Word: orchid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...World Wildlife Fund Book of Orchids by Jack Kramer (Abbeville; $65). Bursts of magenta, delicate pastel-tinged whites, a green so dark it is nearly black. Blossoms fluted or fringed, mottled or striped, on plants 30 ft. tall or pendulous stems dripping with 30 flowers. Dazzling in its diversity, the orchid boasts some 35,000 wild species, found as far north as the Arctic Circle...
Diversity is the raw material of earth's wealth, but nature's true creativity lies in the relationships that link various creatures. The coral in a reef or the orchid in a rain forest is part of an ecosystem, a fragile, often delicately balanced conglomeration of supports, checks and balances that integrate life-forms into functioning communities. Given the complex workings of an ecosystem, it is never clear which species, if any, are expendable...
...often seems, in fact, as if ancient gods -- Bacchus, Neptune, Zeus and Venus -- conspired to make the land a composite of holidaymakers' fantasies. Here is a never-never land built on solid ground; a fairy-tale monarchy ruled by a Renaissance King and his classically beautiful Queen; an orchid-scented garden of scintillant temples, lush jungles, palmy white beaches and a capital built along tree-shaded canals; and a gentle Buddhist retreat filled with smiling, gracious people who make "tourist industry" sound like a contradiction in terms. The most pressing problem with the "Land of Smiles" may be simply that...
...house is miles from Manhattan, out in Oyster Bay, on the north shore of Long Island. From the large home to the rolling acreage and the bounteous orchid gardens, this is Gatsby territory, a place of retreat. But in his work Geoffrey Beene is not interested in insulating himself or in evoking a Pololand of faux nostalgia and privileged period froufrou. Since he began his own label in the spring of 1963, Beene has kept a pace and set a standard that has made him, gradually and quietly, one of the most intrepid of fashionmakers...
Only the most disciplined can resist the urge for better equipment, new hybrids, the latest indestructible orchid. Tools that were once an extension of arm and soul are now computer driven and high tech. Smith & Hawken, purveyor of top-drawer English garden tools, has grown from two guys selling ! tools nine years ago out of a California warehouse to a $30 million business...