Orchids

As a windowsill orchid hobbyist who already owns a few beginner's books, I found this one to be beautifully designed with gorgeous photos and photographic step-by-step directions on full repotting (including root trimming), dropping on an orchid (moving a healthy but overgrown plant to a larger pot w/o touching root system), orchids in baskets, and mounting orchids on bark. The section on pests/disease is also very clearly articulated with large photographic examples.The book does, however, go into quite a bit of detail about different types of orchid pollination, propagation, as well as greenhouse construction. While these topics might be interesting for the first-time grower, I'm a little unsure as to whether most "newbies" starting out with a handful of plants have THAT kind of space, time, or money to devote to the hobby, at least at first. I was also hoping for a bit more info on miniature orchids. Then again, coming from a f/t grad student who has to relocate herself and her orchids every 6-10 months, you may want to take that with a grain of salt! Buy this book? Yes! But you may later want something else that suits your specific growing conditions.

I have 5 or 6 books on basic orchid care and this supasses all of them in depth of content. It is simple to understand and the pictures are breathtaking. More importantly, they examine every part of orchid care, not just the basic air, light, water. There are detailed instructions on how to hybridize your own orchids, which I have only seen before in costly advanced books. I feel this book is an excellent resource for the beginner who has an orchid or two and wishes to know more. It's a handy reference for "just the basics" as well.