Piping Rock Orchids

So I'm going to be concentrating mainly on US sources since they happen to be the ones I am most familiar with. There are a few sources outside of the country that I know of that have large breeding programs and flasks, and I will cover them to the best of my ability. To get started, I thought I would concentrate on the original US sources for the plant. To my knowledge, they all still have plants. In some cases, they are very large blooming size plants, but get ready to close out those shares of Berkshire Hathaway if you are wanting one of these. They will most certainly cost you a pretty penny. 

Ok, let's get to my actual post then! There were a total of 15 Phragmipedium kovachii plants that were legally collected in Peru. From there, 4 growers from the US went to 2 of the 3 nurseries to begin propagation efforts and importation into the US. There is controversy over who was the "first" person to import into the US and to start propagation. I'm not here to debate that. Based on what I have found from orchid forums and online discussion, it appears that Glen Decker and Alfredo Manrique were the first to collect, but the Fischer's with Orchid Limited were the first to import.  Glen Decker, owner of Piping Rock Orchids, partnered with Alfredo Manrique (posts on the original sources to come) to start bringing plants into the US.

I received my first half flask and plants from Glen back in 2007 when he first began releasing them. At the time, I was writing my honors thesis on the plant and how it provided the perfect example of why CITES needed to be modified for orchid plants. Sad to say that the first plants that I had perished at my hands most likely due to the medium. As I read more and listened to what the others had to say about these plants, I became more adept to providing them the care they needed. Glen at the time was offering plants with 4"-6" leaves for $99.95. Most of his plants were being grown in his growing space in Hawaii and then were moved back to his place in the New England area when they were large enough for sale. From what I had gathered from talking to Glen, he discovered early on how important the medium was to the growth of the plants. About a year after he started, he said that he was no longer losing plants and that the ones he had were successfully growing. 

Glen continues to offer plants from the cross 'Laura' x 'Ana'. I will post some of the pictures he has from his website here to give you an idea of the plants he has for sale. As with most flasks, there will be some that grow faster than others. The last time I spoke with him (a week ago) he stated he has many different sized plants. Depending on your budget, you can get different sized plants with a base price of $99.95. Right now his site says "inquire" so just shoot Glen an email with your price limit and he will return with a photo of a plant. 

I have found Glen's plants to be extremely well grown and extremely "clean." Those of you who have ordered from him before will know what I mean. I have yet to see any blooms of plants grown by Glen. I am not sure if he has shown them yet, but I'm pretty sure he has sizable plants that are of blooming size.

Additionally, Glen has been a leader in the use of Phrag. kovachii in hybridization. Needless to say, they are beautiful plants, but I'm going to concentrate on Phrag. kovachii and not its hybrids in this blog. 

For further information, Glen has published 2 articles regarding Phrag kovachii: One on the culture and the other on its hybrids which you can find on his site (http://pipingrockorchids.com/phragmipedium-kovachii-&-hybrids/index.php). 

A $250 dollar 12" leaf span plant with multiple growths.

Piping Rock Orchids: www.pipingrockorchids.com

Centro de Jardineria Manrique: www.phragmipediumkovachii.com