By chance, are you staying at the Sandpiper Lodge on State Street? We stayed there last year for two nights. Great location in proximity to the Fairgrounds and fairly decent accomodation for the price; as Santa Barbara can be very pricey. I will tell you they were fully booked on Friday night and the hotel had terrible water problems on Saturday morning. We had barely a trickle of water coming out of the shower head. I followed up on it after returning home and were given some compensation off the bill for the inconvenience. I must tell you, if you can swing it... pay a visit to CalOrhid Nursery. I am not sure if they are open to the public on Thursday or Friday. Call and find out. They were open on Saturday last year and I went. Jim and Lauris Rose have a very extensive, eclectic collection. A lot of species. Great deals to be had. And the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (SBOE)is right across the road from CalOrchid. I believe Jim Rose told me he used to work at SBOE in his late teens or early 20's. At some point in time he then started his own orchid nursery. He's one of those guys who used to travel the world to do collecting. He knows his orchids! Have a great time! Lori

My experience with them has been they are not typically timely in getting back to you. Also, there are two big orchid shows here in CA this weekend. Believe it or not, Pacific Orchid Expo/San Francisco Orchid Show. Also, the Santa Barbara International Orchid Show. My guess is they are at one of those shows, and probably have been since Wed. or Thurs. this past week. Probably not getting back home until Monday or Tuesday next week. Good luck! Lori

Hey Richardol, Thanks for the info... I've been to that show last year... They moved it to Quail botanical gardens. It was really not worth attending, very expensive admission $10-$12 and parking $5... What a rip off!!! They seemed more interested in showing off the botanical gardens, than showing the orchid show. I liked it better at the Del Mar Fair Grounds... Much better, bigger location (cheaper admission $5, Parking $3-5) also nice exhibits and many vendors... They really have to get there act straight.....

What I would recommend is that you buy a big, fresh- and vigorous-looking phal. Big ones have more resources to recover from any problems. Little ones are too near the tipping point. If you are buying on the internet, Odoms offers the biggest, best plants for the money. Ask for one that looks to them to be vigorous. Or, if you prefer another vendor, same thing: buy the biggest one you can afford, and ask for one they think is vigorous. If you're buying locally, look for the same things you would in any plant-- fresh, turgid leaves, and if possible a young new leaf. In my experience a new leaf is often followed by a couple of new roots in a short time. There are lots of wonderful phals. I'm glad you're giving them another try. They are pretty tough. PS: the first one I bought was a goner, too. :) Good luck.