Cymbidium Carolyn Smith Bolton

[Fairorchids]

Long story here:

When the Lois Duffin nursery closed, I bought about 40 of their Cymbidiums. One was a just BS plant, where the label read: seidenfadenii x Cindy Lou. Since I met Gunnar Seidenfaden several times back in the late 1960's & early 1970's, I paid special attention to this plant.

Cym. seidenfadenii used to be considered a sub-species of Cym. insigne, but it has been elevated to a separate species now. The plants in this complex set tall inflorescences straight UP (4-5' tall), with 20-25 flowers. It made me wonder why anyone would do this type of breeding. When looked it up in the RHS database, I discovered that it was made by George Hatfield, and named as shown above.

Cindy Lou = Dolly x Sarah Jean, both of which are 50% Cym. floribundum, so the genes are there for a miniature with a high flower count. My plant blooms reliably in Nov/Dec (even without going outside for the summer), and then it usually blooms again in March. It sends the inflorscences straight up, without need for staking.

Eventually, at a show in Pittsburgh, I met Ms. Carolyn Smith Bolton, who told me that her two plants of this grex have characteristics very different from the one I have. She has promised me divisions next time we see each other.

Lastly, I managed to get the plant in for judging this past weekend (in Philly). The judges agreed, and scored it 82 pts for an AM/AOS.