C. schroederae

Things have been a little slow in my growing area, and very busy at work, and as such the blog has suffered. The Virginia Orchid Society annual show was last week, and thought I did squeak out the time to swing by for an hour, I did not take my camera and I should have. There were many incredible plants and displays. Also, I ended up with a few now plants that perhaps will be the subject of my next post.

But today is about C. schroederae. This plant is more or less typical of the species. Some of the nicer varieties have a softer lip than this one. Historically this plant was confused with C. trianaei, and it shares similar growth habits. A.A. Chadwick explains, “Cattleya schroederae begins growing in the spring when a late C. trianaei would, and its growth matures with C. trianaei in late summer. It then rests for several months, like C. trianaei, before sending up flowers. The pseudobulbs of C. trianaei and C. schroederae look virtually the same, and one can easily be mistaken for the other. The flowers of C. schroederae, like those of C. trianaei, are also among the longest lasting of the Cattleya species (five weeks is normal), and both C. trianaei and C. schroederae are well-known for their clones with fine, round shape.” If you would like the whole story of C. schorederea you can find it here.