There is no other plant family that will hybridize to the same extent as the orchid. They are highly evolved plants and many are still evolving. This, combined with their dependency upon insects for pollination, has influenced their ability to be hybridized, with f ew constrictions. In the wild, natural hybrids are a fairly common occurrence, and this is proved when a man-made cross produces flowers identical to the species. Laelia gouldiana, for example, is considered to be a natural hybrid between L. anceps and L. autumnalis.

Not all orchid blooms can be described as beautiful, however. While the most favoured and widely grown orchids are undeniably lovely, there are many whose flowers are curious, strange and even grotesque in appearance. The genus containing the greatest number of species is Bulbophyllum, but, among its thousand or so species, there are very few that could be described as pretty. While all orchids conform to one basic design, this has been duplicated and modified a thousand times, each variation designed to suit one orchid’s particular habitat or way of growing.

The ideal aspect for summer growing is a window that receives either the morning or evening sun, but not direct sun during the hottest part of the day. Most indoor kinds will be happy with this situation. Those orchids that like the shadiest places, such as phalaenopsis and paphiopedilums, will do equally well in a window that does not receive too much sun in summer. Cattleyas and dendrobiums are examples of orchids that like a considerable amount of light, and these would be well suited to a window that receives a great deal of sun, provided there was some shading between the plants and the glass.

Blinds or net curtains would be sufficient to prevent burning from direct sun, while giving the plants the extra light they need for optimum growth and ripening of the pseudobulbs. In the winter, most orchids will be comfortable in a well-lit window, because the sun will not reach high enough in the sky to cause any problems with burning. The high-risk time here is in the early spring, when the sun begins to climb higher each day, gradually gaining strength.

Certain plants will quickly need to be moved to a less sunny aspect. Whichever room the orchids are growing in, they need to be close to the window and the light. Indoors, this light is usually available from only one direction, so remember to take full advantage of it. Always place the orchids so that the back of the plant is facing the window, with the new growths facing into the room. In this way, tender new leaves cannot become accidentally burnt, and the older pseudobulbs can be well ripened to assist flowering.

From among the immense number of hybrids raised, several alliances that contain numerous related genera have emerged. Among these the most favoured are the Cattleya alliance, the Odontoglossum alliance and the Vanda alliance. Within these three natural genera, alliances can be found consisting of anything from two natural genera (Laelia x Cattleya = Laeliocattleya) to six (Cattleya x Brassavola x Broughtonia x Laelia x Schomburgkia xSophronitis = Mooreara), and, in a few instances, nine (Cattleya x Brassavola x Broughtonia x Cattleyopsis x Diacrium x Epidendrum x Laelia x Schomburgkia x Sophronitis = Sallyyeeara). Here, there appears to be no limit on the multiples, which have led to some astonishing results.

The spectacular vandas from Southeast Asia appear, at first glance, to be compatible with the vast number of angraecoid orchids from Africa and Madagascar. The foliage of Angraecum sesquipedale, for example, resembles that of the vandas more closely than those other monopodials, the phalaenopsis. However, the vandas are closer in evolutionary terms to the phalaenopsis, and these two will hybridize, along with many others that make up this alliance but that look totally different.

At present, we are denied a union between the angraecums and phalaenopsis, and can only speculate on what the results might be. A few hybrids from the crossing of angraecums and vandas have been achieved, but with little result.