wishing you all the best on your pensioner's pilgrimage!
Hope your new home will be with large, sun-filled windows, and that all your wonderful Catt.s won't suffer in the shade of Tintangel!
Kind regards, Jens
 
Lovely flowers David. I wonder if the moving around in less than ideal conditions caused the floppy
dorsal. Are greenhouses allowed in Cornwall???? Are you taking that gorgeous Magnolia with you?
I'll miss those beautiful flowers in the background of your Catt. photos. Be well and enjoy your
new home. Post photos for all of us to enjoy your move.
 
Jens, I’ll be joining Leslie and growing at least part of the collection under lights. The new abode has nothing like the number of sun filled windowsills that the old one did. The good thing about that is that the lighting available nowadays is excellent.
Angela, the dorsal is not floppy at all. It’s really quite hard. It just doesn‘t face the front as much as the other sepals. Greenhouses are allowed everywhere in the UK. They don’t need any sort of planning permission unless they are huge. But our place will not have one. With the high cost of electricity I am converting the smallest bedroom into a plant room with lights.
I will definitely post some photos when we are in!
 
Wonderful that you'll have a room in the house for a lighted place to grow your orchids. Sometimes in the winter
going out to the greenhouse is cold and damp...sometimes slick with snow and ice. I think I'm a tad envious. :>)
 
David, best wishes as you commence your next chapter. I retired (again) 8 years ago and interestingly, I have never been busier. Fortunately, most of what I do now is in the category of “want to”. Bon voyage!
Tom
 
David, I am mostly retired growing everything indoors under LED lighting. It works. Headroom has to be considered, which a greenhouse and windowsills don’t usually have to deal with. Deb (southernbelle) and I have dug through many issues with our indoor LED setups but would only give asked for suggestions.
 
Congrats on your retirement. And best of luck with the move. Growing under lights has its pros and cons but once you get the setup of properly will work nicely. The plants may take up to 2 years to adjust.

This flower’s ID is doubtful but let’s wait another year or two to see what it will do.
 
Thanks everyone. I already grow some phrags and catt division under a set of T5 lights so it’s not going to be a completely new experience for me. They do pretty well there, especially the phrag.
Interestingly I received some information from Hilmar about this clone. It cam many years ago from the famous botanic gardens which bear its clonal name. He tells me that it can flower both in the autumn or spring.
Looking back I did find that there was a blotch on the lower lip in a previous year, so more akin to a mendelli.
There is a famous mendelli concolor clone in South American called Bucaramanga which has flowers very similar to this one. So maybe it is the species.
 
Thanks everyone. I already grow some phrags and catt division under a set of T5 lights so it’s not going to be a completely new experience for me. They do pretty well there, especially the phrag.
Interestingly I received some information from Hilmar about this clone. It cam many years ago from the famous botanic gardens which bear its clonal name. He tells me that it can flower both in the autumn or spring.
Looking back I did find that there was a blotch on the lower lip in a previous year, so more akin to a mendelli.
There is a famous mendelli concolor clone in South American called Bucaramanga which has flowers very similar to this one. So maybe it is the species.
I do have the aforementioned mendelii albescent ‘Bucaramanga’ but looks different and very mendelii shape with porrect (forward) narrow petals and a long lip with green yellow center. The color is very very white with imperceptible blush pink. This one doesn’t look like it. Bucaramanga also doesn’t make the blotch.

That said, it may be a similar variety in this ilk. If the garden still exists, would be nice to trace provenance of plant?
 
Lovely flowers, David. All the best to you in your new home Cornwall.
There are nice places there which I could see during my first journey to Great Britain in 2005.
That said, it may be a similar variety in this ilk. If the garden still exists, would be nice to trace provenance of plant?
Of course do the Herrenhäuser Gärten still exist. They are situated in the city of Hannover in Germany.
 
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Love the soft pastels, and it looks massive, do you have the measurements?
 
Late to this thread, took me a bit to find it, felt like I missed something big after you started posting the phrags on travel. Congrats on the move, spectacular landscapes… I am enjoying your picture tours. I too grow under LED’s, happy to provide feedback if ever needed. Looking forward to seeing your new setup!
 

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