SB Orchid Estate and Cal Orchid were the first to show up in a google search, looks like there are other vendors as well.
~Jem

Depends if you want established regular plants going at $150 plus for good sized specimens. SBOE would be excellent for this. They have a big fair in July, at that time there also is a vendor from Australia ("Down Under") who always shows up with a much larger variety of speciosums. The plants will feature a parentage of awarded outstanding Aussie crosses but will be sold by the stem. More expensive, smaller but much better plants, the best ones are sold during their Thursday nite opening dinner or first thing Friday morning. The other way to go is to google Australian vendors of D speciosums, many will export with appropriate Cites etc.

All depends if you just want a non-specific speciosum or if you want a specific one of the 6 types. Then comes the question if you want a generic one or an awarded one (Au). If you just want a generic one I would get a list of American vendors coming to a Canadian show near you and contact them for a pre-order or go to the Santa Barbara show. Don't by shy to spend some money, $50,00 will get you a seedling where you wait 5 years plus for flowers, $150.00 is the minimum if you want to see flowers within 1 or 2 years.

Check on their size, I have a huge Hillii with 30" long stems, 28 of these are not only heavy but also need 4' plus lateral space.
also make sure your plant gets cold in the winter. My late mother had one in Calgary which she kept snuggly warm during their cold winter and it did not bloom until I fixed a 'cold room' in her basement where the heater was shut off and temps were allowed to go just below freezing. Then it bloomed its head off.

Good luck, they are one of my favorite plants and put on spectacular shows when they bloom.

Nick

Something to bear in mind with DUNO. Den speciosum seedlings take a long time to reach flowering size - about 10-15 years is common. Do not buy a grandiflorum seedling if you have entered retirement. Penduculatums usually shave a few years off the time to flower but they're smaller and you don't get the spectacularly huge sprays of flowers that the larger speciosums send up. The speciosums available in the US may not be cutting edge breeding but if you want flowers, divisions may be a better option.

I agree with corymbosa, they take a long time to flower, avoid a non-blooming size plant if in retirement unless blood pressure, cholesterol and % body fat are all primo. Also avoid non-blooming plants if you smoke. You can however buy blooming sized plants all day long at most US orchid shows. As you state, they are not cutting edge breeding but you can get that from the occasional Aussie vendor who ventures north of the equator. I have seen nice crosses brought to Santa Barbara by "Down Under", but he sells them either one or two mature stems at a time, usually for a minimum of a $100.00 a stem, so again a 4 to 5 year wait, the reward is better quality flowers.

And don't forget Ebay. Right now 2 plants are listed. One is a named but non-awarded clone from a Florida vendor which sounds like it can be had for $99. Vendor however does not ship to Canada. Details of flower shape is not great but it looks like an average flower in a vigorous plant. Not a bad deal.

The second listing is from Australia which offers D speciosum 'Windermere' HCC with a good picture of the flower which to me looks much superior to the Florida plant and or most non awarded clones offered for sale at the US shows. $340 will ship it to Canada and that's the type of plant I'd go for. Its smaller but much better quality.

I bought D speciosum 'Day Light Moon' HCC from and Au vendor and found the import process quite tolerable. It has superior flowers and even though the initial cost is painful, once the plant gets rolling and throws out 13 flower spikes with 50 to 75 flowers on each, its well worth it.

Just found your site. I see that the D. speciosum "bug" has bitten in Canada. Here in Oz I have devoted 35 years to exploration of the east coast, some 3000 kms north to south, just searching out the very best clones of all six varieties. My collection is now choking me out of my 350 sq metre bush house. I don't grow hybrids but like them too. I am a species chasing "bush rat" and one day I may slip off a cliff or waterfall or get bitten by a Taipan and die. That's ok if I land on a good clump of "rock lily". I'm thinking how to disperse some 500 pots of speciosum, just want to keep the best 200 or so. Maybe I could go fishing or travel the world as was the plan 35 years back. They sure get into your blood! I was once told: "If they hybridise for another 50 generations they'll come up with an orchid as good as D. speciosum". I better go now, gotta water, while the wife finishes the concreting of the driveway. God she's slow . . .

Thanks a lot billbruhm for bringing up the subject! I got the spec. bug years ago, am growing about a dozen of the buggers, but I was in remission. Your blurb reactivated the disease and I promptly went to EBay and bought the 2 plants I talked about earlier. Plus 9 little hybrids. I needed that like I need a root canal! Thanks again!

I agree with denspec that this plant is truly the "King of Orchids".

Nick