Sarah Gerrard-Jones’ book published by DK (Love Your Orchid) focuses on the most popular flowering houseplant. Orchids dominate the flowering indoor plant market, selling over 100 million units annually in North America and Europe alone. Unlike cut flowers that fade in a week, an orchid spike can remain in bloom for two to three months. As such, they make ideal gifts. But how do you keep them going?
Advances in tissue culture cloning allow commercial nurseries to mass-produce affordable moth orchids. Yet, as a fast-moving mass-market consumer product, these cheap plants are rarely designed for longevity.
However, gardeners naturally like to keep plants alive. Thus, there are many books showing how to care for them, particularly in the houseplant market, where plants are most giftable.
To help readers keep their plants thriving long-term, Gerrard-Jones first lists the various types of orchids. She then goes into detailed, practical advice on how to keep them blooming: covering key elements like watering, light, temperature, humidity, fertiliser, pest management, repotting, and even propagating.
Gift books such as this one are as neat, compact, presentable, and colourful as an orchid itself.
