You have far more willpower than I would of had about that check in your shoe!,,,Debbie

Wow, what a fun day you had! You did good!

Sheila :)

a $7.50 table?!?!?!?! If only I had known!!! That's about as good as Lowe's dead and dying cart but with much better orchids! Well, now that I'm thinking about it, it's probably better I didn't know...
Lori

you truly are the james bond of the orchid shows @_@, im gonna have to remember that for next year.

I called yesterday and ordered the $7.50 special to be shipped. Used to be $75.00 postage paid for ten, but that got increased to $85.00 for ten to be shipped. Anxious now to see what they send me - I requested species, their choice.

Wow, $85. for postage really takes away from the bargain prices of their plants. Then again, I've never purchased any of their plants! I know the folks at another forum I visit think they are the BEST!

Sheila, its $85, postage included, so they are charging $10.00 for postage.

Nick

The $7.50 specials are for baby plants mostly. Or back bulbs. I got two last year: Laelia crispa X Cattleya something and a Laelia Pacavia. Many MANY years away from blooming but I was on a buget and couldn't get full grown plants.

They have great cold tolerant catts and laelias but I have always thought some things are pricey. But the plants are usually very good and healthy.

I need to defend SBOE. Most of the Catt crosses are either young seedlings who should bloom in 3 years or 2 bbulbs of a mature plant which also should bloom in 3 years. If you get there first thing in the morning, any day, as they restock at night, and carefully look at each plant in a given group, you will usually find a couple that are 1 year ahead of the pack, 2 bbulbs plus a new growth. That plant will bloom in 2 years. I usually try to get there at 8 AM Friday morning, this year I could not get there until Saturday AM but found nice plants never the less. Some of the Pleuros and the plants in that group often are already in bloom and will give a full head of flowers in a year.

Depends on your desire for quick results. I prefer 20 of these to 6 or 7 larger plants. Since I have been doing this for a number of years, as I mount or pot this year's purchases, flowers are popping up on plants I got there 3 years ago and had forgotten about until they surprise you with a bloom. Do that twice a year for a number of years and the surprises keep on popping up.

For 'REAL' orchid shopping I would not go there during a show. On any weekday during the year, the personal attention at SBOE and Cal Orchids right across the street is superb. No mass $7.50 table but expert advice and a great selection of obviously more expensive plants. I usually shop for a group, tell James at Cal Orchids "Let's look at Pescatore today" or Wayne at SBOE "Good day for Lycaste" and you get a selection of their best. Large enough purchases will get you the usual discount.

The $7.50 table is like an exiting swap meet, no comparison to 'real orchid shopping' but I would not miss it.

Nick

I was good at showing restrain this time.
Got:
C. perciviliana alba (with 2 sheaths and 1 more growth)
L. lobata coeruelea 'Maria Christina x self' (hopeful in blooming this next year)
Lc. Hot Sauce 'Stella' (my second one)
L. Newberry Glow (I've been looking for this for years!)
If you see the plants from SBOE or Cal Orchids, you will understand that you get what you pay for. Their plants are topnotch.

orchidnick is right, it is a great way to start a collection. For me, I wouldn't know what to buy or try. Living on the other side of the US from SB, they must do the choosing. The surprise is great. I have plants I would have never thought of purchasing - and love it! As pointed out, some are blooming size and others are not.

If I had something specific to purchase? I call and they send the guys out to look and I buy it - but not during any of the shows.

I've been doing the $7.50 specials for several years. Wouldn't miss the excitement!

Bullsie

Their customer service is superb. You can go as far as sending them a list of what you have along with a description of your growing conditions and they will pick out suitable new plants for you.

Nick

Yes, and I love it! I got a C Henrietta Japhet by inquiring. I was so delighted.

I got my order Wed. They sent the following:

Ada glaumacea
Restrepiella ophiocephala
Maxillaria tenufolia
Maxillaria pachyphylla
Eria Flava
Lycaste longiscapa
Dendrobium antennatum
Bulbophyllum acutebracteatum
Eria spicata
Dendrobium aphyllom
Dendrobium speciosum var grandiflore
Dendrobium kingianum 'Sparkle Plenty'
Cattleya jenmanii
Onc phymatochilum
Dendrobium Delicatum 'Apple Blossom'
Campylocentrum micrantham
Dendrobium lindleyanum
Oncidium maculatum
Kefersteina sanguinolenta
Pleurothallis groby

Only three on this list are immature. Rest should give me blooms in a year or two - with the exception of the Maxillaria pachyphylla which is a slow grumpie orchid (I had gotten one from SBOE several years ago - once established it blooms marvelously.).

Some I will keep, others will be moving on. I will enjoy the research and info I find on these and watching them grow and bloom.

I start saving for next falls specials now. Exciting moments ahead!

You illustrate my point so well. Many Nurseries have great plants and if you are looking for that special one you need to search someplace other than the $7.50 table. This situation that they create twice a year is unique as far as I know, no where else is this available. The way they do it, making it available to anyone, anywhere, and the way they change plants so there is always something new makes it something one can look forward to on a biannual basis.

Done for the year, next time is March. Bullsie, let me know if you want to trade some of them

Nick

This whole situation actually gives me a better understanding of the other sex. It allows me to relate how the female members of my family not only shop but also insist it is the only logical way to accomplish what ever it is they are trying to accomplish.

For me, this is the only time I leave in the morning not having the faintest idea what it is I desperately need to buy. Then there it is, no doubt about it, I must have it otherwise civilization as we know it will end. I guess some of us function like that all the time. This allows me to better understand the circuitry of the feminine brain.

Nick

"Saturday, November 7 - Sunday, November 8, 2009
S.B.O.E. Annual Fall Open House"

They are already advertising their $7.50 specials!