OrchidKitty wrote:
Maybe it's just me being cranky, but Orchids magazine doesn't seem as
good as it used to be. The January issue was exceptionally dull. The
article "Slipper Orchid Alliance" was just about people in the slipper
alliance and seemed more aimed at ego stoking than anything else. (It
would have been great to have had an article about some aspect of the
plants themselves.) The article on "Orchids in Costa Rica" was a dull
historical perspective focussed on people. (I would have rather have
had an article just about the plants in Costa Rica and tours one could
take to see them. I have been to Costa Rica, and it was a fabulous
trip.) The article on orchid cards was also boring. The article on
"Bamboo Shade House" was for Florida growers. The article on "Managing
Your Collection" is geared toward the grower with a large greenhouse,
lots of land, and a huge collection. The article on Microthelys
rubrocallosa didn't exactly make my pulse race either, but it might
have been exciting to an AOS judge.

On the cover, it says "Staking Basics," and "Staking Orchids" is also
on the magazine's spine, which would lead one to think that there is an
article on staking orchids. There isn't--there's ONE paragraph about
staking cymbidiums. An article about staking with photos or drawings
would have been great, but it wasn't there.

Now the dues/subscription is going up to $60 per year. Is it worth it?
Not to me. I learn more on this newsgroup than I do in the magazine.
What do you guys think?



Sounds like you need a quick trip to the OrchidSafari archives. We have
an article on staking orchids, articles (from Bob Wellenstein) on paphs
and their culture, an article on a conservation trip to Costa Rica, and
much more.

http://www.geocities.com.brassia.geo/OSTA.html and
http://www.orchidsafari.org

Enough Blatant self promotion.... *G*!

I agree that the magazine doesn't fit my needs much anymore either...but
i always think that then end up looking back and seeing how much info
there actually is in it, once my tastes change.

But that still, IMHO, doesn't justify $60 per year. If I wasn't in the
judging program I wouldn't rejoin. The Florida bend to the articles,
the one about the lath house is especially laughable, like, only an
idiot couldn't grow orchids in Florida. Get real! LOL!!

K Barrett