I just happened to stop by Lowe's & look at what they had in the way of orchids. I found a seedling of Vanda 'Pachara Delight' pink, at Lowe's. It is only a seedling, but the last one they had. It will take years to catch up with my 'Pachara' blue....What orchid have you managed to find, for sale at your local Lowe's ?

Unfortunately my Lowe's here in the Livonia MI area carries orchids BUT the name tags have always been pulled and missing.
Now as plants they are pretty, no issue there but when it comes to displaying them, nameless orchids do not do me any good.
Some societies allow orchids without an ID to be displayed or shown, mine does not. Without knowing a plants' pedigree, it can't be compared to anything else. So for me the bottom line is, I do not buy them.

Like Bill, most of our Lowes and Home Depot orchids have no names. Most of the time all the Phals are labeled 'Moth Orchid'. Well duh.......

The Lowe's near me, offers a variety of Orchids, through Better-Gro.com They are potted & can either be in clear plastic , or netting, with a label having graphics, showing the Orchid variety being offered, plus the colors, stapled to the young plants packaging.
It is stapled closed, so people can't as easily get into it & take the plants out, the labels, or mix them up. They are offered through Sun Bulb Company with a website www.EasyOrchidGrowing.com with video & care tips. They are shipped in a box & offered in a display carton.
For me, it can be an inexpensive way to get a nice orchid, without the cost of postage, by having to purchase mail order. The tax costs, much less... Maybe you can ask your local Lowe's garden manager to inquire. They get a new supply here, about several times a year.

I would rather mail order.
I have gone past Phalaenopsis and whatever else it is that they might have. I am interested in growing other orchids.
Several of our Orchid Friends here have wonderful success in purchasing plants at the Big Box Stores. They have their uses.
But I am looking for the newest hybrids, many times from the hybridizers themselves, things that Lowe's will never have.

Around here you never see any Orchids besides some noid Phals at Lowes. That goes for HD too. But they are big on small Cacti and Succulents with fake blooms.

@BigBill I was very fortunate to attend Orchid Society sales at the Cavalier Hotel, at the Oceanfront, in Virginia Beach. I think it included at times, in the past, the AOS, the Peninsula Orhid Society & the Virginia Orchid Society. The hotel at the oceanfront may have been demolished, but I think it became dedicated in name, as Merritt Huntington Symposium. The original 'Cavalier" hotel, was supposed to be restored, at great expense. I am uncertain where the next meeting in 2019 will take place...
Many NGA members here, want the latest introductions of plants & seeds. Apparently, including Orchids, too. Other NGA members not only participate in the Forums, but are growers, entrants at shows, besides vendors, & judges plus hybridize, also. It is quite an interesting group, including some that are just curious....
btw Yes, I have mail ordered orchids before. I grow quite a variety of plants. What are your main interests?

Well I have gone the whole orchid rainbow from Cattleyas to Dendrobiums to Oncidiums to Tolumnias to Vandas to Catasetinae and now to miniatures.
I have grown both species and hybrids. Now in Michigan I am growing mostly compacts and miniatures that are under 15". They all go underlights from October until late April.
I am growing Paphiopedilums now, want to try a few Masdevallias and Dracula's and I am looking forward to a show in late April in western Ohio. Ecuagenera will be there and they sell a good deal of small stuff.
But honestly ShawnSteve, hang out in our forums and I post images of my plants in the monthly threads, "Orchids up North" and "Orchid Shows and shopping" thread.
Welcome to the NGA and the Orchid Forums!

@BigBill Thank you for the welcoming. I favor Vanda Ascocenda hybrids.. My mother was a big fan of Cattleya & Phaelonopsis.. Though I did start to get interested in Paphiopedalum . Then wanting collecting of species & desired the most exotic ones. Of course, I thought a bit pricey then, not sure what they cost, now days.
As with any plant collecting, space usually seems to end up being a limiting factor, other than budget ! I look forward to seeing some of your orchids blooming, in the near future.

That is the great part about being retired, my budget got a little looser without children. But I still can't go nuts and buy everything I see!

I have bought a few NOIDS from the box stores this season to make a mass planting in my growing area (that I still haven't gotten around to doing, procrastination, Inc that's me) mainly from the 1/2 price racks as they went out of bloom. But my real love is mounted miniatures, bulbophyllum and cool species dendrobiums, vandaceous and stuff like that. I like Andy's Orchids, and I like to buy from Tropiflora when they have something cool, and I am going back to our local huge garden fest that always has a lot of stuff, this month, but their real orchid show here in always in October, plan to hit that this year too.

I don't grow a lot of Cattleya alliance plants even though they are always tempting because for my habitat, they are always scale and mealybug magnets.

I have had a Vanilla, for many years & it has never looked so badly in all the years I've had it. But just can't seem to locate a proper "tree fern" totem to grow it on. In my moves over the years, the wire that stabilized it got lost & that original totem had deteriorated... I can't wait until spring time, probably much like many others.

My vanilla grew directly on the Lexan greenhouse wall for 12 feet one year, no totem. I finally took it down and propagated it and put it different places.

Hi ShawnSteve!
Welcome to our little corner of paradise here on the orchid forum
I grow mostly Cattleya and have found many gems in the 'bag baby' rack at Lowe's and HD. Living in Florida the selection is huge and replenished often.
I understand the Sunbulb folks are out of the orchid growing business and are now growing marijuana. BetterGro is still a going concern and is managed by ( I think ) Robert Palmer , who has a gigantic facility in Sarasota. They have several open houses a year where great bargains can be had.
I look forward to seeing you over on the current months bloom thread with some of your flowers!

@sugarcane Thank you Lindsey. I had no idea they would go from growing orchids to "weeds". lol I need to mist more often, especially when we get cloudy weather so frequently this winter. Tends to cause the heat to cut on more frequently.
If I take better care of my Pachara in blue, I might get some blooms. Depends on how warm spring is, though. It is in the Database. Not sure if the photo was ever rotated properly, though...

ShawnSteve, I was curious when you mentioned that the photo in the database might not have been rotated properly. I assume you are talking about Vanda Pachara Delight? I looked at all of them, they are all in proper orientation. Hmm, I am puzzled!

@Ursula I had requested it be rotated... It may have been done. Yes, it is 'Pachara Dellght' ( either blue or dark blue) & have had it about 7 years. I ought to buy a newer, wood hanging basket, but that time it bloomed, it had double flowering spikes, in autumn. I drape long fiber moss over the basket ( to help keep humid,) & put a Tillandsia in it, which usually gets blown away. T. ionantha may be rooted rather well ...

I see!

@Ursula. Apparently it did not get rotated. If you look at the "bottom" of the photo, that is a kitchen cabinet. To the right on top of that cabinet, is a pale clear blue vase... sideways. lol
It should be up right...Got it figured out, now? I was unfamiliar with this laptop photo editing & not quite sure how to "straighten" it out !

Oh, this one! ?

Big deal, just rotate your screen!