Laeliocattleyas

Lc. Allen Condo 'Joe's Beauty'

(Lc.Summerland Girl x C. Mrs. Mahler)

Lc. Aussie Sunset 'Cosmic Fire'

Lc. Fires of Spring x C. Gene May)

Original plant. The clone 'Cosmic Fire' was mericloned in Australia and some made their way to Hawaii and were sold. The colors and display on a larger plant resemble a fireworks explosion.

Lc. Canyon Lands 'Monument'

(C. Mossy Beauty x Lc. Marti Lind)

Lc. Canyon Lands ‘Monument’ is a creation of the famed Leo Holguin. The clone name he gave it of ‘Monument’ surely fits as the flowers present a monumental display with 3 heavy blooms measuring over 8” across on a stem as strong as a bamboo stake. It is the largest spring lavender I have ever seen that was bred on the west coast.

Lc. Cariad's Mini-Quinee 'Blue Reflections'

(Lc. Mini Purple x C. intermedia)

Coerulea forms were used here. Light blue segments and darker blue lip, heavy substance.

Lc. Egerland 'Blushape' AM/AOS

(Lc. C. G. Roebling x C. Enid (1898))

My awarded plant from 2005, remake of the cross from Jerry Rehfield in CA, Robert Fuchs was on the judging team and he said it was the best "blue" large flowered cattleya he had ever seen.

Lc. Eunice v. alba 'Lookout'

(C. quadricolor x L. anceps)

Registered in 1917 by McBean's. This primary hybrid is a cross between C. quadricolor (choconensis, candida) and L. anceps. The quadricolor gave better shape, the anceps gave wonderful stems and improved flower count. This clone came from Rivermont Orchids and Lenette Greenhouse obtained it to use as a stud plant when Rivermont went out of business.

Lc. Lee Langford

(Lc. Calizona x Lc. S. J. Bracey)

Parents are Calizona x S. J. Bracey, 1948 by Ozzella. One clone in particular has been a strong stud plant and has produced nearly 100 first generation offspring. This clone is called 'Copper Queen', often going by the nickname of "Cripple Queen' because of its tendency to bloom with crippled flowers. But if mated with the right things, it produces offspring that never cripple. Lee Langford is responsible for many famous offspring such as Lc. Maria Ozzella, Lc. Royal Emperor, Pirate King, Carousel, Maitland, Iroquois Trail and even very new hybrids such as Newberry Firehouse from Carter and Holmes. The 'Copper Queen' clone is not that great in of itself, but it is a jewel when it comes to breeding and is highly coveted by breeders and collectors. Back in 2003, Oak Hill Gardens had seedlings from a selfing of 'Copper Queen' and the two clones shown here, 'Copper Moon' and 'Copper Sun' resulted from seedlings I got. So far, these seedlings do not show signs of crippling. One interesting note about 'Copper Queen' is that when it first opens, it is solid yellow with a red lip, but turns the copper/red color within 48 hours retaining the yellow streak down the dorsal sepal. So far, the seedlings from the selfing I have bloomed open one color and remain that color.

Lc. Lemon-Lime 'Lenette'

(C. bicolor x L. flava)

Bred by Lenette, a darling novelty cross that looks like a miniature lemon-lime bicolor, too cute! The color just glows. Clusters of elegant blooms on tall stems way above the foliage.

Lc. Magic Bell 'New Trick' HCC/AOS

(C. loddigesii x Lc. Trick or Treat)

Armacost, 1984, Trick or Treat hybrid, orange flares on segments with silver/pink, large heads of blooms on tall spikes. I honestly think this clone is better than the 88 point AM clone called 'Maria Irma'. If you put in Spring shows, this will knock your socks off!

Lc. Orglade's Royal Lady 'Roman Holiday'

(Lc. Lorraine Shirai x Lc. Royal Emperor)

Lc. Paradisio 'Colossal' HCC/AOS

(Lc. Robertiana x C. Remy Chollet)

Famous stud plant used as a parent in Pamela Hetherington and Nosegay, used by many of the great breeders of the past such as Armacost, Stewarts, McLellan, R. Gore, Jones & Scully, Sea God Nursery and many others. Very rare. This came out of the Stewart's stud house, given to my friend, R.E. Post and passed on to me.

Lc. Peggy Huffman 'Carousel' HCC/AOS

(Lc. Princess Margaret x C. intermedia)

1958. The cross is Princess Margaret x C. intermedia v. aquinii. Princess Margaret is a very fine lavender stud plant that imparts good shape. The aquinii variety of intermedia gives the flares or splash in the segments. Despite the small size and poor shape of the intermedia, the Princess Margaret overcomes this to give decent sized blooms with good shape. This grex is responsible for some of the most famous splash petal orchids known of which some of them have become famous in their own right such as Lc. Colorama.

Lc. Princess Margaret ‘Orchidhaven’

(Lc. Profusion x C. Clotho)

Here is Lc. Princess Margaret ‘Orchidhaven’. When I visited Art Chadwick Sr. in 2015, he handed me a small back division just before leaving as a token of our friendship. It grows well and the blooms don’t show virus despite the plant testing positive for CymMV. It has a pleasing clear color with satin smooth texture and two creamy yellow eyes with a reddish velvet lip. In Chadwick’s book, THE CLASSIC CATTLEYAS, he states that the clone ‘Orchidhaven’ (Patterson’s #2) was outstanding in breeding fine-shaped hybrids such as Lc. Deloris Ziegfeld and Lc. Harold Patterson. The hybrid was registered in 1930 by the British orchid company named McBean. Chadwick himself used it with C. dowiana to make Lc. Powhatan with great results, some even came out yellow. To date, there are 175 first generation hybrids with Lc. Princess Margaret, 3 of them since 2002.

Lc. Platinum Sun 'O-1'

(C. Francis T. C. Au x Lc. Colorama)

Fordyce, one of the few large flowered cattleyas that Frank bred, but what a beauty. Great stems to display the "rainbow" flowers.

Lc. Prism Palette 'The Clown' HCC/AOS

(Lc. Colorama x C. Horace)

Stewarts, Mrs. K. Francis breeding, very similar to 'Mischief' in the photo. Intense candy-like fragrance.

Lc. Royal Emperor 'Wade' AM/AOS

Lc. Lee Langford x C. Dark Emperor)

From the mating of Lc. Lee Langford and Dark Emperor. Only one other clone, 'Chris', has been recognized with an award, also an AM. This grex has been used in over 70 crosses to produce very good things from solid reds to brilliant yellows. In of itself, it is still one of the very best large flowered reds in existence, and so rare in that it contains no Sophronitis coccinea at all like almost all other reds do.

Lc. Sagarik Wax 'African Beauty' AM/AOS

(Lc. Summerland Girl x C. Chocolate Drop)

The cross is made of Lc. Summerland Girl x Chocolate Drop, registered in 1979. Three fourths of its progeny consists of C. leopoldii, guttata and aurantiaca. This says that the flower count on this cross can be very high. It can carry 15 or more blooms per spike. Blooms are very waxy with a lustrous shine that seems to glow. This plant has a very good growth habit in that it stays in the pot a long time and the growths are strong with nice flower stems that hold the blooms well above the foliage.

Lc. Summer Belle 'Miss Liberty' HCC/AOS

(C. warscewiczii x Lc. Princess Margaret)

This hybrid registered in 1986 by Stewarts is a fine semi-alba and one of my favorites due to the "classic" look and the contrasting eyes in the lip. I have heard that this is the only plant from the cross that came out as a semi-alba, all others were lavender. I believe the warscewiczii used was the 'FMB' clone, a famous s/a clone. This clone may be a triploid, thus the reason few offspring exist.