How popular is the cattleya orchid plants? Are they grown
by hobbyists or not? How big is the flower? Why are they
not popular?

Before we get into the answers for these and other
questions let's look at a bit of history of the cattleya. It is
fascinating! Cattleya orchids have been named since the
early 19th century.

William Cattley was credited with starting some hybrids
from orchids sent to him as packing. The earliest named
cattleya was the Cattleya labiata. Since then there has
been a mystique about them. From the hobbyist
perspective they are probably the most popular plant
.
The cattleya orchid plants have one of the largest flowers,
5 inches across. They are harder to grow as most of them
flower only once per year. And the flowers last only about 2
- 3 weeks.

Although the hobbyists are the ones particularly taken with
cattleya plants now. They are becoming popular with non-
hobbyist because of the size of the flower. These large
flowers are exquisite and unique for corsages.

For the cattleya orchid plants to become a main-stay of
orchids several things are happening today. The new
hybrids are lasting longer and they are blooming more
than once per year.

It has been shown that the orchids now can be bred for
more frequent blooming. This is important for the non-
hobbyist who doesn't want the plant to be just leaves for 49
weeks a year.

Cattleya orchids also will show the flower for more than 2-3
weeks and some of the hybrids have been shown to have
flowers for up to 5 -6 weeks.

Blooming more than once per year is important and
actually has sponned another sub-industry. Some of the
nurseries across the country will "board" your cattleya
between blooming seasons.

Currently the orchid registry in England has not added
many hybrids. Over the last 100+ years the numbers have
been essentially stagnant. This means these orchid plants
have been primarily in the hands of hobbyists and not the
general public.

Cattleya must be easier for folks to grow because most of
us do not enjoy the benefits of a greenhouse.

Indeed, cattleya orchid plants growers have been making
some good progress in the frequency of cattleya blooming
frequency and increasing the length of time that the flowers
stay in bloom. I feel it will be over the next 2 - 5 years you
will see the popularity of these beautiful plants increase.