I have been coveting a Neofinetia for a while. At the meeting tonight, our speaker was Jason Fischer, son of Jerry Fischer. Most people recognized his name off the bat. He had Neofinetias for sale and spoke about them. I did not realize that I am not the only one who covets them. I would recommend hearing him speak. I learned so much about the Japanese culture that surrounds these orchids, such as how they are judged and how much they go for based on these criteria. All I have to say is maybe I am in the wrong business. Here is his introduction as written on the TOS site. Enjoy.
"An introduction from Jason: I've had a life-long education in orchids by having the opportunity to be raised in a family orchid business. My educational interests were strongly influenced by Japan, most likely because it was the other half of my self that I had yet to explore. I decided to pursue the Japanese language and culture studies in high school and college as I was not raised with the language at home. After 6 years of Japanese language, and completing all the Japanese courses at the University of Minnesota, I quit college to move to Japan where I got married, worked as an English teacher and continued my study of language and culture. I've returned to the US to help out the family business again, and open up the Japanese orchid market to the US, as well as the US market to Japan.
I have been working for my father since the age of 5 years old, and have been working with the business ever since. I took an interest in orchid hybridization and lab work at around 14 years of age, and first started breeding Phalaenopsis, which later on lead to paphs and phrags, and now just about anything I can get my hands on that’s unique.
My first lecture on Neofinetia falcata at the Minnesota Orchid Society in 2004 was the kick-off for an amazing journey of lectures across America. I have a passion for orchids, and the communication skills I developed in Japan as an English teacher have helped me in my ability to create interesting lectures that won’t put the audience to sleep!
I recently took a trip to Fukuoka (May 2008) to climb a few mountains and photograph native orchids. We were able to find many species such as Cymbidium goeringii, Gastrochilus matsuran, Thrixpermum japonicum and Calanthe discolor.
Experience:
-Lectured for over 20 different orchid societies in the US
-Lectured in Japan on Paphs and Phrags
-Speaker for the 19th World Orchid Conference
-Coordinated the Orchids Limited laboratory from 1998 to 2000
-Currently in management and marketing for Orchids Limited" (
Tucson Orchid Society - Homepage 8/20/08)
Oh yeah, I definitely indulged myself and purchased a Neofinetia falcata 'Yodo No Matsu' or the Pine of Yodo.