No comments about An Illustrated Guide to Growing Your Own Orchids.

1 comments about An Illustrated Treasury of Orchids.

1. I bought this book for a friend, and I'm tempted to by another for myself because it is GORGEOUS. Think Audubon, only orchids. If you wanted, you could easily buy this book (the price is so cheap for what you get) and tear it apart at the seem and frame the prints. They are THAT nice. And, the text is educational, but interesting. If you like orchids, get this book.

1 comments about Tender Roses for Tough Climates.

1. This is an excellent and very detailed guide for the rose gardener who wants her roses to survive from one northern winter to the next. This book will save you money by preventing the loss of roses to sub-zero temperatures.

No comments about Growing Successful Orchids: In the Conservatory and Greenhouse.

1 comments about Micropropagation of Orchids.

1. Excellent, This book is the best on this matter, It has the micropropagation protocols for every single kind of orchid and a good explanation step by step with charts, tables, pictures.... exceptional.

No comments about Introduction to the Cultivated Angraecoid Orchids of Madagascar.

No comments about The Orchids of Tasmania.

5 comments about Masdevallias: Gems of the Orchid World.

1. This is a great refence book for growers of Masdevallias, it is easy to read and it has up to date information. Thanks Mary Gerritsen and Ron Parsons for all of the work that you put into this book.
   
   C. Wyatt
   San Francisco



2. This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in Masdevallias or those who love orchids in general. I feel this book fills a long standing void of books dedicated to the genus Masdevallia. The book contains detailed information on the history, natural distribution, cultivation, taxonomy of the subgenera, as well as information on propagation and showing masdevallias. There are 100's of beautiful photographs of the many species with information for each species photographed. There is also a section on hybridisation accompanied with many more colour photographs. I believe this book will be a longstanding 'Bible' to the genus for years to come. Highly recommended.



3. I can't say enough positive things about this book. The wisdom of some of the top masdevallia growers was sought out and compiled in one place. Excellent photos, solid text, and a useful list of the top growers and contact information for them. I was able to reach two of the top growers who live in my area and find out what orchid shows they would be attending. That allowed me to expand my collection with some awesome new plants. Buy this book, you won't regret it.



4. A great book for anyone interested in growing Masdevallias, regardless of skill / experience. There's plenty of useful tips in the cultural descriptions that go with each species photo, and I learned that they're a much more diverse genera than I had imagined. Many can also tolerate surprisingly cool temperatures (useful for me in the Netherlands), although those that can tolerate warmer temperatures are also covered, as are some common hybrids. The photos are excellent and the layout is pretty good too (species are grouped alphabetically, I would prefer by subgenera). The section describing the geography of each country where they occur is interesting, but too general to be of any real use (how many Masdevallias occur in the Peruvian desert?). Orchids don't recognize country boundaries, it would IMHO have been better to focus this section on the different microclimates in the geographical areas where they do occur (e.g. the Andes between 800m and 3500m). These minor details aside, this is a great book and good value.



5. Bought this book right before the 2008 Pacific Orchid Exposition in San Francisco. The photos and text were great, but the tables at the end were even more useful for shopping at the Expo. The tables list the species and hybrids with their growing temperatures. If I can grow these plants in Nevada with 13% humidity, so can you!

1 comments about Growing Classic Orchids (Growing Classics Series).

1. This is a good book for beginner orchid growers. There is lots of information in this book, and really good pictures. The only thing bad about it, is this is the EXACT same book as "Orchids An Illustrated Identifier and Guide to Cultivation". I was very disappointed in this as I already had "Orchids an Illustrated Identifier and Guide to Cultivation".

2 comments about Orchids of Australia (Princeton Field Guides).

1. The book is a great reference data base of the fascinating Australian orchid flora. Although 'only' a choice of 150 out of some 1200 Australian species is shown this book gives a good impression of what an orchid friend may expect from the Orchidaceae of this continent. Both terrestial and epiphytic species are included. The plants are shown in alphabetical order of the genus, with the species in chronological order of scientific description.

   John Riley's drawings of the species are most skillful and combine botanical accuracy with a highly esthetic standard. Every illustration is a masterpiece, showing the plant entirely and its parts in adequate magnification. Thus the reader gets an impression of the plant which is very close to the real view. The presentation of anatomical details allows to identify closely related species. This is useful feature especially in the case of a number of very similar species, for instance within the genus Pterostylis. I have seen several species myself in natura and I can confirm that such a drawing gives more visual information about the plants than a photo often can.

   Additional information about the species is given in the accompanying text. It contains data about the distribution, the typical habitat and the state of endangerment. David Banks' text is concise and testifies a great competence in this field.

   In summary this book can be recommended all orchid friends. And I hope that the authors will have the time and opportunity to publish some additional volumes of their magnificent work to deliver insight of their intriguing orchid flora to all interested people inside and outside of Australia.




2. Both a great reference and a lovely coffee-table book. I gave two to my advisors as graduation thank-you gifts and they were delighted.