Cymbidium Valerie Absolanova

[mrhappyrotter]

Cymbidium Valerie Absolonova is Cymbidium Golden Elf × Cymbidium Peter Pan. Both parent hybrids are amongst the most famous miniature Cymbidiums, and this hybrid is an excellent pairing. In fact, I would say that Cymbidium Valerie Absolanova is my current favorite Cymbidium hybrid.

This is actually a slightly older photo, as I just removed the spike tonight after most of the flowers have faded. This has been in bloom since around Thanksgiving (IIRC) and the plant is currently producing a new spike that's just starting to open its flowers.

The reason I like this plant is for the fragrance of the flowers and the almost sepia tone color of the flowers. The scent is like ensifolium or some varieties of goeringii. There's definitely a musky women's perfume that I've smelled many times in the past that is surely inspired by the scent of these flowers.

It's also very easy to grow and more importantly, very easy to bloom.

 

[Ozpaph]

makes a nice display.
Is it warm tolerant?

 

[Linus_Cello]

Where did you get this from?

 

[mrhappyrotter]

makes a nice display.
Is it warm tolerant?

Yes! I've grown and bloomed it purely indoors in the past. However, more recently I have been growing it outdoors in the summer where temperatures sometimes exceed 100F/38C and night time lows rarely drop below the low 70F / 21C range. This hybrid seems to bloom sporadically, sometimes even in the warmer months of the spring and summer. So my impression is that it's a warm grower and can bloom in warmer conditions.

On the flip side, it's capable of handling temperatures near freezing (33F/0.5C) for sure. I built a small greenhouse last year that I keep minimally heated in winter. As this is my first year, I've had some growing pains including finding a reliable thermostat, so my greenhouse plants (including most of my Cymbs) all accidentally experienced very low temps. This one was in bloom and even the flowers showed no signs of damage.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Where did you get this from?

This plant came from a local NC vendor who closed in 2020 called The Orchid Trail. I'm not sure where they originally got it, but if I recall correctly, they were purchasing a lot of orchids from Hawaii around that time. Granted, this was the only plant they had of this hybrid when I bought it, so it may have been a division from their personal collection.

 

[MorandiWine]

I wish this was posted a few months ago! Lol! As part of my training to become an AOS judge, us lowly students are required to make presentations on various topics. My most recent topic was Cymbidium ensifolium. Cymbidium Valerie Absolonova Is likely THE MOST successful Cym ensifolium hybrid. With 50% Cym ensifolium, it is a warm grower and relatively free flowering, bred specifically to grow in the heat of Florida by the late Milton Carpenter. Mr Carpenter and a handful of other trailblazers including Andy Easton, are credited with blazing the trail for WT (warm tolerant) Cyms. Now there are “Standard” looking Cym hybrids that have a touch of WT, but not to the same extent as Valerie Absolonova. The new “go around” is breeding Cymbidiums with Grammatophyllum! The future for WT Cymbidium breeding is something to watch with great interest for sure. BUT we have your plant that was and still is one of the most important plants in this exciting direction in breeding even after 35 years!

Tyler

 

[mrhappyrotter]

I wish this was posted a few months ago! Lol!

Tyler

I should have posted last year when it first started blooming, but I'm not super consistent about posting.

Agree with what you said about Valerie Absolonova, it's a wonderful hybrid with a wonderful history.

I've got a handful of Grammatocymbidiums in my collection as well, though most of them have been purchased in the past 2 years as small seedlings so not fully mature. I'm pretty sure the Grammatocymbidium Lovely Melody (C. ensifolium x G. scriptum) is large enough to bloom this year and I'm really looking forward to that.

My only hesitation with Grammatocymbidiums is that my research has lead me to believe they are not as cold tolerant as most pure Cymbs. Since I'm mostly curating my collection towards those that can survive in a minimally heated greenhouse in winter, I don't want to get too invested in things with Grammatophyllum in them only to find out they can't handle it.

 

[Ray]

I'd love to get a hold of one to try, here at the beach...

 

[MorandiWine]

I should have posted last year when it first started blooming, but I'm not super consistent about posting.

Agree with what you said about Valerie Absolonova, it's a wonderful hybrid with a wonderful history.

I've got a handful of Grammatocymbidiums in my collection as well, though most of them have been purchased in the past 2 years as small seedlings so not fully mature. I'm pretty sure the Grammatocymbidium Lovely Melody (C. ensifolium x G. scriptum) is large enough to bloom this year and I'm really looking forward to that.

My only hesitation with Grammatocymbidiums is that my research has lead me to believe they are not as cold tolerant as most pure Cymbs. Since I'm mostly curating my collection towards those that can survive in a minimally heated greenhouse in winter, I don't want to get too invested in things with Grammatophyllum in them only to find out they can't handle it.

I would have to think that if the Cym was pod parent that the seedlings would carry more CT tendencies. And vice versa. A gentleman in Thailand (Pakkret) is really doing a ton of Grammatocymbidiums, but mostly the Gramms appear to be the pod parent. Makes sense for his climate.

There is a dwarf Gramm scriptum that might be fun to play with…..gears are turning. Lol

Tyler

 

[tomp]

us lowly students are required to make presentations on various topics

Tyler just for the record. At our center we don’t consider our students as lowly, you are in fact our future!

 

[mrhappyrotter]

There is a dwarf Gramm scriptum that might be fun to play with…..gears are turning. Lol

Tyler

I have to take back what I said about having multiple Grammatocymbiums. I bought a bunch of seedlings of Pakkret breeding last year, and for some reason I was thinking some of them were Grammatocymbidiums but when I checked earlier I realized they're all pure Cymbidium. So, apparently I only have one Grammatocymbium, the Lovely Melody I mentioned. I really like a lot of the Pakkret hybridization lines, since they seem to rely heavily on Jensoa species which are kind of my thing.

I do have that dwarf form of Gramm scriptum. In fact, it's in bloom right now with multiple spikes of flowers. I probably should photograph that and post as well since the first of the flowers are just now starting to fade. It's quite floriferous and seems to send up spikes several times a year. Very neat little thing. I just wish the fragrance was more pronounced, since that's the main reason I bought it.

 

[NYEric]

Tyler just for the record. At our center we don’t consider our students as lowly, you are in fact our future!

It's a trap