Brassavola nodosa

My Cattleya dowiana was so kind to me-- it waited until I arrived home from vacation to open its blooms! Just stunning. 

When I was acquiring Cattleya species, the "Queen of the Cattleyas" quickly moved to the top of my list. I have limited space, but I decided that it would be worthwhile to devote some of that space to this impressive species. 

I first tried to acquire one from H&R, but he basically refused to let me buy one. He insisted that I really wanted a nice brassavola hybrid. I thanked him kindly for his advice and moved on. 

Fortunately, at just that time, Peter at Diamond Orchids listed 4Nx2N "Midas Touch" dowianas and he happily sent one my way. This is what it looked like in June 2023 after repotting in semi-hydro.

It loved its new takeout soup container home, and proceeded to fill the container with roots. The pot is filled with clay pellet media (leca) and has a 1-inch reservoir. 

The following summer, it produced a new growth that started budding. It took weeks for the buds to mature, but it was well worth the wait. 

Freshly opened blooms on Cattleya dowiana

Experiencing scent is one of the things we have not found a way to digitize and send over the internet. The perfumed aroma of the blooms filled the room-- and in fact, drifted out to draw people into the grow room. They only lasted about a week.

The velvety gold-veined lip is the feature that first attracted me to the species, and these blooms were everything I could have imagined, and more.

After blooming, it only rested for a few weeks before putting out two new growths!