I never envisioned that I would ever write an article on just one orchid vendor—but I just received the nicest plants with the best packing job I’ve ever seen and felt that I just had to tell you about this wonderful vendor.

The vendor is Parkside Orchid Nursery in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. They have approximately 14,000 square feet of growing space and 300,000 plants in 5 climate controlled greenhouses. They regularly attend the Philadelphia Flower Show which is March 5-13, 2005. For any of you lucky enough to be within driving range of Parkside, take the time to go by and see their plants and meet Tom and John. For those outside of that range, their internet site is rather nice and of course they are available by e-Mail.

At the suggestion of a fellow BellaOnline Orchids reader, I contacted them to get a specific plant—Oncidium Twinkle. It wasn’t listed on their website, so I sent an e-Mail and received an immediate reply telling me not only what they had, but recommending that I get one that was ready to bloom for spring rather than the one I first wanted. (I plan to get the fall-blooming ones later in the year.)

After much deliberation, I decided on two, one yellow and one pink. The yellow is Oncidium Gold Dust a hybrid between Oncidium Twinkle and Oncidium cheirophorum a species miniature that we have done an article on. My plant is in a 3.5” pot, has 4 inflorescences and 31 open flowers on two of them. The pink is a larger plant, more of a compact size, with 3 inflorescences and 45 flowers both open and in bud on two inflorescences. It’s an Oncidium Rosy Sunset ‘Pacific Satin’ with lots of side bracts and a nice fragrance. Each of the inflorescences is supported with a stick and held with plant clips and string to make sure that they weren’t harmed during shipping. Both were padded in the nicest, softest lamb’s wool to protect them.

Of course, I placed the order during the height of the blizzard in the Northeast and was informed that they had suspended shipping due to the weather. We settled on a week that was good for both of us in February, again dependent upon the weather being cooperative then. And, as I indicated, I received the plants the week I expected them.

If I had to choose between two plants from a normal vendor and one from Parkside—I’d choose Parkside.