How long do you keep your orchids?

[OrchidThief79]

Considering it takes several years for Cattleya types to attain flowering size it seems rather wasteful to get rid of a plant after only a couple years. I suppose if you don't care for the plant there's no sense in doing all the work it takes to maintain it, but that's why I try to only buy plants that I like. I suppose I look at orchids as long-term investments. Otherwise I would just buy cut flowers. And to me there's nothing more impressive than a large specimen plant with blooms all over, and it take years to grow a plant like that.