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Bloom-Again Orchids: 50 Easy-Care Orchids that Flower Again and Again and Again
Orchids have a reputation as the divas of the plant fussy, difficult-to-grow plants that—on top of all that—are prohibitively expensive. But there are plenty of orchids that anyone can grow. Orchids are no more difficult than familiar houseplants such as the African violet, and can be made to thrive and bloom in average indoor conditions. You just need to know what makes them happy.Bloom-Again Orchids highlights the easiest, most fuss free varieties and includes invaluable tips on where to buy orchids and how to keep them in bloom. Each of the fifty profiles focuses on a commonly available orchid variety and includes a description, photograph, chart of basic growing requirements, and a handy twelve-point checklist.
- GenresGardeningNonfiction
269 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 31, 2024
Thank you, Hoopla, for granting me the fortune of being able to borrow this enthralling book.
This was an impulse read I'd decided to check out, just because it's a subject I'd never looked into before. I'm 45 years old but never grew out of my inner 3-year-old curiosity about everything in the world. Losing my eyesight has especially made me develop a greater appreciation for reading about all things visual, like the colors and details of flowers.
I enjoyed this book so much more than I'd expected and ended up completely devouring the entire thing on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was easy to follow and thoroughly informative enough to those who are not familiar with the many different types of orchids and how to take care of them.
Even when I did have sight, I'd always associated the orchid as being the simple but classy-looking, broad-petalled flower that comes in white or deep purple, and sometimes blue. Come to find out, the world of orchids has crazy diversity. They come in such an insane variety of colors, plant sizes, flower shapes, and even fragrances. For example: one species of orchid would bloom with many flowers that resemble dancing women wearing twirling skirts that come in a rainbow of festive colors, while another species would bloom with only one brown, pouchy, warty, alien-looking flower at a time. Some species' flowers emanate floral, perfumy fragrances, while others smell like hot chocolate, lemons, or baking spices. Then there are those with flowers that have no scent at all. One plant would grow to 6 inches while another could grow up to 4 feet. Even their preferences with potting, feeding, watering, and sunlight are so individualistically varied among the different species, it's amazing that they could still be botanically related. One who doesn't know much about this flower would be surprised to know that the girly, flouncy, pink and purple Peggy Ruths, the green-tentacled, black and brown cockle shells, and the flamboyant, butterfly-like wildcats are all orchids.
The orchid world beyond the flowers is insane too. There's a whole orchid society out there. People really get into this. The man-made hybrid orchids have one awards from the Orchid Society for their appealing qualities. There are orchid clubs you could join where you could meet other orchid fanatics, and hang out and talk about orchids. You could also attend orchid lectures and orchid showings, and subscribe to their orchid-loving newsletter. It's nuts. It makes me wonder if any type of flower could have their own extreme fan following. Maybe I'll search the web to see if there's an International Pussy Willow Club, or a Society Garlic Society.
Another thing I liked about this book was the author's constant conversions between inches and centimeters and Fahrenheit and Celsius. There was only one chapter--although I forgot which orchid it was about--that mentioned that the flower size was 10 cm, but it wasn't converted to inches. Luckily I already knew that 1 inch equals 2.5 cm, so I was able to figure out on my own that 10 cm equals 4 inches.
I also liked the author's very casual, conversational narrative. I absolutely love nonfiction books that are written with that type of narrative with corny whit and out-dated pop culture references where it feels like you're getting educated by an aunt or uncle, or a next-door neighbor, or a very down-to-earth community college professor. When nonfiction books are written that way, it helps me learn and retain the knowledge within them so much better. I could never understand how educational non-fiction books that are written with dull, scholarly writing could teach people effectively.
One thing that did kind of annoy me was not all the orchids who were known to be fragrant had their scent described, while some scents were vividly described. I figured that maybe this was because some of the species, especially the hybrid ones, had too many variations of aromas to be able to give their scent one description in particular. If that was the case, I still would've at least liked to have a simplified, vague idea of what their fragrance variations are. Or maybe the author had written it this way because there are multiple orchid species that all smell the same. Even so, I would've liked that detail added in. Having some orchid smells described while skipping over the descriptions of others Just kind of felt lazy on the author's part.
Although this book did not get me interested in growing my own orchids, it took me on a spectacular trip into their wildly diverse world. Their beauty, their different plant personalities, the different ways they'll use their flowers to attract the insects that pollinate them, their history, their original wild habitat, how people got their names mixed up while labeling them. This book has a little of everything orchid. I loved every page of it and would recommend it to anyone who loves growing flowers, or to anyone who is a bookoholic with a 3-year-old's sense of curiosity, like me.
This was an impulse read I'd decided to check out, just because it's a subject I'd never looked into before. I'm 45 years old but never grew out of my inner 3-year-old curiosity about everything in the world. Losing my eyesight has especially made me develop a greater appreciation for reading about all things visual, like the colors and details of flowers.
I enjoyed this book so much more than I'd expected and ended up completely devouring the entire thing on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It was easy to follow and thoroughly informative enough to those who are not familiar with the many different types of orchids and how to take care of them.
Even when I did have sight, I'd always associated the orchid as being the simple but classy-looking, broad-petalled flower that comes in white or deep purple, and sometimes blue. Come to find out, the world of orchids has crazy diversity. They come in such an insane variety of colors, plant sizes, flower shapes, and even fragrances. For example: one species of orchid would bloom with many flowers that resemble dancing women wearing twirling skirts that come in a rainbow of festive colors, while another species would bloom with only one brown, pouchy, warty, alien-looking flower at a time. Some species' flowers emanate floral, perfumy fragrances, while others smell like hot chocolate, lemons, or baking spices. Then there are those with flowers that have no scent at all. One plant would grow to 6 inches while another could grow up to 4 feet. Even their preferences with potting, feeding, watering, and sunlight are so individualistically varied among the different species, it's amazing that they could still be botanically related. One who doesn't know much about this flower would be surprised to know that the girly, flouncy, pink and purple Peggy Ruths, the green-tentacled, black and brown cockle shells, and the flamboyant, butterfly-like wildcats are all orchids.
The orchid world beyond the flowers is insane too. There's a whole orchid society out there. People really get into this. The man-made hybrid orchids have one awards from the Orchid Society for their appealing qualities. There are orchid clubs you could join where you could meet other orchid fanatics, and hang out and talk about orchids. You could also attend orchid lectures and orchid showings, and subscribe to their orchid-loving newsletter. It's nuts. It makes me wonder if any type of flower could have their own extreme fan following. Maybe I'll search the web to see if there's an International Pussy Willow Club, or a Society Garlic Society.
Another thing I liked about this book was the author's constant conversions between inches and centimeters and Fahrenheit and Celsius. There was only one chapter--although I forgot which orchid it was about--that mentioned that the flower size was 10 cm, but it wasn't converted to inches. Luckily I already knew that 1 inch equals 2.5 cm, so I was able to figure out on my own that 10 cm equals 4 inches.
I also liked the author's very casual, conversational narrative. I absolutely love nonfiction books that are written with that type of narrative with corny whit and out-dated pop culture references where it feels like you're getting educated by an aunt or uncle, or a next-door neighbor, or a very down-to-earth community college professor. When nonfiction books are written that way, it helps me learn and retain the knowledge within them so much better. I could never understand how educational non-fiction books that are written with dull, scholarly writing could teach people effectively.
One thing that did kind of annoy me was not all the orchids who were known to be fragrant had their scent described, while some scents were vividly described. I figured that maybe this was because some of the species, especially the hybrid ones, had too many variations of aromas to be able to give their scent one description in particular. If that was the case, I still would've at least liked to have a simplified, vague idea of what their fragrance variations are. Or maybe the author had written it this way because there are multiple orchid species that all smell the same. Even so, I would've liked that detail added in. Having some orchid smells described while skipping over the descriptions of others Just kind of felt lazy on the author's part.
Although this book did not get me interested in growing my own orchids, it took me on a spectacular trip into their wildly diverse world. Their beauty, their different plant personalities, the different ways they'll use their flowers to attract the insects that pollinate them, their history, their original wild habitat, how people got their names mixed up while labeling them. This book has a little of everything orchid. I loved every page of it and would recommend it to anyone who loves growing flowers, or to anyone who is a bookoholic with a 3-year-old's sense of curiosity, like me.
March 28, 2018
Useful, easy guide to today's most popular windowsill orchids. I'll be referring back to it a lot.
The pictures are beautiful, but I wish that images of the whole plant would have also been included. If I'm going to keep orchids in my home year-round, I want the foliage to appeal to me too!
The pictures are beautiful, but I wish that images of the whole plant would have also been included. If I'm going to keep orchids in my home year-round, I want the foliage to appeal to me too!
October 16, 2016
Excelente selección
Todas las plantas recomendadas satisfacen ampliamente los requerimientos que un coleccionista pueda tener en cuanto a variedad y belleza junto con tips para un cultivo exitoso.
Todas las plantas recomendadas satisfacen ampliamente los requerimientos que un coleccionista pueda tener en cuanto a variedad y belleza junto con tips para un cultivo exitoso.
July 1, 2012
Despite a long history of killing all plants that unfortunately end up under my care (with the exception of a Venus Fly Trap, which in my opinion is more animal than plant), I decided to try being a plant person again. I got myself a mini orchid plant and a miniature rose bush from the grocery store. Of course, I immediately freaked out and regretted since orchids are notorious for being finicky and unforgiving. Thankfully, this book appeased most of my fears with some very straightforward directions on each individual type of plant. I can almost believe now that I can keep this plant alive and blooming for a longer time. I hope the book did not over simplify the odds of me keeping an orchid alive and blooming, but I have a feeling this one has a living chance by living longer than a week under my roof.
March 20, 2013
She´s just listing orchids that are known to repeat blooming. No particular informations about anything is provided.
No word about the mentioned "tips and tricks for glorious displays year after year".
Unprofessional as well. Too many of author´s personal "favourites" and less than little informations about how to make an orchid to bloom again.
I´m disappointed. I was expecting more.
No word about the mentioned "tips and tricks for glorious displays year after year".
Unprofessional as well. Too many of author´s personal "favourites" and less than little informations about how to make an orchid to bloom again.
I´m disappointed. I was expecting more.
February 16, 2010
Great book about specific species but not how to get them to flower year after year. Still searching.
October 20, 2013
there are really nice, big pictures, and there is some information about orchids, nevertheless very general, and not always useful.
November 9, 2018
Incredibly helpful book--gives the specifics of growing the full complement of indoor orchids.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews