 | Botanica's Orchids: Over 1200 Species (Botanica's Gardening Series)
Buy new: $11.09 / Used from: $6.84 Muy fabuloso! I refer to this book constantly for quick identification, quick check of native habitats or really just to browse and enjoy the fantastic photography. A real must-have.
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 | Orchids Simplified by Henry Jaworski
Buy new: $14.96 / Used from: $2.99 I really like this book: good pictures, good useful information, cheap! Every beginner ought to have this. Seriously.
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 | Taylor's Guide to Orchids: More Than 300 Orchids, Photographed and Described, for Beginning to Expert Gardeners (Taylor's Guides) by judywhite
Buy new: $21.37 / Used from: $1.94 Another terrific encyclopedia of many many different kinds of orchids, with excellent growing tips and really nice photos. Side by side with the Botanica book, you're covered for both species and common hybrids.
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 | Tropical Slipper Orchids: <i>Paphiopedilum</i> & <i>Phragmipedium</i> Species & Hybrids by Harold Koopowitz
Buy new: $37.77 / Used from: $31.77 Harold K was instrumental, as 1/2 of Paphanatics UnLtd, in creating numerous amazing paph hybrids as new species became available. This book focuses more heavily on hybrids and breeding than other paph books on this list.
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 | Genus Paphiopedilum: A Kew Magaine Monograph (Kew Magazine Monograph) by Phillip Cribb
Buy used from: $89.99 I adore paphiopedilums. If you really love the genus you'll collect all the specialty books, making this one a must-have.
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 | Bulbophyllums and Their Allies: A Grower's Guide by Emly S. Siegerist
Buy used from: $52.30 A very fun book about a very fun group of orchids. This genus (genera if you are a splitter not a lumper) has become very popular in the past few years and this is the only book treating them in sufficient detail. Very helpful to get you into the genus.
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 | Ultimate Orchid by Thomas J. Sheehan
Buy used from: $1.96 A very nice very thorough coffee-table type book with lotsa pictures of orchid anatomy, a good discussion of various genera relationships, and oh yeah lotsa great pictures!
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 | Orchid Growing for Wimps: Techniques for the "Wish I Could Do That" Gardener by Ellen Zachos
Buy new: $13.46 / Used from: $0.75 A terrific volume for beginners, with lots of really good photos of orchid FOLIAGE and how-tos on care.
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 | The Gardener's Guide to Growing Orchids (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)
Buy new: $9.95 / Used from: $1.51 Really high-quality information special for indoor hobbyists. A collection of essays by various experts on various aspects of growing. Also get the companion volume!
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 | The Best Orchids for Indoors (Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guide)
Buy new: $9.95 / Used from: $0.01 Really high-quality information special for indoor hobbyists. A collection of essays by various experts on various aspects of growing. Also get the companion volume!
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| Culture of the Phalaenopsis Orchid by Bob Gordon
Buy used from: $10.00 A classic reference for phal fanatics. Heavily skewed towards greenhouse culture, but the basic principles are easily adapted to home culture.
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 | Orchid Species Culture: Oncidium/Odontoglossum Alliance by Charles O. Baker
Buy new: $50.37 / Used from: $89.33 This book is a tour-de-force for species fanatics. The o/o alliance is HUGE and this book really helps clarify cultural issues. It's only a pity the taxonomists keep changing the darn names! Combine this with Zelenko's book for picture ID and you're all set.
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 | Orchids: The Pictorial Encyclopedia Of Oncidium by Harry Zelenko
Buy used from: $1,050.95 A big beautiful book necessary for any oncidium fan. Includes new family tree based on recent DNA research. (Which has of course changed again...)
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 | Vandas: Their Botany, History and Culture by Martin R. Motes
Buy used from: $22.77 A specialty volume but indespensable if you are interested in this group beyond the "usual suspects." A large and varied group with many really interesting species and rare hybrids more people should know about.
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| Growing Orchids IV: The Australasian Families (Growing Orchids, Book 4) by J. N. Rentoul
Buy used from: $6.35 If you're interested in dendrobiums, cymbidiums, sarcochilus and other Aussie orchids, this is a good start. Lots of pictures, and habitat info, and really eccentric text!
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 | Orchids as House Plants by Rebecca Tyson Northen
Buy new: $7.95 / Used from: $0.01 An old classic book, with some pretty good advice still relevant. (Although things have changed with artificial light gardening.)
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| Encyclopedia Of Cultivated Orchids An Illustrated Descriptive Manual of the Members of the Orchidaceae currently in Cultivation by Hawkes Alex D.
Buy used from: $90.19 Wow this book's gotten expensive...I love this book, and still find myself going to it for species references. Nice illustrations and photos from a variety of sources. It's mainly a pity orchid names keep changing, making it tricky sometimes to look up a plant without knowing its older name.
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 | Wily Violets and Underground Orchids: Revelations of a Botanist by Peter Bernhardt
Buy new: $17.00 / Used from: $10.09 Not for how to cultivate orchids, but for appreciating the scope and variety of the family. Really good botanical essays, written most personably.
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 | Orchid Fever: A Horticultural Tale of Love, Lust, and Lunacy by Eric Hansen
Buy new: $13.95 / Used from: $0.20 This book has nothing to do with *growing* orchids, but what the heck, it's a fun read.
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 | The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession (Ballantine Reader's Circle) by Susan Orlean
Buy new: $10.08 / Used from: $0.01 Again, this has nothing to do with growing orchids, but it's a fun read. And I actually did like the movie Adaptation. It was a hoot.
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