Today, the wealth of intergeneric varieties in the Cattleya tribe is mind boggling. Just looking at some of the parentage and the outcome can really make the Cattleya Alliance one of the most fascinating intergeneric group for the curious at heart.

Traditionally, the world of Cattleyas was dominated by the large corsage-type cattleyas. These plants tended to overtake the greenhouse space. Orchid hobbyists began complaining that they would dedicate all this space, not to mention care, and sometimes they wouldn't even bloom once a year. The goal of breeders seemed aimed at one goal, a larger flower with the same large petals and ruffled lip. Hybrids rarely met the expectations and cloning became the only way to ensure their ideals. Certainly these classic beauties have a place, although long gone are the days of the cumbersome corsage.

If these were the only types of cattleyas you have been raising you probably have a huge greenhouse of mostly green foliage. If that bothers you, you may wish to consider multi-season, intergeneric cattleya alliance. Many of these plants are compact and bloom two to three times a year. For some reason many seem so much easier to grow, and they also seem much more adaptable to a variety of conditions and definitely easier to bloom. Upon maturity, wow, the amount of blooms they can put out on each spike, not to mention the number of spikes, and how long the blossoms last, can be very rewarding.

The benches that we raise our compact intergeneric cattleya alliance is always full of color and fragrance. Each day there is a welcome surprise of new blossoms that made me wonder if some of you may be missing out on these wonderful treasures.

Since there are many orchid houses that specialize in the traditional cattleyas, we have decided to offer mainly frequent blooming, multifloral, compact cattleya alliance.
Basically the only exception is in some of the coerulea types, which can grow much larger.
For me, probably the most amazement comes from the wide range of variability in the shape, color, patterning and fragrance. Within a given cross, we can also discover a wonderful variation on a theme. Since they don't take alot of space we are able to select and keep quite a number for future breeding.

We strive to offer the best possible plants for the best possible prices. On occassion, an orchid may be priced a bit on the "high side". This is when we have very limited availability on what we feel is an exceptional orchid.

We hope that you will discover over time how wonderful the cattleya alliance is, especially after the second or third blooming as the plants begin to reach maturity and the amount of blossoms seems to grow exponentially.

Darrell Sugita,
Orchid breeder, grower