ok, well I've purchased a couple more Paphs from a nursery I've heard much about - Robertson Orchids - in Queensland, Australia (sorry folks, guess this is gonna be more of a tease, I don't know if he sells overseas).

Anyways, new plants are as follows -

1. Paph Harbinger's Dark Ages (philippinense x wilhelminiae)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2108/2092284654_7104204e82.jpg

2. Paph Helvetia (chamberlainianum x philippinense)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2121/2092283828_24209ff1b2.jpg

3. Paph laevigatum 'Pat' (syn. philippinense)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2256/2091502135_f881f0acbe.jpg

4. Paph emersonii
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2158/2092284438_4c7e4bcdd4.jpg

the emersonii is obviously the 'smallest' plant with a leaf span of 30cm! So you can well imagine the size of the rest! I have no more space!

Now, I thought I might also add a picture of a plant I purchased at a recent Auction at Royale Orchids, NSW.

Paph dianthum
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2125/2091714259_9619427d3f.jpg

thanks for looking.


cheers
tim

As you would expect from John Robertson, these plants are of outstanding quality. He is the best orchid nursery in Australia by far. No one even comes close. Look at the size and health of those plants. They are flawless. He is an incredible grower. And he sells them at such great prices.

He advertised that phillipinense x wilhiminiae as a small compact plant. Well I'd hate to see a large plant in John's eye. I can't grow anything that big.

John also advertised that laevagatum as a 2 growth division. Well there looks like more than 2 growths to me. He did the same thing to me. He seems to only count flowering size growths. My plants had way more growths than I was expecting.

The only dissappointment is the emersonii. You were dudded. I actually ordered that as well and missed out because of Tim. You rat!!! I'm happy to take it off yours hands if you are dissappointed.

I can't believe what you paid for that dianthum. It is worth at leat 5 times that much. Nurseries sell two growth divisions for what you got that for. I look forward to seeing that in flower. It should be starting to bud up now. Mine always does at this time of year.

David

Nice plants!! That dianthum is huge! :thumbsup:

whoah! holy monster paphs! nice!

WOW! Such healthy plants!
Massive dianthum!

You can always send the plants to me! Shall I send you my address?:p

Ramon:D

Tim, save on the export costs, Aussie post to Victoria is much easier.

Those plants are magnificent. What sort of prices were they, if you don't mind me asking?

I was curious that I hadn't heard of Robertsons' before so I googled it. I came up with a thread on this forum where it was mentioned he is scaling back the operation. He might do a bit better if he kept his online catalogue more up to date, and show the full extent of what he has for sale. At the moment he only has 6 paphs and 8 phrags listed, clearly he has alot more available.

As an aside, how difficult would it be for a nursery in Aus to export plants like those pictured above to the American & Japanese markets?

What sort of prices were they, if you don't mind me asking?

...He might do a bit better if he kept his online catalogue more up to date, and show the full extent of what he has for sale.

As an aside, how difficult would it be for a nursery in Aus to export plants like those pictured above to the American & Japanese markets?

all those plants were way below 100 bucks, the most expensive, the laevigatum 'Pat' was 75, and the cheapest, the Helvetia, an awarded clone from 1991 was 35 bucks!!!

that is the pity about many of the Oz nurseries and their websites, however, I've found that sending emails about what I was looking for tend to turn up a number of really interesting stuff... many are only one off divisions so not worth putting on the web.

unfortunately, I don't think we can compete with the cheaper Asian providers when it comes to international markets. I know that one of the local nurseries here sends Sarcochilus to the USA but we are still one of the few suppliers of these Genus.

I reckon we just need to get all of our friends hooked on orchids, so for xmas give em a blooming plant to get them started :-)

Those plants are magnificent. What sort of prices were they, if you don't mind me asking?

I was curious that I hadn't heard of Robertsons' before so I googled it. I came up with a thread on this forum where it was mentioned he is scaling back the operation. He might do a bit better if he kept his online catalogue more up to date, and show the full extent of what he has for sale. At the moment he only has 6 paphs and 8 phrags listed, clearly he has alot more available.

As an aside, how difficult would it be for a nursery in Aus to export plants like those pictured above to the American & Japanese markets?

I was at an orchid show and a whole lot of people (including owners of orchid nurseries) told me he was closing down. I rang John the next day and he told me it was the first he had heard of it. So I'm not sure how it all started. I believe he does do other work to supplement his income. The reality is it is basically impossible to make an income from selling orchids. At least here in Australia anyway. Keeping websites up to date takes a lot of time and is probably not economically worth it. He does email out catalogues on a regular basis.

I just tend to email John to see if he has any plants I would like. For example, the Lady Isabel on my avatar came from him. I emailed him and asked him if he hads any Lady Isabels in stock. He said I have one in flower which is the best one he had ever flowered. It cost me a bit but I grabbed it.

I wouldn't have thought it would have been worth it to export overseas. Quarantine costs and such. It is not like you can't get high quality plants in the US and Japan.

David