Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2000 09:56:42 PST From: "Steve Klitzing" <starbirdcom@hotmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg162$foo@default> Subject: CP's and orchids in Australia
Hi all:
I just got back from a 6-week vacation to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.
I'd just like to say I enjoyed to botanical gardens in Cairns, Queensland.
I met the guy who takes care of the CP collection there, though I can't
recall his name. He had a great collection of Nepenthes hanging in baskets
in an outdoor semi-shaded lathe area. If you ever go to Cairns, the
botanical garden is a fun place to visit and also free. Didn't get a chance
to visit Western Australia and Allen Lowrie's, but hope to do so on my next
trip.
In Queensland, I visited several commercial orchid farms...all small places
and Mom and Pop type operations. I found out there used to be 20 orchid
growers in Queensland, but it is now reduced to 3. It seems that Australia
requires the gassing of all orchids coming into and going out of
Queensland...and I suppose that may also apply to CPs. So, most of the
growers went out of business because gassing is expensive, especially for
small orders. That, and most people living locally aren't into the growing
of rare plants, just low maintenance plants. And they don't have time for
orchids or CPs.
One nice thing I did notice. In the national parks and preserves, there
were a good number of huge staghorn ferns, of many different varieties, all
growing on trees in the tropics. It was nice to see how they really grow in
nature, rather than seeing them on a slab of cork or a board. Again,
because starghorns are considered endangered, along with their forests, the
Australians don't allow them to be shipped out of the country.
---Steve Klitzing
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