Hi, Judy,

Congratulations on the Irene's Flame blooming. Why doesn't it have the flowing line, as it did when you got it?

And, if it has a name, is it still a NOID? I'm not quite following you.

Your spring sounds lovely - almond trees and red anemones. Here in Minnesota, we'd have to drive a lot farther than 80 kms to be able to take our coats off. :) Monday night, it's supposed to be -2F here. How nice that you can escape the cold after a short drive.

My experience w/ Catts is nil, but maybe others will chime in.

Whitecat8

Your Epicatt will need more light than your phals to rebloom. Do you have a south window?

Brooke

Hi, savtaj. I grew Don Hermann in my catt days. It blooms in clusters of gold flowers. The flowers last a very long time. A mature plant might have 6 or more clusters, and puts on quite a show for at least a couple of months. I think you will like it.

As I recall, it doesn't grow tall, but a mature plant can get quite wide. Brooke is correct, it will need a lot more sun than your phals to thrive and bloom. Ease it gradually into more sun. It can take sun except for the 4- maybe 5 hours of hottest sun overhead.

As for flowing lines of a few open flowers and buds of descending size on phal spikes-- yes, that's lovely, and quite common. Your plant may put out more buds by onesies and twosies at the end of the spike. A longer spike with more buds may come next year. (Next year is the gardener's magic mantra).

Enjoy your success and your new venture into Catts.

Dear Whitecat, Brooke,
Thanks for you comments. I'm sorry I didn't answer sooner. I was trying to add photos to this post. I did succeed in the past, but this time it isn't working. Anyway, if you want to see a pic. of my latest acquisition (while it is still flourishing), I did manage, though, to post a photo in the Gallery.

Brooke: Thanks for the advice. I'm just wondering how much this would apply to Jerusalem. We are at 32N latitude, 800 metres above sea level with a Mediterranean climate -NO rain whatsoever from mid-May till October. No, we don't have a south-facing window -thank goodness! South would fry people in the summer, not to mention plants! This east window gets four hours of direct sun in these late winter mornings(from 7-11 am)-much more in the summer. Our west windows are actually WSW and get a LOT of sun - I have to be careful that the phals don't burn. I suppose I really should change the plants around and place the phals East and the Epicatt West. However, I would like to wait until the phals finish blooming before I move them, and possibly enjoy the Epicatt. blooms while they last, because I need the bright yellow to cheer me up while I battle on at the computer. I can wait a bit for the next round of flowers. What do you think?

Whitecat: I can see now that I wasn't all that clear. Irene's Flame isn't a registered name, was just invented by the people who marketed this phal. That's why it is a NOID. My comment about the flowing line was just a matter of nit-picking aesthetics. The nine flowers on the stem are all bunched up together and facing in various directions. They are still beautiful.
Yes, spring is the nicest season in Israel. It continues till the last rains in May, then everything dries up pretty quickly. Summer is HOT, especially for tourists. The locals retire to air-conditioned comfort indoors. And would you know, it's snowing outside? No wonder everyone is sick.
I always enjoy your posts, even if I can't contribute. I especially liked your thread on post-Valentine's day. Hope your latest addition is doing well.
Judy

Hi Mehitabel,
You posted while I was still clattering away. Thanks for your good wishes and advice. Don Herman will GO WEST eventually.
Why did you stop growing catts? I know from previous posts that you enjoy raising phals. If it's an aesthetic thing, I think I agree with you. I nearly bought a dark purple phal that was almost black...but I needed the yellow, so I stuck with the Don Herman and the challenge involved.
Judy

Hi, Judy, nice to chat with you. I stopped growing catts because it was too hard for me to give them the right amount of shade/sun in summer to get blooms. I could do it, and I got blooms, but it was such an effort. When I discovered how much easier phals were to bloom, and how many flowers and such a long blooming period I could get from them, I just decided to switch over. Save the wear and tear on me :)

I agree with you about how beautiful phals are, tho. I do love phals. They're *grateful* plants, user-friendly and reward you lavishly for a little care. They're easy and grow fast. And they really are beautiful and so varied in the kinds of beauty they offer; they bloom a long time, and many of them bloom just when they're most needed here--in winter, when 4 days out of 7 have no sun.

Yes, golden-yellow flowers are just wonderful, and sometimes they're exactly the right note. Plus the Don Hermann's have that cute wide epi lip with red marks, so they're fun up close.

With your much sunnier climate, you will have to feel around for the right amount of sun for your catt. Four or five hours of direct sun a day would be good. What I do if the sun gets just a little too hot in a window is just turn a fan on the leaves. Cools them just enough to keep from burning.

Send some of that sun up here!