Oct 9, 2026 · 15 min · 9 segments
Eric Lander has grown cymbidium orchids for nearly half a century. His blooms can be found in vases from Dubai to New York, carefully bred and nurtured from large greenhouses on an old sheep and dairy…
Sally RoundAt the moment we're busy packing flowers for export today.
Hidden among dairy farms south of Hawara, thousands of orchids are growing undercover and today some are being packed for florists around the world.
Eric Lander has been growing and selling orchids for export since 1980, nearly half a century, from greenhouses set up on the family farm.
We had a sheep farm and a dairy farm at that stage, and the sheep farm was doing terribly, badly.
So I was looking for something different to sort of boost the finances.
And my sister took me along to visit an orchid nursery up in Wakatane.
And I looked at it and I thought, oh, well, I might be able to do that.
We're about nine miles from Harawira, the Ohangai district.
And I've got three, four main greenhouses, about 7,000 square meters.
And we've got some bityum orchids growing in them.
Eric says his orchids could be found at top florists in New York and even made it into an arrangement in Trump Tower.
From a remote corner of Taranaki, they've travelled further than he ever has.
He sent off more than 3,000 boxes last year via his Auckland-based wholesaler, carefully cut, inspected and nestled in sheep wool.
They are cut with a little vial of water on the end And that will survive them for a week or so.
And we're hanging them upside down.
And then next thing we're doing is over here we're sleeving them.
We're checking them for defects or insects.
We can't afford to have any insects on them.
And putting a sleeve on, and then they're put back onto these trolleys.
And then another person comes along and selects the box lots.
It's a lovely job, yeah, it is.
You're outdoors, you're not stuck behind a computer or anything.
At the moment we're busy packing flowers for export today.
Hidden among dairy farms south of Hawara, thousands of orchids are growing undercover and today some are being packed for florists around the world.
Eric Lander has been growing and selling orchids for export since 1980, nearly half a century, from greenhouses set up on the family farm.
We had a sheep farm and a dairy farm at that stage, and the sheep farm was doing terribly, badly.
So I was looking for something different to sort of boost the finances.
And my sister took me along to visit an orchid nursery up in Wakatane.
And I looked at it and I thought, oh, well, I might be able to do that.
We're about nine miles from Harawira, the Ohangai district.
And I've got three, four main greenhouses, about 7,000 square meters.
And we've got some bityum orchids growing in them.
Eric says his orchids could be found at top florists in New York and even made it into an arrangement in Trump Tower.
From a remote corner of Taranaki, they've travelled further than he ever has.
He sent off more than 3,000 boxes last year via his Auckland-based wholesaler, carefully cut, inspected and nestled in sheep wool.
They are cut with a little vial of water on the end And that will survive them for a week or so.
And we're hanging them upside down.
And then next thing we're doing is over here we're sleeving them.
We're checking them for defects or insects.
We can't afford to have any insects on them.
And putting a sleeve on, and then they're put back onto these trolleys.
And then another person comes along and selects the box lots.
It's a lovely job, yeah, it is.
You're outdoors, you're not stuck behind a computer or anything.
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