Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Blue Heaven Cattleya Orchid



I fell in love with this orchid and had no choice but to purchase it !   It is a cattleya orchid by the name of Blue Heaven, although in reality it was more of a pale lavender than a blue color.    I am sad to say, that after blooming it died on me; I am not very successful at growing orchids.   Other plants, yes; orchids, no.  However, I was able to capture it in many photographs.   Below are a few more shots I took.




Below is one of many still life setups I photographed of this orchid for use as a reference for a future painting.  I realize that yellow pot doesn't really work very well in this photo as well as the fact that the green pot with the orchid does not fit into it properly,  but I had no orchid ceramic pot large enough to do the job.  Besides, I can use artistic license and paint the pot another color and make it fit when I compose the painting.


"The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days."  - Robert Leighton

We can take a lesson from that quote, or should I say from the flowers themselves.   

3 comments:

  1. Hi Carol,

    It is a beauty and you have managed to capture it well. I love Orchids especially cattleyas. As someone said one has to kill a few orchids :( before you become a sucessess at growing them, it seems to be true for me I killed a few Orchids but now they are thriving and blooming year after year (even though I am not good at taking care of them) they still bloom for me though I dont deserve it. If u need any help msg me and I will give you tips on how to take care of them.

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  3. Hi Rebekah,

    Thank you for your comment and for your offer to help me to more properly care of orchids, but at the present time I have no room for any orchids, except for an occasional gift of one. Dinard's Blue Heaven is still one of my all-time favorites. I have not found another one here in Hawaii since I purchased this one in the above photographs. As a side note, most orchids can be grown outside here in Hawaii. In the winter, on extremely cold nights (50's), they should be brought indoors if they are still in pots. During the winter days, which are usually in the 70's, they can be put back outdoors. As you probably know, some orchids do well under cooler temperatures.

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