Sam Tsui

Biography

Sam began growing orchids in the early 1980’s. After trying many types of orchids, he became a serious Paphiopedilum grower in 1985. In 1990, he began hybridizing with Paphiopedilums and continues that work today. As he became more involved with Paphiopedilums, he started selling commercially in 1995 as the Orchid Inn. He grew orchids in his basement and greenhouses attached to his house. As the business grew, in 2004, he purchased six acres of property and built his first commercial 6,000 square feet greenhouse. Currently he makes over 300 crosses, produces 4,000 to 5,000 flasks or approximately 100.000 seedlings annually.

As a result of Sam’s breeding program, his orchids have been honored with approximately three hundreds and eighteen awards (as of July, 2019) from the American Orchid Society, Cymbidium Society of America and European Orchid Congress.

In the past 27 years, Sam has been very active in the orchid world by traveling to shows, promoting sales, and lecturing. Over the past 23 years, he has judged at the Japan Grand Prix, the world’s largest orchid show.