SAOS Library - Specialty Topics

Orchid Fever

Eric Hansen
The acclaimed author of Motoring with Mohammed brings us a compelling adventure into the remarkable world of the orchid and the impossibly bizarre array of international characters who dedicte their lives to it.

The Orchid Thief

Susan Orleans
A modern classic of personal journalism, The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s wickedly funny, elegant, and captivating tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower—the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii—a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida’s swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him.

A Scent of Scandal

Craig Pittman
A fascinating true story of obsession, greed, and lust for the unobtainable. Reminds me a great deal of The Maltese Falcon.

Greenhouse Gardening for Fun

Claire L Blake
How to select and run your home greenhouse easily, and grow 150 plants - including African violets, begonias, geraniums, gesneriads and orchids.

Greenhouses Planning, Installing and Using Greenhouses

Ortho Books
This book will teaches how to select a site, choose a style, and identify glazing materials suitable for your climate and growing conditions. Included are detailed plans and construction guidelines for five basic greenhouse designs. Or design your own, following the book's step-by-step instructions.

How to Build and Use Greenhouses

Ortho Books
You'll discover a whole new world of gardening in a greenhouse with this book in hand. It provides plans and building tips, advice on kits and equipment, and proven growing techniques. It's the complete guide to creating and using your indoor paradise.

A History of the Orchid

Merle A. Reinikka
An engaging account of humanity's growing fascination with orchids from ancient times onward, together with a biographical gallery of 50 great scientists, naturalists, and explorers who contributed to our knowledge of orchids.

The Judge, The Hunter, The Thief and the Black Orchid (a DVD)

Rich Walton
Gaze into the seductive stare of an orchid at your own risk. Many who do quickly fall under its captive spell. In the orchid world it's known simply as 'orchid fever.'

Orchids at Christmas

Blanche and Oakes Ames
Orchids at Christmas was published jointly by the Ames family and Harvard's Botanical Museum in 1975 as a tribute to Oakes and Blanche Ames. It has been out of print for several years. The Ames' descendants have undertaken to reprint it for the beauty of the orchid drawings by Blanche, a botanical artist, and for the arresting poems accompanying the drawings they sent out as holiday cards from 1937 through 1949.

Handbook on Orchid Pests and Diseases

American Orchid Society
If you grow a few orchids, for any length of time, you will eventually face a care problem caused by an orchid pest or disease. Knowing how to diagnose and treat orchid ailments is key to becoming a good orchid grower.

The Orchid Doctor - Remedies, Recipes, Recommendations and References

Dr. O. Wesley
Are you having problems with your plants? This book will help you get rid of pests and diseases. You’ll find lots of information about these problems and several srecipes and remedies for prevention and control. 

Orchid Photography

American Orchid Society, Charles Marden Fitch
This book is designed to help you suceed with orchid photography. The information has been organized into chapters related topics you will need to understand in order to create superior orchid photographs.

Photographing Landscapes and Gardens

Michael Busselle
This book is packed with landscape photography tips that are applicable to any landscape scene or gardens you seek out.

The Bulletin/Orchids

American Orchid Society
Thelma Nettles donated her late husband Derl's collection to SAOS. Feel free to request any issue of Orchids. We have monthly issues since 1959 with a few exceptions.

Orchid Digest

The Orchid Digest
Our subscription to the quarterly publication the Orchid Digest began in July of 2008. If you have never read this magazine, you are in for a real treat. Feel free to request any issue of Orchid Digest.

The Orchid Album

Robert Warner, Benjamin Williams
This 11 volume set in PDF, published in the late 1880s, describes in great detail 100s of orchid species and contains detailed colored images of all the plants. It may be freely downloaded without restrictions. Email Bea and she will email you the set as email attachments.

Archive

Username and password are required. The Internet Archive Library has many books whose copyright has expired (published before 1923) which means they can be freely downloaded and kept for as long as you want. In addition there are numerous newer books available for checkout. The simplest way to see what is of interest is to type "orchids" in the search box or you can search by name.