Book on Growing Wild Orchids

If you're wildly excited about growing wild orchids but know little about it, you'll love reading this book. Otherwise, well, there's always the pictures! That's not to diminish the value of the book's main message: "Most folks are surprised to learn that wild orchids not only survive, but thrive in Northern climes." Of course, it is only in the wild that they "thrive" without any work on our part, and it is Mathis' task to show wild orchid enthusiasts how to baby them along in the backyard. Unfortunately, he's extremely repetitive in tackling this task.

Mathis' book on growing wild orchids outside in the North does what you'd expect a book on growing wild orchids to do -- but is terribly repetitive in doing so.

I.e., my expectations for a book on growing wild orchids were 3-fold. I expected it to have great pictures and expected those pictures to introduce me to some of the varieties of wild orchids that I could grow in a Northern climate. I also expected Mathis to provide me with specific tips on growing wild orchids, from how to obtain them to how to propagate wild orhcids. The author didn't disappoint on any of these three scores.

However, from a stylistic standpoint, the book isn't as inspiring as it could have been. For one thing, I think most books (even informative books) should have a clear beginning, middle and end. But this book by William Mathis, Ph.D. on growing wild orchids offers the reader only a beginning and a middle. The book comes to a jarring halt at the end of the middle section. A book with a subject as poetic as wild orchids deserved a better ending.

Moreover, Mathis is repetitive in presenting his tips for growing wild orchids. Some of the same information reappears, chapter after chapter. I couldn't help but wonder if the author was padding the book, in order to have more pages to display those great pictures!