Bye Orchid Friends
High Desert Orchids Followers,
I’ve made the very difficult decision to close the HDO growhouse at the end of February. HDO started as a backyard side hustle in 2018; I packed your orchid orders with my baby daughter asleep in a carrier on my back. It quickly grew into a full-time job for me and several part-time employees. I never expected the business to take off, and while I love working in the Albuquerque plant community, the time has come for me to move onto bigger and better things. I have taken a job working for Tropical Exotique, traveling to plant shows and selling the amazing variety of plants Tropical Exotique offers. I hope to meet lots of you in the future at these shows!
HDO isn’t going away forever. I am closing the growhouse, but I still have my magical backyard greenhouse. I plan on offering more of my own hybrids as they become blooming size, but I won’t be selling at the volume or regularity that we sell now. I (Kelly) won’t be going away either. I still plan on keeping the HDO Facebook page and group, and remaining active on those platforms. Your engagement and posts are one of my favorite parts of this business! HDO’s instagram will shift focus from sales-oriented, towards more educational and promotional content. I want to promote other small businesses, plant shows, and talk about all the cool plants I come across!
High Desert Orchids would appreciate your support in the final days of our time at 3400 Columbia Dr. NE. Please come visit us Sunday 11-3, and Monday 9-2 and Wednesday 9-12 to help us find homes for our plants. If you are not local, but are interested in acquiring any of our plants, please keep your eyes out for a complete inventory list sent later this week. If you are interested in purchasing any of our equipment, please call or email Kelly at kelly@dunn-nm.com (505-231-6816). (This includes: lights, potting media, fans, trays, RO equipment, benches, the Hoya hut, shelves, office furniture, more shelves, etc.) These items will not ship. (Here’s a list of all the day’s we will be open)
In the immediate future, HDO still plans to attend the Pacific Orchid Exposition in San Francisco, CA on Feb 23-26. This will be our last show, and after this date, we will hopefully be sold out of plants. After we return from POE, we will only be selling the office and greenhouse equipment.
If you or your orchid society has booked me for a talk, I plan to honor my travel commitments through the end of the year, but I won’t be traveling for society talks anymore. Zoom lectures will still be available.
Your support over the years has humbled and flattered me, I have found my truest friends through HDO. I feel so excited for the future, and not at all sad about the closing of the growhouse. To my kind and generous customers in Albuquerque, I will miss seeing you!
Goodbye Orchid Friends,
Kelly McCracken