bought this book when I had just gotten my first two orchids and didn't know the slightest thing about taking care of them, other than the little tag that came on the plant. It has been an integral part of my journey from totally uninformed orchid-liker to semi-knowledgeable beginner, and I credit most of my early successes to this book, along with the great advice available on this website and others.

This book is designed as a comprehensive guidebook for home growers just starting out, and begins with a quick summary of orchids in history, followed by brief discussions of basic orchid botany and breeding techniques. For a beginner like myself it's the perfect amount of info, and presents the concepts in a logical manner without overwhelming details. The bulk of the first section is devoted to basic orchid culture information, which is very helpful, and the beautiful pictures and illustrations really clarify the concepts. The focus is growing in the home, such as in windowsills. There are brief discussions on greenhouses and artificial lights, but not enough to really do either, they are really presented as concepts instead of a how-to guide. For growers looking to expand beyond windowsills, a more focused reference would be helpful.

The second portion of the book is an A-Z atlas of the major orchid genera. It is organized alphabetically, with the hybrids housed within each genus' section, although a few hybrid genera sneak out into their own section, such as doritaenopsis. The most popular genera get the longest sections, and include many gorgeous photos of representative species and hybrids. Even more minor genera get fair treatment though. I especially appreciated the summary of culture requirements at the beginning of each section, including a difficulty rating, which quickly helped me learn which orchids to avoid. The difficulty ratings are somewhat subjective, and more experienced growers may take issue with some of them, but for the most part the easy orchids are the most tolerant of sub-optimal conditions or culture techniques, whereas the more finicky plants are intermediate or advanced. The ratings are also tailored towards someone growing orchids in the home, like most beginners. For the hardcore species buff or rare hybrid lover, a more comprehensive atlas is needed, but anyone who knows a little something about every genus represented in this book is certainly has a well rounded foundation of orchid knowledge.

I recommend this book highly to anyone just getting started with orchids as the foundation for their learning, and also to the more experienced growers looking for a good collection of all the basic information in a concise format.