My Mother-in-law lives in Arcadia Florida, so I have travelled there semi-regularly for many years. Long before I started growing orchids myself, I would drive past the greenhouses of the Sun Bulb Company and hardly notice them. As I now read so many posts about the Bag Baby treasures people find in their local big box stores, I have had an increasing interest in the company. I have never tried to visit because I know they are not open to the public. However, I did love the story of how DirtyCoconuts talked his way into seeing some of their greenhouses in an old post I read from 2019.
When I was in Arcadia a few weeks ago, I did visit Palmer Orchids, which was a real treat. It is a bit out of the way, but the rural location of the property is a big part of its charm (in addition to the spectacular plants). I had read about Sun Bulb’s head grower on their website and knew his name was Palmer, but somehow never put 2 and 2 together that the Palmers were one and the same until it was suggested by Ben in North FLA in a post yesterday.
This sent me to the internet to see if I could find more information on Robert Palmer. I stumbled across this wonderful profile that was written about a year ago. I enjoyed reading it so much, I thought I would share it with the group.
The Orchid Maker — THE BITTER SOUTHERNER
Profile on Robert Palmer
Linear Mode
