Gold Country Orchids
 

Anyone ever order from them? I was looking for some small Cattleyas and decided to give them a try. With the colder weather coming, I wasn't certain if they hold orchids until the weather warms or if they send them out Fed-ex with a heating pack. The shipping costs look as though they could be using Fed-ex ($29--Hawaii is $30) but it does not say. Just curious.

My only experience with Alan Koch from GC is his visiting our society mtg and bringing well grown plants for sale,along with a very good lecture of course.

I have bought many plants from Gold Country, but all have been from shows or speaking appearances in our area, so I don't know about his shipping practices. Alan himself is very approachable, though, so if you have specific questions I'm sure he would answer gladly. His plants are always healthy and well-grown, in my experience.

I too have ordered from him a couple times; I don't remember if it was FedEx shipped or not, though I'm just a state away (and it seldom is cold long west of the Cascades), so overnight is often overkill.

Thanks for the replies. I was just curious about how he does it. Some vendors ship them even in the coldest weather and some hold them. He does send tracking information so at least I will know when to watch for them.

The orchids should be shipped this week! :)

This vendor, so far, seems to be a class act. He does hold the orchids when the weather is too cold/risky so I now know that I can order without any worries in the winter. He also will be using a heat pack and two day delivery (ships on Tuesday and arrives Thursday), with tracking. He answers email and seems very friendly. I will post pictures of the orchids when they arrive. :)

Alan is a great guy.

That is the impression I got from his email.

This is just great and I am really excited about this order. I have been looking for small, fragrant Cattleyas that bloom more than once a year (my favorite species is C. aclandiae). :)

Is the shipping really that high?

$29 is rather expensive for shipping but maybe he is including insurance. I almost ordered from Carmelas instead and it would have been $30 so I saved a dollar and am getting some orchids I like better. With this being winter, I am pretty happy that the order will be two-day shipping and include a heat pack. :)