I have been growing orchids for nearly 35 years, longer than I've been hunting and photographing native orchids. I've grown them outdoors, in a small greenhouse and on windowsills, but mostly in a homemade wardian case or orchidarium. I've had two of these cases, the first built many years ago when we moved to Houston, to protect my collection of cool-temperature miniatures. The present case was built three or four years ago and was recently rebuilt with some changes and additional height and houses my collection of 250-300 miniature orchids, mostly New Guinea Dendrobiums and Pleurothallids, a family of orchids that ranges from Florida to South America.

The following blog posts give more information about these cases, their engineering, the lighting, and how the orchids are kept in them, and the rest of the posts on that blog show the orchids that I've grown in these cases.
orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2013/06/rebuilt-orchidarium.html
orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.com/2011/12/orchidarium-changes.html
orchidsinbloom-ron.blogspot.ca/2010/07/my-orchidarium.html
I've grown orchids this way since I've rarely had the opportunity to own a greenhouse and because it gives me much more control over their environment.