Peggy,

I see you have an academic email address. There should therfore be a wealth
of useful books in your library. There may also be someone in the botany
department who might be able to help you. If one of the faculty doesn't do
much with orchids, maybe, if your botany department has greenhouses, perhaps
the staff who run them may know something about orchids or at least a local
source of information.

And the first thing you ought to do is locate a local orchid society.
Failing that, a horticultural society may have someone who could be helpful.
What you really want is someone who lives in the same area as you who has
successfully grown orchids for years. THAT person will be your best source
of information because he or she will have intimate first hand knowledge of
what conditions you're trying to grow your plants in as well as what orchid
genera tend to do best in your region.

I won't mention orchid vendours because others have already done so, and
those already mentioned will be excellent sources of information. Be sure
to visit them and pick their brains. :-) They certainly will be able to
advise on local orchid societies within an easy commute. (In southern
Ontario, for example, there is one close enough for me to be able to
regularly visit, but another four that are close enough that I would spend,
and have spent, the extra hour or two to attend their annual shows.

And as you have access to the internet, make use of it. As an example, I am
in the process of trying for a contract to teach in norhern India for a
semester or two. I have never been to that part of India, but already I
have learned that there is an orchid society that meets in the city where
I'd be located, and someone at the university in that city who studies
orchids. Assuming I get the position, I'll have it made as within a few
days to a week of arriving, I'll be able to plug into the local orchid
society there. And I learned all this by exploiting the full power of the
web.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Ted


"Peggy Elliott" wrote in message
...
I love orchids but have never owned one. Which one, in your opinion, is
the
best one(s) to start with and whats a good place to get them?