Lake County Master Gardener Susan Cowling offered advice on caring for orchids when she visited earlier this month.

She makes recommendations for watering, light, humidity, fertilizer, and potting the lovely (and surprisingly hardy) plants. She also suggests some lovely starter orchids for novice gardeners.

Speaking of gardening, did you know MPL has a seed library? Here’s how it works:

You can borrow heirloom and organic seeds from us the same way you’d borrow a book or movie.

You can pick from our dozens of varieties of herbs, flowers, vegetables and fruit seeds. Take up to 15 types of seed per year.

All we ask is that when the seeds grow into plants,  you save some of its seeds and return them to the library.

For more gardening tips, including a seed-planting calendar, visit our Seed Library’s page.