Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 20:00:22 -0800 (PST) From: Philcula@webtv.net (Phil Faulisi) To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3763$foo@default> Subject: orchid update/nepenthes tribute
Just a friendly reminder folks that the lady slipper orchids I have for
trade/sale are still in good supply. Thank you to those of you who
placed orders already. First come first served get the best material.
Remember, many of these plants retail for big bucks. Email me for the
list or place your orders soon if you have the list already. These
prices absolutely will not last and these are NOT supermarket plants
either. These are cream of the crop slipper orchids. You will not find a
better bargain for this quality of plant. And I guarantee they are true
to name and breathtaking in flower. And now on to some cp
news...............................
How many of you love, I mean REALLY love nepenthes? Just as I figured,
most of you. Have you ever tried to import them yourself? OUCH ! $$$
Been there, done that, hated it!!!!
You know how many times you have spent the big dinero for a whispy
little piece of nothing. I spent $1800 on nepenthes plants from a
foreign country and I could fit ALL of the plants on a soup ladle. Oh
sure I had to pay for phyto and CITES and all that, but the total price
of the plants was roughly $1800. Needless to say when that 4 inch by 4
inch box arrived at my home, representing 11 species and numerous
variations of each, I just looked at it in awe.
I figured that only one or two of my plants had been sent and the rest
were on their way later. The package had to go through a US
distributor/broker first before it was sent to me. So like a kid on
Christmas day I tore the box open. My initial reaction was worthy of
America's funniest videos. I was dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that I
just spent over $2000 to have a box of mosquitos sent to me from
overseas. Just to give you an idea..... one of the species was nepenthes
inermis. I ordered 2 plants and received .......oh..... 10!!!!! All 10
plants combined were small enough to fit into a thimble. So help me.
What on earth was I going to do with a teaspoon size collection of post
vitro nepenthes. THEY HAD NO ROOTS. They were never weaned from the
mother flask. They were never replated. But something did cross my mind.
These plants had to go through someone else's hands before they got to
me.
What was I to do. Well why not call the seller for starters. So there
was a 10 or 12 hour time difference between our countries...I didn't
care. I wanted to know where my $1800 worth of plants went to. I finally
reached the grower who, he must be religious, swore to the almighty one
that the plants he sent me were on the average 2 to 4 inches in leaf
spread. He could do nothing to help me. AHA.... the old switcheroo I
thought. I figured I had been victimized by one of the oldest crimes in
history. What was I to know. I never imported nepenthes before. I was
expecting small plants yes, I wasn't expecting what I got. Needless to
say I never got my money back nor did I ever get a straight answer from
the, well, US distributor. All the plants except for 3 died within 3
weeks or less.
I only suspected foul play when I asked the grower what packaging he
used to send the plants. He said each specie was in a small plastic food
container clearly labled in black marker. Funny, my plants were wrapped
in a flimsy piece of moist papertowel in a ziplock lunch bag with the
specie name sloppily written across the front of the bag. I was
convinced. Anyway, I learned some great lessons. One of which is not to
try importing again. The other was patience. Good things come to those
who wait. And wait I did. I recently discovered a fellow in our own USA
who advertised all the same species that my foreign distributor did. He
said his plants were exactly the size he advertised them to be. I
figured enough time went by that it was worth another try. So I called
this guy, placed an order, got the plants, placed another order and told
all my friends. I could not believe the quality of this guys stuff nor
the size of his plants. He is sincerely honest about what he sells. And
he's a super nice guy. He is discriminating in his requests from his
suppliers. ONLY the best will do, and this he passes along to us, his
consumer. I found my nepenthes supplier. You may know him. He owns The
CP Jungle. Thanks Michael. Thanks for not messing with my head. Thanks
for allowing people like myself to obtain the hard to obtain. Thanks for
the low prices. And thanks for being the business I have longed to
patronize. Here's a man who means what he says and says what he means.
All the best to you. :)
Phil
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