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Article: Orchids don't need to be an expensive horror story.(Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- March 14, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Once considered the most exotic of all flowers, with unpronounceable names like phalaenopsis, dendrobium and cattleya to match, orchids are now so common you can impulsively buy one at the grocery, drug store and warehouse while you're grabbing paper towels, milk and dog food.
At $25 and up, it's easy to buy an orchid on a whim and then watch dismayed as it shrivels and dies in the following weeks.
``The problem is that most people know how to buy a nice tomato plant or a healthy tree, but orchids leave them wondering,'' says Jim Williams, a San Jose, Calif, resident who started with a huge purple cattleya, and now grows more than 1,000 orchids in his ...