Timber Press

The World of OrchidsWhat is an Orchid?Befow; Nomed for its propagator. Froncisco d'Aquino, Cattleya intermedia var. aquinii feotures ruffled magenta-streaked petals. Due to these markmgs, this plant is known as a "splash-petalled" cattleya.If a simple explanation sufficed, orchids jusc would not be...

INTRODUCTIONAt first sight, an index to a dictionary may seem superfluous, but the byways of botany are full of free-standing indexes. It is as if, once the Society of Gardeners had published its Catalogas Plantarum in 1730, the list became the plantperson's genre of choice. We have Index Kewensis...

CHAPTER ONEPrelude to PropagationIt's a pretty good bet that all who pick up this book will, sooner or later, be infuriated by something they read in it; some description of a technique, or an opinion expressed, will produce a snort of derision or the conviction that the author must be an idiot....

The worst part of being a plant is that if you don't like the place where you were born, you can't pick up and move. With roots firmly anchored to the ground, a plant is stuck in one location for life, which may be less than a year but could be for centuries. Some bristlecone pine and giant...

Foreword It is an honor to write the foreword to this edition of The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George E. Brown. The magnificent collections of shrubs and trees at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, are testimony to the author's skill, for they were in his charge while he was...

Foreword Orchids are widely thought of as special: they have a reputation for glamor. Sometimes people even need reminding that orchids are in the end only plants. While diis book will confirm that orchids are plants, it will also illustrate why they are special. Although some orchids are among...