Best orchid book you've ever seen?

[Delilah]

Hi

I would like to ask for a book about orchids for my birthday in a few months time, but don't know which one. Is there a particular orchid book that has really knocked your socks off, with lots of fantastic photos and quality information?

Ta

 

[Chicago Chad]

I don't know if this is the best book I have seen, but I think it is up there on the list for Slippers.
http://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Slipper-Orchids-Paphiopedilum-Phragmipedium/dp/088192864X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377524453&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+koopowitz

DO NOT PAY THAT MUCH IF YOU WANT IT. You can find it much cheaper.

 

[Gcroz]

I don't know if this is the best book I have seen, but I think it is up there on the list for Slippers.
http://www.amazon.com/Tropical-Slipper-Orchids-Paphiopedilum-Phragmipedium/dp/088192864X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377524453&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+koopowitz

DO NOT PAY THAT MUCH IF YOU WANT IT. You can find it much cheaper.

WOW... yes, don't spend that much. You can get a lot of plants for that kind of money!

 

[NYEric]

It depends on what you fancy. I like Rebecca Tyson Northern's Home Orchid Growing as a general book and Olaf Gruss's Genus Paphiopedilum - Albine forms as a specific favorite.

 

[eggshells]

Happy Birthday. How about Slipper Orchids of Vietnam? Has anyone seen this book?

 

[Erythrone]

It depends on what you fancy. I like Rebecca Tyson Northern's Home Orchid Growing as a general book

I agree!!!

 

[Trithor]

My personal favorite is BS Williams, an Orchid Growers Manual 1877. No photos obviously, but the lithographs are special, and strangely enough, the advice is sound. It is well worth hunting it down. A special book for a special occasion!

 

[naoki]

Happy Birthday. How about Slipper Orchids of Vietnam? Has anyone seen this book?

I like this book. I'm not that interested in artificial hybrids, so I was a bit disappointed by Koopowitz's book. But if you are interested in hybrids, it is very detailed. On the other hand, Averyanov's book contains quite a bit of "biology" (and nice habitat photos) of paphs, so it is one of my favorites.

 

[ehanes7612]

All around great book of 1100 species

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-E...e=UTF8&qid=1377541559&sr=1-28&keywords=orchid

 

[NYEric]

A. Pridgeon, yes that's a good one also!

 

[tim]

Oakeley's Lycaste Book is incredible.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Never met a paph book I didn't love. I have most of them. Of what's in print, Koopowitz's book and Lance Birk's book are the best. (Is Lance still on ST?) Out of print, there was a great little book by Bennet on Paph species. Long out of date. My favorite book on paph hybrids was Novelty Slipper Orchids by Koopowitz and Hasagawa. Totally out of date..there were only a few parvi hybrids then, beyond delanatii. But it is great for the old classic hybrids.

 

[silence882]

Slipper Orchids of Vietnam is the best scientific book on slipper orchids I've come across.

Koopowitz's Tropical Slipper Orchids is the best general slipper orchid book I've seen if you want descriptions of species and of hybrid breeding. It has lots of great photos of important clones. It can be hard to find at a reasonable price, though.

If you want just photo books, the Paphiopedilum in Taiwan series is great.

If you like orchid art, the book A Very Victorian Passion, The Orchid Paintings of John Day, 1863-1888, is great. It's also relatively cheap for a specialty book:
http://www.amazon.com/Very-Victoria...564901&sr=1-1&keywords=very+victorian+passion

If you want a general book on lots of orchids with lots of pictures, I suggest
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids (mentioned by ehanes7612) or The Manual of Cultivated Orchid Species:
http://www.amazon.com/Manual-Cultiv...&keywords=manual+of+cultivated+orchid+species