Flowering this week in the garden is Cymbidium (pronounced “Some Biddy Yum”) goeringii ‘Datuanyuan’. The evergreen foliage of this woodland, terrestrial orchid, resembles a clump of monkey grass, until it starts flowering in early March. While we have grown these for decades, this is the first flowering of this special cultivar with rounded petals and a more dramatic blotch.
I have a cymbidium with variegated foliage that you have sold in the past. It has been in the ground for a few years now but has never bloomed. Does it normally take these cymbidium many years before they bloom?
Although our plant flowered the first year, it did not repeat in year two. With other cultivars of Cymbidium goeringii, it generally takes a few years for the clump to bulk up well before a regular flowering show begins.
If you were Tony the Greek, you would know these terrestrial orchids are best called, kim BE dee um, not, “Some Biddy Yum.”
You will seldom go wrong if you place the accent on Latin or Greek words on the antepenultimate syllable. If you need a reminder, just remember the popular spinach dish served at Greek restaurants, span oh KO pee tah.