I live in zone 6 in New Jersey and have about forty plants. I put my plants into empty hanging baskets and I hang them on the branches of some of my bushes. If the basket is big I can sometimes fit two or even three plants to one basket. I put the cattleyas, potinaras, otaaras and the rest of the cattleya family in one section where they get good strong morning light and some bright afternoon light up until about 2:00, then bright shade.

I put the dendrobiums on the branches of a bush where they get good morning light up until noon, then some bright shade, and then some late afternoon light.
I put the oncidium, encyclia, miltonia on a plant stand where they get good late afternoon sun. I put the phalaenopsis on the screened-in back porch where they get weak morning light and bright shade for the rest of the day.

This has been a matter of trial and error. I don't use a shade cloth. The bushes provide the shade. While our plants do have to be protected somewhat, here in New Jersey our sun doesn't seem to be as strong as it does farther south where a shade cloth is a must.

Hi, Larissa. The problem you raise is a really big one. A number of people here have built small lattice houses to provide shade and support any shade cloth needed. They look quite nice, and can be built to the size you need.

That's what I would have preferred, but couldn't do it.

Sun here at midday is strong enough to burnish skin to mahogany colored with just 20 minutes a day of exposure at midday, and it definitely can burn even catts to mush on the hottest days. The wind always dies down at the hottest part of the day, which makes the sun even more damaging. So shade is a must.

My summer home for orchids is an unshaded deck, with a lattice on the west, but the deck is open to full midday sun overhead. I've grown catts, oncids and now phals out there, using shade cloth.

The plants are on two-level carts or tables, and the shade cloth can be clipped directly on when needed. Last year I added a big porch umbrella bolted to a low wheeled cart for more shade for phals.

The carts are a lifesaver when a big hail or windstorm blows up-- it takes only a few minutes to wheel the carts inside the house for protection.

Phals need *two* layers of 65% shade to protect from overhead sun. That works out to about 10% midday sun. Catts and oncids can get by with just one layer--35% midday sun.

I know you have to find your own solution -- hope this adds to the pool of ideas you can use to find one.

I am thinking along the same lines: orchid: the hanging basket under the bushes etc., how have you been handling the problem of bugs from the tree going onto your orchids? I haven't done that because I was worried about getting that situation. mehitabel, thanks for the detailed info. I am thinking about getting shade cloths this year too and am still trying to work out where I should put them.
sue

I found that I got more bugs in the pots when the plants were closer to the ground than I do when the pots are hanging in the bushes. More creepy crawlies. As an added precaution, twice during the outdoor season I spray the plants with Bayer Advanced Rose and Flower spray, which is a systemic, or something similar. What I do get are dried needles that fall on top of the bark. I'm constantly picking them out.