We have another ‘Cattleya’ today to go with yesterday’s Cattleya pumila. This species is native to Central America and has been reclassified as Guarianthe as its phylogeny separates it from the cattleyas of South America.  We have several plants of this species, most are pink and one (the coerulea variety) is purply blue. Coerulea is being time lapse filmed in Bristol for a nature series, and so we only have the pink clones in the greenhouse this week.

Guarianthe bowringiana is native to Guatemala and Belize in Central America. It is usually found in dryish lowland forest and was seen by students on our trip to Guatemala near Yaxha at 300m altitude (see photo below). Plants come into flower during autumn and winter and produce long spikes with many flowers from the robust pseudobulbs.

We find the species enjoys a basket of well draining compost but heavy water when in active growth during the summer. We hang plants higher (and so drier) in the roof of its Warm Americas Section for flowering and over the winter months until growth starts again in the spring.