KNOW US
IT’S TIME TO
O’Dowd’s Orchids
My shop started in January 2022
My son brought me a huge Phaleanopsis orchid many years ago. I just could not believe how beautiful it was. Tall, in bloom and full of colors. I immediately was hooked and started buying from my grocery store, one after another until, by the end of the year, I had 20 orchids, all Phaleanopsis and all different colors.
I wanted to know more and more about these incredible plants so I started to study. I joined the American Orchid Society and I learned there were thousands of types of orchids! I wanted them all!
The only way I could buy orchids in large quantites was to start a store. Then I didn't look so crazy to my family. Deep down inside, I just wanted more room, more orchids, more knowlege and eventually, I started selling on Etsy. I started selling seedlings and enjoyed the customers and the packing of seedlings so much I decided to go into full grown orchids. I sold orchids of all kinds for two years and then decided to start growing Cymbidium orchids and a few other special orchids.
I worked in a very small space and I remember my sweet daughter-in-law looking for drinking glasses in my cupboards. She just found orchid pots. She said, “You might have a bit of an obsession.” We laughed.
Now, I have pots and pans and dishes in my cupboards and my glass orchid pots are in another location. I find the clear plastic pots are all I really like because I can see how the roots are doing. I also have a ton of black growers pots. I learn something new every day.
I normally have 90-100 orchids on my website with about 150 behind the scene. The easiest thing about my job is my wonderful customers who many I count as friends.
Our fourth year starts in January 2025. I am excited. I always have a garden indoors and that is a beautiful way to live. Thanks to you all for helping my shop to grow!
Colleen O'Dowd
O’Dowd’s Orchids
My shop started in January 2022
I have always had plants inside and outside my homes since I was 19 years old. In the deserts of Arizona to the lush island of Hawaii and now my homeland of Idaho, plants just make me happy.
I always have a couple of dogs who I have adopted from shelters or someone. They stay with me all their lives and enhance my life daily. Best friends of the furry kind. Plants are also like family because you nurture them and put your heart and soul into making them grow. When they bloom, there is a certain pride that comes with that blooming.
There is one problem with this love story of orchids, you can become obsessed with having more. I could have easily filled my house with 250 orchids just for me. I decided to start selling orchids and now I nurture them and send them off to a new home. When I get below 250, I have to order more, you know, for my customers! : )
When the house and outside areas are full, I am happy. So there you go, a bit of obsession, but all for my customers. (That's what I tell myself.)
