Big box and grocery stores: The popularity of orchids has led many mass marketing firms to offer orchids for sale. However, these stores rarely employ people experienced with orchid care or even watering. We advise purchasing in these locations only recently received plants after careful examination for wilting, drying or shriveled pseudobulbs. Another marketing ploy is artificial coloring (dyeing) of orchids as some florists do to carnations. Those fake colors will disappear with new growth flowers. One major disadvantage of even healthy orchid purchases from mass marketers is the lack of botanical names. Plant names can greatly help with orchid care, genealogy and award history.

About orchid names: Ice Cube, Moth, Pansy, Jewel, and Solo are among some of the, not real, not Latin, marketing names given to orchids. Putting ice cubes on orchids is always a bad idea.