The worst vendor I ever encountered was a staff person at a plant nursery in
Milwaukee. The nursery carried other plants as well. The staff person did
not know the difference between aerial roots and inflorescences, but she was
convinced that she did know, and even after I corrected her and told her
that I knew the difference (there was absolutely no doubt with those: they
were already quite long, and very root-like), she kept insisting that the
Phal definitely had several blooming spikes and therefore was a huge
bargain. I wound up buying the Phal anyway, since I needed a present for my
mother-in-law, and it was a very nice Phal, despite having only one spike at
that time, and being quite overpriced.

Joanna

"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
Anyway, that is how I screen my vendors... They have to know their
stock, and have at least a rudimentary understanding of how plants are
named. I prefer evidence that they actually grow the plants themselves
for a period of time, rather than just wholesaling budded stock. The
good ones know the breeding behind their plants, even if they didn't
actually make the cross. The best ones know the breeding behind plants
that their competitors are offering... You can learn alot about vendors
you haven't even met (like on the internet) just by applying the rules
of plant naming to their website. I can't trust somebody who can't get
genus and species correct and properly formatted (genus capitalized,
species not, etc.). Now if I've met them in person I may let such
little things slide, but the internet is chock full o' idiots (myself
included, I suspect).

Rob (not a vendor... or a shark, for that matter.)

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit