Cynthia Louise Valente

This is the gorgeous hybrid that Ron Valente felt was beautiful, sturdy, reliable and important enough to be named after his wife, Cindy - but did not have the time to do so - and so we've carried out one of Ron's devout wishes by introducing this beauty.

Cynthia Louise Valente provides a 6 1/2” flower, firmly held high above the foliage, on sturdy 23” scapes that support a minimum bud count of 14 per scape. The blossom appears slightly triangular-to-rounded in overall shape, with petals recurving slightly at the tips, and sepals recurving more definitively half-way up their length. The petals are half again as wide as are the sepals.

The bright, plum-purple petals (RHS 186B) are set off strikingly by a light cream wire (RHS 8D), which is carried solidly around generously ruffled edges. The light cream wire repeats itself on the smooth edges of the slightly pinker and mildly rounded sepals. The mid-line on each petal is marked by a delicate, razor-thin line of deeper purple (RHS 187C).

The deepest part of the throat is sour-apple green (RHS 143B) blending upward into a warm lemon-yellow tone (RHS 5C) creating a minimal eye which spreads up onto the petals in a rounded, glowing watermark of lightest grey-pink (RHS 75C).

The thin, lanceolate foliage is plentiful, a rich, medium green tone (RHS 135B), and it is consistently strong and highly streak resistant.

This hybrid blooms in mid-to-late season in East Central Illinois, for most of July and into August. The blossom has a noticeable fragrance for most of the day. In Illinois, she performs for us as semi-evergreen; Ron’s notes, however, indicate that in Southern Maine, this hybrid would go fully dormant Winter.

Although this cultivar is fertile both ways, it‘s a good pollen parent, but a somewhat reluctant pod parent.

Ron created this seedling, 97-38-1, in 1997 by crossing Chance Encounter and Shaka Zulu.

Cynthia Louise Valente is significantly sturdy, with blossoms remaining surface-reflective and physically firm, with no edge wilt seen in 100-degree, direct sun, with 80% humidity. The only color-fade is a slight loss of green in the throat as the day progresses. From opening until dusk, this plant provides superior garden value.