HI everbody! Im new to orchids and have a couple questions.

[lawngnome]

Hi everybody, i was looking through dendroboard(dart frog forum) and found this site. I have almost no expierience with orchids but have been researching the past few days. I am hoping to acquire a few Phals at the orchid show coming up in cupertino.
Here are my questions

1)The unanimous vote for first orchid seems to be Phalaenopsis. Are all the members of this genus equally hardy or are there certain ones that would be unsuitable for a novice orchid grower?

2)As i become more confident with the Phalanenopsis, what would be a good intermediate orchid to move on to.

Oh, and also, around what should i expect to pay for a Phal in bloom?

Thanks