Very coy about where they are.....perhaps India. You will need more than a $30 phytosanitary certificate. Others will tell what the "more" entails.

This sounds like a gambler's place - you're gambling that nothing will go wrong. If it does, you might lose the plants and the money, or you might have to spend loads of time and go through tons of hassle to get partial or complete satisfaction.

Unless this sounds like fun to you, :) my suggestion is to look for yummies on US or Canadian sites. Another option is to pre-order from international vendors for delivery to a show near you so you can see the actual plants. Doing this also avoids the cost of certificates and int'l shipping.

Now, my challenge is to stay off the site 'cause there's a bit of the gambler in me!

Whitecat8

There is a point where this is a goer provided you find a reliable nursery. I suspect that the point is way above $100US by the time you pay costs, complete documentation and arrange everything with customs.

I collect Laeliinae species. Many of which come from H&R in Hawaii via an Australian orchid nursery. No worries! All that import/export stuff taken care of by other people.

Hi
Would have to agree witht he others .Noted that you're in California what do you want that you can't get locally??
gary

Even commercial growers have their huge shipments from vendors in other countries destroyed after Customs says they're diseased. In that case, the vendor could say they shipped your plants in good faith and aren't responsible for US Customs' decisions.

California and Florida have boatloads of wonderful orchid growers. Sure hope you can find what you want from a CA vendor, even if it's a few dollars more. Let us know.

WC8

Thanks to all for your advice. Gary - I came across them while looking for pleiones, which they have a lot of. Unusual pleiones seem to be hard to find in the US.

Hi
Not familiar with that family but have you tried Andy"s orchids they are located in Cal. They have an incredible list of species. Attend some of the shows in your area even if you don't find what you want they can tell you where to look. gary

Also, seems like every vendor has plants they don't list because they don't have enough to offer online, so calling or emailing them can make all the difference. Good luck. WC8

Dave

It's easy to see why you were tempted by this site. I took a brief look and had to stop - the variety and prices were just so good.

Pleione are hard to find in the US aren't they? That's always bugged the heck out of me. Yes you find a vendor here and there who sells one or two, but once you figure in postage costs for one or two plants, it just doesn't sense.

Kevin

HI,

I want to know something about the best orchid nursery. Please tell me where it is located?

Stella

Stella, you are asking the impossible question, especially so since you have not said where you live or what type of orchid you would like to purchase.

I remember back in the good old days of Jones and Scully. Fabulous Orchids and fabulous prices. I have a few of their orchids in my collection. They were the best (but only if you were rich enough to buy from them).

Dave, just in case you haven't run across Fraser's Thimble Farms, they offer about 16 Pleione hybrids & species. Whitecat8

Here is a link that might be useful: Fraser's Thimble Farms

Whitecat8,
Thanks for the info about Fraser's. I had come across them before, but I'll look at them again. I'm tempted, but since they're in Canada, international shipping and certificates is fairly expensive. Meanwhile, I've found a couple Pleione varieties locally. It's odd that they're so popular in the UK but so hard to find in the US.

I don't like mysteries, so I tried to find info on this ghost of a website:

Link.
Server Type: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
IP Address: 202.22.251.91 Whois : Reverse-IP : Ping : DNS Lookup : Traceroute

China - Shanghai - Shanghai - Uninet Corp

....

IP "Whois" lookup found in the linked page.

Sooo....China.

Here is a link that might be useful: WHOIS Lookup on the IP address listed above

Eric, cool. Thanks for solving the mystery.

Dave, maybe different Canadian growers have different charges, but I was gonna order a Phal from Zephyrus Orchids in Canada. On the phone, the nice guy says there's no extra charge to ship to the US, although they wait till May or so because of the weather.

And glad you found some varieties around here.

Whitecat8