Good books on Orchids

I borrowed some books from the library, and there are three that I can recommend to anyone who is just beginning, or is already an expert, on orchid cultivation.

it can serve the purpose of clearing doubts, or correcting assumptions, or gleaning new nuggets of wisdom. There are always new things (if we can call them new) every now and then.

So here goes:

Orchid Basics   
A comprehensive guide to care and cultivation
by Brian & Sara Rittershausen

• very simple and easy to grasp explanation on how to go about with orchids
• shows by photograph how to perform hybridization (first book that I "see" how to hybridize), and believe me, it is very, very complicated (if you now what I mean)!

Orchids to Know and Grow
by Thomas J. Sheesan and Robert J. Black

• details the growth habit, growth pattern, light requirement, growing temperature and what container/mount to use
• scientific names are explained
• what one variety hybridizes with another

Growing Orchids in your garden
by Robert G. M. Friend

• emphasizes growing orchids in their natural habitat
• tells where each variety is originating, where found

I intended to supply only a few words on the books, as I want you to know the good merits from these books - firsthand.

Will you share when you're done reading?

Till then!

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Whaling Banned, but not Diplomatic Ties...

Image via Wikipedia

'UNFORTUNATE, BUT OUR TIES ARE FINE'

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PERTH - Japan's Foreign Minister yesterday described Australia's threat of legal action against its controversial whaling activities as "unfortunate" but said he did not believe it would hurt ties.

"Should court action become a reality, then Japan will seek to represent its case to the IWC (International Whaling Commission) supporting the fact that its activities are legal and within the convention," said Mr Katsuya Okada on the second and final day of a visit to Australia.

Mr Okada, the first official from the new Japanese government to visit Australia, said however that the dispute should not affect relations between the two major trading partners.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last Friday bluntly warned Japan that it had until November to reduce its whale catch to zero, or face action in the International Court of Justice.

Australia, along with New Zealand, has consistently opposed Japan's killing of hundreds of whales each year, which it carries out via a loophole in an international moratorium that allows "lethal research".

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Australia remained hopeful of a diplomatic solution but he reiterated Mr Rudd's vow that Canberra would seek redress in the ICJ if talks failed.

Mr Smith said Canberra had decided to bring a proposal before the IWC to phase out whaling in the Great Southern Oceans over a reasonable period of time. The case would be taken to the IWC in the very near future as soon as today, he added.

Before Mr Okada left Tokyo, he had insisted that Japan's whaling activities were legal, carried out in public waters and in accordance with international conventions.

He and Mr Rudd had a "frank discussion on whaling" during their Saturday meeting in Sydney. AFP

From TODAY, Monday, 22-Feb-2010

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