Growing Hardy Orchids

by Tullock, John

• ISBN13: 9780881927153
• ISBN10: 0881927155
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-07-14
• Publisher: Workman Pub Co

Summary

This is a book for adventurous gardeners with an appreciation for temperate orchid species and native wildflowers. A surprising number of terrestrial orchids are hardy, some able to withstand temperatures down to minus 50°F or minus 45.5°C. Though they have a reputation for being challenging to cultivate, in truth, most hardy orchids are no more so than a rose. This is great news for gardeners, who will enjoy filling their gardens with their enchanting fragrances, vibrant color displays, and long-lived blooms. At the center of the book is a catalog of 103 hardy and half-hardy orchids. In addition to detailing the techniques of cultivation and propagation, the book covers conservation and includes lists of suppliers and organizations offering nursery-propagated plants - an especially critical issue for species in danger of extinction.Awards for this book:American Horticultural Society Book Award

Table of Contents

Preface	9	(4)
Native Orchid Conservation: One View	13	(21)
General Principles of Hardy Orchid Cultivation	34	(38)
Propagation of Hardy Orchids	72	(14)
Mycorrhizal Associations and Hardy Orchids	86	(7)
Hardy Orchids Through the Seasons	93	(12)
Bletilla: The Ideal Beginner's Plant	105	(5)
A Catalog of Hardy and Half-Hardy Orchids	110	(97)
Epilogue	207	(26)
Taxonomy of Hardy Orchid Genera	221	(3)
Orchid Selection Guide	224	(3)
Suppliers and Organizations	227	(4)
Conversion Tables	231	(1)
USDA Hardiness Zone Map	232	(1)
Bibliography	233	(6)
Index	239

Excerpts

Unique Features of the Orchid Family Orchids possess some interesting deviations from the norm for flowering plants. Coincidentally, their genetic predilections also encourage orchids to succeed in trying circumstances. Why do native orchids have a reputation for being difficult to cultivate, when tropical orchids have been cultivated successfully for decades? Plant anatomy often determines culture requirements. For example, because the roots of tropical orchids are susceptible to rot if kept too moist, they require a sharply drained growing medium. Might this not also be the case with hardy orchids? One quickly learns that it is. Many of the hardy orchids in which a gardener might be interested grow naturally in bogs. A bog is not a pond filled with moss. The sphagnum moss that dominates true bog habitats acts as a conduit for the slow diffusion of water from the underlying aquifer to the surface, allowing oxygen to reach the roots of the plants growing in the moss carpet. If the bog held water like a pond, the plant roots would be thrust into an oxygen-depleted environment and would be quickly replaced by species that can grow with their roots submerged, such as cattails. Draining the bog, on the other hand, leaves too little moisture behind, and plants such as ironweed, milkweed, and showy goldenrod appear, eventually to be followed by tree seedlings. Thus, merely mimicking the moisture conditions of the bog habitat in a garden bed enables gardeners to grow and flower a wide range of orchid species. Attempting to locate the orchids alongside other native plants, such as phlox or trilliums, in a typical woodland soil generally leads to failure, as does planting more rampantly growing moisture lovers, such as cattails, alongside the orchids. I suspect many a frustrated novice simply fails to take into account that any given geographic area, even one as small as a building lot, may consist of a patchwork of microhabitats, each characterized by variations in parameters such as the amount of sun or shade, the moisture retentiveness of the soil or lack thereof, exposure to wind, and the presence or absence of competing species. Anyone doubting this need only compare the vegetation growing along the interstate ramp near my house with the vegetation growing in the swale 30 feet away. In late summer the dry-baked area of clay soil along the asphalt blooms with Rudbeckia, Bidens, and Coreopsis, while the low-lying area beyond boasts stands of Typha and Sagittaria. Among these vigorously invasive moisture lovers, the dusty-rose-colored plumes of Eupatorium maculatum and the scarlet spires of Lobelia cardinalis call out to swarms of butterflies. Even the grasses differ between the two locations. Three or four years ago the area was stripped down to the clay subsoil, compacted by the movements of construction equipment, and changed utterly from its former status as a cow pasture. Yet, seeds have blown in from undisturbed areas nearby, the activities of birds, small mammals, and humans have brought in still more, and once again the land blooms. Tree seedlings are already showing up, sorted according to their moisture preferences, just like the herbaceous plants. Nature's hallmark is this kind of resilience and exuberance. Why then aren't the roadsides teeming with orchids? Actually, in some areas they are, when conditions favor them, although this is certainly not a commonplace occurrence. Orchids at least seem relatively rare. While some orchids are indeed extremely rare, they can be amazingly abundant in the right spot. This observation reinforces our strategy for developing successful culture methods: identify the parameters that appear to favor orchids in the wild, and then attempt to mimic these conditions at home. Moisture Content of the Growing Medium Typically, hardy orchids require a relatively constant level