End of the Season

With the arrival of rain for the next 24 hours or so which will then be followed by below freezing weather Thursday night, it's finally time to end our shipping season. Thanks to all who have placed orders this year and came out to visit at our open house. The last of the orchid orders are on their way to their new homes. We did find a few that didn't get printed or shipped last week and got them out this week, so if you're expecting orchids and haven't heard from us and they haven't arrived, please let us know! 

We still have a lot to do here; plants to get in the ground, gardens to clean up, and a poly house to get ready for winter! Finally having the poly house back up and in operation will alleviate some of the problems we've experienced with late cold weather. It's not as good as a heated greenhouse, but it helps extend the season on both ends just a little bit. It also provides shade in summer. The move to a new location, followed by serious health problems have really slowed down getting this project done, but we'll have it up before winter truly arrives here. 

Once we're caught up with all the tasks we didn't get done yet, the website update will begin. Given the record number of crop failures and shortages we experienced this year from our suppliers, coupled with a couple of rough winters leading to crop failures on our end; we may hold off on opening ordering until a bit later in the season. Likely we'll slowly trickle new plants into availability as they arrive here at the nursery, and old plants we're growing on site as they emerge from dormancy. This will mean that ordering will start to open in March and with a more limited selection and new products getting added until shipping opens in May. Supply failures can still happen, but  hopefully there will be less customer impact. We hate doing the backend work of refunds, and hate even more telling someone that really cool plant they're excited to receive isn't actually shipping.

I'll post an end of year update/wrap-up/review kind of thing and actually publish a newsletter in December. But until then, happy fall! 

 

Cypripedium Orchids!

We've added on to our orchid order and I've finally got everything on the website updated. Everything listed is pretty limited, less than 10 of a variety. These will ship in October after I receive them from the supplier in Germany and they ship separately from anything else you may order. View our selection here: Cypripedium | Botanophilia LLC

We have a little over a month left of shipping everything else, so get your orders in! I'm frantically trying to get things planted in the gardens with an eye for spots for orchids as well. I have a lot to do yet, and not a lot of time to do it! 

No real health updates this time. I have another consult coming up. The hope is that medication will work to stop tumor growth and I won't need any surgery at all! 

Good News Update!

It's been awhile since I've given an update, and that's because there haven't been any answers or further information. I've been going through various tests and procedures, which I'll outline. But first I want to thank everyone for the well-wishes, encouragement, optimism, and orders. Everything is greatly appreciated! 

After my CT in June discovered a mass, I was scheduled for a PET to give a better idea of spread. Interestingly my larger mass wasn't hypermetabolic, indicating a low chance for cancer. But my smaller mass had grown and WAS highly hypermetabolic. 

    During my PET I started getting chills and didn't think much of it; it was a cool day (temps in the 60s) and even cooler in the mobile unit and I was wearing a tshirt and exercise shorts. But by the next day I fully had a fever and it was off to the ER. Turns out, I had Lymes. 

    Next was an IR biopsy. They couldn't access the larger mass as it was mobile and every time they repositioned me it moved. They attempted the smaller mass and only got fatty tissue from around it. 

    Last week I had a surgical biopsy. They removed the smaller mass, a cluster of lymph nodes, and pathology was negative. As my surgeon and I expected, it was hypermetabolic because of the Lymes. Next they got several biopsies of my abdominal mass and got a good look around with a camera. Nothing was amiss besides that mass, which turns out is a fast growing mass of scar tissue. 

    So this is MOSTLY good news. I still need to talk to my oncologist, I suspect another PET soon to confirm no further issues. I need to talk to my original surgeon about removal of the mass. If left alone, it will cause problems, probably sooner rather than later. Removal could mean some impact to my already compromised digestive system. And regardless there will be pain and recovery. Again. But it's still better than chemotherapy and the statistics of long term survival with metastatic gastric cancer. So I'm obviously calling it a win!

I've reinstated the shipping option for new orders. I'm still on a weight restriction after my biopsy, but still feeling mostly good. I may need to disable shipping again depending on future surgery and recovery time, but I suspect we have a few weeks and there shouldn't be any long waits on getting items out. 

 

Ordering Update

 Just a quick update. We're going to discontinue shipping new orders for the time being. Pickup by appointment is still available. I'll hopefully have an update how things are going soon. 

Summer Update - Bad News, Sale!

We're nearly through getting caught up with spring shipping. 2021 has been incredibly busy with a record number of orders, and a cool spring delayed plant growth and our ability to get orders out until recently. If you haven't heard from us, check your spam folder for automated USPS tracking info. We've shipped nearly everything USPS again this year and there have been surprisingly few delays.

I just added a bunch of new plants to the website. A few are on the small side as they were meant to be available later summer or next spring. A few other plants are still on the small side due to our initial cold spring. I've tried to note this in descriptions or with pictures, but feel free to ask if you're not sure.  

For those who haven't been following along, last year I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. 2020 was a rough year of surgery, hospital stays, and chemo. I had my 6 month checkup CT scan last week and it looks like I have more of the same in my future; I have a 5cm mass that will need to be taken care of. If we've talked recently, you know that I've been mostly feeling good; so this comes as a bit of a shock. 
    Last year I kept the nursery open and operating during all of that and shipped on a delayed timeline. It was hard. It was frustrating. I don't want to do that again. Things are still a bit up in the air regarding scheduling etc, but I suspect I'll be mostly out of commission the rest of the shipping season. So, we're going to run a sale and ship material out as efficiently as possible until I need to close the nursery for the season. Having less plant material to deal with will make life easier this summer as I go through treatment again. We WILL still be shipping out orchids in October, so if you have Cypripedium on order with us, you will still get them! 

    So what's the sale? If you want to come by and shop by appointment in person, everything is 50% off. I obviously have some appointments and will try to be getting away to see some friends before I need to be a shut in the rest of the year, so appointments are necessary. Just message us on Facebook, email us, or use our contact form here on the website. 

    If you want to place an order for shipping, all new orders $125 and over get 50% off using the coupon code CANCERSUCKS! at checkout. Why the $125 minimum? Simply put, smaller orders are more costly for us to process and ship. 

    I'll keep this sale open as long as I can ship material. Currently I have the coupon set to expire on July 5th, but I will either extend it or close ordering early depending on how my schedule evolves and how many orders we get. 

Thanks for all the support and patience over the last 18 months. We really appreciate it!

Nick 

May Update - Shipping, New Plants, Apparel and OPEN HOUSE!!!

Just a quick update for everyone. We're still chilly here in the north and haven't started shipping yet. We're hoping to start in 2 weeks or so, based on how plants are looking. Last year's plants are just now emerging from dormancy and this year's plants are still growing and rooting in. We have a record number of orders this year, so please be patient. If you have questions about your order, please let us know. 

We did just add 17 varieties of witch hazel to the store. If you didn't notice, check them out! We're usually adding things throughout the season, it's worth checking in occasionally. 
Hamamelis - Witch Hazel | Botanophilia LLC

We've also updated our logo design and therefore our shirts etc. You can buy them here

We're having our first open house! June 4-6, 2021. 10am-5pm. Directions here Come by to shop some plants. Our gardens aren't much to look at since they're so young, but you're welcome to see them. Masks required and distancing encouraged. 

Spring!

The official first day of spring is a few days away now. Soil, pots, and miscellaneous supplies arrive on Monday and our first plants arrive later next week. Tags for those plants have already arrived and we're getting excited!

Last year saw unprecedented sales for the horticulture industry. Retailers sold out of stock as quickly as it could be gotten. This year is no different so far and our sales are up tremendously even from last year. THANK YOU to everyone who has already placed an order! Increased sales nation-wide has led to shortages in the industry - even for mundane items like soils, mulches, tools, etc! We've already sold out of some plants. If you're browsing the website and thinking about placing an order, I encourage you not to wait too long. If we don't have something you're looking for, get in touch; it might be something we're interested in selling! Even if we can't get it this year because of shortages, we already have shipments of new plants booked through July of 2022! 

We are still adding items to the site for spring. We just added some of the Feathered Friends Ajuga series. There are some other plants that we'll add once they arrive next month and we get a look at them. And I'll be placing an order for a few more yet this week and will add them as soon as I can. 

The Covid-19 pandemic is still a problem but is slowly getting under control. We are offering nursery pickup by appointment this year. I am still immunocompromised after last year's chemotherapy; masks and distancing will be required regardless of vaccination or health status (I'm hoping to get mine soon!). If you can't or don't want to wear a mask to pick up plants, then please select the shipping option when checking out. We are also looking forward to participating in events that follow public safety guidelines. We're happy to announce that we'll once again be at the Green Bay Botanic Garden Garden Fair in June! If you organize or know of an event that we should participate in that will follow masking and distancing guidelines this year, please let us know. I'm hoping in 2022 we can have more normal events, so feel free to contact us for those future events too! 

Nick