Customer Reviews

Taylor's Guide to Orchids: More Than 300 Orchids, Photographed and Described, for Beginning to Expert Gardeners (Taylor's Guides)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Afraid to grow orchids? Fear no more, because this book explains everything we need to know, from how orchids grow in nature (mostly on sides of trees!) and what we have to do to make them happy on the windowsill.

judywhite is well-known in the orchid world for her wonderful way of explaining the mysteries behind how to grow them, and this book, which she also photographed (there are 300 gorgeous color photos depicting every genus in the encyclopedia section) is not only well-written, it is well-organized and covers everything from pest control to potting materials (the best resource on this subject in particular that I've ever come across) to light to getting the darned things to bloom again. The second half of the book is the encyclopedia section, describing not only species, but also man-made intergeneric hybrids, with a lot of information you can't find anywhere else in one place.

I definitely agree with others that if you only get one orchid book - whether you are just a beginner or truly advanced - this is *the* orchid book!

I love this little book and use it all the time. It has so much information packed into it's compact format. The color photos are beautiful and show great detail. The basic orchid growing information is helpful without being too technical and the specifics about each orchid are very useful in deciding if that orchid you just have to have will really stand a chance in your own growing situation.

As Orchids host at BellaOnline.com, I highly recommend this book to all orchid lovers at any level of experience.

Beautiful color photos and detailed growing information...mineis heavily highlighted and dogeared as I use it as a constantreference. The BEST part is the dimensional description next to the photos telling ACTUAL PLANT AND FLOWER SIZE, as we all know how deceiving photos can be!

If you just got your first Orchid and want to learn how to care for it or you've been collecting for years, this is a "MUST HAVE" book. I have many Orchid books and none come close to this one for readability and useful information. The photos are also wonderful. The person I bought many of my Orchids from carries this book in her back pocket and despite being incredibly knowledgeable, refers to it several times ever day. You can't go wrong buying this book.

This nearly 400-page guide to orchids is one of the best resources I have ever read and used. It is also extremely handy as it is a nice compact size. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful with excellent description(s) alongside. It covers the entire spectre of orchid growing & care, along with many helpful suggestions not normally found in orchid books, such as natural pest control. Even "species nuts" will find Taylor's Guide to be quite useful. In summation, I would just say that this is the best all-round orchid book I have ever read and still use regularly. Thank you, Judy White.

I recently acquired my first orchid from my mother who "couldn't get the darned thing to bloom again". So I adopted it. With the help of this book I discovered that it is a Phalaenopsis orchid that needed a little more water and better light. It is now very near blooming.

Since then I've added 2 other orchids to my collection. This book is fantastic, the photos are beautiful, and the care tips have been an invaluable resource to a beginner like myself.

This book is what quelled my fears about orchid care. It covers every aspect of orchid growing, and though I do own other orchid books, this book still outranks all the others. Beginners and advanced orchid enthusiasts can both understand and utilize the information in this book. The pest control chapter is informative, and clearly explains the different applications you can use to prevent pests. For a general reference book, this is the apex of orchid information.

I grow and collect orchids strictly as a hobby. I first purchased this particular work at the time of its publication and have been using it ever since. The photographs are wonderful and I have found that the 300 + orchids covered in this book are truly that...covered and covered quite well. The author's text, as to descriptions and "how to grow," are extremely useful. The grower/collector must realize though, that as the title of the book states, this covers more than 300 orchids. Needless to say, there are many, many more out there and If one wishes to own just one book that lists all of them, then be aware this one does not. That being said, I have yet to find a book that does list all of the hundreds and hundreds of varieties and thousands of hybrids. I should think that this would be an impossible undertaking as each year these numbers increase many fold. I personally own several dozen books on the subject and am constantly adding to them. This is a good book, one that should be added to the many others you will no doubt purchase if you pursue this wonderful hobby. I recommend this one highly.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Depending on what you're looking for, this book is not for everyone, definitely not for the beginners. There're very little instructions on how to cultivate orchids. I find the binding of the book awkward. The pictures are of great quality though.

This is book is wonderful, no doubt and is a good book, that is, if you can find the orchid you are looking for in the book. This book has wonderful pictures and information, but only for those that are in the book. I find that this book is limited in the number of species, but it is great in that it actually has pictures and descriptions of certain hybrids. I have a Lycaste Aquila 'Detente' because of this book. The picture and the description inspired me to get this plant. The growing tips are great, but again, only for the orchids that are written about in the book.