I also visited Plantio La Orquidea in Sarasota, Florida today to check out their nursery and to meet Ty Wilson, their US nursery manager, whom I have spoken with on the phone a couple of times. Plantio La Orquidea’s main nursery is in Venezuela, but because of the global nature of the orchid industry, they also have a nursery here in the US. And one more time I ended up with 5 new chidren to add to my ever growing brood. I’m sure glad that all my chidren get along well with one another.
Ty was absolutely wonderful, and took us through 3 of the 5 shade houses, explaining what were in each one, and allowed us to browse freely throughout. He was readily available for questions and very knowledgeable about the many different genres they had available. One whole house was primarily full of species, which is where my eye for new chidren was fixed during this visit. Another house was full of vandaceous plants and another with various hybrids. Prices were very fair, and the plants were of high quality. I ended up with 4 species plants and one primary cross, what was once called B. David Sander, but is now Rhynchovola since B. digbyana (one of the parents, the other being B. nodosa) was changed to Rhyncholaelia. The photo I’ve posted here is of the five plants I purchased. The small numbers on the pots correspond with the names below:
1 C. mossiae var. coerulea
2 Epi. cristatum 'Chiapas Special'
3 C. dowiana var. aurea
4 Rhynchovola David Sander
5 C. amethystoglossa
For those who are interested, below is a link to their website. They have a whole heck of a lot more available than what is on the site, so if you're in the market for something in particular, you may want to call (I think the number on teh website is a Venezuala number) or e-mail them. Visits to the nursery are by appointment only, but if you’re in the area, I highly recommend that you take advantage.
Plantio La Orquidea