Review: Two books for houseplant enthusiasts
Credit to Author: Mary Beth Roberts| Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2019 13:00:21 +0000
By Hilton Carter
Thomas Allen & Son, $26.95
After leafing through a few pages of Wild at Home — How to Style and Care for Beautiful Plants, I wanted to race around my house and tend to my houseplants. I also wanted to buy more plants, lots more.
Hilton Carter has an infectious enthusiasm for his subject. He is crazy about plants and wants you to be too. Carter is a plant and interior stylist with a winning way with a fiddle-leaf fig (his is called Frank.) He operates out of a lush, green studio in Baltimore.
This is a visual book with gorgeous and inspiring photographs and tours of the homes of some of his equally stylish and green-thumbed friends. There are styling tips for plants, such as creating a “plant throne”, a comfortable chair or chaise surrounded by greenery, where you can relax in your very own blissful pocket jungle.
Carter reminds us that plants are not only beautiful, but also good for us. They improve air quality and oxygen levels in your home, as well as raise humidity levels. He also offers practical advice on selecting, caring for and propagating plants.
Wild at Home is an essential and beautiful guide to creating your own green oasis.
By Leslie F. Halleck
Thomas Allen & Son, $37.95
Plant Parenting — Easy Ways to Make More Houseplants, Vegetables and Flowers is a detailed and hands-on guide to plant propagation by Leslie F. Halleck, a professional horticulturist.
Anyone who is a beginning or more advanced plant and garden enthusiast will find something useful in this book. From seed starting, rooting plant cuttings in water, to basic plant division, all methods of increasing your plant stock are described in detail with step-by-step photographs. Propagating your own plants is also a fantastic way to stretch your gardening budget.
Helleck’s writing is straightforward and reassuring. You will, she cheerfully insists, kill many seedlings and cuttings when you first start out, but not to worry, this is all part of learning how to grow successfully.