Description
IMPORTANT NOTE: these plants are NOT IN BUD/BLOOM when shipped. PLEASE look at all the pictures in this listing so you know the condition/size of plant you’ll be getting.
Cymbidium Valentine’s Love
Everyone knows what Valentine’s Day is…but do you know where it comes from? Yes, it has to do with a certain Saint Valentine of whom little is known except that he lived during Roman Empire times and was recorded as a martyr for his faith. His story really has nothing to do with the modern idea of Valentine’s Day being a celebration of things romantic. The romantic aspect was invented by none other than Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the most important writers of the English language. In one of his poems, A Parlement of Foules, he basically invented this romantic tradition of Valentine’s Day that has now persisted for nearly 700 years. (You might wonder if the title was a jab at Parliament being composed of fools, but alas, nay… ‘foules’ actually meant ‘fowl’ as in birds. Middle English can be pretty tricky.) Chaucer lived during the 1300s, during the time of the Hundred Years War, a fascinating time in medieval history, the conflicts of which provided some inspiration for many modern works, such as Game of Thrones and Dune (for which there was just another film re-make that will, no doubt, fall quite short). In fact, Chaucer was a member of the English court, and accompanied King Edward on one of his invasions of France, where he was captured by the French but fortunately, King Edward paid the ransom to free him, and a good thing, too, as Chaucer is responsible not just for Valentine’s Day as we know it, but for a good bit of how we communicate in English today.
OK…back to orchids. Cym Valentine’s Love produces beautiful green flowers with intense red lips. The color combo is probably more suited for Christmas than Valentine’s Day, but lovely flowers are welcome throughout the year. This hybrid was bred to be warm-tolerant which means it doesn’t need a temperature drop during the winter in order to bloom at the next blooming season. Plants grow vigorously, and will reach a size to produce multiple flower spikes each carrying 6 – 8 flowers, making for an impressive display.
