Orchid Growing for Wimps: Techniques for the "Wish I Could Do That" Gardener [Paperback]

Ellen Zachos (Author)

Book Description

Series: For Wimps | Publication Date: April 28, 2002

“A superb primer on orchid culture. It uses a fully illustrated step-by-step approach and doesn’t skimp on relating complete details. There’s a chapter showing easy-to-grow orchids in all their glory, and there’s also a chapter warning about ‘difficult’ orchids to avoid. This tome takes you on a visit [to] 16 terrific varieties you can easily handle....It’s a fun and rewarding winter exercise.”—Denver Post.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

If you think you can't grow orchids, that's simply not true! Everyone can, and this guide makes it easy. Take your pick from 16 different types--all of them commercially available and easy to raise at home. With information on light, temperature, and water requirements, as well as facts about bloom habits and fragrance, your plants are sure to be exquisite! Bonus: frequently asked questions and easy-to-follow answers.

About the Author

Ellen Zachos is a Harvard graduate, a horticulturist certified at the New York Botanical Garden, a garden writer, and photographer. She owns Acme Plant Stuff which designs, installs, and maintains commercial and residential interior and exterior gardens in New York City. She lectures at the New York Botanical Garden, the Horticultural Society of New York, and at garden events across America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (April 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806979356
• ISBN-13: 978-0806979359
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 8.2 x 10.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #967,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ... This wimp loved it!, November 26, 2002

By 

Colleen M. Schneider (San Lorenzo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid Growing for Wimps: Techniques for the "Wish I Could Do That" Gardener (Paperback)

I received an orchid plant a few years back and was afraid of loving it to death (ie: overwatering, overfertilizing, etc.) Happily, it seems to do quite fine, but I wanted to know when to repot it, how to get it to bloom with the most possible blossoms and how to care for it-aside from just keeping it alive. This book was VERY helpful, and I am the ultimate in Orchid wimps. The pictures helped me to match up what kind of plants I could buy that would do well in my home and had a great section on pests, diseases and interesting tips on how to make it a "humidity bath", and what is normal (big fat white roots, growing all crazy-like out of the top....normal (who knew?) ). It is a book for the novice, the wimp, the "please, hold my hand and tell me everything," kind of orchid grower....of which I am....and thankful that someone put it all in words for me. It will also let you branch out to other types once you get your "orchid growing chops"....and there are plenty of different varieties to try. So, take the plunge, get the book and learn to grow beautiful orchids.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Really good, but not enough pages!, March 31, 2004

By 

Janet Knori (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid Growing for Wimps: Techniques for the "Wish I Could Do That" Gardener (Paperback)

I was the ultimate orchid wimp, a complete novice, when a friend sent me an encyclia last summer, and I panicked. I bought the Ortho orchid book, and tried to find a decent place for my plant, then went so far as to buy two more orchids - NOT knowing they were ones that needed the exact opposite treatment from the first. And THEN the same friend moved, and had some careless friends crate up 14 of her orchids and ship them off to ME! They arrived in terrible condition, having fallen out of their pots, leaves crushed, roots torn, a MESS. I had no space, no good light for them, not enough humidity, NOTHING.
Well, enter Orchid Growing for Wimps. It gave me not only information but confidence. In particular, I commend it for having pictures of the complete plants, not just the flowers. It really shows you how to perform many necessary tasks, gives good tips on care of many common types of orchids. It convinced me at last that I'd better splurge and buy a large, lighted case for my babies, and they are now quite happy and doing well.
My only complaint, and it is unrealistic, is that this book doesn't cover all the thousands of varieties and their sometimes highly speccialized culture. The remedy for that is - MORE BOOKS, never a bad thing!
But if you can only buy one book, this one may be the most helpful one you can find.

review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening In God

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone!, October 7, 2002

By 

Chris Bushman (North Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Orchid Growing for Wimps: Techniques for the "Wish I Could Do That" Gardener (Paperback)

While this book is easy to read, and covers many of the basics, and does recommend many easy to grow orchids, it is much too limited in application. If you are an orchid beginner and an apartment dweller in New York City, this is the perfect book for you and most everything applies to your situation. If are an orchid beginner that lives in a house in a warmer climate, some of the advice is just plain poor.

A comfortable, pretty book, but not for everyone.