It is a high quality Hybrid Standard Cymbidium. Maybe it is a one off seedling and that is the reason for "No sale". There are at least 10,000 registered Cymbidium Hybrids on the register of Hybrids kept at Kew so unless this is a a widely distributed mericlone (Copy) your chances of getting an id are very low. No tag on the plant at the nursery?

rosewinda, I've sold roses wholesale and retail inland in SoCal as well as right on the beach within a very short drive of Malibu. The problem is two fold: the majority of the consuming public only know the J&P catalog and traditionally buy those. "Gardeners", you know, the mow/blow/go primarily know Iceberg and Knock Out, and a few traditional HTs and floribundas by name. I've dealt with the well-healed and the "house poor" and all in between. I've sold to MANY of the mow/blow/go and the high-end "landscape professionals" and it's the same thing. VERY few know anything other than that blamed J&P catalog. Those are the roses which sell themselves so they are more likely to pay the bills for the nursery. The second part of the problem is the lack of the OGR material to compete with the wholesale budded. I realize there are areas in the US which buy plugs and bands and grow their own, and there are those who buy in bulk from Hortico and Pickering. I can't address those as no one here in SoCal does that so I have no experience with that. None of the wholesale producers we have greatest access to produces the material you are seeking. Specialty nurseries do, the Burlington Roses, Vintage, Roses Unlimited, etc., produce those wonderful roses, but they are never in sizes or stages of development competitive to the wholesale J&P, Star, Week's product. Add to that the lack of wholesale pricing for the specialty product and you can't win. It has been possible in the past to pay as little as $5.50 wholesale for a Grade 1 J&P bare root rose. You have to add soil, pot, water, labor, time, rent on space or opportunity cost to that to come up with the final cost. The specialty sources sell the same plant to a nursery as they do YOU. How can a nursery buy a Bon Silene from RU for $18 plus shipping, receive a plant smaller than a one gallon size (NOT to dishonor RU as I have nothing against them. The same example can be made using any specialty source you choose), pot it up, then wait for it to develop into a plant which can compete in size and flower production to a several month old budded HT? I tried doing that when Ashdown was in high swing. I bought hundreds of OGRs from them, skewed toward the Tea, China, Noisette, Hybrid Musk and others suited to the coast and inland communities we served. They sold because I sold them. Very few moved on my days off. Even after trying to ignite my co workers to their benefits and value, they didn't sell themselves like the front line moderns did. No one advertises them as new moderns are advertised. There is no money in it for producers as there are no patents on them so the only money they can make from them is from selling the actual plant. Most modern roses don't require that because the market KNOWS what to expect from them and the average consumer bases his/her selection on the pretty flower and PRICE. Browse the threads here frequently proclaiming the find of $3 roses here and there. Price is probably equal to the pretty flower as the driving factor in the sales of the vast majority of roses. A nursery can't competitively sell roses which cost them two to three times what a wholesale budded modern can, particularly when there is such a greater development time between receipt and retail size and bloom. Large wholesale producers DO bud a small selection of OGRs. You've seen them in the J&P and Star catalogs for years. The last major producer to offer wholesale budded Teas, Chinas, Noisettes, HPs, etc. was Armstrong way back in the 1970s and early 80s. I have also tried in vain to carry smaller own root plants of these specialty types, priced lower than the five gallon bud and bloom moderns and had a devil of a time selling them. Yes, there were the few who were intrigued or who knew what they were and loved finding them, but it required tremendously more time and effort to move a ten dollar plant than the $15 five gallon ones which sold themselves. Some years ago, I managed a specialty, walk-in rose nursery here in the San Fernando Valley. Limberlost Roses specialized in OGRs in five gallon to boxed sizes. We had a tremendous selection and the business climate was MUCH better than now. We brought in OGRs from Canada and specialty American sources, then grew them up. Even advertising in every paper, newsletter and online, and with competitive prices to the other nurseries in teh area, business wasn't sufficient to remain IN business. Those roses aren't going to pay for themselves, and we're talking MY kind of roses. There isn't enough demand for roses in general, much less the specialty ones you desire. Your local nursery had what he can sell and remain in business. Kim

Ask him out for coffee. Sit down with him, tell him it appraised for that much in this market... my thought on that - what is the shape of the house that sells for $475? You know what you have, so does he. You may be able to make it worthwhile at maybe another $5,000 for your troubles to rent. You have a nice house from memory. He'll put cash into it, some elbow grease and turn around & sell it for a decent profit. The thing is, your house from what I remember is pretty close to being a "flipped" product anyway. He doesn't have to do much. So, you said at one time $400 - now add $5,000 for the refinance, then maybe another $5,000 for renting. I would say that $410k - $415k may be a sweet deal. This is why I said go for coffee to talk, so you both can see and hear each other. You know he wants to profit and he probably will. You may do better in 6 months or who knows, the right house can land in your lap after signing contracts. I think it is worth the risk and headache of renting. You may end up financially better off to have that other baby.. If he sees your face & hears your voice while you say hubby doesn't care to move & would like to stay... he knows you are serious. You can also share what ever else. You've just had tough times, who's to say they are over?

Wow, I'm so glad you showed the Before pics. You've done such an amazing job. It's a beautiful and well thought out kitchen. And thank you for saying it has taken a year. I'm getting close to my one year mark and not done, so it helps to hear this. I didn't know that having knives on a metal knife rack could make them dull faster. I've seen some that are wood. I'm now going to have the search GW to see what knife rack I should get. There's got to be a thread for that, right?