Myth and Legend: A Fine Tale from the World of Agriculture
Xinchang in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, is a picturesque small town in the Jiangnan region. The world-famous Xinchang Dafo Temple is a must-visit for everyone who comes to Xinchang. In orchid circles, Xinchang is a very important orchid town, long a blessed land for orchid production and a place where legends are made. The renowned Cymbidium goeringii 'Hurui Die' (Tiger-stamen Butterfly) comes from...
Xinchang in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, is a picturesque small town in the Jiangnan region. The world-famous Xinchang Dafo Temple is a must-visit for everyone who comes to Xinchang. In orchid circles, Xinchang is a very important orchid town, long a blessed land for orchid production and a place where legends are made. The renowned Cymbidium goeringii 'Hurui Die' (Tiger-stamen Butterfly) originates from this place. Among the new flowers that have emerged from Xinchang, quite a few are of high grade, so much so that there is talk of the Ten Great New Lotus-petal Orchids. Among the many new flowers, the new Cymbidium goeringii lotus-petal cultivar 'Shenhua' (Myth) is absolutely outstanding.
In 2007, 'Shenhua' made its debut at the Zhejiang Orchid Exhibition and immediately won the gold award - truly three years of silence, then a stunning debut. This flower was at once acquired by orchid enthusiasts from Taizhou at a price of 150,000 yuan per seedling. From then on, Zhejiang's orchid circles gained yet another peerless new flower, becoming something orchid lovers longed for.
In 2008, 'Shenhua' appeared again at the Xinchang Orchid Exhibition and won the only Special Gold Award. I was fortunate enough to see the actual flower and marveled at its peerless elegance: tall, upright flower scapes and graceful blossoms, appearing slender and graceful yet dignified in bearing. In front of a single small pot of orchid crowded one enthusiast after another, endlessly taking photos and more photos. If orchids had a spirit, seeing such frenzied behavior, they would surely be so embarrassed they would hide in their tents and refuse to come out.
The leaves of 'Shenhua' are firm, upright and slanted, with a slight snowflake crystal mottling; the leaf texture is thick, glutinous and glossy. It bloomed again in both 2007 and 2008, with flower quality upright and stable, the flower delicately fragrant, with short round tips, and a large round lip with a U-shaped red block that is large and vivid. Generally, lotus-petal flowers do not have tall flower scapes and mostly have drooping shoulders, but the precious thing about this flower is that its flower scape reaches 15 cm in height, the flower opens with level shoulders, in an arching embrace, and does not hang down after being open a long time, does not deform and does not fade in color; the overall flower shape is harmonious - extremely rare among Cymbidium goeringii lotus-petal flowers, one could say it is a rare superior lotus-petal cultivar.
Many orchid lovers ask how 'Shenhua' was discovered. This brings us inevitably to its breeder, Chen Jiang, a rising figure in Xinchang's orchid circles.
Chen Jiang is a man of Xinchang city. A few years ago he made his living digging orchids and collecting new varieties, and many new Cymbidium goeringii varieties passed through his hands and were spread around the world. His good fortune with orchids is the envy of many. 'Qiangong He', 'Sanhua He', 'Xiaoyao' and others all came from his hands.
Now, in the winter of 2000, Chen Jiang was purchasing bare-root orchid plants from Zhoushan when he saw a small plant at a farmer's roadside stall, with lotus-type leaves, round tips, and tightly clasping sheaths. Relying on his keen feel for orchid plants, Chen Jiang thought this plant was worth a gamble, so he bought it for 50 yuan. Under Chen Jiang's careful care, the plant grew more and more beautiful, gradually taking on the appearance of a lotus-petal plant. Afterwards, people came one after another offering to buy and propagate this plant; even when someone offered 20,000 yuan per seedling, Chen Jiang was unmoved. He was certain this plant would produce a good flower, and he would not part with it until he saw the flower.
An orchid lover devoted to 'Shenhua' once wrote of this experience: In the spring of 2001, Chen Jiang showed me 'Qiangong He'. I said to him, "The flower is a lotus petal, but the plant is not what I would consider a lotus-petal plant." Chen Jiang laughed and said, "I also have the standard lotus-petal plant you're talking about." With that he brought out a tiny plant - the future 'Shenhua', 2 seedlings, about 5 or 6 cm tall. I took one look: "That's 'Huanqiu'!" Chen Jiang laughed and said, "Look carefully, it might be a plain lotus, the shoots are plain, someone has already offered me 5,000 yuan, and I'm not selling." I said, "Are you crazy? A gamble plant, a small plant at that, selling for 5,000, and your 'Qiangong He' only sells for how much?" He just smiled and said nothing. Looking carefully at this thing, all upright leaves, it did resemble 'Huanqiu', but the plant's contraction and release was not as good as 'Huanqiu', so I needled him: "Even if it opens as a lotus petal, the petals won't be too wide." He said, "What I'm gambling on is a plain lotus!" "Then gamble away," I said, put down the plant, and went to admire other flowers. Clearly this plant truly had a bond with Chen Jiang!
In 2005, I once went to Chen Jiang's small orchid house and saw this plant: one pot of large plants with 4 or 5 seedlings, one pot of small plants with 2 or 3 seedlings. At the time I thought it was indeed a good plant, and it already had a flower bud, with the appearance of a lotus petal. But the plant's base did not contract narrowly, and perhaps when it bloomed it would just be a fairly good lotus-type flower, so I did not take it to heart. The 2005 flower bud was ultimately peeled open; reportedly it was a lotus petal, and it never displayed its elegance - a great pity, all things considered.
Perhaps the timing of 'Shenhua' blooming again was not good enough. Had it bloomed again before 2006, 'Shenhua' would absolutely have created a sky-high-price myth. Now, with the massive emergence of scientific hybrid varieties, many orchid lovers doubt the origins of 'Shenhua', and this is not unreasonable. But we know that if it were an excellent scientific variety, there would certainly be a father plant and a mother plant behind it, and there might also be a great number of the same variety supporting it. Since 'Shenhua' appeared, no similar new lotus-petal flower has emerged, and among the dazzling array of new scientific varieties, no similar variety has appeared either, which shows that 'Shenhua' is indeed a new wild-collected variety - a point already recognized by most veteran orchid lovers.
Since 'Shenhua' appeared, it immediately won the admiration of many orchid lovers. The earliest to collect this variety were Taizhou orchid lovers Miao Weizhong, Zhang Baogen and Bao Lingtong; later Lu Xiufu, leader of Huangyan's orchid circles, Qian Changsheng, a major orchid grower of Shengzhou, Xie Caifu, a major orchid grower of Xinchang, and Zhang Jianxiong, Honorary President of the China Orchid Society, and others successively collected 'Shenhua'.
Now, the new Cymbidium goeringii lotus-petal cultivar 'Shenhua' has become the variety that orchid lovers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang dream of, eagerly hoping that one day it will become the new aristocrat in their own orchid garden, or even the treasure that anchors the garden.