Going Catalog Crazy

Sure, plenty of varieties bloom during the winter months and the local nurseries and better grocery stores are fully stocked with orchids.  But the unique mail-order orchids will have to wait for warmer months.  Until then, we will be pouring over the pages and circling the ones we want.

Over at Oak Hills Gardens, then have an economy  special where you pay a flat fee ($30 for Catt hybrids and $50 for Paphs) for ten seedlings that they select.  It's a great price if you don't mind giving up control.  I love the ten Catts they sent me in August, and a couple are only a year or so away from blooming.  Lan Lan thinks we should consider the 10-pack of Paphs.  The mounted B. nodosa looks really appealing, too.


Carter and Holmes has a similar deal with large-sized plants.  The prices are higher (five adult Cattleyas in 5-6" pots for $135), but the buyer will see blooms within a year.  They also have a "Too Big for Their Britches" deal that Lan Lan seemed excited about (discounted orchids that need repotting), but I'm steering her toward the Mini-Compact Cattleya Collection and the rare award-winners in the AOS Special Collection.

Of course, there's plenty of orchid shopping to conduct through eBay or other online vendors, but there's something about leisurely reading through a color catalog that affords a higher-quality shopping experience.  In any case, Lan Lan and I have a lot to talk about before April.