Buying Cattleyas

[Sausalito_orchid_er]

What's the best place to purchase Cattleya online (shipping to San Francisco area), or located around San Francisco area?

[Orchid Whisperer]

There is no single best Cattleya source, but here are some very good Cattleya retailers, with websites for shopping:

Orchids by Hausermann
Carter & Holmes
Sunset Valley Orchids
Carmela's Orchids
Marble Branch Farms

Orchid nurseries sell plants that range in size from well-established seedlings to fully grown plants. Most nurseries will be glad to tell you what size plant you are getting, and often do in their online catalog.

There are many other good retailers that other members may recommend here.

[dounoharm]

get up at 4 am and go down to the flower market district! visit the shops across from the big warehouse, they will have bunches of bloomers ready to go! and its fun too!

[JScott]

My favorite place to order Cattleyas which has not been mentioned yet is Odom's Orchids. The plants from Odom's are always huge for the price, and he has a very good selection.

[AnonYMouse]

Do you need them now? There should be another vendor show in GG Park in the summer (it's not yet scheduled on the SFOS website).

[Roberta]

I just took a look at the website for the San Francisco Orchid Society, and the April speaker is Peter T. Lin (Diamond Orchids), subject is Catts. He grows many of his plants (including some spectacular Catts, especially minis) in greenhouse space that he rents from Sunset Valley Orchids. You might want to contact him, perhaps he can bring plants if you have something specific in mind.

[Leafmite]

It depends on what you want in a Cattleya as different vendors are hybridizing for different qualities. Before amassing Cattleyas, it is best to decide what objectives you have for the collection. That will usually help determine who your favorite vendor will be.

When I was collecting species and the traditional, classic 'corsage' Cattleyas, I found Hausermann's to be the best source for Cattleyas. Now that I want small but fragrant Cattleyas that bloom more than once a year, I really like Alan Koch's selection from Gold Country Orchids. He uses quite a bit of C. walkeriana and other smaller members of the Cattleya family to make smaller additions to grow under lights or in the window.

Exotic Orchids of Maui offers quality orchids, too, but they are not always blooming size.

Carmelas Orchids in Hawaii often has a nice variety, too.

[Optimist]

When you are looking for specific plants you need to spread a wide net. I've gotten some nice ones at Norman's. Sometimes I feel his are overpriced, but he has a huge selection of unusual cattleyas. I like the unusual epi-cat type hybrids and Mermecophila hybrids. They all ship to San Francisco if they use USPS or any of the other shipping services.

[dounoharm]

this post is like a subliminal message to me.....I MUST BUY CATTLEYAS!!

yes, yes, YESSSS!!

[stonedragonfarms]

Originally Posted by Sausalito_orchid_er

What's the best place to purchase Cattleya online (shipping to San Francisco area), or located around San Francisco area?

If you want to stay super local, head on over the Brookside Orchids in Portola Valley (spitting distance from Stanford) or head up to Pacifica (though the name of the nursery is escaping me at the moment...perhaps one of the locals will chime in...)