Late on Tuesday I received a message that a cold grower (hobbyist, not commercial) with a large collection, needs to drastically reduce it for some reason. I had things planned the next day which I immediately canceled, got up at 4AM the next day, watered and headed out. 7 hours later I was like a kid at 'Toys Are Us' looking at three hundred plants or more. I was not the first one, someone got there first and hauled off a bunch of Pleurothallids and Lepanthes. What I saw was a group of nice healthy plants of different sizes at 1/3 the going price or less. Many were $3 to $5, most of the larger ones around $10.

The early bird may get the worm but it's the second mouse that gets the cheese, I guess I was the second mouse. I started loading up and as I was nearly finished someone showed up, who in a heartbeat, grabbed more than she could carry followed by someone else. I heard that several people had made appointments for Saturday, don't know how much will be left by then.

This morning I cataloged the bounty:

44 Masdevallias

10 Draculas (5 large flowered ones)

5 Pleurothallids

1 Restrepia

1 Porro

1 Dryadalla

1 Dendrobium (cold growing)

Even though it cost $100 for gas and I spent countless hours driving, I consider myself lucky and am very happy with the result. There is a big hole in my pocket and if someone wants to absorb some of the pain, many of the plants are divisible and in the feeding frenzy, I am guilty of a couple of duplications. Contact me directly for either a trade or whatever if there is interest. All are cold-growers, no give there.

When an opportunity like that arrives, it's imperative to GET THERE QUICKLY!

Nick