This week’s Orchid of the week is… Cym. Sarah Jean
Parentage: This is a cross between Cym. floribundum × Cym. Sleeping Beauty
Registered: 1973
The reason why it’s our Orchid of the Week:
Cym. Sarah Jean is probably the most popular and successful miniature pendulous Cymbidium orchid ever. It has been widely awarded since its release, everywhere around the world, probably too many times to count.
Sarah Jean was bred by R. Vandyke and then registered by Valley Orchids in 1973. A cross between the species Cym. floribundum × Cym. Sleeping Beauty. Probably two plants I wouldn’t think of crossing! But it produced an immensely popular Cym.
There are a multitude of varietals to come out of this cross, all of which have been popular. You can obtain yellows, varying shades of green, pinks, apricots, and of course the ever popular white – the most popular being Cym. Sarah Jean ‘Ice Cascade’.
It is a mid season Winter flowering miniature variety that flowers on mass with lots of hanging spikes and is an impressive specimen to see when grown to its full potential.
This plant has been so successful that it has now been used as a parent more than 120 times in further breeding!
The image used above has been borrowed from the Gardenia website.
It is widely grown everywhere around the world, so it won’t be hard to get hold of one if you are in the market. It is a great beginner’s plant and also features in our article 6 Cascading Cymbidium Orchid Hybrids to Get Your Collection Started!
Looking back at the original species ancestors of Cym. Sarah Jean using Orchid Roots, obviously Cym. floribundum is a 50% contributor, but Cym. insigne and Cym. lowianum are the major other contributors present in the distant background.