Back in March my wife and I visited the US (she had to go for work, so we had a holiday on the end of her work trip). It just so happened that this lined up nicely with the Santa Barbara Orchid Show, so I got to visit the show and several of the Orchid nurseries in the area.

I've been sorting my photos from the trip and thought I would start posting them here as I upload the various groups to the database.

Hope you enjoy them!

First up are the photos from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. It was good to visit the place, as I had previously only read about it. Got to see a number of hybrids I hadn't seen before, too.

I focussed mainly on the Cymbidiums, as I had limited time at SBOE and Cal-Orchid (an Orchid nursery across the road from SBOE).




A different Cym. Doris to what I've seen here (the ones here tend to favour insigne in terms of colour):




This is Cym. Early King, which has the famous Cym. Grand Monarch as one of its parents. I particularly liked this one.




Family photos - Cym. Gattonense (Low's Cymbidium (Cymbidium lowianum) x Tracy's Cymbidium (Cymbidium tracyanum)) and its direct descendant, Sappho (Gattonense x lowianum). I thought it particularly interesting that tracyanum overrode the usually dominant lowianum "vee" lip in the primary hybrid, but in Sappho it's back with a vengeance (which makes sense, given it's 75% lowianum!).




Now, I normally like Cym. tracyanum hybrids, but this was just plain ugly! This was the best photo I could get - many of the blooms just didn't open properly. It's tracyanum crossed with Son of Freak - my understanding is that most, if not all, of the plants of Son of Freak descend from a particular clone of Cym. Cleo's Melody that is normally a ventral (sepal) peloric and seems to breed ventral pelorics.




For comparison, this next plant is a (weak) petal peloric. I generally don't like pelorics, but the petal markings weren't over-the-top on this one and I thought it was actually quite nice.




More in the next post!

Continuing the wall of photos from SBOE:




Lookout, it's another tracyanum hybrid, this time crossed with the Australian-registered Cym. Wallacia (are you sensing a theme yet? )






Cym. Nonna is the famous Orchid (Cymbidium Alexanderi) crossed with the Australian species Bulbed Snake Orchid (Cymbidium madidum):



Cym. Red Cross was hard to get a good photo of. However, I did get a good photo of its progeny (once again, crossed with Tracy's Cymbidium (Cymbidium tracyanum) )





Cym. Patricia Kerwood looked impressive and you can tell it's mostly Low's Cymbidium (Cymbidium lowianum) (~38%) and Splendid Cymbidium (Cymbidium insigne) (~34%).


Gorgeous colour on this Cym. Pebbles.


Only a few blooms were still good on this one, but it was interesting to see it. The label said Point Conception (insigne X Trigo Royale), but when I saw the blooms (in particular the lip) I wondered if it had been made with Orchid (Cymbidium seidenfadenii) (formerly Cym. insigne subsp. seidenfadenii). Sure enough, the registration has been updated to show that that is the case. Cym. seidenfadenii and a few rarer forms of insigne produce some unusual and interesting striped lips.

More photos from SBOE...


This is quite an old hybrid and in the parentage of quite a lot of plants. It was registered in 1939. Not sure of the date that this particular clone was awarded its FCC. As you can see, it strongly favours Cym. insigne, which is over 53% of its genetic makeup (it also has Orchid (Cymbidium Ceres) as a grandparent on both sides).


Two different clones of the same grex:


Not quite sure if this bloom was still opening or whether the weather affects how this grex flowers. On the left is the photo from SBOE; on the right is a photo Ursula took of the same clone at a show, I think.


The tiny Ruby Eyes. This is one of the clones from the 4N remake; the triploid (3N) version is still around (and at SBOE, although I didn't see it in flower), so be aware which one you're getting if you buy a plant of this grex.


Often I am not a fan of Cym. devonianum offspring, as the lip marking is dominant and typically the colour stops abruptly. However, this hybrid was quite nice:





Not my finest photos, but this one was difficult to get a good photo of due to the available angles. Despite its wild appearance, this is a recent hybrid (albeit with one very old parent).


One more batch of photos from SBOE to go...

... and here they are.



This is a hybrid I would love to have, but might have to make myself to get it. It is Cym. Wiganianum, registered in 1902! It is a primary hybrid between Cym. tracyanum and Cym. eburneum. The latter reduces the intensity of the colour and plant size, as well as decreasing the number of blooms significantly. I think SBOE only has the one clone, but quite a few divisions of it.


Finally, a few unregistered hybrids.

Devon Parish X Cym. madidum - a floriferous hybrid, by the look of it.


Cym. insigne X Baltic Christmas. Looks like the pollen parent isn't registered, unfortunately.


Karen X Grands Vaux


Maufant X Red Beauty


Solana Beach X Happy Days - another that is weakly petal peloric.


Tapestry X Cym. tracyanum - like a more red tracyanum.



Last of all, two different seedlings from the same cross (and the only non-Cym I photographed at SBOE).



Hope you enjoyed the photos from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. Once I get the next batch sorted (which will probably be from Cal-Orchid), I will add them to this thread.

How wonderful is that! Loving the show here!
One of my earliest Orchids was Cym Alexanderi and I also had Showgirl which I much enjoyed. And later on I bought Showgirl 'Malibu' from SB Orchids. That one is great because it doesn't grow into a giant space hog, and it is a beautiful easy bloomer.

Great pictures, Joshua! I went to the show a few years ago, but have never gone to the open house. You're doing some great advertising for them!

Super Joshua, just super!! It was just a spectacular posting!

I have some favorites:
Joan Alexis
John Wooden
Robin 'Freckles'
Shifting Sands 'Yellow Bird'
Mighty Inferno

How did you keep yourself from going MAD!!? All of those Cymbidiums?!
Reminds of the time I went to a clock museum in Bristol Connecticut. I love chiming clocks, Wall clocks, Grandfather clocks etc. well the clock museum was just room after room after room after room........ I went running out of there in like 20 minutes! It was just too overwhelming. I felt trapped. Clocks here, clocks there, clocks were every where! Help me Momma!!!

Wish I could grow miniature Cymbidiums, but my climate is just Too HOT to thrive. Cymbidiums always remind me of my Mom and the Mother's Day corsages I used to buy.

Would it help if I post this here? Cymbidiums ranked by warmth tolerance.
( Joshua, I can delete if not)

"Warm loving cymbidiums

Most cymbidiums that are in cultivation require a distinct 20-25 degree difference in the day and night temperature, with the night temperature below 57 at night during the bloom cycle. Additional parameters are below the mid 90s during the day, and above 28 degrees at all times. Many of us live where these parameters just don't exist. The central to southern coast of California is ideal with the marine layer at night, and warm days.

So for those who live in southern states, Hawaii, or have heated greenhouses, or want orchids as house plants in the very northern climes, warm loving cymbidiums are perfect.

Problem is there just isn't a good definition of warm tolerance, nor can we point to exact breeding lines. Many in the cymbidium world have tried to define warm tolerance, but it is difficult. For some, it is heat tolerance, i.e. able to withstand 95 degree Bangkok weather and still flower. For others, it means a narrow difference between day and night temperatures all year long.

Many warm loving cymbidiums will bloom regardless of the difference in temperature between day and night and if the low temperatures are above 60 degrees. These are the ones we are working with. In most cases they will bloom anywhere and in some cases several times a year.

Some come from well known warm loving parents such as madidum, canaliculatum, aloifolium, dayanum, finlaysoniaum, and ensifolium. Most often the offspring will be warm loving as well. However it may depend on what these are crossed with.

Kobsukh Katraena of Pakkret Orchids in Thailand suggests the following heat factor ranking:

Heat Factor

Cym ensifolium subsp haematodes 10.0
Cym canaliculatum 10.0
Cym aloifolium 10.0
Cym finlaysonianum 9.5
Cym ensifolium subsp ensifolium 8.5
Cym dayanum 8.5
Cym bicolor 8.5
Cym atropurpureum 8.5
Cym madidum 8.0
Cym munronianum 8.0
Cym chloranthum 7.0
Cym sinense 5.5
Kobsukh discovered that heat tolerant madidum crossed with cooler loving hybrids will produce offspring that are not as heat tolerant. For Kobsukh in Thailand, Pat Ann, Sunshine Falls, and Parish Madness will lose their buds. In Hawaii these same crosses are all very stable and show no loss of flowers in the warm regions. Even Super Baby 'Autumn King' will drop buds in Thailand, while it is very prolific in Hawaii at most elevations.

Some species will only exhibit warm tolerance in combination with certain other hybrids. And contrary to what one might think, it is often combinations with hybrids that are cool loving, particularly if they are tolerant of high and low extremes. Parishii (sanderae), while not on this list, often produces warm tolerance in combination with other hybrids, as does floribundum. Pearl Sachiko is Olymilum (floribundum x Olympus) x erythrostylum, yet it blooms well here on the Big Island in warm regions, possibly from the floribundum influence. The same can be found with Sarah Jean 'Ice Cascades' (floribundum x Sleeping Beauty) which blooms easily in Hawaii.

The possibility exists that some of these species have different races that are warm tolerant within the species. Parishii (sanderae), insigne, floribundum and devonianum may in fact have cool weather and warm weather races within the species which may partially account for the variability with different crosses warm tolerance.

Another possibility in creating tolerance in hybrids may be in having ancestors that are ensifolium AND floribundum together for example.
Other combinations may create larger flowers and longer life. Toward this end the breeding work continues.

We invite you to send us what you have found that works for you in your region, and the conditions that you have. With your input, we will continue to seek varieties that will work for the largest number of people living in warm conditions. With global warming, this in fact may be an increasing segment of the population.

Aloha,

Bob Harris
Jennifer Snyder"

Gorgeous show Joshua!
How lucky you were to have so many in bloom during your visit!
I'm with Glenn on wishing I could grow them in the heat here. I've tried 2 ... one did bloom, but then got rot...the other grew like crazy but never bloomed and has since been rehomed. They do have such pretty sprays of flowers and I'm thrilled that you shared your photos!

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you're all enjoying the photos.

BigBill said:How did you keep yourself from going MAD!!? All of those Cymbidiums?!

Bill, if you think that's a lot, just wait - that was only Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. There's photos from another nursery (Cal-Orchid) and the show that I have to upload yet!

I will admit that I would have loved to have been able to bring back some plants, but Australian quarantine makes that nigh-impossible for the average person, so going in knowing I couldn't take anything helped a bit.

BBQNBLUES said:Wish I could grow miniature Cymbidiums, but my climate is just Too HOT to thrive. Cymbidiums always remind me of my Mom and the Mother's Day corsages I used to buy.

sugarcane said:I'm with Glenn on wishing I could grow them in the heat here. I've tried 2 ... one did bloom, but then got rot...the other grew like crazy but never bloomed and has since be rehomed.

Glenn and Lindsay, I'm almost certain you could both grow Cymbidiums, given plants with the right genetics and the appropriate media, care routine, etc. for your climates.

Glenn, what is your climate like there? I had a quick look at Memphis weather statistics and it seems to range between 0°C and 34°C (average max. in summer), so I can't see any issues with this temperature range (we often get a week around 40-45°C during summer here, with the rest in the mid 30s).

Lindsay, looking at climate data for Tampa, you should be able to grow Cyms, although the higher minimum may prevent some of the cool-growing species and traditional hybrids from blooming, I expect.

Ursula, feel free to leave that post in.

The next group of photos is from Cal-Orchid, a nursery just across the road from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate. They had a few different genera, but due to limited time I focused on the Cymbidiums.

First, some unregistered crosses.

Cym. ((Culpaulin X Trinity Hall) 'Dacquiri' X (Wootoona X Trinity Hall) 'Cresta')


Cym. ((Gene Siskel X Death By Chocolate) X Anastasia Wright 'Snow Goose')


Cym. ((Herbert George Alexander X Doris) #1 X Enzan Helios 'New Horizon')


Cym. (Orchid (Cymbidium Atalanta 'Geyserland') X Oiso)
There were two different seedlings from this cross. The influence of Atalanta is quite obvious.


Cym. (Orchid (Cymbidium Atalanta 'Geyserland') X Orchid (Cymbidium Pumilow 'New Horizon'))
Very closely related to the above cross, as both Pumilow and Oiso are floribundum hybrids.


Cym. (Coratea X Emerald Therapy)


More in the next post...

More unregistered hybrids:

Cym. (George Formby X John Wooden)


Cym. (iansonii 'FCC/RHS' X Mighty Mouse 'Minnie')


Cym. (Lovely Rain 'Salinas' X Orchid (Cymbidium Tussock 'New Horizon'))


Cym. (Memoria Mark Henbury 'Geyserland' X Peri 'Rogers')


Cym. (Pink Champagne 'F' X Brenda)


Cym. (Orchid (Cymbidium Tussock 'New Horizon') X Orchid (Cymbidium sanderae 'Emma Menninger'))
There were two different seedlings of this cross. One only had two flowers and had more pink in the blooms, whereas the other had seven flowers (very good for the cross) but was suffering rot (it was later cleaned up and will hopefully survive).



Next, the named plants...

Some beauties there!! I love the large markings in the lip in the first picture of the last /Cym Tussock 'New Horizon' x. Looks like someone let loose with a paint brush!

gorgeous all, thanks for sharing , Joshua!

Those second two photos look very similar to my two ancient NOIDs. I'll have to check how long Cal Orchids has been around.

30 years at least!

The dusty pink one was a housewarming gift when I was about 13, that would be about 60 years ago. The yellow one I got in my mid 20s. Obviously not the original plants, but many times divided over the years. The yellow one is declining, and I haven't been able to grow the back bulbs, so far.
Just checked Cal Orchids site. Established in 1987, so that isn't where mine came from.

I'm afraid even if they were around at the time, Carol, those hybrids are new and so wouldn't be the same as your NOIDs. If you've got photos of them, feel free to send them to me (or post them in The thread "NOID Cymbidiums" in Orchids forum), as I've seen a lot more Cyms now than I had a few years ago and might be able to narrow down the ID for you.