Fragrant Orchids: A Guide to Selecting, Growing, and Enjoying

This is a book for a person who is really serious about the hobby, and wants to become better acquainted with some of it's more obscure, but worthy! plants. There is enough cultural info. to whet your appetite for more, and I actually joined the American Orchid Assoc, on his recommendation. I love the way the scent is classified exactly into strength, and even time of day! Exactly what us night-bloomers want to know! I would rate it highly, but cannot loan mine out; it's covered with notes and checkmarks to myself. People will just have to go and buy it for themselves!

Mr. Frowine's book is the first I've seen devoted to this topic (though there may well be others). I've grown orchids for many years; I'm happy to find a way to focus on fragrant orchids. The plant descriptions are grouped by scientific orchid families or alliances. pros: 1) The individual entries summarize just enough basic information for me to choose plants I can grow. There are plenty of other sources of detailed information on orchids and their culture. 2) Mentions several orchids that are "stinkers". Not all scented orchids have a pleasant smell! 3) Appendix G contains a number of reputable sources for ordering orchids; I can't vouch for all of them though. cons: 3) The other appendices sorting plants by ease of culture, light requirements, etc. are a great idea, but they would be easier to use if they included the book's page number where the plant is described. It was awkward to go from an appendix to the plant name index, and then to the plant description once I had a page number.

I read and enjoyed "Orchids for Dummies" another book by Steven Frowine which actually helped give me the courage to get started in the wonderful hobby of growing orchids, so when I saw the "Fragrant Orchids" book by the same author I picked it up confident that it would help me learn more about these extraordinary plants. I was not disappointed. After a brief couple of chapters entitled "Fragrant Fact and Fancys" and "The Basics of Growing", the book is divided into informative chapters on orchid "alliances", each one profusely illustrated with life like photographs. Everything from pronunciation to recommended potting medium is covered for over 100 fragrant orchids. I found the extensive appendices offered by the author to be very helpful. Here the species are sorted in to several useful categories that range from "Ease of Use" to "Time of Fragrance". This book has certainly help deepen my knowledge and love for the beautiful and now fragrant orchids.

Frowine lists a multitude of orchids within this book that have been observed to be fragrant either through first hand knowledge or word of mouth. For many of the orchids, he lists some of the basics such as fragrance (i.e. what it smells like), distribution, and some cultivation information. The cultivation information isn't very detailed, but this is a book about fragrance and cultivation information can be found in other books and on the web. For me, the most useful section of the book is the appendices. There are 6 appendices and they are all great: A) Orchids by Ease of Culture B) Orchids by Light Requirements C) Orchids by Nighttime Temperature Preference D) Orchids by Intensity of Fragrance (my favorite, also describes the fragrance) E) Orchids by Time of Fragrance F) Orchids by Season of Bloom