Rare Moment

With her best friend Riley in the background, Griffin agreed to pose with the Paph. hainanense I purchased from Oak Hills Gardens, now in bloom.  It's come a long way since November when it was last seen with Lan Lan.  Trixie sent this photo to me when I was out of town.  It came with the message "Griffin ... a rare good moment."  How true.  I was surprised she didn't ask the flower for treats or try to pollinate it with her claw.  Maybe the house is safe for slipper orchids?  Here's a closeup (photo by Trixie):

Vanilla Bean (part 1)

Here, Selena Sabine enjoys the leftovers of a vanilla shake.  Despite a houseful of Catts, Vanilla is arguably the most popular orchid species in the house.  It mostly comes our way in the form of ice cream.  I'm slowly working through Patricia Rain's Vanilla and, for me and the kitties, the most exciting part is the mass production of ice cream in the early 20th century (134-136).  Artificial pollination techniques (increasing the availability of vanilla) combined with innovations in refrigeration to create a delicious taste sensation.  Because this history is dear to her, Bean created a helpful time line:

1851 -- Jacob Fussell opens the first commercial ice cream plant (in Baltimore, Maryland).

1873 -- Creation of the first ice cream soda

1904 -- Ice cream cone first introduced (supposedly) at St. Louis Exposition and World's Fair 

1909 -- U.S. ice cream sales reach 30 million gallons a year.

1919 -- The Eskimo Pie is introduced 

1924 -- The Good Humor bar is introduced

1926 -- Improvements in motorized freezer technology allow ice cream to be packaged and sold in grocery stores

1930 -- The discovery of dry ice helps create a national market for ice cream

Who is Bob Betts?

This photo of Bob Betts was taken at the 1953 Culver City "La Ballona Valley Days" festival about a week before his 27th birthday.  Bob Betts (1926-1984) was born in Los Angeles California to Dorothy and Warren Betts.  Warren managed a lumber company.

Bob Betts was an orchid grower for Clint McDade, the owner of Rivermont Orchids.  McDade's fame in the orchid world primarily came from his white Cattleya hybrids, particularly crosses of Cattleya Bow Bells.  According to Chadwick and Chadwick's The Classic Cattleyas (2006, Timber Press, pgs. 164-168), the most important C. Bow Bells cross was C. Bob Betts (C. Bow Bells x C. mossiae var. wagneri).  C. Bob Betts, registered by McDade in 1950, was the first Bow Bells cross to flower in the United States.  According to Chadwick and Chadwick (pg. 167), C. Bob Betts "became the most awarded white cattleya in the history of the [American Orchid] Society's judging with over 66 quality awards."  The Chadwicks explain that, despite tremendous effort to improve white cattleyas, the standard set by C. Bow Bells and C. Bob Betts has rarely been surpassed.  

The booming market for corsages between 1930-1960 generated a lot of interest in our beloved cattleyas.  Sandwiched in time between Knudson's seed growing technique (1922) and the development of meristem cloning (1964), the creation of white hybrids like C. Bob Betts mark an exciting moment in cattleya history. Hybridizers have also used C. Bow Bells to create scrumptiously colorful catts.  You can buy a piece of orchid history at a reasonable price from Orchids by Hausermann (but it looks as if it's going to take up much more space on your growing table than your average grocery store catt).  Sadly, I didn't find much information about Bob Betts, but the flower after which he is named stands as an undeniable image of beauty.   

Integrationists and Segregationists

An advantage, I thought, of growing orchids indoors was that the cats were indifferent.  Keeping gardenias proved difficult because the cats (well, Griffin, primarily) would eat the leaves and flowers.  The cats seemed to ignore the orchids altogether.  Bean gets excited on watering day.  Sometimes Griffin will jump on the window sill and knock one over.  But, more or less, they leave them alone.

Then I heard a story.  Gaby told me that her cat once ate a Paphiopedilum bloom that was getting ready to open.  Snap.  Just like that.  The cat probably thought it was some kind of treat, or it was simply being vindictive.

Anyway, ever since I heard that tale, I took my Paph. -- which now has a nice bloom that's getting ready to unfold -- and put it in a secure position inside the shelf next to the orchid table.  Lan Lan doesn't seem to mind that her orchid is in a new location, and she has a (surprisingly healthy!) Phal. to look after upstairs.

Out on the World Wide Web, opinions vary widely on the question of separating cats and orchids.  Edin, an orchid grower from Arizona, takes a decidedly segregationist approach, only bringing cut flowers into the house.  Penelope, an orchid hobbyist from Wisconsin, bans her cats from the growing area and uses a chew deterrent spray (bitter apple).  Others have adopted more extreme measures to keep the felines away.

I like CJ Watkins' integrationist approach.  Watkins grows kitty grass and keeps it by his orchids so the cats have an alternative.  We have a similar arrangement with cat nip growing on the bookshelf next to the orchid table.  I think cat grass might be a better choice or, at least, a good addition to the current set-up.  Or should I adopt more aggressive measures now?  A lot of it, of course, depends on Griffin.

Going Catalog Crazy

Sure, plenty of varieties bloom during the winter months and the local nurseries and better grocery stores are fully stocked with orchids.  But the unique mail-order orchids will have to wait for warmer months.  Until then, we will be pouring over the pages and circling the ones we want.

Over at Oak Hills Gardens, then have an economy  special where you pay a flat fee ($30 for Catt hybrids and $50 for Paphs) for ten seedlings that they select.  It's a great price if you don't mind giving up control.  I love the ten Catts they sent me in August, and a couple are only a year or so away from blooming.  Lan Lan thinks we should consider the 10-pack of Paphs.  The mounted B. nodosa looks really appealing, too.


Carter and Holmes has a similar deal with large-sized plants.  The prices are higher (five adult Cattleyas in 5-6" pots for $135), but the buyer will see blooms within a year.  They also have a "Too Big for Their Britches" deal that Lan Lan seemed excited about (discounted orchids that need repotting), but I'm steering her toward the Mini-Compact Cattleya Collection and the rare award-winners in the AOS Special Collection.

Of course, there's plenty of orchid shopping to conduct through eBay or other online vendors, but there's something about leisurely reading through a color catalog that affords a higher-quality shopping experience.  In any case, Lan Lan and I have a lot to talk about before April.   

World's Smallest Kitty

In 2004, Peebles from Illinois was recognized as the smallest cat in the world.  Two years later, Heed unseated Peebles to grab the crown of "World's Smallest Cat."  Now, Bitsy holds the crown.  Bean?  Well, I just put her picture in there to balance things out.  I was thinking about small cats after I read about the discovery of the world's smallest orchid flower in December 2009.  It measures about 2 millimeters across.


The flower was discovered by Dr. Lou Jost, a biologist and mathematical ecologist who has published extensively on orchids, birds, rain forests, and mathematical biology.  Dr. Jost has discovered sixty new orchid species in his career, including a number of Lepanthes and Teagueia species.


Like rules, records are meant to be broken.  With that in mind, I'm hoping in 2010 Dr. Jost discovers his sixty-first orchid (preferably with a flower under 2 mm) and some kitty knocks Bitsy off his pedestal.

My First Orchid

May 2008. This is a photo of photos used in filming “Catervention.” The image is prescient insofar as it foreshadows the whole Cats and Catts experience. On the right, you can see my very first orchid, a mottled purple Phalaenopsis. It had already begun its death spiral and you can see the ugly leaf damage. It was a kind gift from a friend, but I had no idea how to take care of it and the air roots freaked me out. I can’t remember if I overwatered it or underwatered it, but it went to an early grave. I waited over a year before trying my luck again.

Bean and the Big Catt

Here, Bean poses with a Blc. Mem-Al-Na, a large Cattleya hybrid that I purchased from Birds Botanicals.  The light yellow petals and the purple lip are magnificent, but I really bought this one for its heavenly scent.  "Tropical perfume" is the closest descriptor I can use to describe it.  

Fish Friday!

Abe fAbe is the resident fish.  Named after Abe Vigoda, Abe has a prime place in the kitty's house.  He receives an enthusiastic greeting from Trixie every morning ("jazz hands!").  One could argue that he's one of the most spoiled betas in town. Even the kitties show him respect.

About a month ago, he had a case of tail rot that we quickly spotted and treated.  We used water that we had left out for a day or so, thinking that airing it out would allow the chlorine to dissipate.  A friendly worker at Pet World explained that water in our region is infused with chloramine, which can't be aired out.  Abe hasn't had any trouble since we switched to reverse-osmosis water.

Jazz hands!

Dancing to the Drumbeat

Riley was acting like an especially freaky freak, so Trixie took a few photos of him moving around the Lc. Drumbeat 'Heritage' I purchased from Oak Hills Gardens.  Trixie took this photo only a few days after I repotted the plant in a 6" clear pot.  The medium in its prior pot had broken down and started to resemble mush.  It loves the new arrangement and has thrown down dozens of new roots in its new container.  Maybe Riley anticipated the plant's excitement?

Or maybe Riley was celebrating its lustrous pedigree?  Lc. Drumbeat was officially registered in 1969, and Fred Stewart's 'Drumbeat' received HCC recognition (77 points) at the Mid-America Regional Judging in St. Louis in 1970.  Stewart's lesser-known Lc. Drumbeat 'Triumph' also received HCC status with 75 points the same year.  I don't know much about Fred Stewart except that a 1966 (Apr. 17) Los Angeles Times article noted that he was one of the leaders in creating miniature cybidiums.  Most recently, a 'Heritage' plant owned by Eden Hill Greenhouses and Timothy M. Volas received 90 points and a Certificate of Cultural Excellence (CCE) award from the AOS at the 2004 Greater Lansing Orchid Society Show.  It's worth owning AQ+ simply so you can see a picture of this beauty -- thirty-four flowers, 27 buds, and you can almost smell the perfume from the computer screen.

Lc. Drumbeat is bred from no fewer than nine Cattleya species (C. dowiana, C. mossiae, C. warscewiczii, C. trianaei, C. gaskelliana, C. luddemanniana, C. labiata, C. mendelii, C. warneri) over a period of six breeding generations.  Of these species, C. dowiana stands out as perhaps the most important, giving yellow and red veining to the lip.  The yellow petals and sepals of dowiana are extremely recessive, so the lavender in Drumbeat is amply covered by L. purpurata (its sole Laelia influence), C. trianaei, and C. labiata.

Riley made a handy chart so you can keep it all straight:

Relationship to Lc. Drumbeat	Plants in Lc. Drumbeat	Parentage
	Lc. Drumbeat	Lc. Bonanza x C. Horace
Parent	Lc. Bonanza	Lc. Cavalese x C. Prospector
Parent	C. Horace	C. trianaei x C. Woltersiana
Grandparent	Lc. Cavalese	Lc. Lustre x C. Fabia
Grandparent	C. Prospector	C. Remy Chollet x C. Santa Monica
Grandparent	C. Woltersiana	C. Queen Mary x C. Rajah
Great-Grandparent	Lc. Lustre	Lc. Callistoglossa x C. luddemanniana
Great-Grandparent	C. Fabia	C. dowiana x C. labiata
Great-Grandparent	C. Remy Chollet	C. Monarch x C. trianaei
Great-Grandparent	C. Santa Monica	C. Lord Rothschild x C. mendelii
Great-Grandparent	C. Queen Mary	C. mendelii x C. warneri
Great-Grandparent	C. Rajah	C. Empress Frederick x C. Enid
Great-Great-Grandparent	Lc. Callistoglossa	C. warscewiczii x L. purpurata
Great-Great-Grandparent	C. Monarch	C. Empress Frederick x C. trianaei
Great-Great-Grandparent	C. Lord Rothschild	C. dowiana x C. gaskelliana
Great-Great- Grandparent	C. Empress Frederick	C. dowiana x C. mossiae
Great-Great- Grandparent	C. Enid	C. mossiae x C. warscewiczii