First summer Cattleya bloom.

What a beauty Stan perhaps its the weather.

The color rendition by the camera or my monitor is a lighter color then real life. In person,its a deeper color and reminds me of a velvet.
Also Penny,this is the first its had more then a single bloom. One day it might be a large clump with numerous blooms. I can only hope!

I can imagine it to be a deeper red Stan try taking another at dusk .

That's great it has a few more than usual blooms for you . I am sure it will be a nice clump sooner than later. Have you triedto keep rotating the pot once flowers bud on one side.

Very gorgeous orchid! Cattleya orchids usually bloom during summer. Some varieties can bloom during winter, though.

I have such horrible luck with orchids. The only ones I have luck with is Dendrobium kungianum and even that one didn't flower so well this year for me.

Catts are easy Andy,in soucal. For you,just hang in part sun..dappled shade. Or in a pot with bark. Or mount on a tree once you get the feel of the right light.

I do sprinkle fertilizer on it once a year or so.

Mine has that burn spot on one leaf because of a 100f heat wave 2 summers ago when I was trying to find that right "part sun"..and that one day was too much. I still think it would do even better with more sun its getting now on the porch. That's low rising sun sun-lol. Shade after that.

The problem here is the horribly dry conditions during the Santa Ana's. The humidity drops to single digits and dries them out like crazy! The sun exposure is a problem, also. I know they do best in a shade or lath-house.