New plant in May 2025 is Epidendrum Candy Valley (Epidendrum Peach Valley x Epidendrum Sakura Valley).

Epidendrum Candy Valley was originated and registered by M. Inamine in 2003. Our candidate has the clonal name 'Casablanca'.

This cross has four species in the background: Epi. secundum - 37.50%, Epi. radicans - 37.11%, Epi. cinnabarinum 19.53% and Epi. jamiesonis - 5.86%.

Previous Awards:

There is one AOS award for this cross - Epidendrum Candy Valley 'Ice Candy' AM/AOS (May 14, 2015).

Description:

The candidate has 95 flowers and 27 buds on four inflorescences up to 16-cm (28 fl. and 11 buds on first infl.; 29 fl. and 7 buds on second infl.; 23 fl. and 3 buds on third infl.; 15 fl. and 6 buds on fourth infl.). Plant is 36-cm wide by 55-cm high and growing in bark and sphagnum moss mix in terracotta pot.

Flower Measurements:

NS H - 3.5 cm;                   NS V - 3.7 cm;

Dorsal Sep. W - 0.8 cm;    Dorsal Sep. L - 1.8 cm;

Petal W - 0.9 cm;               Petals L - 1.7 cm;

Lat/Sepal W - 1.0 cm;       Lat/Sepal L - 1.9 cm;

Lip/Pouch W - 1.7 cm;     Lip/Pouch L - 1.9 cm

Judges' Comments

Tom Mirenda (Accredited Judge, Hawaii Judging Center)

Reed stem Epidendrums have certainly taken hold around the world.

They have naturalized nicely here in Hawaii and are used more as a garden plant than a specimen.

As a result of this ubiquity here, I think I may have a slight bias towards them...however

This is a well-grown, well-bloomed and interesting plant.

Positive points:

The flowers are well-spaced (once inflorescence is fully mature) with overlapping petals and sepals.

Good flower count and successive blooming. (though typical for the breeding group)

I enjoy the contrast between the blushed segments and  purplish column/adnate lip

As well as the nice yellow on the central part of lip. Is very attractive.

Less positive points:

As many of these are used as garden plants...note the following:

While lovely up close, from a distance they fade to a creamy beige

I don't think this makes them useful in the garden

Flowers seem rather crowded when first opening...(I know this is wayyy too picky!)

Plant seems a bit rangy and floppy (but that could be cultural...still it is very healthy and well-bloomed so I doubt there are any cultural deficiencies

Despite all this, I'd be happy to get one the keikis!

I celebrate the continued innovation in this breeding group and want to encourage more.

While not bowled over by this one, I think it is awardable....I would give it an HCC of 76 or 77 points

Tom Mirenda

Al Messina (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

This candidate is nicely grown, is more floriferous than the awarded plant, has good form, pleasant color, nice arrangement, and marginally larger overall. Should qualify for high HCC/low AM. 

On its way to a culture award. 

Paul Wetter (Senior Judge, West Palm Beach Judging Center)

Thank you for presenting this lovely specimen of Epidendrum Candy Valley a Hybrid of Epic Peach Valley and Sakura Valley.   These wonderful reed type epidendrums have been recognized with a few awards from over ten years ago.  They present with peach to pink colors and striking contrast of the lip.  Cultivar ‘Ice Candy” received an AOS Am 80 points in 2015.    

This particular specimen has similar qualities with paler pink sepals and petals with brushed areas of lighter shades. flowers have a good form. I would expect that continued growth years would produce a plant for culture award.  At this time I would consider this specimen for a quality award in the low AM range and would be very interested in how others in the group asses this plant. Thanks to the grower and for presenting. 

Paul Alan Wetter

Jimmy Tan (Student Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

“Casablanca” has over twice as many flowers as the awarded “Ice Candy” clone but distributed over 4 inflorescences instead of just 2, with arrangement perhaps less full for any one spike compared to the single one shown for “Ice Candy”. 

Its flowers show similar size overall compared to the awarded clone, with similar glistening texture, but with slightly shorter lip.

Its flowers have a very pleasing color pattern with pink suffusion starting from the bright white petal/sepal midline contrasting with the darker pink column and bright yellow anther column / throat.

Consider for AM with additional points over “Ice Candy” for striking flower color pattern.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Daria Souvorova (Student Judge, Houston Judging Center)

Glad to see an epidendrum to judge, we do not get too many in our judging center so this is good practice. 

As mentioned in the submission description, Epidendrum Candy Valley has one prior award in OrchidPro for the cultivar 'Ice Valley.' Our specimen is much more floriferous than the previously awarded clone, but the color of the "Ice Valley" cultivar is much more vibrant, and the contrast with the pure white lip on that clone is quite striking. Our clone, 'Casablanca' has a really lovely pink to yellow column with a faint blush on the petals. When you look at the flowers one on one, this color pattern is quite charming, but does get washed out a bit when looking at a full inflorescence. The form of the flowers is nice save for a bit of notching on the superior margin of many of the petals, which might disappear with different culture for the next flowering. 

There are no results for either parent in OrchidPro. On initial glance, I was impressed with the white and pink coloration of our plant, but taking some time to research Epidendrum secundum hybrids, I see that the pink and white coloration is present in many hybrids with a parentage of the four species we have in Epidendrum Candy Valley. A similar looking plant was just recently awarded an AM, Epidendrum Wedding Valley "Pratt", but it too has more intense coloration than 'Casablanca.' With that being said, I would be hesitant with an AM for this plant, but would consider an HCC, especially if the crystalline nature of the flowers showed up better when looking at it in person. 

If there were not already white or near white hybrids in the Epidendrum genus (including Epidendrum Princess Valley), I would be interested in an AD or maybe a JC, but it seems like this colorway has a lot of precedent. 

I looked into the idea of a cultural award since we have 95 flowers and 28 buds, but prior awards for similar hybrids are showing over 200 flowers on cleaner plants with more vertical inflorescences still holding onto all of their leaves (Epidendrum Miura Valley 'Chloe'). I would love to see a much bigger and more floriferous plant for a cultural award for this type of epidendrum, as they seem to grow and bloom very willingly by nature. 

I concede that this is the first epidendrum that I have considered for judging, and only grow one myself, fingers crossed my opinions are in line on this one!

Cheers,

Daria 

Tim Culbertson (Accredited Judge, Pacific South Judging Center)

Reed-stem epis sure have come a long way. Thanks to Jim Rose and Cal-Orchid for pushing them so far and so quickly. It's interesting to note that many awards to these are outside of our judging system; this grex has a number of JOGA awards, dating back to 2007. Our candidate plant has fantastic color, and unlike the previous awards to this grex, which were smooth pinks, this blush pink color is very attractive. Our candidate plant shows clearly one of the main issues with AOS judging: from a breeding standpoint, this is an improvement, on par with the previous awards, but from the perspective of this type of reed-stem epi flower, the conformation is rather starry and the size is rather small. Having seen hundreds of them, it's important to note that pinks lag somewhat behind red-orange flowers in terms of shape, and these lovely flared light pinks are even more rare and special. Considering type, red-orange flowers like the recently awarded Epi. Pacific Tiki Punch 'Big Bear's Glowing Orb' AM/AOS and Epi. Pacific Hero 'Big Bear's Blazing Saddles' AM/AOS, both awarded in 2023, show considerably better flower shape and much larger size. However, our candidate is on par with other recently awarded pinks like Epi. Wedding Valley 'Sakura' AM/AOS and Epi. Hilo Hotspot 'OrchidFix Hilo Sunrise' AM/AOS, both awarded in 2022. The current "best" pink seems to be Pacific Charisma, and the two AMs to Pacific Charisma in 2019 show full, rounded, blush pink flowers, with very high count and excellent lip shape; current pink breeding often seems to have Pacific Charisma as a parent. I would say that in the nearly 20 years since this cross was registered, some further improvements have been made in this type of color pattern in Epis, which is why it is so important to visit places like Cal-Orchid or to attend the Santa Barbara show to see all that's new and special in Epidendrum breeding. Given the slightly smaller flower, more open shape, and somewhat lower count, I would be at a 78 or so for this flower. 

Steve Gonzalez-Costa (Accredited Judge, Chicago Judging Center)

Very nice plant with a good or adequate amount of flowers with four sculptured inflorescences with successive opening of buds at each head (about 40% more than the previous award).  Overall, the color is not as strong as the previously awarded ‘Ice Candy’ that received an 80 point AM, but still a very pleasant delicate pink blush.  In comparison to the awarded ‘Ice Candy’ the segments (except the lip) are marginally larger, but not by a large quantity like 3 or few mm in width or length, being only about 10% bigger in some measurements, the lip is slightly smaller by single digit millimeter amounts.  Symmetry is good.  The dorsal sepal is a bit prominent because it is narrow and a big longer so it doesn’t fill in as much next to those petals.  Size is adequate, symmetry is something that I would key in on, along with flower to flower consistency, flowers are flat, petals are not twisted or wavy which is good.  The pure white and pink blush is a plus.  Two of the three parents that account for most of the background have very small flowers and we see how international breeding has given us some very colorful plants – and the diamond dust sparkling texture is fabulous.  I would nominate for both a cultural award and flower award, my scoring came in at a 76 HCC and an 80 point CCM for this nicely grown and bloomed plant, and its owner.

Bob Winkley (Accredited Judge, Northeast Judging Center)

Thank you for sending along this lovely candidate. The coloration is a pleasing pastel and appears to be very consistent from flower to flower.

When I think about this type of breeding (the hybridizer alone has registered 128 Epidendrum crosses), regardless of parentage, I'm looking for a number of things:

• a well-spaced, upright inflorescence, preferably unstaked

• Consistent, clearly defined colors and patterns

• a high flower/bud count (combined total at 25+ is not uncommon for this line of breeding), with at least half of the flowers open so that arrangement and spacing can be properly evaluated

• a flat flower with broad, overlapping segments and very even margins, and a well-formed lip with little to no recurving of the mid- and side lobes

• Vertical and horizontal spreads very similar; most modern awards are now coming in close to 4.0 cm for each of these dimensions, though the pinks are consistently not as large as the reds and oranges.

• Firm substance is a must and crystalline or satiny texture are preferred, though matte does show up in the award record

Our candidate has very good flower/bud counts on three of the four inflorescences and the flowers are pretty well spaced. The color is nice and clear, though the pattern is not consistent. Flowers are flat and overall conformation is decent if a bit open. Overall flower size is in the mid range of the award record for this color type though the individual segments are somewhat narrow, especially the petals, which also appear to have some notching. The lip is very attractive, the yellow providing a nice bright counterpoint to the other colors, and the side lobes are flat and in the same plane. Substance and texture are not mentioned so it's hard to know how to factor for those qualities.

While there is only the one AOS award, there are two JOGA awards. These three awards are a rich, solid pink in the sepals and petals and a contrasting white lip, the combination of which I find very compelling.

At this point, I would not be inclined to nominate this plant for a flower award. If someone else were to nominate it, I could score it as a low HCC, but might recuse myself if the conversation were to indicate that the team was leaning in the direction of an AM.

All the best – 

Bob W.

Deb Jenson (Student Judge, Chicago Judging Center)

This is a lovely candidate. Each inflorescence is quite floriferous, averaging 30 flowers per inflorescence, compared to the previously awarded Epi. Candy Valley, which had 23 flowers per inflorescence. The form is flat and fairly circular, with petals and sepals nearly equal in size. There is also no windowing between the petals and sepals.

I find the white flowers, blushed with pink, to be very attractive, and this coloration is consistent across all the flowers. The white midline creates a nice striping effect. I also find the dark pink column with the yellow callus visually appealing, as it offsets the white-blushed flowers. The crystalline texture adds to the beauty of this orchid

I would nominate this for a quality award and aim to score it in the low to mid-80s.

Alejandro Capriles (Accredited Judge Società Felsinea di Orchidofilia, Bologna, Italy; Retired AOS Judge)

This grex is known for its bright shades of pink ranging from lavender to coral according to the influence of either parent - Epi. Peach Valley tending towards coral shades, while Epi. Sakura Valley towards lavender-rose. The awarded cultivar ‘Ice Candy’ shows a beautiful contrast between the clear lavender-rose of the tepals and the white of the lip; while the cultivar in question is beautifully grown and both flower shape and measurements are in line with the best of the grex, I feel the blushing on the tepals, although pleasing, is not an improvement over either parent, and most likely falls outside the goals the hybridizer had in mind when the cross was made. Therefore I wouldn’t nominate this cultivar for judging.

Thanks!

Alejandro.

Judie Armstrong (Associate Judge, Florida North-Central Judging Center)

I would definitely want to score this flower.  The candidate plant has more flowers than the one previous award, flower size is about equal to the previous award the natural spread V/H is slightly larger in the candidate.  The form is the same.  The color is better in the candidate as it shows more of the yellow than the previous award.  I would consider a low AM and a culture award for this well grown plant.

Thank you,

Judie

Gabriel Bach (Accredited Judge in AJOCORI, orchid society in Costa Rica)

Striking pink colored flared hybrid which is less common than the solid colors. Considering the majority of genetic influence on this hybrid comes from Epi secundum and radicans, this plant has large flat flowers with a full shape. This flower quality is paired with four inflorescences with a high flower count, again considering its lineage. 

There's no AOS award registry for the parents; compared to the one awarded this plant has slightly bigger dimensions and a flatter, fuller shape, with a much higher flower and inflorescence count.

This plant should be commended to at least a mid count AM vs the 80 pts current award.

Exhibitor - Sergey and Elena Skoropad (Accredited Judges, Northeast Judging Center, NJ)

Virtual Award Description

Grower's Advice