Starting a garden means you know what type of flower or plant you'd like to try your hand at. Here's a hint for you: orchids are great starter flowers. After all, you need to put little effort into them and, for the amount of work you put into them, you'll get stunning flowers. Now, where can you go to get your orchids? What orchid store is best for you? You'll be glad to know that you're not limited to certain types of orchid stores but there are pros and cons to the ones you can go with. If you're unsure of what orchid store to go with, consider the following three ways to get your orchid garden started today.

Three Ways To Begin Your Orchid Garden

Alternative 1 - Go Through A Grocery/Retail Store

Have you've ever gone shopping at Wal-mart, Lowe's, Target or K-mart and noticed that they sell flowers? These orchid stores are great places to buy from if you're short on cash or want to save money. This is the biggest positive mark these orchid stores have for them. However, there are some negative aspects to them such as:

1 - The staff at these places doesn't necessarily have the skills to keep plants from dying off or keep diseases away.
2 - Orchids may get too much sunlight, causing the leaves to turn a yellowish color.
3 - Orchids may develop or have root rot due to overwatering, wrong plant medium or no airflow.
4 - Orchids could have bugs on them.

If you plan to use this alternative for your orchid store, be sure you carefully look over your plants. Be sure they don't have root rot, bugs or yellowed leaves. If you decide to buy them anyway, you could have dead orchids in no time or spend more money trying to save them.

Alternative 2 - World Wide Web

Another great place to get your orchids is the World Wide Web, as there are hundreds of orchid stores on the Internet. For that reason, you can go beyond your backyard to find another orchid species that your local stores do not have. The Internet is beneficial in several ways such as:

1 - More orchid species variety
2 - Buy orchids without leaving your home
3 - Ability to purchase orchids in bulk, costing you less money.
4 - Saves money overall

Despite the many positive aspects, there is one major drawback, which is the inability to see your orchids before you buy them. This is when blind faith and lots of positive reviews come in handy. If you're concerned about the company you want to purchase from, make sure you look for reputable orchid stores. How can you know for sure a company is reputable? There are three ways to figure this out:

1 - Check out the website. Does it look professional or thrown together?
2 - Read through the reviews. What do people say about the business? Are there more positive than negative reviews or vice versa?
3 - Ask the customer service about their "service". What kind of things are the company representatives saying?

It's up to you to ensure that the company is worthwhile but don't forget to evaluate prices of different companies and double check the reputation of orchid stores you're interested in buying from. Don't forget to look into the return polices in case your orchids are dead or dying when they arrive at your door.

Alternative 3 - Nurseries/Local Grower

You can always purchase your orchids from a nursery or a local grower; going this route is helpful in two ways:

1 - Local growers often specialize in certain flowers.
2 - They tend to sell healthy orchids so they know how to properly care for orchids.

There is a drawback to buying from places such as these, which is that they usually charge more.

Don't forget to look into Orchid Societies and/or Orchid Shows since these places tend to have orchid plants to see. No matter what orchid store you go with, you should always be sure to have healthy plants. If you don't find healthy plants, go some other place to find them.