There is more to the care of potted and outdoor plants than simply pruning, watering and tending to them. Researching within a plant encyclopedia learn all you need to ensure that you have the knowledge you need to keep a broad range of plants alive, including medicinal herbs, common flowers and rare plants.

An excellent plant encyclopedia should contain several different categories of information on each type of plant it documents. One important aspect is how the plants are named. Based on region, may be addressed differently. A valuable encyclopedia will include the most common references for each plant, so you can use that book to acquire your plants as seeds from the internet, and ensure that you are buying the correct type of plant.

In addition to that, the plant encyclopedia should have care information for each plant A good resource include legends showing the grow zones of plants, the temperature ranges that they survive in, and how the plants react to changes in the temperature. Hydrating information, required exposure to light, tolerance, scale of hardiness, as well as challenge level of growing should also be included. This is all knowledge that is needed to protect the long life of your plants.

Resourcing a plant encyclopedia will not be enough to guarantee the longevity of your plant. Knowing how to use the data once you have it is key. Many people use these plant encyclopedias after they have purchased the plant. However, their proper usage is in referencing before you buy. Several species of plants, like uncommon varieties orchids, that are only suitable for those who are who are willing to tolerate and tend to fickle plants prone to wilting.

Some data that is useful in a plant encyclopedia is the history and breeding aspects of the plants. As there are many hobbyists interested in the breeding of plants, as well as the possible creationand the creation of new types, having this information at your fingertips is particularly valuable. For those curious about cross-breeding, the references that cover this data should provide information on what types of plants can be bred against your plant, and the process of breeding.

For those interested in natural remedies, a plant encyclopedia should include how they are used, information on the safe use of the herbs, and any risks that may be associated with improper usage of the herb. If there are plants that are poisonous listed in the plant encyclopedia, data on the toxicity of the plant should be available.

To find additional information on landscaping and plants visit Herbal Medicine Plants

The Cattleya fly is one of the most potentially devastating insects that couldinfest your precious orchids. In fact, this insect is closely associated with orchids rather than any other type of plant, as you might gather from its scientific name, Eurytoma orchidearum.

Cattleya flies deposit their eggs in the young growths of the orchid. The eggs hatch, with the nymphs (or maggots) going to work right away, feeding voraciously. The nymphs quickly grow to a grotesque size within the bulbs. One signal that these maggots are doing their damage is that the bulbs themselves will swell and become club-shaped at the location where the pests are eating.

Finally, the nymphs turn into adult flies, which munch their way to freedom by chewing through the flesh of the bulbs. Adult flies are black in color, have transparent wings, and are about one-quarter inch in length. Unfortunatelyy, by the time you spot them it might be too late to rescue some of your orchids. Nonetheless, you should try to kill the flies before they can get a chance to inject their eggs into your remaining healthy plants.

If you have plants that are already infected, the best course is to slice away any bulbs that are seen to be swelling more than is natural. Then just drop the nymph or maggot into some water to drown it. It is discouraging to have to slice away a plant’s promising young growth, but it is better than leaving your other plants exposed to attack by the pest. With luck, the plant that you had to do “surgery” on will grow a new bulb in place of the old one.

Here’s a little good news, though, as far as these harmful little pests. They are actually not very common, and most orchid cultivators will never encounter them. Regardless, it is just good practice to carefully examine every new orchid for the signs of these flies and their maggots. Besides looking out for unusually enlarged bulbs where the fly’s nymphs might be eating, inspect for minute holes where a female fly’s ovipositor might have inserted her eggs into the plant. Absent such signs, you probably do not have a Cattleya fly problem.

To be really successful growing orchids it is important to know how to deal with all the possible threats to your plants, including insects. It is not as hard to grow orchids as many people believe, if you ground yourself in basic knowledge of these exciting plants.

The most thorough guidebook to 21st-century orchid cultivation, in my opinion, is Orchid Care Expert by a Mr. Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded online. Howard’s delightful guide will furnish a complete immersion in the subject. Also, return here often to our Orchid Secrets website, with our ever-growing database of articles on all facets of orchid cultivation.

Since tulip mania (or “tulipomania”) reached its height in the Netherlands until the present, no one family of plants has managed to acquire such a firm hold on popular fancy as the orchids. Believe it or not, though, today’s orchid craze hardly compares to the fanatical devotion that these plants inspired in our Victorian forebears, particularly in England and America.

Certainly other plants had a degree of celebrity in the Anglo-Saxon sphere of the mid- to late 19th century.  We may count among these the cacti, ferns, roses, chrysanthemums and palms. But it was the orchids that represented the height of horticultural attainment to 19th century gardeners. So highly were the tropical epiphytes held that on May 12, 1885, the first huge orchid conference was held in London. The gala event brought together amateur as well as commercial growers to show off their prized specimens and to discuss important issues, including the culture and nomenclature of these marvelous flowers.

At the time of that great conference in London, the exotic tropical orchids had been known to most of the world for only around a hundred years. A 16th-century Spanish botanist, Francisco Hernandez, casually referred to a few orchids as curiosities when recounting a voyage to Spanish America. Some 200 years later, naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer and botanist Georg Eberhard Rumphius, employed by the Dutch East Indies Company, described several of the Asian orchids. But it wasn’t until just before the beginning of the 19th century that Europeans in general became aware of these mysterious and exciting plants.

By the early 1800s, botanists were working on cultivating a few specimens at such places as Kew Gardens in London. Until 1820 orchids were looked upon as curiosities in botanical gardens, but about that time some showy Cattleyas and other species produced some stunning flowers, piqueing greater interest among the public. By the 1850s new specimens of orchids were pouring into Europe from all over the world and more and more people were trying to cultivate them at home.

The first great orchid craze was going full throttle by the late 1800s and continued undiminished for many years to come. Somewhat suprisingly, a solid scientific understanding of orchid botany and what was needed to be consistently successful in growing orchids did not arrive until the 1920s.

Nowadays, of course, we have an abundance of good information on the proper way to grow orchids. The most up-to-date guidebook to today’s orchid care, it is widely acknowedged, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded online. Howard’s clearly written guide will furnish a full immersion in the subject. Also, come back here often to GoGoKitty’s Orchid Secrets, where we have an ever-growing database of articles on many topics of orchid cultivation.

Costa Rica is located in Central America. It’s part of the land mass which connects North America and South America. Costa Rica is bordered by Panama to the south, The Pacific Ocean to the west, Nicaragua to the north, and the Caribbean Sea is its eastern border.

Costa Rica has many miles of beaches- approximately 635 miles on the Pacific side, and 132 miles on the Caribbean side. Costa Rica is about 10 degrees above the equator, so the climate is mostly tropical.

Since Costa Rica seats between two oceans and two continents, it has a wide variety of plant and animal species. Some would consider Costa Rica to be one of Mother Nature’s greatest wonders. The country is defined as extremely bio-diverse, and is home to a huge number of plant and fauna species. Unbelievably, the region has 20 national parks, 8 biological reserves, and many other protected areas, guaranteed to thrill the most devoted nature lover.

There are seven provinces in Costa Rica: Alajuela, Cartago, Heredia, Limon, Guanacaste, Puntarenas, and San Jose. The ecotourism focus is evident in all these areas, as you experience a wide variety of natural formations, including rainforests, mountains, beaches, rivers and volcanoes. In addition, you can see more than 2000 kinds of trees, 200 species of mammals, 800 kinds of ferns, and 1,000 kinds of orchids. Clearly, there are many things to do in Costa Rica.

Five percent of all known animals live in Costa Rica. In fact, the land bridge that Costa Rica sits on is thought to be responsible for the diversity of animals within the country, as some traveled down from North America, and some traveled up from South America.

And the natural charm doesn’t stop there. As mentioned previously, Costa Rica has several hundred miles of coastline- and where there is coastline, there are beaches. The edge of the country has hundreds of miles of beaches, with the ones on the Pacific side being more secret, less developed, and smaller than those on the Caribbean side. The interior landscape of the country is defined by mountain ranges which run from north to south. The country’s capital, San Jose, is in the center of Costa Rica, and sits within a mountain valley.

Due to the presence of beaches and mountains, Costa Rica has a unique geographic environment. It has seven active volcanoes, along with several dormant ones. It also has a large network of rivers, in addition to the beaches and mountains we’ve already covered.

Costa Rica really is a natural paradise. Due to its location, temperatures are constant throughout the year, varying only a few degrees through the seasons. Since it is a tropical country, days are usually hot, but the nights bring with them a cool tropical breeze.

If you want to experience lounging at the beach, hiking in the mountains, and getting up close with all kinds of animals and plant species, you won’t find a better place to do this than Costa Rica.

Quite frequently you will have an orchid that keeps growing year after year but that only ever brings forth a single flowering pseudobulb. If you want to increase the number of blooming growths, you can do so by a method of cutting with a knife in order to produce back shoots. With luck and an appropriate species (such as one from the Cattleyas), you will one day have a truly astonishing orchid.

Proceed as follows: Take a plant that has several back pseudobulbs, say four or five. Cut the rhizome in two between the bulbs, being careful not to otherwise disturb it. That’s basically it, but here are some things to keep in mind:

• The best time to cut most orchids is during their resting phase, usually fall or winter. When they next enter into their growing stage, you may observe them sending forth two growths from one pseudobulb at the place where you cut it.
• Only cut orchids that are in good health. Cutting as described above will not harm a healthy plant, but could be stressful to a weak or sickly one.
• If you cut the same plant for back shoots every year, you will eventually have an orchid that is both bigger and more stunning that it would have been without the knife. This is how some of the amazing specimens are produced that you come across in orchid showings.

There is more that can be said about the art of cutting to produce more blooms, as well as the process of taking cuttings to start more plants. To learn more about these and other secrets of orchid cultivation, a good guide such as that written by Nigel Howard is highly recommended.

The most thorough guide to contemporary orchid care, beyond question, is Mr. Howard’s Orchid Care Expert, which is available to be downloaded from the Internet. Mr. Howard’s ebook is a complete course, enlightening for beginners as well as the more experienced growers alike. Also, be sure and come back here to our Orchid Secrets web site, which features a growing database of articles on many topics of orchid cultivation.