Synopses & Reviews
Lavishly illustrated, Growing Hardy Orchids highlights over one hundred and fifty species of hardy orchids in North America, Europe, and Australia that will thrive in temperate climates with little or no protection. Orchids have enormous horticultural appeal and are widely cultivated at home, so gardeners seeking to beautify their yards will delight in this well-researched and practical step-by-step guide.
Focusing on the cultivation of orchids in greenhouses, pots, and gardens, Growing Hardy Orchids offers a wealth of advice on planting seedlings, ensuring nutritional needs will be met, and preventing pests and diseases, all clearly explained through the basics of orchid structure and life history. In addition to an abundance of practical cultivation information, the book provides timely accounts of conservation and attempts to reintroduce native orchids back into the wild.
The authors are among the worlds foremost orchid experts, and this colorful guide will enable even the humblest beginner to enjoy orchids in the garden.
About the Author
Philip Seaton is former editor of the Orchid Review and the author of Growing Windowsill Orchids, also published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Phillip Cribb is a leading orchid specialist and former Deputy Keeper of the Herbarium and Curator of the Orchid Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Margaret Ramsay is an expert in micropropagation and the reintroduction of endangered orchids into the wild. Grace Prendergast is a renowned expert on raising hardy orchids from seed. John Haggar is a preeminent amateur grower of hardy European orchids.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Why grow hardy orchids?
Working with nature
The orchid family
Habitat and ecology
Conservation
Compost
Glasshouse techniques
Cultivation in the garden
Pests and diseases
Raising orchids from seed to flowering plant
Dactylorhiza
Ophrys
Cypripedium
Pleione
Hardy orchid genera
Rare hardy species
Orchid language
Further reading
Index
Acknowledgements