Bringing Orchids Into Your Life

We 21st century dwellers are fortunate to have so many plants available to us, for decorating our homes and freshening up our work places. Further, we never tire of them, regardless of how familiar they become; in fact, we seek out more of them, and want to add new ones to our home and work places.

Flowers, particularly, have great appeal to most of us. It’s will come as no shock to know that many people are especially drawn to orchids, the aristocracy of the flower world.

Orchids have long been known as “conquerers of the light.”. They astonish upon first encounter and continue thereafter to exert a profound fascination. Nature has shown exceptional kindness to the orchids. Their flowers are ever bright and elegant. Their fragrant odor is generally described as sweet, yet most people do not find it cloying in the least. Certainly, orchids are thin in texture, but they are not nearly as frail as this leads many to believe. From a flower connoisseur’s viewpoint, about the only thing they lack is abundant foliage. But really, this is no big deal–the common aestehtic solution is to surround them with ferns to create an attractive arrangement.

It was long believed that these marvelous flowers were exceptionally delicate and difficult to grow. This was erroneous. It’s not as difficult as many people assume to cultivate orchids; in fact, many hobbyist growers can outperform professionals when it comes to producing extraordinarily striking plants. The “trick,” if you want to call it that, is to seek out accurate and complete information on orchid growing before acquiring your first plant. By educating yourself, you are almost assured of success; skip the learning phase and you are doomed to failure.

Let’s take one common myth held by people who’ve never investigated what it takes to grow orchids: Orchids require high heat above all else. That’s not true, though! Yes, it’s true that orchids are a “tropical” plant, if you mean by that they originate between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. But many species, in their native lands, actually grow high up on cool mountainsides. It would be a mistake to subject these coolness-hardy plants to high temperatures — if the heat didn’t kill them, it would at least stunt their development.

Whether you consider yourself a green thumb or not, you can grow these loveliest of flowers. Imagine springing a gift of an orchid–one you grew yourself!–on a friend or family member. Envision winning prizes for breathtaking orchids that you cultivated yourself. Picture yourself going so far with your orchid growing hobby that it becomes a business, perhaps one big enough to provide you with a living. All of these things are possible to you as an orchid enthusiast.

One of the best and most complete guides to modern orchid growing is undoubtedly Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, available online. Howard’s guide is really a complete course, and will teach something to experienced growers as well as complete neophytes. You might also want to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of articles on all aspects of orchids.

So, here’s to many years of orchid enjoyment!