Kathy,

This is indeed of interest. Thanks!

I especially enjoyed the reference to "a list of the species that have
escaped from cultivation and have established themselves in natural
settings" :-) I hadn't really thought of that before when thinking about
orchids -- though I knew that some cultivated plants and domestic animals
run away and become wild in settings that are not their natural habitat,
somehow this part of orchid lore had escaped me before, so I had been
thinking of orchids growing in the wild as native to a region. Have
readjusted my thinking now.

Joanna

"K Barrett" wrote in message
news:tKaSb.182063$na.296549@attbi_s04...
This may be of interest.

http://www.geocities.com/brassia.geo/0117_242001.html

From the OrchidSafari archives. I'm not sure if all the photo links work.

K Barrett

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
Angel,
Welcome!

A few questions for you about orchids in Puerto Rico: (I am just
curious,
and trying to think of questions that might give us a better sense of
Puerto
Rico's orchid growing. Feel free to answer any of them you like, no need
to
answer all, since I am just brainstorming questions here)

Given that Puerto Rico is a self-governing Commonwealth of the United
States, can you just order orchids from any vendors in the US without it
being considered "importing" or are there any restrictions or paperwork?

Do you happen to know how many vendors or commercial growers of orchids
there are in Puerto Rico -- or do you have a URL that you would
recommend
for an orchid grower in Puerto Rico? How available are orchids in local
retail? Is orchid growing/collecting a fairly common hobby among people
you
know there? Do you have a local/regional orchid society?

Since Puerto Rico is a tropical island, do you grow the orchids
outdoors?
Also, are there any wild orchids that are native to Puerto Rico? If so,
are
they protected species? are there restrictions on picking them or
exporting
them?

Is there anything about the weather or any other conditions in Puerto
Rico
that you would change if you could to make your orchid growing
experience
there even better, or is it pretty much ideal?

Ok, can't think of other questions at this time (close to 1 am here, so
I
really ought to call it a day)

Look forward to any answers to these questions or any other info you can
think of that might interest those of us who have never been to Puerto
Rico
and thus do not know what orchid growing there is like.

Best,
Joanna


"Fam. Castrodad-Borrero" wrote in message
.. .
Well, since I am fairly new here, and have kept myself lurking I might
as
well chime in. My name is Angel (A as in bat, e as in bed, well in
spanish
anyway). I was born, raised and proud to be in Puerto Rico. I'm 29,
male
and
got into the hobby because of my mother. She's been collecting for
some
time
now and has quite a bit of plants. Unfortunately, most don't have
their
tag
and I have no way to know which is which. I have been a bit more
meticulous(sp?). The plants that I have bought, I make sure they have
their
tag or I don't buy it.

Now, being a tropical islan with a climate much like Hawaii, a lot of
orchid
growing possiblities abound here. I myself have quite a variety. 4
phals,
4
vandas, 5 catts, 2 brasso, 1 miltassia, 1phaius, 8 dendobriums, 2
epidendrum, and 2 tolumias, both of them endemic of Puerto Rico. Oh,
and
3
oncidiums. Not counting the plants I have from divisions of my own.
And
to
tell you the truth, I don't see any stoping untill I have no place to
put
them. LOL

Any other questions let me now.

Angel