oh dear, Daisy...do we need to organize an intervention for your daughter and her needles of colored dye?
I wish I lived closer to Mr. Kawamoto...he has a bunch of plants that I covet...but with the shipping costs
they have now , are not affordable.

I haven't checked with the Kawamoto Company in quite a while but I thought he shipped for free.

I just checked his website...free shipping...figured into the prices of the orchids, they claim. Not bad!

I just looked a little more and the cheapest orchid on his site is $27. 99 (and I could only find one of those). Lots are $29.99 and lots more are in the $30-40 range with a few higher dollar orchids.

nope...used to be you could buy plants on his eBay site for $7 - !5 ...shipping was usually $12 but if you bought many plants the shipping was reduced...so my 'average' plant was being shipped to NC for an average of $17-20. Now he includes the shipping but the price of the plant is usually $30 and up. I haven't checked lately to see if they offer shipping reductions on quantity orders like H & R does...but I was happy to buy his plants at the Tamiami show and not have to pay any shipping at all. I wish Kawamoto offered pre-ordering for his upcoming shows but he does not...Carmela on the other hand did..and I ended up buying about 15 plants from Carmela. 10 that I pre-ordered and the rest were impulse buys.

I wish Carmela Orchids and Exotic Orchids of Maui were going to be at the Asheville show in April. Neither will be there. I could have placed my orders and saved shipping, which amounts to $35-$45 each time an order is placed. Oh well.

I guess if I had good sense I would check and see exactly what large vendors will be there. I probably need to spread my wings, using more growers than just the two.

that's what I do...and I have really found some great growers that I wouldn't have otherwise have found.

More research to do, after I get caught up packing and shipping plants. I have ten boxes to go out, none for any of you though.

Here is the vendor list Ken, an interesting assortment. Most are local growers in Western NC and Upstate SC but there are people from Taiwan, Peru, one from CA and Krull Smith from FL. BB Barnes is an Asheville nursery and if you are looking for anything else, they are terrific, I have never noticed that many orchids there though.
http://www.wncos.org/2016-orch...

I am still vacillating on whether to go or not. There is an outstanding garden festival in Charleston the same weekend. Also, the street paving is now set for April 1 or April 9th and I plan on going to Asheville during that mess. If that gets delayed due to weather, maybe I'll be there.

I did discover one new bloom today, a whiff of coconut gave me a clue: Max. tenuifolia with an early riser. It must have enjoyed its vacation in the Orchid Spa.

Alice. I need to check them out and see which ones sell wholesale.

Ken, this is Rafael, that I have gotten an awful lot of my orchids from (YOU are the first-ever I did through the mail), he does wholesale and has a very nice variety...you should check him out!
https://www.plantiolaorquidea....

Here's another link, Ken. http://www.plantiolaorquidea.c... I seem to be having a hard time getting in to his for-sale stuff...he might be working on the website.

Elaine, your Max tenuifolia is early! Around here mine always blooms around May, June!

Mine isn't showing any signs of blooming either...and I live very close to Elaine! However, I didn't bring a single plant in all winter and Elaine was doing laps with hers!

I know, mine are usually blooming in April, too. I was amazed to see this little flower so early. I'm hoping there will be more to come.

Ken, I'll second Patty's recommendation of Rafael. He has really nice orchids, a wide selection and is a great guy too.

Patty, is he a vendor in Asheville? I was trying to save a bit of money by picking up orchids there and not having to pay shipping. Frugal!

No, he is in Sarasota on the grounds of Tropiflora. He specializes in Brassavolas and Schomburgkias, my two favorites.

Jim

What's a Schom.?