Tolumnia Pink Panther in bloom

Tolumnia Pink Panther

     My Tolumnia Pink Panther came into full bloom  during the Holidays, about a week ago by my estimate.  These flowers have far exceeded my expectations.  Rather than the pastel cotton pink I've seen elsewhere online, my Tolumnia has deep purple flowers.  I had a very difficult time getting the true color to show up on these photographs, which tended to make it seem lighter and pinker than in real life.  The flowers are intensely saturated.

Tolumnia Pink Panther closeup

     And best of all, the flowers are scented!  The orchid has a very pleasant floral scent during the day--it smells just like a flower shop. The scent is fairly strong in the mornings and daytime, but disappears by evening.

   There are 14 flowers, each of which measures about an inch in height and width.  I wonder if there could have been more if the cat hadn't bitten off the original spike. Either way, the flowers make a nice display, and there are side spikes already growing for subsequent rounds of blooming.

Tolumnia Pink Panther flower closeup

    This is my favorite of the flowers, because of the string of spots on the skirt.  The spotting seems to be randomly distributed on the flowers, ranging from none to as many as six.  

Variation in Tolumnia Pink Panther flowers

     Generally, the flowers show much less variation than my Tolumnia Genting Orange did last summer.  The depth of color and the pattern of spotting differs on each flower, but the shape of the petals is fairly consistent.  Part of the reason may be that I've reduced my usage of Superthrive.  However this may also be a difference in the hybrids themselves.  I'll be curious to see how both plants flower in the future.

    Given that Tolumnia Genting Orange bloomed for 3 months (and would have gone even longer had my cat not demolished the spike), I am very much looking forward to enjoying these flowers for the next few months.