Wilma and Brian Rittershausen. The Gardener's Guide to Growing Orchids. Timber Press. 2001.

Orchids fascinate most plant lovers. It doesn't matter if you are strictly an outdoors gardener or if you prefer growing inside under lights, or even in a greenhouse. They have an unfounded reputation for being difficult plants to successfully grow. A Gardener's Guide to Growing Orchids seeks to dispel this image of orchids.

The authors provide the home gardener with an easy to understand text illustrated with both black and white illustrations and colored photographs to accompany the discussion. The first chapter provides an Introduction to Orchids. Orchid flowers are significantly different from other flowers. One such difference is that pollen is a solid mass rather than the powder form typical of other plants. Pollination in orchids frequently involves the flowers mimicking insects. This chapter further discusses the habitats where orchids grow. Some orchids grow in the crotches of trees or attached to branches while others grow in soil.

The following chapter discusses how to choose an appropriate place to grow orchids in greenhouses. Heating, ventilation, and humidity are among the considerations discussed in selecting the appropriate place to grow them. A problem with the logical order of the book's chapters occurs here. This chapter is immediately followed with one on the cultivation and propagation of orchids. Although the content is excellent, it divides the chapters dealing with where to grow them. Chapter 4 discusses growing orchids inside the home. Unfortunately, this chapter is very brief. The main consideration discussed is providing extra humidity.

Next, the authors discuss pests and diseases. The information presented is excellent. You learn to identify the pest or disease and how to treat it. This chapter should have followed the one on orchid cultivation and propagation.

Have you been hooked by the beautiful illustrations? If so, you may want to pay particular attention to chapter 6. This chapter talks about training orchids for show purposes. A brief section tells you who is responsible for orchid shows in the major orchid growing countries.

The bulk of the book is the A-Z of Orchids (chapter 7). The names used are based on the most recent taxonomy available to the authors. However, you should always expect some disagreement over which name to use when there is more than one for a single orchid species. This is typical of virtually every plant family today. As scientists study the plant dna they discover some plants are related that were considered totally different families before. Musical names is something all gardeners need to get used to today.

The discussion of hybrid alliances is particularly interesting to me. Crossing two different genera has created many new orchids. This is not likely to occur freely in the wild. These are done in the greenhouse (laboratory) and are called bigeneric hybrids. Through means I don't clearly understand, orchid growers have managed to cross multiple genera to create orchids totally unlike any of their parents. I'll leave any further explanation of this process up to the professionals.

This A-Z listing presents several species within each genera followed by any common hybrids between species. Man has taken some of the loveliest plants available and created plants that would never occur naturally. I doubt any other plant family has been tampered with as often as orchids by man's desire to try his hand at improving on nature.

The Gardener's Guide to Growing Orchids has something for everyone. It doesn't matter if you are strictly an indoor orchid grower, a greenhouse grower, or a person who simply enjoys having these exquisite plants in their outdoor garden. There is an orchid species suited just for you and your conditions.

Do I Recommend This Book?

I strongly recommend this book if you want a brief book giving an overview to the whole topic of growing orchids. After reading it and experimenting with a few orchids, you'll probably be hooked for life on growing orchids for a hobby. When that happens, you'll want to add other books from Timber Press that deal with just a single genus. Consider giving your favorite gardener this book over the coming holiday season only if you are prepared for that person to become addicted to these plants. Don't say I didn't warn you first.