It could easily be 25 years since it was a seedling. Orchids are like iris in that they just keep on putting new growth and can go on forever.

I would prefer to count the time since the last division. A plant that hadn't been divided for 25 years would be quite a sight in bloom.

It is a very rainy, dark day today but she is still opening blooms. Her leaves look pretty sad. Holes, rips, brown spots.

{{gwi:139797}}

I am not much of a catt. person but Jessica is beautiful. It is quite mature looking someone spent a lot of time growing it.

The flowering Tillandsia is very nice too!

--Stitz--

Not to distract from the charming Jessica, but I love your woods. I want to live there.

J

I thought you wanted to move to Florida John....hmmm....

Jessica is beautiful favorite_kitty!!

I have a large cattleya that I bought this summer from a greenhouse. The label said Kermit. I Googled the plant with no luck. Went back to the grower and he told me that the plant was a seedling in the late seventies. He said the orchids that show up on Google are all the most popular plants or the latest hybrids. He was good enough to print up a history of the plant. Due to reorganization of classes and such, my plant has gone through three different name changes over it's life span. I haven't seen a bloom yet. I can't wait, it was supposed to be something back in the day!

I collect heirloom cattleyas. All are original divisions. And most are over 35 years. Many are 50 years old. And some are 75 years old or older. As someone pointed out, orchids are perennials like irises and grow by rhizome; plant puts out consecutive vegetive growth as the older back end eventually dies off. You have a nice "old" lavender cattleya.

toyo2960,

Will you please share the names of some/all of your heirloom Cattleya please? I have a small number. I would like to take advantage of the knowledge of generations of growers who have ID'ed top plants of the past couple of centuries!

What's with this new GW Orchid Forum format? It's annoying, to be polite....

--Stitz--

My collection basically heirloom white and lavenders.
But classic whites would be C. Bob Betts, C. Bow Bells, C. Tiffen Bells, C. Earl.
And lavenders: Lc. Bonanza, C. Horace, Lc. Princess Margaret, C. Ardentella, Blc. Memoria Crispin Rosales, Lc. Drumbeat, Lc. Prophesy, Bc. Hartland, Blc. Norman's Bay, Blc. Heron's Ghyll.
There are many many more. But those are the most common. I have even older and rarer plants, that I do not want to advertise them in public forum.

toyo2960,

Thanks. I have one in your list, C. Horace 'Maxima'. Two pots with multiple spikes are in progress for a glorious flowering in March? One other one that I look forward to flowering later will be C. speciossissima 'Stanley'.

I gotta get a C. Bob Betts. I keep putting it off and I keep missing out!

--Stitz--

If you can get your hands on old Jones & Scully catalogs from the mid 60s, they have what they called the Imperial Collection. Orchidglade had a wonderful stud list and this would give you an idea of old clones that were popular decades ago.

Stitz I have Bob Betts 'York' and it has been blooming for a long time and the fragrance is outstanding. Bow Bells has just started and has seven glorious blooms just opening. I detect no fragrance on it yet. Go shopping!

Brooke

Toyo what mix do you grow them in and are yours specimen plants. I want my plants to be specimens so I've been changing to lava rock and really big pots.

The heirloom plants have a special draw for orchid lovers. No collection should be without at least one. There are quite a few on this list who collect them, myself for one.

Anyone who hasn't tried them, take the plunge with at least one. You won't be sorry.

toyo2960, Thanks for the reminder re: The Imperial Collection from J&S. I have a copy deep in my archives. Mine is from the mid/late '80s.

Brooke, What was your source for Bob Betts 'York'? Hausermann's used to sell it; it isn't currently listed. That could change according to the time of year, I guess.

There's an auction coming on March 1. If I don't bust the bank after that and the WOC, I might have some cash left over for this great fragrant white!

--Stitz--

Stitz I got mine last year from an elderly gentleman in Cincy who was closing up his g/h. I looked at it this a.m. and it doesn't need dividing until next year or I would give you a couple of back bulbs to play with.

My only regret is at that time, I couldn't take all of his catts. I wasn't the smartest catt person back then because I was growing under lights and space under the HID was limited. There is no telling just how many great old catts he had in his possession. He had been growing orchids since 1954. My big loss I'm sure.

Brooke

Nearly all my collection is heirloom orchids. Aside from some newly awarded ones. My plants are grown in everything from long strand sphagnum in clay pots, to Aussie Grow-type mix. Some are planted in a mix of fir bark and Dynagrow. But with the fir bark, I have to hang the plants from the purlins. The bark if kept too wet will go bad quickly. I'm getting out of bark. Quality is bad now. Much of my plants are in Sphagnum and are hung on purlins in the GH to get as much light as possible. As for Bob Betts 'York' you could try calling them. They might still have the plant. They still have many old cut-flower types. Many of my plants came from the the original Stewarts stud house when they were in San Gabriel. Some from Jones & Scully. The big trouble with older plants is the problem of virus. I know that some of my very old plants are virused. But I tag them and isolate them. But in flowering, they show no visible signs of virus, still I'm careful when dividing and cutting flowers to always sterilize my tools. If you are looking for some heirloom cattleyas, try Chadwick and Sons. Even Waldor Orchids has a few oldies. And always check with local orchid societies where you can talk to the old-timers.

Sometimes you can find jewels while ratting around orchid society sales tables.
example;
Paphiopedilum Harrisianum 'A. J Ball'
In other cases you have to fork out lots of moolah
example;
Paphiopedilum Winston Churchill 'Indomitable'
As for divisions of original Cattleyas, they command high prices and are outside my $ range, but if you have a reliable source you can find mericlones from or close to the mother plant.
C. Horace 'Maxima'
Lc. Gold Digger 'Orchidglades Mandarin'
Tolumnia Willliam Thurston 'Orchidglade'

Someone was looking for C. Bob Betts 'York'
They have them in 2" pots on Ebay but
I saw it listed on this website: http://orchidexchange.com/catalog/cattleyas.htm
in a 5" pot for about $25.