Bare Root or Potted?
 

A friend just gave me her orchids, and one of them is a Vasco Vibbon Velvet 'Perfection'. I live in Colorado, which is rather dry. Would it be better to grow in a pot with bark, or bar root, in a basket?

If you choose a basket you will need some sort of medium. In Florida even it gets tough growing bare root during summer. You might want to go with a pot with large coarse medium, but the choice is ultimately up to you. Basically it depends on how often you can water. I have to do twice a day in summer on hot days.

I've got the same plant, really beautiful white/blue flowers. I currently grow mine in a basket with some moss and a bit of bark to contribute moisture. It was nearly bare-root, and in a windowsill, but I lost a bunch of roots that way. Currently I also have my vandas in an old fish tank and they are misted daily, and soaked once a week with fertilizer. Since putting mine in a more humid environment, it's sprouted a ton of new roots.

-Tristan