New purchases at the Flea Market this weekend

This year I had an orchid rebloom...that is a first for me, all of a sudden many of my orchids I had purchased and put in the corner to never see the light again started blooming....I guess I just needed the patience.
Anyway.....I went to the local Flea Market in St. Pete's this weekend and found these two beauties....They didn't have a tag but I'm sure with a bit of searching on DG I'll come up with an answer.

This was $18, while walking around the rest of the flea market, I had about 10 people come up to me asking me about it, so I figured it must have been a good deal.

here's the other one, it was $15 but the smell was wonderful, I was lucky to find one with a bloom and a bud so I picked it up....now that I know there are such delicious smelling orchids....that is going to be a new addiction. Sadly this wasn't tagged either, so no name.

Thank you for letting me post these, I was very happy with them and wanted to share the pictures...this is my first post on the Orchid forum as it's all still fairly new, I'm usually on the rose and tropical forums.
Samantha

First one's a Cymbidium, VERY nice! Second is a Catt. Not sure of the varieties though.

Corrections welcomed!

Could the second be Catt. Mini Purple 'Candy Tuff'?

Thanks tommyr2006, I'm still fairly new so now I have lots of Cymbidium & catt's to look at.

Boojum, mine doesn't have the yellow/white part so much like yours, however it does smell alot like candy so with a name like candy tuff, it sounds like it's related somewhere along the line LOL....does your smell strong?, I was told that it takes 72 hours before the blooms start to smell, is that true?

I saw on another post that you had Phaius tankervillae and that it is supposed to smell? I have blooms on mine but no smell yet, are they tempermental?

They didn't have a strong scent this year, but I think I remember them being strong last year. Mine take about 3 days to start the scent-my theory is that the scent is triggered by the ovaries maturing, but I made that up! So don't go by me. I see what you mean but those pinky ones sure do look alike.

Never noticed a smell on my Phaius but they're a fave of mine as well! Got to repot my big one this weekend.

I do love Cyms and grow them with relative ease. I am not an expert, by any means, on culture...just know what works for me. Your flowers are really lovely and I was about to approach you regarding a trade when I saw how small your plant is. Needs a few years, re-pot after bloom and keep intact. If you keep it out in the winter (I say frost, but some say even into the high twenties) it could be fabulous. Bring it in when it spikes.

Re: Phaius, I would like to replace a tankervillae but currently have a Bebe Chein (is that 'baby dog' in French?) rescue that's about to bloom and had tankervillae for years. The tankervillae had a very faint fragrance after several days (as Boojum stated and I agree with the probable cause). The fragrance may be related to the most opportune time of pollination and attraction of a specific pollinator.

Laurel, I have rescued a Bebe Chien, too. Last year it was struggling, this year it is happily growing and I'm hoping I have flowers next year. Do post pics since I can't remember the blooms.

astcgirl,

We bought three exactly like your first one at Trader Joe's for the same price --must have been three weeks ago, and one is still going strong, on the third flower stem. Very nice plants, the cymbidiums. Someone must have harvested a field of them, and never put in the name tags, since ours had none either.

Thanks Maypoplaurel for explaining abit about cyms and Boojum for your theory on the fragrance for Phaius, I'll keep checking on it....it's in my lanai right now, so I would think that it would need to be outside for it to start smelling....I bought it at Home Depot and it's a little run down, I am going to put it outside into my garden, under the oak tree after it finishes blooming. Hopefully it will send up new fresh green healthy leaves then.

Jplunket, the guy that I bought them from had so many different orchids, he had this one catt that was so huge, it only had 1 flower but it was the size of my hand spread out, if I would have had more cash on me (and no husband tagging along to cast "what do you need ALL those for EYES" I probably would've come home with many more beautiful orchids. He only had 2 types of Cyms there though, this red one and then a white, they seem like a common one though, since I've seen them since childhood, although I thought $18 was a good price, and by the amount of people asking where I got it and how beautiful it was, I feel lucky to have it...it really is breathtaking in bloom. I'll have to check Trader Joe's out, I didn't know they sell plants...I guess they are similar to Costco in the fact they get a few sent to them once in a while, and if your around at the right time, you can come home with some good deals.

Thank you everyone for all the information, and thank you for my new addiction....that purple catt I got is in full bloom right now with 4 flowers and the fragrance is so intense....I keep running outside to the lanai to have a smell all day long....I wish you could bottle it...sadly I can't keep it inside since my husband has allergies to my scented flowers.


Here's the Phaius that I got from HD, you can see how neglected it was, even so, the spikes were beautiful so I couldn't leave it there.

"...and no husband tagging along to cast "what do you need ALL those for EYES" "

LOL, I'm glad I'm not the only one with one of those...


Beautiful blooms on your rescue astcgirl!

Will post Bebe Chein, Boojum. The flowers are now moving to the horizontal. A few more days maybe?

Thanks, oh boy!

I bought one like the very first photo yesterday for 10 bucks! I could not beleive it!

WOW! Congrats!

Here is a pic of mine. Not quite the same but close

Close up

Would it be time to repot after it finishes blooming?

Great find there pdoyle, I'm trying to control myself and not buy too many more orchids....I'm getting overrun with plants right now and running out of room. LOL

I love the color of yours, very fresh looking.

Thanks for sharing.

I'd say yes pdoyle.

Do you have to use tinsnips to cut the plastic cym pots??? They are very thick. I'm due to repot a few.

Boo, water your Cym. well the day before potting and then turn it on its side and roll and knead the pot with your hands. It should come out easily. Let me know.

Laurel

Oh, I'll try that. I would love to save those pots, too.

Thanks for the potting tips Maypop. I'll be repotting when mines done blooming.

Gosh you folks make me feel so brilliant sometimes! If the pot is extra heavy duty, put it on the ground and use your foot.

Laurel