I received an order from
Carter & Holmes a couple of weeks ago. I've been wanting to post this but haven't had time during daylight for photos, and I'm not going to for some time, so I thought I'll just go ahead, and let you go look at their photos.
I also like plants other than orchids. C&H usually has begonias and staghorn ferns. I bought a few begonias, Platycerium elephantotes, plus some orchid seedlings.
The begonias are more than twice the size of the ones in photos on their Web page now. The 4" round plastic pots are bending and deforming with rhizomes pushing against them. These are some of the best Begonias I've ever bought.
Monolena primuliflora has a crown of huge, 6" long variegated leaves and is in flower.
The Platycerium has 8" tall shield fronds. It's almost big enough to begin making fertile fronds.
C&H Cattleya seedlings are considerably smaller than those sold by SVO, and larger than the small seedlings sold by Hausermann and Olympic Orchids. They are healthy. Most come in low 2.5" / 5cm pots. Cattleya maxima coerulea 'Gold Country' x self is even smaller than usual but is healthy.
Lockhartia acuta is much larger than the photos on their Web site, with more growths. I suspect it will flower in 2024. For some reason they say it's in the Cattleya alliance, though it's really with the Oncidiums. How often do you see Lockhartia seedlings?
Oeceoclades decaryi is a miniature from Madagascar that could be appreciated just for the very narrow, spotted foliage. The last two are in small plastic drinking cups with fine bark. They suggest not repotting for some time.
Lc. Purpurato-Rex (Lc. Canhamiana coerulea 'Azure Star' x Laelia purpurata var. venosa 'Bella') is no longer available. The seedling is larger than I expected. I think it should do well for me since it's 3/4 Laelia (Cattleya) purpurata.
They periodically sell divisions. Right now they are offering a Cattleya trianae 'Jungle Feather' JC/AOS division of the original jungle-collected plant.