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| Orchid lovers are a strange and varied lot. Garden Design magazine just had a big story on orchids that featured a cigar-smoking, beer-drinker biker who breeds rare orchids for a living. There are thousands of orchid societies around the world, from Central Iowa to Hungary, and from North Texas to Tasmania. This is not a description of the book so far, this is simply to point out the magical hold orchids have on all sorts of people. For many who get involved in orchids, it often evolves into a kind of religious fervor. This book, with huge, brilliant photographs of orchids, will blow you out of the water. It is the orchid book for serious orchid lovers, whoever and wherever they might be. Written by Wilma and Brian Rittershausen, whose unrivaled knowledge of orchids shines through in a text that combines intriguing anecdotes with practical advice, this is the only book on orchids to carry the authority of The Royal Horticultural Society. The first chapter explains how orchids differ from other plants and how, with more than 25,000 naturally occurring species, the orchid is the largest plant family in the world. The second chapter discusses how orchids have adapted to various habitats; thriving in conditions varying from deserts to tropical rain forests to arctic region, orchids have been sought after by plant explorers throughout the world since their discovery more than 200 years ago. This chapter describes the romance and excitement of the developing history of orchids, from the discovery of the first tropical varieties through to the contemporary triumphs of hybridization. |
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