Good explanation, Roly...thank you
I'll take it a little further:
the criteria we look for is this...the plant will be a species, the plant will be an intermediate grower so that everybody has a good chance of it working in their conditions, the plant must be small in size (either a mini or a compact) as many folks have space issues to contend with.
As for the discussions, we ask that everybody look around for plants that will fit that outline and make sure it is a plant that is readily available here in the US to start with. I like to start a folder in My Favorites with the info page from
Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia for any plant I will be suggesting. It is also a good idea to do a Google search to see if it's readily available and have the link to that vendor's page saved. Throughout the process, we will confirm availability in Europe and in Canada for any plant that makes it to the semi-final list. This does sometimes limit us but it can be done...we've done it for every project so far
Once we get an idea of the plants that might make it to the finals, I will contact the vendors here in the US (a friend in Europe helps on that side of the pond and another friend helps up in Canada) to confirm that IF we use their services they will have enough to supply all of our participants. All the vendors we have used in the past have been gracious enough to give us a discount on at least the project plant (sometimes they give a discount on the entire order).
Suggestions will be made in the chat room and in the project thread. I will start a closed thread to track the plants that have a) met the criteria, b) received lots of ooohs and ahhhs during discussions and c) are available in all locations necessary. You can see the lists from our previous projects in the Member Projects forum, look for "plant lists" or "tentative plant lists" and you will get an idea of how we keep this organized.
Writing it out like this might make it seem complicated but it's really not and we have a lot of fun doing it. It is a lot of work for me but I enjoy doing it and I truly appreciate all the help my friends here give me. If I didn't have them to depend on, I might not be able to do this.
Lots of laughs along the way...and lots of learning too. We have all been introduced to plants which we might never have seen without the project discussions. Many of us have purchased plants that we've spoken about but for some reason did not make a viable candidate for the project.
That brings me to the subject of Traveling Companions...or TCs as they are so lovingly known as here on OB
These are the plants that most of us order along with the chosen project plant...can't have the poor little guys travel all alone to their new homes, can we?
I think I covered it all but if anybody has any questions, please feel free to ask. You can post it here or if you'd rather contact me privately with a question, that's fine too. You can send me a PM or email me at
cb977@orchidboard.com
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