Neither do I have any affiliation or connection ...... but I regularly travel from mid-MI to Oak Hill Gardens in Dundee, a little NW of Chicago, to purchase pick-up loads of the 1/8-1/4 prescreened fir bark they sell - for the gritty mix. It's perfect for that soil. They also sell Foliage-Pro 9-3-6 fertilizer. It's a family operation & the folks are always pleasant. Al

Rumors have been flying and gossip fills the air! Now we feel that we can explain our situation. Our older son, Cameron, is a junior in college studying chemical engineering. Jared, our younger son, graduates high school in May and will be leaving this fall for college, also to study chemical engineering....sadly, not Orchids 101.... We (Greg and Liese) will be empty-nesters! We would really like to cut back and slow down a bit so we can travel and enjoy life together. This seems to be impossible while still operating Oak Hill Gardens. It takes both of us full time, 7 days a week, to produce and care for all of the unusual species we offer. The time it takes us to put out catalogs, wholesale lists, newsletters, and maintain a website is exhausting - not to mention all of the shows across the country that Greg has been part of..... There is simply no way for us to reduce our efforts and still maintain the high quality of plants and service you have all come to expect to and enjoy from Oak Hill Gardens. It has truly been a dilemma for us, since Oak Hill has been a huge part of our lives for the past 17 years (the company is 39 years old now!) We have, however, been fortunate enough to enter into an agreement for what we think is an ideal solution for all of us.....including you! We are very excited to announce that, as of June 15, 2012, Orchids Garden Centre (OGC), in Madison, WI, will be assuming the Oak Hill Gardens name, plant inventory and business philosophy. They will be folding Oak Hill Gardens into their existing orchid operation at that time. OGC Sign Who is Orchids Garden Centre?....... -the OGC greenhouse, situated in Waunakee, WI (a northwest suburb of Madison), is a 45,000 square foot facility that has been growing and selling orchids for over 50 years. -previously, the Ackers family owned and grew orchids at this location (it was known as "Orchids by the Ackers") before the greenhouse property was purchased by the Franz family in 2007. -since the Franz family has taken over the operation, the greenhouses have undergone significant upgrades for energy and growing efficiencies, to facilitate a better growing environment for orchid production. -Kent and Cheryl Franz, and son Skylar, as well as Chuck Acker are involved in the existing Orchids Garden Centre business. OGC is renowned for beautiful blooming Cattleya and Cymbidium varieties, along with many other genera. Skylar also owns and runs a landscape nursery business, and OGC also sells quality annuals and perennials during the spring. Oak Hill Gardens current inventory, breeding stock, production plants and entire operation will be moving to this Madison area location, only about two hours away. The orchid laboratory, and over 2500 flasks, will be relocated and set up by Hermann Pigors (founder of Oak Hill Gardens and current laboratory supervisor). Hermann will continue to do lab work at the new Madison location, consulting on the new species orchid production. Greg and Liese will be closely involved part time at the new location over the next several months to ensure that a smooth transition is made. The new Oak Hill Gardens principals, Kent and Skylar Franz, are excited to add the production and sale of reasonably-priced species orchids to their outstanding lines of Cattleya, Phalaenopsis, and Cymbidium clones. The Oak Hill Gardens website, the show schedule, and commitment to quality orchids at reasonable prices will still be in place. In short, the Oak Hill Gardens brand will still be there, the only changes will be new faces and a better growing facility! (The Dundee, IL location will be closed as of June 15, 2012). We will all work together to make the ownership transition as seamless as possible. Oak Hill Gardens will continue its full schedule of spring and summer orchid shows (through the Silva Shore Festival in New Jersey in early June, as listed on the website.) In mid-June, the inventory will then move to the Madison location, with no interruption in the business process. Phone calls, e-mails and website orders will all be forwarded to the new location in a seamless manner. Many new and exciting varieties have been produced by our lab this spring - and many more orchid species have already been imported this spring, as well. These new items will be grown and "rooted in" over the next few months, then added to our website and Summer/Fall mailing in late August. Please watch our newsletters and website for exciting new additions. Thanks to all of you for your patronage, loyalty and support over the years. It truly has been a great ride! We sincerely hope that you will join us in making the new Oak Hill Gardens ownership and management welcome! Liese and Greg Butler Hermann and Dorothy Pigors

"Posted by ifraser25 z11 Brazil (My Page) on Thu, Mar 29, 07 at 0:24 When I lived in UK I used to drive 100 miles to my nearest orchid nursery to buy some plants. I always wanted to choose then myself and got a lot of invaluable information. Leave it a while. Let your plants grow and see what happens. Also join your nearest Orchid Society, even if its 100 miles away you'll learn a lot and make some really good friends." All good advice, I do belong to my society and have helped out at the shows, auctions etc.It's just school (I have gone back at my age LOL, actually I'm graduating this spring at 51) work, etc have made it difficult to get to the meetings and get an orchid fix. I have ruptured a disk in my neck and am facing surgery.the recovery time will cut into my income which means the work to turn my front porch into a sunroom/plantroom has stopped. We had enlarged the original concrete slab to 20" x 11' and have the roof up. Enclosing it was the next and most expensive step. As a consolation we have double the avaliable size for my light bench in the basement and will be putting a small plastic "greenhouse" on the porch for the orchids to stay in during the fall so that they can get the cool nights without wind or rain on them. My old one had been scrapped when we did the enlargments as we hoped to be glassed in by then. Thanks for letting me ramble, Judy

Terpguy says that for spider mites, "Try looking for something with either pyrethrins or permethrins in them." One option I used for several years is 1600 X-clude, which is timed-release pyrethrins. The current product is 1600 X-clude Formula 2. The manufacturer's site states it controls spider mites, as well as "Ants, Aphids, Beetles (Aster Beetles, Blister Beetles, Cigarette Beetles, Colorado Potato Beetles, Cucumber Beetles, Drugstore Beetles, Flea Beetles, Japanese Beetles, Rose Chafers, Trogoderma, Watermelon Beetles, Weevils), Caterpillars (Cabbage Worms, Rose Slugs, Hornworms), Centipedes, Cockroaches, Crickets, Flies, Fungus Gnats, Gnats, House Flies, Leafhoppers, Mealy Bugs, Moths, Rose Aphids, Scale, [Spider Mites,] Spiders, Stable Flies, Stink Bugs, Tarnished Plant Bugs, and Whiteflies." Even if you hold the spray can upside down, it sprays full blast. Nice. X-clude is "labeled for use in hobby greenhouses, homes, interiorscapes and landscapes on potted and flowering plants [including orchids], foliage, bedding plants, cut flowers, and ornamentals." However, a commercial orchid grower who uses it says to take plants out of the house. Spray them twice, one week apart. We've got dogs and cats, and the orchids go outside to get sprayed. The grower says to spray outside in the shade when there's no wind and to walk around the plants as you spray. I've taken plants to the patio on cookie trays and sprayed all of them at once. When I've sprayed in the fall, there have been no spider mites over the winter. When I stopped, there were spider mites. Perhaps cause and effect - my humidity's low in the winter, and I tend to underwater. WC8 Here is a link that might be useful: 1600 X-clude Formula 2