About Us
OrquiVerde / Since 1975
ORQUIDIARIO CERRO VERDE is an orchid nursery established in Venezuela since 1975. It was founded by Armando Mantellini. From the beginning, our main objective has been collecting and reproducing oHeaderrchids from Venezuela and other countries in order to enjoy, preserve, and improve the floral quality of themselves. With our reproduction work we have obtained an improvement in the quality of the species, reflected in the result of our crosses.
Now we have our collection in Miami, Florida. In addition to sharing our hobby with friends and collectors of species, we also offer for sale, plant divisions from our collection in the USA.
It All Started as a Hobby
Armando Mantellini
Orquideario Cerro Verde's Founder
What started as a hobby became an international point of reference for appreciating and identifying Cattleya species (mostly from Venezuela).
Armando Mantellini, a mechanical engineer born and raised in Venezuela is the founder of Orquidiario Cerro Verde. His passion for orchids started in 1966 when a plant was given to his wife as a gift. In 1970 he got interested in orchids reproduction due to the fact that many selected varieties were impossible to get by the people interested in collecting and improving these plants.
As a result he started in reproduction which led to 50 years of work and enjoyment. In 1975, his collection of species and hybrids began growing so much that he had to establish a nursery to start selling on retail and wholesale. During this time many beautiful Cattleya species started to disappear from the wild.
Because of this, he began getting and trading divisions of selected varieties in order to start reproducing and conserving them. Armando decided to focus on Cattleya species.
He also crossed and reproduced cattleyas, oncidiums, dendrobiums, vandas and phalaenopsis (species and hybrids) for the consumer local market.
Nowadays he is retired and he keeps enjoying his personal collection located in Florida. During many years Armando Mantellini shared his work and dedication with his family and specifically his daughter, Maria Mantellini, who still carries on his legacy.
Maria Mantellini
Carrying a Legacy
Maria from a very young age has been among orchids. She was born in Schenectady, New York, and grew up in Venezuela. She has already more than 30 years dedicated to cultivating and designing with these plants.
After graduating as a Business Administrator, she created Orquidiario Cerro Verde with her father, a nursery in Caracas Venezuela, in which more than 4,000 crosses (Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis, Dendrobiums, Vandas, Oncidiums, etc.) have been reproduced, achieving high quality results in them.
They have done a great job reproducing Cattleya species, Venezuelan, Colombian, Brazilian, among others, preserving them and improving their quality. She has been in Miami for 6 years, and recently in addition to dedicating herself to the cultivation of orchid plants, she enjoys designing with them making arrangements and maintenance of these plants both indoors and outdoors.