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Nepenthes at the Orchid Show (POE in San Francisco)

Possibly this comes close to violating prohibitions on mentioning vendors, but I'll do it anyway. If it crosses a line it should be deleted. It seems sad that people in the SF Bay Area might be unaware of a local event which is a great opportunity to buy Nepenthes--simply because it is in the context of an Orchid show.

Unfortunately my camera was dead, so I don't have any photos of when I was there. I will mention that there were two outstanding vendors, whose selling areas were adjacent, both with stunning display plants and beautiful plants for sale. There were also a number of other Nepenthes for sale by other (primarily Orchid) vendors. And of course many of the Orchid sellers were also selling Pinguiculas.

One of the CP vendors was also selling a really nice variety of ant plants.

Here's what I left with, from one of the CP vendors. Nepenthes platychila x robcantleyi and N. spathulata x spectabilis 'Giant'



Both of the CP vendors are very knowledgeable and friendly, so a great environment to both learn about the plants as well as to leave with some.

The show is at the Fort Mason Center, continuing this weekend, $15 admission.

Maybe someone else got some pictures? The display plants from the CP vendors were truly amazing.

Edit: POE stands for Pacific Orchid Exposition.
 
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The Pacific Orchid Expo was a great show!

I picked up a N. hamata, N. miranda, a Cephalotus, and a Dendrobium kingianum.

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Man that sounds like a blast. It would be fun to attend that some day.
 
The show was a great time. Wish I had taken some pictures, but ended up getting way too busy.
 
Very nice! In my area once a year at a large plant sale/exchange a few neps might show up. That is about it save for some of the death cubes.
 
I remembered that I asked a friend to take a photo of one of the vendors' ant plants. Here it is. I think that there were more, including a narrow leaved species, that did not make it into this photo:



I feel silly not mentioning vendors by their names, or the name of their nursery, or even their user name. I'm trying to respect the rules of this forum. I would only have more good things to say. i should probably fight to change these rules, as I think they are counterproductive; however as long as they are in place I will try to respect them.
 
I feel silly not mentioning vendors by their names, or the name of their nursery, or even their user name. I'm trying to respect the rules of this forum. I would only have more good things to say. i should probably fight to change these rules, as I think they are counterproductive; however as long as they are in place I will try to respect them.

Lol, it's not worth it. It's like the mutant VFT debate, it will always arise from time to time and it never really goes anywhere or accomplishes anything. There are many people that share the same sentiment though.
 
I hope to see more CP vendors there in the future.

I bought the hamata and the ceph from Vendor 1 who is a really good guy I've known for years. He was recently featured in an article titled Beauty Lures the Beasts on Palo Alto Online. Some great pictures in the article.

Vendor 2 is another good guy who is the president of our local CP club. I bought a nep and an orchid from him. I did see the ant plants. They look pretty interesting.

The non-CP vendor where I spent the most time was this really interesting store that sold Orchids on a Stick - orchids mounted vertically on branches, bark, and boards. Vendor 3 had some really interesting stuff. Alas, I had already bought enough stuff, so I didn't get anything from them at the show.

Edit: I almost forgot to mention that a vendor (not a vendor at the Expo), but some folks from a vendor 50 miles north of San Francisco were at the show shopping also. It was good to see them!
 
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My friend that I met up with was really excited about meeting Vendor 1 and seeing his plants after reading the Palo Alto Online article. I think she got a couple Nepenthes from him.

Vendor 3 is at pretty much all the major California Orchid shows. His plants are amazing, and he attracts the hard core people interested in species Orchids. I believe he makes it to shows elsewhere in the country as well.

I saw Vendor 2 and I believe Vendor 3 at the "Orchids in the Park" show in Golden Gate Park (on the edge of Strybing Arboretum/SF Botanical Garden) last summer. Hopefully they will be there this year as well. I'm not finding info on it yet, but last year it was August 2-3. So we don't even have to wait a year for a repeat.

I even managed to park for free for the POE. I always park for free at Strybing (site of the other show).

We really are lucky that all of these people come to shows locally.
 
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  • #10
ooh it's happening again this weekend? I am really considering it as I heard some of our local vendors showed up. Are the plants any cheaper?
 
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I think it's all over at this point--and those guys probably need a rest. After quite a bit of looking, I'm unable to find when the "Orchids in the Park" will be, let alone who will be selling there.

From what I noticed prices may have been comparable to what is online, at least for Vendor 2. But possibly he picked plants that were particularly nice? If they all look like that, then I'm even more impressed. I'm not familiar with Vendor 1's prices, although quality and price at the show seemed comparable to Vendor 2. Of course the advantage of going to something like this is that the buyer gets to pick exactly what he or she thinks is best, plus there's no trauma from mailing and possibly unpotting, and so on.
 
  • #12
Here are some Nepenthes plants that where displayed. How interesting the BiOrb with climate control device. Enjoy.

Ramon:D

N. maxima x TM
16461862537_ed2ec5ec51_z.jpg


N. densiflora x robcantleyi
16669163045_68852b363d_z.jpg


N. truncata
16668061962_b8a7c6f111_z.jpg


N. Xtrusmandiensis clone 2
16046978304_012b0f6281_z.jpg


N. eymae x jacquelinae
16461781387_c3f6bacb8d_z.jpg


N. sp or hybrid?
16643148386_c55f5f7812_z.jpg


BiOrb
16046782544_d8f624f9f3_z.jpg
 
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  • #13
I would love to get my hands on that bio sphere! Who makes it?
 
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  • #14
I knew someone here must have taken pictures of those plants. Thanks, rdlsreno/Ramon!

I just looked up the terrarium and it's called a "biOrb Air Terrarium".
 
  • #15
I knew someone here must have taken pictures of those plants. Thanks, rdlsreno/Ramon!

I just looked up the terrarium and it's called a "biOrb Air Terrarium".

I just found it, its almost $600! The only issue I see is the lighting. It uses 6 led array. Not sure what the lumens are. It has a lot of features apparently. And its a 16 gallon model. In the picture it looks a lot smaller.
 
  • #16
I think I remember the one at the show was part of the silent auction. You can see a bidding sheet next to it, as well as similar ones next to bottles of wine.
 
  • #17
If the terrarium itself was worth $600, it's a little surprising they didn't find a $100 Nepenthes to put in it. Not that there's anything "wrong" with the one there...
 
  • #18
If the terrarium itself was worth $600, it's a little surprising they didn't find a $100 Nepenthes to put in it. Not that there's anything "wrong" with the one there...

They were probably just using an example. Would have looked cool if they had a hamata or something like that for display.
 
  • #19
I can't imagine spending $600 on a novelty terrarium. So many plants you could get instead and a decent setup for that amount...
 
  • #20
Thanks for posting those pictures Ramon. I was a bit too busy dealing w/ the setup & sales to take any of my own.

That dark plant that "vendor #1" brought was a hybrid. It was either ramispina x ?, izumiae x ?, or maybe even izumiae x ramispina. Can't remember. Did you get a full-shot of his display table? It was awesome.

As for the orb: it's a really cool setup if you have the $$ to throw around. I donated the carnivorous plants, and since this was an orchid-focused show, beginner plants seemed like a better idea than something extremely rare/difficult.
 
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