You MAY HAVE confidence in yourself as a grower of begonias, or rare irises. You are sure of yourself with roses. But these beautiful plants,you speak of them with reverence and approach them with awe. You believe that their culture is hazardous, their expense tremendous, and the plants temperamental as prima donnas.

Not at all!

These plants are among the easiest of plants to grow, the hardest to kill. They warn you before they become sick and indicate the necessary remedy. Generally they cost no more than good peonies and require less care than exhibition chrysanthemums. You can buy them any time of the year. Twelve well chosen plants will give you blooms the year round. They are neither parasitic nor carnivorous and they do not live on air alone. Actually, they live, grow, and die much in the same manner as other, more common, garden plants.

However, they are some things you must know about an this plant that I intend to share. (I have a secret manuscript:)

Orchids need a continuous supply of fresh air, an occasional drenching with water, and plenty of light. Give orchids those simple conditions, to the extent and in the proportions they require, and you can grow them in Boston or Seattle, Florida, or the Dakotas. You can do the work between sips of breakfast coffee or between cocktails and dinner. A word of warning, though:

Gardening is a disease! Once you've seen how beautiful these plants are, you'll crave it. Once you've purchased one, you'll go without lunches to buy two more. That's the way the gardening bug bites you. There's no escaping it....

Let share the magic...