This week’s Orchid Wise Orchid of the Week is… Henri Choo
Parentage: This week’s Orchid of the Week is a cross between Cym. Enzan Shining x Cym. Death Wish
Registered: 2009
The reason why it’s our Orchid of the Week:
Cym. Henry Choo is yet another fascinating plant from the bold and distinctive ‘Death Wish’ line created by Kevin Hipkins of Royal Orchids in New South Wales. As with many of Kevin’s hybrids, this one certainly delivers when it comes to stripes and spots!
Over time, Henry Choo has proven to be a successful plant, with several cultivars gaining popularity. Among them, the most well-known and widely grown is ‘Craigburn’, which leans more toward orange tones. In fact, this is the cultivar I currently grow in my own collection.
Cym. Henry Choo ‘Craigburn’ flowers for me as a small standard, producing upright spikes topped with richly coloured orange blooms that feature an abundance of stripes—making it both eye-catching and unique in form.
Additionally, the photo above shows Cym. Henry Choo ‘Dot Matrix’, kindly shared by Royale Orchids. This particular form could very well be one of a kind, as I’ve personally never come across another Cym. Henry Choo quite like it.
Meanwhile, the image below of Cym. Henry Choo ‘Craigburn’ comes from another Royale Orchids Facebook post. Together, these examples highlight the impressive variation within this hybrid line—and the creativity behind its breeding.
Tracing this plant’s original species ancestors using Orchid Roots, Cym. tracyanum, Cym. insigne and Cym. lowianum are the major species contributors of this plant!