I’ve always struggled with orchids. Friends have plants that flower happily for months. Mine seem to die on me within weeks. If anything is going to bring me success, then it’s likely to be The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Orchids.
The latest book in the series by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is, like the others, thorough. From the history of the trade – in 1899 100,000 plants were auctioned in one day – to how to train the flower stems, the book is packed with information about these popular flowers.
I was given a book in return for a fair review.
However, we are warned that because of the vastness of the subject – to date more than 26,000 species have been identified – it can’t cover everything. Rather, it concentrates on the most commonly grown species and hybrids, although again it’s just a fraction of the number available as there are more than 70,000 crosses registered with the RHS.
Written by Philip Seaton, an expert grower and secretary of the Orchid Specialist Group, The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Orchids gives comprehensive advice on growing them in the home, in both heated and cold greenhouses, or in the garden.
Finding the right spot in the house means considering the amount of light, the temperature and the humidity – the leaves of an orchid can give a clue as to what conditions it prefers.
There are tips on plant companions for your orchid and even how to avoid water damage on furniture.
The book explains what equipment will be needed, how to get the right compost mix, what to look for when buying a plant and how to go about propagating them.
There’s a large section on individual orchids and each entry has information on where and how to grow that particular orchid and a growing tip: Leptotes bicolor, for example, “benefits from the occasional dip in a water bath”.
Woven through this section are projects, including mounting orchids on bark, planting up a terrarium and repotting a cymbidium.
The book finishes with advice on where to see orchids, how to deal with pests and disease, and a seasonal check list of tasks.
We are told that orchids are “often much tougher than the average house plant”. Perhaps it’s time for me to try them again.
The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Orchids by Philip Seaton is published by Frances Lincoln, with an RRP of £12.99. Buy it now for £10.65 on Amazon (If you buy through this Amazon link, I get a small fee. The price you pay is not affected.)
All illustrations copyright the Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
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