Complete Guide to Orchids (Ortho Books)

an orchid lover's foundation guide book:
I have been an orchid addict for as long as I can remember. I started raising native orchids in the early 80's in my country of birth, the Philippines, using the trial-and-error method. My backyard venture was successful but it could have been so much better if a guide book, such as Ortho's Complete Guide to Orchids, had been easily available then. (There would have been less plant casualties.) This is a must-have guide book for orchid lovers, from novice to intermediate levels, who WILL benefit from its general information on orchid selection, cultural requirement, diseases, etc. I have given copies of this book to some of my family and my friends who have contracted my "addiction" to orchids.

Beautiful Book:
This book is great for beginners and those who don't have a green thumb. Growing orchids takes some patience, but with armed with knowledge beforehand, you too can grow these enchanting flowers!

Nice Book:
This is a very nice book for someone that is new to orchids. Very helpful to properly take care of my new plant.

Fairly mediocre:
I'm not at all into the history of the man-made orchid hybrids and cultivars, for which the authors this book have a strong affinity. Expect frequent plugs for the AOS (American Orchid Society). This book has the same "pretty picture and overly general advice" formula that you can get in every other book for beginning orchid owners (or better yet, for free, on the web). I prefer Cullina's book in general, and something like Botanica's orchids as a reference for more species-specific care guidelines. In the end, I think its pretty unreasonable to make sweeping care recommendations about orchid genera, which often have 1,000+ species from a wide variety of habitats. But, I suppose this book is just as good as any other beginner guide- though others may be cheaper, and the web is cheaper (and better) still.

Another Very Helpful Ortho Book!!:
I originally borrowed this book from the library and found so many helpful bits of info that I had to buy it for myself for future reference. It just seems that I can't go wrong if I buy Ortho books. I highly recommend it for Orchid lover beginners - there's just so much very needed and useful info when it comes to orchids.