Red Reed Orchids...

That's how they love to grow. I really like Epipendrum orchids. They're very common here.

That's still one heck of a planting. You would be hard pressed to get that in a greenhouse- every stem perfect,perfect green color.
Mine is not perfect- lol. Although,its coming along.

Yes, it is...they love to be crowded in a pot like that. I made the mistake of transplanting the ones my neighbor gave me into another pot. It didn't like it!

In pots..they can be fussy. I stopped adding potting soils to mine as old soils came out with weedy grasses I pulled out and instead Andy used that bark mulch..its improved.

But this one in the photo is as we say in California, "Insane!". Look at that solid mass...and its perfect. Absolutely perfect.
We also say "THAT'S SICK!" when we mean great..but I don't want to over California it..ha.

Yes, this one is perfect! I see many like this one here, in many colors. I noticed when they're very crowded they do best. They don't need much water, either. I always kill my orchids with too much water. This is why I have very few orchids. Orchids are my challenge plant! lol! I can grow practically everything, except orchids!

They are a challenge outdoors for sure Andy. I've had them burn on one hot day,drop a flower bud I waited a year for because we had a cold spring storm at just the perfectly wrong time.
I know some other species of orchids like Sobralia are made for our climate..but they and a few others are hard to find,or just too expensive.
So,I think trying to get Dendrobiums nobiles to do well for a few years like I did once is the best option. You can get them at the flea markets for less then $10.
Just never under water or over water. Not even once.

Dendrobium kingianum is a really good one for Northern California. They are tough as nails. That's the only one that grows very well for me.

I'm going to start collecting Epidendrum hybrids again. I gong to ask people who have them in their yard if I can have a few babies. I want the pink, purple, white, bright yellow, gold, light yellow, orange and red. I want to plant them along the wall in the front yard.

The purple is nice. The Yellow sounds good- breaks up the red-orange of most flowering plants.
I don't know if they are all equally hardy or growers. Some are different species Epidendrons aren't they?

I think they're all hardy. My neighbor says the white is a little more difficult to grow, though. My neighbor has pretty much every color except for the fuchsia colored one.