The beautiful orchids we see on all orchids shows, during autumn and winter period. So vibrant, so big and bold, yet a bit too big and somehow intimidating.
Cymbidium orchids. These amazing beauties coming from the Asian region have been with us humans for a very very long time, it's interesting to start this post in saying that there are records as old as 4000 years old of people growing cymbidium orchids back in ancient China.
What was first cymbidium or tea?
You probably remember my earlier entry : Learn all about cymbidiums, where I described this beautiful genus and care about it. But I'd like to share some interesting things that i skipped.
First of all although some of the biggest fame of these orchids have faded, because its momentum was back in the 1950s when the world was absolutely crazy. It's known that Jackie Kennedy would always appear on big events having a beautiful corsage made of flowers of cymbidium. Today they are still very popular as their flowers are used as decoration on big events, weddings and in some famous movies like The Great Gatsby - you remember the Scene when Gatsby is supposed to meet Daisy for tea? Yeah that whole room is cymbidum orchids.
These orchids found it easy to grow in Australia and California therefore these two regions of the world quickly become a big distributors of these beautiful plants. They are also very popular in Europe though not everyone can grow them as they require a big temperature drop and in autumn time it should spend the day and night outside - without a balcony or a garden that's almost impossible. For a period of time they were very popular in the Victorian England, and were widely cultivated in the houses of the rich. This success was thanks to the fact that cymbidiums can survive a drop of temperatures down to almost 5 degrees celcius, and the British isles with their mild almost frost free winters had the perfect climate.
Now, of all orchids, cymbidiums are one of few types that can grow in almost any environment, saying this I mean they can grow from mounted, through bark and normal soil - yes normal soil which is a killer for other orchids. They are also known to grow on stones. And these plants can be divided in two groups, one which require cold nights and these which don't. It's because cymbidiums depending on the parentage will have different blooming seasons. There are hybrids and species that will bloom from winter to autumn.
When it comes to the qualities, they have a wide range of fragrances they have, and back in the ancient China the famous philosopher Confucius would call them the King of Fragrance - that stands for something!
When it comes to colour, you are spoiled for choice as cymbidium orchids are probably one of the few orchid types that are available in almost all colours. From white to almost black. On the attached images you can see the beautiful sprays of yellow, green, red, orange, pink! And there is more, and now there are hybrids which have spots and petals which are in a different colour than the lip which is in a deep contrast with marking! Oh the joy!
And the last interesting fact is that they are very hard to kill. As the plant gets old we should re-pot it to prevent the roots from dying from suffication, and then we can cut the old and supposedly dead bulbs which look horrible. But never throw them out, instead leave them on a bottom of moist bark or moss and wait for a bit and you will have a brand new child of your beautiful cymbidium. Knowing this disposed bulbs can even sprout by themselves if you leave them on grass or somewhere warm.
Cymbidium orchids. These amazing beauties coming from the Asian region have been with us humans for a very very long time, it's interesting to start this post in saying that there are records as old as 4000 years old of people growing cymbidium orchids back in ancient China.
What was first cymbidium or tea?
You probably remember my earlier entry : Learn all about cymbidiums, where I described this beautiful genus and care about it. But I'd like to share some interesting things that i skipped.
First of all although some of the biggest fame of these orchids have faded, because its momentum was back in the 1950s when the world was absolutely crazy. It's known that Jackie Kennedy would always appear on big events having a beautiful corsage made of flowers of cymbidium. Today they are still very popular as their flowers are used as decoration on big events, weddings and in some famous movies like The Great Gatsby - you remember the Scene when Gatsby is supposed to meet Daisy for tea? Yeah that whole room is cymbidum orchids.
Now, of all orchids, cymbidiums are one of few types that can grow in almost any environment, saying this I mean they can grow from mounted, through bark and normal soil - yes normal soil which is a killer for other orchids. They are also known to grow on stones. And these plants can be divided in two groups, one which require cold nights and these which don't. It's because cymbidiums depending on the parentage will have different blooming seasons. There are hybrids and species that will bloom from winter to autumn.
When it comes to the qualities, they have a wide range of fragrances they have, and back in the ancient China the famous philosopher Confucius would call them the King of Fragrance - that stands for something!
When it comes to colour, you are spoiled for choice as cymbidium orchids are probably one of the few orchid types that are available in almost all colours. From white to almost black. On the attached images you can see the beautiful sprays of yellow, green, red, orange, pink! And there is more, and now there are hybrids which have spots and petals which are in a different colour than the lip which is in a deep contrast with marking! Oh the joy!
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Some pictures presented in this article may not belong to me and are a property of their respectable owners.
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