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Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
The last place I expected to find professionally raised orchids, I found
spray after spray of Phal. Aphrodite at Lowes.(Of course they didn't label them "Phalenopsis Aphrodite", just Phalenopsis, like they were the only kind!) So big and beautiful and so many blooms to a cane I thought it would make the orchids tip over. Nero Wolfe himself couldn't have grown them better. All they had were Phals though... I'm not that big a fan of Phals either but had I been they had the lot! Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
Subject: Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
From: "Sinister" Date: 6/10/2004 12:57 AM Central Daylight Time Message-id: k.net The last place I expected to find professionally raised orchids, I found spray after spray of Phal. Aphrodite at Lowes.(Of course they didn't label them "Phalenopsis Aphrodite", just Phalenopsis, like they were the only kind!) So big and beautiful and so many blooms to a cane I thought it would make the orchids tip over. Nero Wolfe himself couldn't have grown them better. All they had were Phals though... I'm not that big a fan of Phals either but had I been they had the lot! Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? A better question would be "any stores like Lowes that might have healthy orchids"? - theoneflasehaddock |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
Home Depot , on occasions has a decent orchid or two , but mostly I find
they are an orchid graveyard, and the best orchid I have bought from Home Depot was a Dendrobium "red prince"....I belive its a strain of Dend nobile? Bright days! Todd "Sinister" wrote in message hlink.net... The last place I expected to find professionally raised orchids, I found spray after spray of Phal. Aphrodite at Lowes.(Of course they didn't label them "Phalenopsis Aphrodite", just Phalenopsis, like they were the only kind!) So big and beautiful and so many blooms to a cane I thought it would make the orchids tip over. Nero Wolfe himself couldn't have grown them better. All they had were Phals though... I'm not that big a fan of Phals either but had I been they had the lot! Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
"Sinister" wrote in message thlink.net...
Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? i occasionally find orchids with actual tags in them at home depot; they're usually not in great shape though. i think it really depends on the location of the store and its proximity to orchid nurseries--they'll carry local stuff. to wit: at a not-too-local home depot last week, they had a bunch of very nice looking plants with real tags and a nursery name on them (and some with no tags but little blue ribbons on them claiming they were AOS awarded. um, yes.); i of course had to get the untagged harlequin phal with some fuzzy white stuff on it and that frankly looked like it had crown rot, but it was one of those "oh WOW!" things so i got it anyway. :) (did the HP, alcohol and ultrafine routine on it while repotting; it hasn't dropped dead, and the black spotty stuff hasn't spread, so here's keeping my fingers crossed. :) --j_a |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
My local HDs and Target stores carry Orchids on a pretty much non-stop
basis. The plants, while abused, are always healthy with no pest problems. They do get under- and over-watered, though. These also pretty much always come with proper tags on them. Oh, and a majority seem to come from McLellan Botanicals( www.orchidexperts.com ). Sam "Sinister" wrote in message hlink.net... The last place I expected to find professionally raised orchids, I found spray after spray of Phal. Aphrodite at Lowes.(Of course they didn't label them "Phalenopsis Aphrodite", just Phalenopsis, like they were the only kind!) So big and beautiful and so many blooms to a cane I thought it would make the orchids tip over. Nero Wolfe himself couldn't have grown them better. All they had were Phals though... I'm not that big a fan of Phals either but had I been they had the lot! Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
Our local home improvement stores all carry them. Occasionally you can find
a nice one with a tag. WalMart has them, and even KMart. More often than not, though, they're not great plants. Diana "GaWd" wrote in message .. . My local HDs and Target stores carry Orchids on a pretty much non-stop basis. The plants, while abused, are always healthy with no pest problems. They do get under- and over-watered, though. These also pretty much always come with proper tags on them. Oh, and a majority seem to come from McLellan Botanicals( www.orchidexperts.com ). Sam "Sinister" wrote in message hlink.net... The last place I expected to find professionally raised orchids, I found spray after spray of Phal. Aphrodite at Lowes.(Of course they didn't label them "Phalenopsis Aphrodite", just Phalenopsis, like they were the only kind!) So big and beautiful and so many blooms to a cane I thought it would make the orchids tip over. Nero Wolfe himself couldn't have grown them better. All they had were Phals though... I'm not that big a fan of Phals either but had I been they had the lot! Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
GaWd wrote:
My local HDs and Target stores carry Orchids on a pretty much non-stop basis. The plants, while abused, are always healthy with no pest problems. They do get under- and over-watered, though. These also pretty much always come with proper tags on them. Oh, and a majority seem to come from McLellan Botanicals( www.orchidexperts.com ). I was actually impressed with the orchids at Franks Nursery & Crafts (may or may not be in a location near you), last week. In the interest of full disclosure, I did work for them for a year. In the interest of fuller disclosure, that was 10+ years ago, and I wouldn't trust them to keep a philodendron alive much less an orchid. These must have been fresh off the truck. They were labelled with crosses (said crosses compatible with the phenotype, even). No grower information, although I could probably figure it out if I had to. Prices were, well cheap..., disgustingly cheap, actually, for some nice two spike phals, some with branched inflorescences, all with good quality flowers. Probably mericlones of awarded or selected plants, although there was no clonal information on the tags. If I grew phals, I might have been tempted by some of them. You would be hard pressed to visit one of our local orchid growers and find plants as nice as these in full bloom (at least this time of year). It looks like it will be more and more difficult for your mom and pop orchid vendor to stay in business, with this kind of competition. At least if you want to sell phals. Puts even more emphasis on service and carrying things that don't really fit the 'pot plant' market. The big box stores will get them hooked, but the little guys are going to have to work hard to reel in the fish. Rob -- 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 LittlefrogFarm - e-mail me for a list |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 16:51:26 -0400, Rob Halgren
wrote: These must have been fresh off the truck. They were labelled with crosses (said crosses compatible with the phenotype, even). No grower information, although I could probably figure it out if I had to. Prices were, well cheap..., disgustingly cheap, actually, for some nice two spike phals, some with branched inflorescences, all with good quality flowers. Probably mericlones of awarded or selected plants, although there was no clonal information on the tags. If I grew phals, I might have been tempted by some of them. You would be hard pressed to visit one of our local orchid growers and find plants as nice as these in full bloom (at least this time of year). It looks like it will be more and more difficult for your mom and pop orchid vendor to stay in business, with this kind of competition. At least if you want to sell phals. Puts even more emphasis on service and carrying things that don't really fit the 'pot plant' market. The big box stores will get them hooked, but the little guys are going to have to work hard to reel in the fish. Rob I know in the Midwest - Klehms's is supplying some of the big box stores. I saw his tags on plants at HD in Madison, WI. Here the King Soopers grocery has both Den and Phal with tags. The discounts don't seem to follow the condition. About Easter King Soopers also had standard Cym. in bloom. HD and Lowes have some, generally showing their age on the racks. I just don't seem able to time it correctly to get something fresh off the truck. Their Phal hybrids and Colm / Oncidium crosses are priced equal or higher than the local Orchid house. It is a shame because they are generally in such poor shape. SuE http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
These must have been fresh off the truck. They were labelled with crosses (said crosses compatible with the phenotype, even). No grower information, although I could probably figure it out if I had to. Lots of times the deliveries here seem to have the exact cross(if a hybrid), and lots of times there is also the copywrited name and any AOS info. Sometimes there isn't and you get the generic "oncidium" stake when it's really a Colm., or "Phalaenopsis", but most of the time I get good info when I'm tempted to buy one from one of these stores. My wife and I had an argument and she ran out to HD to sate my orchid appetite and make amends. When she came back, she presented me with a beautiful orchid, but it had no stake! After explaining why the stake was important, wer went back to HD a day or two later and got a stake off of an identical orchid. :-] :shrug: I have a thing for cheap HD orchids. Sam |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
Be careful (on a number of fronts).
"Professionally grown" does not necessarily implied "grown well." Root rot is something to watch for, as in the case of Lowes, HD, and the like, that is often "professionally grown for the mass market that will throw it away when it dies." Not that there aren't good bargains to be occasionally had, it's just a caveat. The fact that they are unlabeled would make me suspicious of the ID as the species aphrodite. You may very well be right, but ... -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! .. . . . . . . . . . . "Sinister" wrote in message hlink.net... The last place I expected to find professionally raised orchids, I found spray after spray of Phal. Aphrodite at Lowes.(Of course they didn't label them "Phalenopsis Aphrodite", just Phalenopsis, like they were the only kind!) So big and beautiful and so many blooms to a cane I thought it would make the orchids tip over. Nero Wolfe himself couldn't have grown them better. All they had were Phals though... I'm not that big a fan of Phals either but had I been they had the lot! Any other stores like Lowes that might have Orchids? |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
Well, I won't claim I'm a master at identifying orchids, but they certainly
looked like Aphorodities and from the company that Lowes orders from I wouldn't be surprised... And They may be unlabeled simply because Lowes knows absolutely dick about orchids and expects the people that buy them to know even less. As for root rot...I would have to repot them or inspect the root system to know for sure. To do that I would have to buy them and I dislike Phals as a general rule. But you may very well be right, and that would co-inside with the theory that Lowes knows absolutely dick about Orchids. -Sinister |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
There are lots of suppliers of orchids to Lowes, HD, and the like, and some of them even have pretty
good plants. I'm still a bit wary though - more based upon the retailer's understanding of orchid culture than anything, but i have seen "fresh," inbound shipments that look like crap. -- Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info! .. . . . . . . . . . . "Sinister" wrote in message nk.net... Well, I won't claim I'm a master at identifying orchids, but they certainly looked like Aphorodities and from the company that Lowes orders from I wouldn't be surprised... And They may be unlabeled simply because Lowes knows absolutely dick about orchids and expects the people that buy them to know even less. As for root rot...I would have to repot them or inspect the root system to know for sure. To do that I would have to buy them and I dislike Phals as a general rule. But you may very well be right, and that would co-inside with the theory that Lowes knows absolutely dick about Orchids. -Sinister |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
"Ray" wrote in
: There are lots of suppliers of orchids to Lowes, HD, and the like, and some of them even have pretty good plants. I'm still a bit wary though - more based upon the retailer's understanding of orchid culture than anything, but i have seen "fresh," inbound shipments that look like crap. You are right about root rot Ray; Lowes, Home Depot, Franks, Target, Kmart and others have a habit of keeping the fancy contaners/plastic wrap filled with water. I've spoke to a couple of Plant associates and they know it's too much water but they say they are just doing what their managers told them to do and that their managers won't even bother to read the care guides. More proof that one doesn't have to be intelegent to be a manager. (one of my pet beliefs) |
Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
Subject: Wow, Orchids at Lowes!
From: dusty Date: 6/11/2004 11:00 AM Central Daylight Time Message-id: m "Ray" wrote in : There are lots of suppliers of orchids to Lowes, HD, and the like, and some of them even have pretty good plants. I'm still a bit wary though - more based upon the retailer's understanding of orchid culture than anything, but i have seen "fresh," inbound shipments that look like crap. You are right about root rot Ray; Lowes, Home Depot, Franks, Target, Kmart and others have a habit of keeping the fancy contaners/plastic wrap filled with water. I've spoke to a couple of Plant associates and they know it's too much water but they say they are just doing what their managers told them to do and that their managers won't even bother to read the care guides. More proof that one doesn't have to be intelegent to be a manager. (one of my pet beliefs) At least some of them water them. WHen I used to live in Niagara Falls, the Home Despot there refused to water any of their plants, EVER. Since they didn't sell out, this guaranteed no plant could survive for too long. It might be why only a few cactus, and nothing else, were healthy there. as a side note, an Epidendrum I got for $5 back then is finally blooming again! - theoneflasehaddock |
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