More than a year ago, a friend sent me this plant. She said it's a Brassolaeliacattleya Haadyai Delight which is a complex hybrid of orchids from three related genera, Brassavola, Laelia and Cattleya. It’s blooming for the second time since I got it. The flowers are lightly scented and are about 4 inches across.
It was given to me in 2008 along with a Laelia briegeri and a small Brassoepidendrum (see photo below). The laelia, left, has flowered several times since then but the mini bepi, right, hasn’t shown much progress. In fact, I think its growth and size has regressed a little.
The last time this big golden yellow Blc. flowered was nearly a year ago, in September 2009 when it also produced 2 buds. Such a long time between flowerings when you look at the dates but honestly, I actually thought the last flowering was earlier this year. I had to look up some old photos in my photo archives to check when it last bloomed.
Yes, it’s quite a long wait but I have many other orchids to keep me busy. In fact, I hardly noticed this plant until the two golden blooms appeared and caught my attention when I was photographing a blooming Dendrobium linguella some days ago.
The photo above was taken with a pocket camera; thought I’d include it just to show the difference between this and the first two which were shot with a prime lens on a DSLR.
A nice healthy plant of a decent size shouldn’t cost more than RM40 in KL nurseries. If you like large golden yellow catts, this is definitely one to have in your collection!
