This week’s Orchid Wise Orchid of the Week is… Cym. Barb ‘Wish Upon A Star’
Parentage: This week’s Orchid of the Week is a cross between Cym. Alegria x Cym. Winter Wonder
Registered: 1993
The reason why it’s our Orchid of the Week:
This week, we take a trip over to Western Australia for a lovely hybrid by Ezi-Grow Orchids. As always, Ezi-Gro Orchids has been a good supplier of a huge range of in-house hybrids, so be sure to check out their website. In fact, I’m sure you’ll find something that appeals!
First up, this hybrid, Cym. Barb, always had good potential, with one of the parents being the ever popular Cym. Winter Wonder. Indeed, breeders have used Cym. Winter Wonder as a parent over 100 times, and besides that, it’s an old favourite of mine with large white blooms and spotted lips. Meanwhile, the other parent, Cym. Alegria, has Cym. Balkis and Cym. Alexanderi in the background, so it’s also a winner! Together, this combination results in a very attractive standard bloom with a strikingly dark maroon coloured lip. On top of that, flower counts are also quite good, so overall, this one won’t disappoint in your collection.
Finally, Kevin Butler, of Ezi-Gro Orchids, has since used Cym. Barb in four further crosses, so I’d be interested to see where things have gone from here.
Tracing our Orchid of the Week’s heritage through Orchid Roots reveals its primary species ancestors are Cym. insigne, Cym. lowianum and Cym. hookerianum.