Types of orchids suitable for beginners?

[Roberta]

Remember, too, that Dracula flowers often like to pop out the side or bottom of the plant. So it is vital that these be grown in a hanging basket so that the flowers can come out wherever they want. (This is often not obvious from photos, but to get those "head on" shots, the photographer is either under the plant or tips it on its side)

[Subrosa]

Do you garden outdoors as well? There are many lovely orchids native to your area, and it doesn't get much easier than growing native plants outdoors in the area they're native to.

[lunarlemon]

Originally Posted by Subrosa

Do you garden outdoors as well? There are many lovely orchids native to your area, and it doesn't get much easier than growing native plants outdoors in the area they're native to.

I never even considered there would be native orchids here! Temps get below freezing regularly in the winter and we just had about 2 feet of snow. Yes, I know, laugh it up Northerners. I imagine the orchids would need to be brought inside during the winter?

I'm going to go to the Asheville Orchid Festival someone else posted and see if I can't learn some things. Thanks everyone for the help, as you can tell, I'm a floundering noob. Going off to look into native orchids online!

EDIT: My mind is completely blown by the sheer number of native orchids! The settings here won't allow me to post the link, but it's easy to find on ncwildflower.org /plant_galleries/orchids

[Subrosa]

Here's a pic of Spiranthes vernalis, S. cernua odorata, S. sinensis, and Calopogon tuberosus. Please excuse the snow, but I've shoveled enough lately!

[lunarlemon]

WOW! Ok, now I'm really excited. Guess I always imagined that orchids were purely tropical.

[Subrosa]

I'm jealous of your location. I'm at or below the southern limits for most of the crown jewels of North American orchids, the Lady Slippers of the genus Cypripedium. I have C. acaule which poses no problems from a temperature standpoint, but my C. parviflorum pubescens and C. reginae could prove problematic in hot summers here. The one I really want, C. candidum is likely beyond my ability to grow unless I want to create an artificial environment tailored to its needs. Your mountain environment is more suited to them, if you can provide the right setting.

[catherinecarney]

If you do get hooked on hardy native terrestrials, you might want to check out Robert's Flower Supply in Columbia Station (near Cleveland), Ohio. He carries a pretty good assortment of hardy terrestrials (native and non), along with supplies and other good stuff. They're not cheap, but the quality seems to be good.

Not that you need any help from us feeding your addiction (lol)....

Catherine

[Optimist]

There's Plantdelights nursery online. Nice cypripedium choices there! Some 75$ each, but others 45$. Not ochids of course, but I love those tall NorthAmerican Pitcher Plants as well.

[Subrosa]

If you want some natives at insanely cheap prices, Lee's Botanical Gardens Lees Botanical Gardens - Carnivorous Plants is your place. The prices are low, and the plants are an amazing value for the money. Full disclosure, I found their communication somewhat lacking, but it was a minor concern to me after the package arrived.

[silken]

Welcome. Even in our cold climate, we have native orchids! It sure is a diverse group. Keep browsing and go to the shows and you will soon have so many on your wish list. I don't think Draculas are the best choice to start with but maybe a warmer growing Masdevallia which are sort of similar. But I have mostly failed at them because of our hot summers. even the warm growing ones. They still need high humidity and fairly low light cool conditions.

Many of the slipper orchids take similar conditions to Phals. They come in plain green and lovely mottled leaves so they can look lovely out of bloom also.

A Cattleya hybrid if you have a high light area can be rewarding. There are so many hybrids and come from mini to large in size.

Be sure you check culture on the different genus as they vary considerably.

The American Orchid Society provides culture sheets for many of the different orchids. Here is a link: AOS Culture Sheets