My local Lowe's store occasionally has very good orchids. It varies greatly
from store to store. Other recommendations would be:

- Look for a local orchid society. They will probably invite speakers from
out of town that will sell plants.
- Look for a local botanical garden with orchids so that you can see some
different plants in bloom.
- Look for nearby orchid shows.
- When on vacation or business travel, look for an orchid grower or
botanical garden nearby.

There appears to be an AOS judging center that meets at OSU on the third
saturday of each month at noon. This would be a great place to go see
plants, and to ask experienced orchid growers from your region about sources
for plants.
Great Plains Judging Center
Oklahoma State University Horticultural Center
400 N. Portland
Oklahoma City, OK
The contact person for that center is Berniece Miller, 10721 Sunset Blvd.,
Oklahoma City, OK 73120-2437. You may want to send this person a note
asking how to attend the judging sessions.

Just seeing a picture of a flower on the web doesn't always tell you enough
about the size of the flower vs. the size of the plant, and lighting can be
manipulated to help out the colors in a picture. You can buy very good
plants online and from mail-order sources, just be careful to look for
reputable sources and don't place a large order from a vendor until you know
something about them.

-danny

"hi" wrote in message ...
Hi,

I've got a couple of beginner's books for keeping orchids and want to get
some. I've read that Lowe's, Home Depot and the like carry extremely
inferior orchids. This may be too much but is it possible to buy a decent
orchid for $20 or less? I'm not sure where to look for them. I live in
the oklahoma city, ok area. Also, any help on what to look for in an
orchid would be great.

Thanks