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| Orchids for Dummies | 
| Authors: Steven Frowine, National Gardening Association
Publisher: For Dummies
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $9.07
You Save: $7.92 (47%)
New (32) from $9.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 58595
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7
ISBN: 0764567594
Dewey Decimal Number: 635.9344
EAN: 9780764567599
ASIN: 0764567594
Publication Date: February 21, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Packed with photos, including 8 pages in full color
Color your world with orchids
Orchids are beautiful, fragrant, wonderfully varied, and surprisingly affordable. But aren't they hard to grow at home? No! says orchid grower extraordinaire Steve Frowine. In this handy guide, he shows you step by step how to select the right orchids, keep them healthy, encourage blooms, and even propagate your own plants.
Discover how to:
* Select orchids that will thrive in your home
* Water, fertilize, repot, and propagate orchids
* Decipher complicated orchid names
* Get familiar with favorite orchid varieties
* Create spectacular orchid displays
Download Description
The fun and easy way to grow orchids As anyone who has read Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief or has seen the movie Adaptation knows, orchids inspire a passionate following. And their popularity is rising: according to the USDA, more than 12.7 million orchids were sold in the U.S. last year. Brimming with black-and-white illustrations and eight pages of color photos, this friendly guide introduces would-be orchid fanciers to today's most popular and intriguing orchid varieties; and shows step by step how to select healthy plants at a nursery or commercial grower, cultivate them successfully at home, promote blooms, create beautiful orchid displays, and even produce hybrids. Steven Frowine (New Hartford, CT) worked with orchids professionally as a horticulturist at Hawaii's National Tropical Botanical Garden and at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where he was chairman of indoor horticulture and oversaw over 10,000 plants.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 A VERY INFORMATIVE AND READABLE WORK. August 13, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is actually a pretty good starter book. There are a vast number of books out there addressing the subjects of growing, identification, history, etc. of these wonderful plants, but for those that just bought their first orchid, or are contemplating such, then this is as good a book to start with as any. Needless to say, no book can do it all for you and as you grow in this wonderful hobby, you will want to check on more of the wonderful resources available. When I first began raising orchids, it was hard to find anything that was meant for the general public, and most orchid books were unreadable (if you could even find them) unless you had a degree on horticulture. I killed off quite a few of these plants in my learning process, still do for that matter, but that is what is so fascinating about this hobby, i.e. there is always so much more to learn.
As with all the idiot books, this one covers your basic informational needs, from selecting a good starter plant on to its care and maintenance. It has humor thrown in here and there, which makes for a pleasing read. Now this in not a "picture book" of orchids nor is it meant to be. Goodness knows there are many high dollar books out there to fulfill this need. I liked this particular work as it does well illustrate that orchids are not as difficult to raise as many feel they are. Yes, some have very specialized needs, but for the most part, the orchids you have access to are not all that difficult if you just know what you are doing. This book gives you that basic knowledge to get you started. It uses simple terms and written in an easy style that does not send you running to the dictionary with every turned page. The illustrations are quite well done.
Now as for this being a book only for beginners, hmmm, I am not quite sure what to say about that. Granted, much of the information found here is basic and the entire work is not written in the dry, academic mode so often found in these works. I am certainly no expert myself, but have been messing with these plants for quite a number of years now, and to be quite frank, I learned a few things myself. Some of the stuff I thought I knew, I did not know. It may be just me, but I have found that as with most things you need to beware of "experts" and their advice. It is nice to hear their opinion, but you always need to check the facts our for yourself and from multiple sources.
I highly recommend this one for beginners and feel that a lot of the "old timers" could probably benefit from giving this one a read.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
 Orchids for Dummies April 6, 2008
Like all the "dummies" books this one has expert advice. Unwittingly, I always assumed growing orchids was something only for the "experts". Not so, once I screwed up enough courage to purchase a few, I find it is both fun and rewarding.
Orchids for dummies February 25, 2008
So far So good , I know nothing about orchids and have just started to collect them. This book is easy to read and understand,now I am just waiting for results.
start at the beginning December 25, 2007
this book thoroughly takes on how to grow orchids. Very easy to comprehend the complexities of what you've taken on. Very good reference source. Also would recommend 'Ortho's Guide to Orchids'.
 Good starter book November 8, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A good starter book. Gives a complete, detailed and no-assumptions information about most orchids and the varieties, care and handling.
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