Orchids are epiphytic as well as terrestrial herbs, from both tropical and temperate parts of the world, with exceedingly showy, irregular flowers.
Have you ever dreamed Of the Tales of the Arabian Nights and wished you might journey on that Magic Carpet to far-flung, romantic corners of the earth? It can be done with a greenhouse and orchids—at least in a fancy. Orchids will bring the exotic beauty and perfume of those faraway lands into your daily … Read more
Most people turn a deaf ear when orchids are suggested as ideal house plants. Yet anyone who can grow African violets or gloxinias indoors can grow orchids. There is hardly another group of plants more compatible with our way of living than these exotic epiphytes. Furthermore, orchid blossoms are astonishingly durable. Most of them remain … Read more
We were waiting for luncheon one day in April 1954 when a public relations man from Hollywood turned to me. “Your husband tells me you have successfully bloomed an orchid two years in succession in your hotel apartment.” “Yes,” I answered, “it was a Cattleya Mossiae, not too difficult to handle.” Paul Snell of Robinson-Hannagan. … Read more
You can grow orchids in your home. You need only a sunny window and a few minutes a week. You may doubt this—most people do at first—but thousands are already doing it, and more people are finding out how easy it can be done daily. Growing orchids in the home are one of the most … Read more
If you could wake in the morning to see flower sprays like shimmering golden butterflies dancing in your window, would you? If you could pause during the day to be enchanted by the intricate formations of a ballerina-like bloom… If you could have your window full of oncidiums, the “dancing lady” orchids, for weeks and … Read more
As one snowflake does not constitute a blizzard, neither does successfully growing a single orchid makes one an orchid authority. Nevertheless, the experiences of one person and his method in blooming an orchid under ordinary window-sill culture, and without the benefit of a greenhouse or any fancy equipment, can lend encouragement to others who have … Read more
Eight years have passed since we first found out that anyone can grow orchids. It was my wife’s birthday, and I wanted to get her something special, so I stopped at a florist shop in my hometown, Hialeah, Florida, which displayed a big sign: ORCHIDS. The florist was making corsages of what I later learned … Read more
I had always believed that orchids were exceedingly difficult to grow – tender, delicate, and temperamental – and so expensive as to be entirely out of reach of the average person. But I have learned that none of these things are true. Orchids Plants Orchids are within the means of any of us. There are … Read more
Of course, you can grow orchids in a window! In the last few years, countless indoor gardeners have found to their delight that orchids will thrive and bloom in the home. They’ve discovered that these exotic plants are not at all “difficult”—indeed, many of them have cultural requirements like those of our most popular house and … Read more
Each winter I grow tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocus, amaryllis, and African violets in my window. But most spectacular of all my indoor plants are the cattleya orchids—the popular florist’s corsage flower. Ideal Conditions in Bathtub For months they lived under ideal conditions in our bathtub until I was faced with the ultimatum, “Move them, or … Read more