J,

That's right, I did mean novels other than the Nero Wolfe mysteries. I love
Nero Wolfe mysteries -- among my favorite books. And the mentions of orchids
in them are ok. Though I find it curious that Phalaenopsis get mentioned
somewhere in the series as among the hardest orchids to grow, but maybe at
the time these books were written this was the case, plus different people
have trouble with different genuses depending on their environment, so maybe
Nero Wolfe's environment was not best suited for Phals. :-) Anyway, Rex
Stout's handling of orchids was ok.

You are right, it does indeed seem like pop-culture is as yet not
acknowledging the mass-market availability of orchids. Curious that.

I too at times get the reaction of oh you grow orchids, what an exotic,
difficult and expensive hobby. Weird.

I wonder how much longer it will take for popular consciousness to get a
clue about orchid mass-availability and relative ease of culture.

Joanna

"jadel" wrote in message
oups.com...

J Fortuna wrote:

What do you think about the mentions of orchids in pop-culture, books,
movies, and what-not?


You mean in books other than the Nero Wolfe mysteries? Wolfe was
always portrayed as a knowlegeable orchidist. I understand that the TV
series used silk orchids instead of real ones, but that's not a
surprise. Keeping orchids fresh under the hot lights of a film set
would be a big challenge.

Then there's Raymond Chandler's --The Big Sleep--.

Orchids( and other exotic plants) appear in Huysmans' --A Rebours-- as
symbols of the main character's decadent personality and tastes.

I don't think the mass-market availability of orchids has filtered down
into pop culture yet. People still think of them as exotic, expensive,
finicky plants, the playthings of the rich and eccentric.

Folks express surprise and awe when they learn I grow orchids in my
basement.
They wrongly assume I am rich; though they may well be right about the
eccentricity.

The fact they can buy orchids at Krogers or the local home improvement
store makes no difference.


J. Del Col