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| HilltopOrchids.com Owner Bios |
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Dick & Sandy Wells - Orchids, Growing & Greenhouse |
Dick & Sandy Wells (sandy@hilltoporchids.com) are the owners of Hilltop Orchids. Dick has been growing orchids since 1954. He was in High School when he was first struck by the beauty and elegance of orchids. Sandy, on the other hand, inherited her passion for orchids, when she married Dick 41 years ago.
The original plan was to operate a small business to support Dick's 'orchid habit'. He began with one small 8 X 10 foot greenhouse. Somehow he must have given it too much fertilizer, because it has grown to over 9600 square feet of growing space with two breeding labs and flask houses. In 1997 Hilltop Orchids incorporated and became an official business.
Hilltop Orchids specializes in unique Phalaenopsis breeding. In addition, Hilltop carrys large collections of Paphiopedliums, Phragmipediums, Cattleyas, Oncidiums, Brassias, & various other genera that are easy to grow in the home. Breeding & flasking is done on site in sterile orchid laboratory conditions. Many of our their hybrids have been nationally awarded and recognized for quality. Most of thier plants from seed to bloom in their greenhouses, so that they can control quality and horticultural conditions to best meet their customer's needs.
We also offer support and assistance to the hobby grower by providing orchid supplies, written instructions, answering e-mail questions as quickly as possible, and offering hands-on workshops for potting, dividing, and general care of your plants. To that end Hilltop Orchids has establsihed a community forum and picture gallery where you can ask questions, share ideas, get advice from other orchid enthusiasts and best of all, show off your orchid growing accomplishments in pictures. Dick and Sandy monitor these forums daily and will make every effort to make sure your questions are answered. We are here for you!!
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Richard Wells - Operations |
Rich (rich@hilltoporchids.com) is the oldest son of Dick & Sandy Wells. Rich is in charge of sales as well as integrating greenhouse operations with the online shop operations. Rich has been with his family's orchid business from its inception. His involvement with Hilltop Orchids began as a high school job potting plants for his Dad. Rich is a graduate of The Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina where he received his bachelors degree in Computer Science. Upon graduating from college Rich was commisioned in the US Army and served 10 years in both the US Army Air Defense Corp and the US Army Intelligence Corp. He completed his service with the Army in 1996 as a Major.
When not focusing on Hilltop Orchids' sales and operations, he is a full time Information technology and security professional with over 18 years of experience in the field. Rich currently lives in Lake Bluff, IL with his wife Allyson, son Michael and dog Bailey. Rich is available to make sure your experience with Hilltop Orchids is friendly and positive. If you have questions, ideas, or concerns regarding how the website operates, please feel free to contact him at any time.
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