Brookside Orchids

Located just south of Stanford, off of Alpine Road and Highway 280 in the South Bay (Portola Valley), Brookside Orchids carries a large inventory of healthy orchids in many varieties. This is not a florist, it is a nursery with a specific focus on orchids. It was a little hard to find the first time I went there, but it was worth it. This place was made for orchid enthusiasts.

They always have a huge selection of Phalaenopsis varieties (everyone does) in different sizes (miniatures and giants), but they also regularly carry Oncidium, Miltonia, Cattleya, and Dendrobium orchids. I have also found some gorgeous Paphiopedilum and Vendaeous specimens as well as many others, and the occasional surprisingly exotic and spectacular botanical. You can get beautiful potted gift orchids here, but their main focus is on growing orchids of all types and selling to both wholesale & retail customers and orchidists.

If you like orchids, and are looking for rare and unusual finds, this is the place to go. To find them, follow your phone's map and you'll be led to a modest and understated sign with an arrow pointing up a hill. Proceed slowly and carefully up the hill and park to the left. You'll see 4 quonset hut-like buildings (green houses) and need to start in the left-most, which is their retail shop and has a sign on the door welcoming you. The right-most greenhouse is also open to the public, the two in the middle are not (they are growing greenhouses full of orchids that are not yet spiking).

Keep in mind this is a working wholesale nursery, with a retail outlet attached (with better gift orchids than any florist), and not a flower shop, and you'll understand why it has a no-frills, utilitarian, green & organic, light-industrial feel to it. Once you get inside, you'll realize what a find this place is, with the best selection of healthy, thriving, beautiful orchids (many of which are unusual and rare) in the Bay Area. Oh, yeah - they're very reasonably priced as well!

Beautiful orchids.... They seemed short-staffed, so make sure to do research and have serious inquiries if you have any questions.

They also had the most BEAUTIFUL cat ive ever seen in my life there! I would 100% go back just to pet her again

Best service, beautiful orchids. They didn't have what I was looking for upon arrival and without hesitation they started working on what I asked for and had it done in less than 10mins.

Went there to buy some plants was greeted with contempt and rudeness by the woman that works there. I tried to connect with her by saying hi and asking how she was doing, She did not respond just walk past me. We left without buying anything. I had heard from friends that they considered the staff of Bookside rude. Which I found out for myself this sentiment was true.

Absolutely gorgeous orchids!

I ordered a couple of orchids online for my Mom as a birthday present. Pick up was easy, save for finding the place. Turn off Alpine Rd into a small parking lot, then follow the signs up a hill on a gravel road, then park to your left. The shop entrance is in one of the buildings next to the parking lot. There's a large sign pointing to it.

There were a few people in line before me, so I had a few minutes to browse. The shop was full of healthy, potted orchids in full bloom. Stunning! I'm not an orchid enthusiast, but if I ever needed an orchid to gift, I'd come here.

As far as my order goes, picking up the orchids was as easy as giving my name to the lady at the front desk. She brought them out right away, neatly packaged in a box for transportation. They're the pride of my Mom's collection now!

Placed my order on a Tuesday evening and my Stanhopea Orchid arrive on Thursday morning. Plant is exceptional, very happy with the plant and the quick service. Packaging was exceptional, well wrapped so as no damage would occur. Plant is larger than I anticipated.

My favorite place to buy orchids . Workers there are always super kind. Prices are fair and plants very healthy.

I've always wanted to visit Brookside Orchids but never really needed to because they setup shop at the Old Oakland farmers market mostly every Friday. I was in the area and decided to visit. I've been buying their orchids for nearly a decade. They carry unusual orchids and don't charge a lot for them. I've had many over the years and they do bloom again with proper care. Some I brought over half a decade ago are still doing so well.

The warehouse/ shop was lovely. It had a fountain and a lot of different rare orchids and mainstream ones. They also carry moss? And some ferns, colorful foliage, palms and air plants. There's a nice sun motif in the back of the store along with a beautiful monstera growing next to a water fountain.

They also sell an assortment of pots and fertilizers and have care instructions available to take home. Ps they have a cute Siamese tortie named marshmallow that lay around the office. Overall, I enjoyed my visit.

I had a negative customer service experience here, which some of the other reviews also mention is a recurring issue here. Only come here if you know your stuff about orchids; it seems that beginners are unwelcome here.

My mom enlisted me in helping her find a nursery in the Bay Area that sells fragrant orchids. I had no idea that this was even a thing, but I agreed to help her as her English isn't as good (such is my life as a child of immigrants) and same goes for her researching abilities.

This was the first location that came up on search engines. They had a website that was pretty easy to navigate and a whole section of their website was devoted to what I was looking for: fragrant orchids! I had my mom pick out a few that she liked and I proceeded to call them about the availability of the flowers (they state on their website that you need to call to verify their stock is up to date).

I didn't get her name but a woman picked up the phone. The beginning of the phone call was cordial, but it quickly turned sour the more questions I asked and the more I took up her time. My mom is the seasoned gardener, not me, so some of the terminology was lost on me. I asked for clarification, but then she just repeating the same thing she already said, just in a slower, frustrated tone. She said told me that whatever was on the website is what they have. Like okay, then you should probably remove that part on your website that says call ahead to verify your inventory...

Yeah so she was just super impatient with me and not accommodating to a novice gardener such as myself. She told me that they're super busy, which I can understand, but she could have put me on hold or something if I caught her at a bad time. After I got off the phone with her, I was determined NOT to come here and still fulfill my mom's wish. I got off the phone with her being so relieved that I called them and didn't have my mom call them...not assuming anything here but if she didn't have patience for my questions, she definitely wasn't going to have the patience for my mom's broken English.

Anywho, if you're in the market for the niche that is fragrant orchids, there are quite a few in the Bay Area that sell them. I actually called Evergreen Nursery in San Leandro and though they don't grow them, they recommended me other places that do. They actually referred me to Brookside Orchids but after explaining to them that I had a negative experience with them, they happily referred me to 3 nurseries in Berkeley that have fragrant orchids as well. (Brookside Orchids, take notes. Evergreen Nursery talked to me politely even though I wasn't even planning to spend any money on them.) In the spring time, there are nurseries in Half Moon Bay that will have them too. If my mom needs to buy more fragrant orchids years from now, maybe I'll give Brookside Orchids another chance then (hopefully a different person answers the phone lol).

Hard to find. They have a small sign, and the there is a building in front of theirs that looks abandoned.
We parked right in front of their main door. From the outside, it appeared that we would have a lot to look at. But the majority of their greenhouse is private and not meant for customers. I asked the person who worked there why customers could not go into the other parts, he said that portion are orchids that belong to other people. They just house them and care for them.
Their main showroom was ok. They had some large phal arrangements. A couple of other types of orchids and tropical plants. But I was searching for vandals. No luck.