Saturday, May 8, 2010

Cattleya Stonehouse still blooming/hybridization

This is the same plant I posted blooming on Feb 3 and in another post on Feb. 27.  It still has several nice blooms.  Wow!  I decided to cross this plant with two other plants.  I pollinated one flower with pollen from Cattleya trianae 'A.C. Burrage', a famous and very nice form of the species.  Because the parents of C. Stonehouse (Cattleya purpurata, Cattleya mossiae, Cattleya trianae) were semi-alba forms, which are recessive, I expect the offspring of this cross to be perhaps a pale lavender color.  I pollinated two flowers of C. Stonehouse with pollen from my C. mossiae semi-alba 'Blanca' x 'Aurora'. I expect the offspring of this cross to be semi-alba, and have very nice form and fragrance. The second pic is of a developing pod with a tag on it noting the identity of the pollen donor and the pollination date.  When the three pods mature I will remove them and send them to a company that provides flasking services for hobbyists.  About 18 months later I will get some seedlings and if I'm lucky (I'm doing poorly growing seedlings from flasks), I will see flowers a few years later. 

1 comment:

  1. Good luck with your crosses. A quick search at RHS database shows none of your crosses have been registered.
    I believe I have read of companies who will also take your flasks and grow them to a larger size.

    Charlie

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