House Plants Books

Don't Throw It, Grow It!: 68 windowsill plants from kitchen scraps

Deborah Peterson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Magic and wonder hide in unexpected places — a leftover piece of ginger, a wrinkled potato left too long in its bag, a humdrum kitchen spice rack. In Don't Throw It, Grow It! Deborah Peterson reveals the hidden possibilities in everyday foods.

Peterson, former president of the American Pit Gardening Society, shows how common kitchen staples — pits, nuts, beans, seeds, and tubers — can be coaxed into lush, vibrant houseplants that are as attractive as they are fascinating. With Peterson's help, a sweet potato turns into a blooming vine; chickpeas transform into cheery hanging baskets; the humble beet becomes a dramatic centerpiece; and gingerroot grows into a 3-foot, bamboo-like stalk. In some cases the transformation can happen overnight!

Don't Throw It, Grow It! offers growing instructions for over 50 plants in four broad categories — kitchen vegetables; fruits and nuts; herbs and spices; and more exotic plants from ethnic markets. The book is enhanced with beautiful illustrations, and its at-a-glance format makes it a quick and easy reference. Best of all, every featured plant can be grown in a kitchen, making this handy guide a must-have for avid gardeners and apartment-dwellers alike. Don't Throw It, Grow It! will appeal both to committed recyclers and to anyone who wants to find magic in the mundane — from parents and teachers looking to instill a sense of wonder in children, to the houseplant enthusiast seeking to create a one-of-a-kind Eden right in her kitchen.

Greenhouse Gardener's Companion, Revised: Growing Food & Flowers in Your Greenhouse or Sunspace

Shane Smith

Amazon Price: $15.61 List Price: $22.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Fulcrum Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 45 new & used starting at $13.25

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Reads Like a Storybook Yet Information Easily Found 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I am pouring over this reference. Mr. Smith is not only informative about all things greenhouse, he also provides insight into all aspects of gardening from composting and propagating to seed starting techniques. Further, the book contains 'cheat sheets' as to when to start seeds, transplant, and how best to condition the greenhouse atmosphere. Great sense of humor. A+

greenhouse companion manual 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

While this book is useful, I found it a little to general. I expected more detailed guidelines. Also, not as many illustrations and diagrams as I would like.

Editorial Review:

Imagine savoring the taste of your own homegrown tomato, fresh from the vine, in February! How about harvesting fresh organic salad greens year-round, or stepping into a blossom-laden tropical paradise on the coldest of winter days? Today, greenhouses and sunrooms are real living spaces where gardeners spend as much time with a book and a cup of coffee as they do with a watering can and a pair of pruning shoes. In this fully revised edition of a best-selling classic, veteran gardener Shane Smith embraces this new lifestyle approach to greenhouse gardening.

Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill

Brian McGowan, Alice McGowan

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Storey Publishing, LLC Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $11.56

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Editorial Review:

The secret is out: cooler-zone gardeners are discovering that with a little wintertime TLC, plants that have long been considered "annuals" can thrive for many years. These plants — including geraniums, gladioli, dahlias, begonias, rosemary, lavender, and even impatiens — aren't annuals at all. Rather, they are tender perennials. Not hardy enough to survive winter on their own, they can be moved indoors during the cold months, and then returned to the garden in spring. Many are even more beautiful in their second and third years!

Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill by Alice McGowan and Brian McGowan, is the first comprehensive resource on the care and maintenance of tender plants. In this zone-defying guide, readers will find simple techniques for overwintering, followed by 160 detailed plant profiles. Profiles include individualized advice for overwintering and indoor care. The growing advice is clear and time tested; the authors themselves spent decades introducing and nurturing tender plants at the renowned Blue Meadow Farm Nursery in Montague, Massachusetts.

From familiar snapdragons to the more exotic bush morning glory (a woody vine whose fragrant white blooms will cheer any indoor setting in late winter), tender perennials are appealing to a wide and diverse audience — perennial pros looking to expand their plant palettes, container gardeners hoping to create a more colorful indoor landscape during the cold months, and thrifty gardeners of all skill levels. Both inspirational and practical, Bulbs in the Basement, Geraniums on the Windowsill will revolutionize perennial gardening, allowing enthusiastic growers in any location to enjoy their favorite plants year after year.

How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants that Purify Your Home or Office

B. C. Wolverton

Amazon Price: $12.24 List Price: $18.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Penguin (Non-Classics) Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $5.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

More Questions than Answers 3 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

"How to Grow Fresh Air" is the best book I've found on the topic of using plants to improve air quality. It has easy-to-use recommendations, rating plants' ability to improve air quality and listing information that will help the reader decide if they can keep this plant alive.

There are a few problems. First, the book does not describe the 50 best plants -- it describes the only 50 plants tested. Second, this book doesn't indicate how many plants should be put in a room. An internet search of unknown accuracy indicated 1 to 3 plants (size medium to large) for 100 square feet of floor space (attributed to the author). Third, the book doesn't tell you about any patterns the authors observed in their research: does plant size matter? Leaf size? By how much? Growth rate? If there were a simple pattern (like large fast-growing plants are best; or that air-cleaning appears to be a characteristic of certain plant species), then this would be very good to know. Forth, the research is at least 12 years old, and there doesn't appear to be any new research on this subject. Fifth, I found two conflicting tables in the technical section. This doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the book's technical accuracy -- like Al Gore's "time goes backwards" Global Warming chart. The whole thing reads like an exploratory research project that wasn't funded further -- but should have been.

With that said, this book has useful advice, and seems to be worth the purchase price. I'm going to give buy a few of the highest rated plants for my office, and see if their gas-elimination properties (combined with my air filter) yields improved air quality.

Editorial Review:

Plants are the lungs of the earth. This revolutionary guide, based on 25 years of research by NASA, shows how common houseplants can combat sick building syndrome and cleanse the home or office of common pollutants. Color photos & llustrations. Online promo.

Understanding Orchids: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World's Most Exotic Plants

William Cullina

Amazon Price: $26.40 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin Amazon Marketplace: 46 new & used starting at $19.74

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Orchids are the largest family of plants in the world. With 30,000 known species, you could acquire a different orchid every day for eighty years and still not grow them all. Back in the realm of reality, readers of this beautiful book can quickly and easily find the orchids that are right for them -- which ones will thrive on a windowsill, which prefer artificial lights, and which need a greenhouse; which are for beginners, which for experts. And you can pinpoint the species within a particular genus that are the best ones to start with. Once you select your orchid, William Cullina's authoritative guide explains what to do to keep it alive and healthy. Featuring more than two hundred color photographs, Understanding Orchids covers everything you need to know to grow orchids successfully, whatever your level of interest or experience. With improved tissue-culture techniques making orchids more affordable, and the Internet making them readily available to consumers, growing orchids is more popular than ever: membership in the American Orchid Society has more than doubled in the last fifteen years. This is the book orchid fans have been waiting for.

The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual: Essential Gardening Know-How for Keeping (Not Killing) More Than 160 Indoor Plants

Barbara Pleasant

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Welcome to a whole new world of houseplants -- and a whole new generation of plant lovers ready to embrace the joy of indoor gardening! For the nearly 50 percent of U.S. households who spend six billion dollars every year on indoor plants to decorate, purify the air, and generally boost the spirits, The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual provides practical, hands-on advice for how to care for 160 beautiful houseplants, including many new selections that have entered the retail market in the last ten years.

For new indoor gardeners, Pleasant offers basic information on how to identify their plants, as well as where to place them and how to keep them healthy. In-depth plant profiles provide troubleshooting guidelines to quickly identify symptoms, causes, and remedies to common problems for each species. Information about how to repot, propagate, and display each plant, as well as advice on the very best varieties, makes this an indispensable reference for every houseplant lover.

A more general “Guide to Houseplant Care” addresses every aspect of plant care in an A-to-Z format, from choosing the proper containers and soil mixtures, to coping with pests and diseases, as well as watering, pruning, and staking. With The Complete Houseplant Survival Manual, no green thumb is required to be successful at keeping, not killing, indoor plants.

Marijuana Indoors: Five Easy Gardens

Jorge Cervantes

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Van Patten Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $8.89

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I think this book is great for anybody interested in the growth process of marijuana, it is step by step and very easy to follow. For people that smoke weed and never really thought of growing their own, reading this book will deffinately show you that it is an easy way to save money by growin your own weed.

Editorial Review:

If you really want to know exactly how to grow a garden from beginning to end, this is the book for you. Jorge chronicled five different growers from beginning to end. He lists everything they use to layout and construct their grow room including all the prices for everything. He also clues you into all the facts and figures and how to achieve the gram of dried sinsemilla per watt of HID light. Get the inside story from five growers. Every last detail on their grow operation (except location) - how they harvest heavy crops of potent marijuana indoors. They tell everything-how to choose a safe house, build a grow room & cloning chamber, install ventilation, hydroponic gardens & grow lights. Sixty full-color photographs, more than 80 black & white drawings, charts, and graphs illustrate the text. An index and an indispensable appendix of formulas and conversions are also included.

Hydroponic Basics

George F. Van Patten

Amazon Price: $5.95 List Price: $5.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Van Patten Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 21 new & used starting at $2.22

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Basics 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book is very condensed. It is a small book with short concise paragraphs but is very informative. While the information it contains is very broad, it doesn't go into much depth. It even has some basic information on plant anatomy and some functions. The pictures and diagrams are very good and relate to the paragraphs with corresponding numbers which are easy to follow, just don't confuse the numbers for steps in a procedure. Overall I believe this is a great book for someone who is thinking of beginning hydroponics but I don't think it will be your one source if you're wanting to take hydroponics serious. I give it 5 stars because it lives upto its title "Hydroponic Basics" with basic being very true.

Editorial Review:

This simple, little book is packed with information on hydroponic gardening. The graphic color, layout, and design helps guide a hydroponic gardener through basic plant science and environment to purchasing a garden and appropriate supplies. Plans for making your own hydroponic garden, nutrient deficiencies, plant problems, and growing a garden, beginning to end, are all included in this invaluable guide.

Hydroponics for the Home Gardener: An easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide for growing healthy vegetables, herbs and house plants without soil. (Gardening)

Stewart Kenyon

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 9 to 12 days By: Key Porter Books Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $9.24

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Out of date information 3 out of 5 stars.
22 of 22 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book because it had supposedly been "Completely Revised and Updated" in 2005. That is rather hard to believe as most of the methods discussed are no longer appropriate. Also the copyright says 1992. However the book does have its high points. The section on selecting and growing herbs is outstanding. Also included is very good info on which herbs to use with certain foods along with recipes from professional chefs. Using hydroponic systems outdoors is also covered. I would recommend this book as an addition to a collection of hydroponic books. If you only buy one book there are many other better ones such as "How-To Hydroponics" by Keith Roberto. "Hobby Hydroponics" by Howard M. Resh would be another great choce. All in all anyone would probably learn something new from this or any other hydroponic book that would justify the price.

Editorial Review:

Revised and updated.

Hydroponics for the Home Gardener is an easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide to growing organic, healthy vegetable, herbs and house plants without soil.

Clearly illustrated with black and white line drawings, the book covers every aspect of home hydroponic gardening including:

• Building a hydroponic system versus buying a kit
• Plant propagation and indoor pollination
• Outdoor hydroponics, recipes, and much more.

Cacti and Succulents: An Illustrated Guide to the Plants and their Cultivation (Crowood Aviation S.)

Graham Charles

List Price: $35.00 By: Crowood Press Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $21.88

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Beautiful Book 5 out of 5 stars.
18 of 22 people found this review helpful.

Great pictures. A lot of educational information regarding cultivation, display, pests & diseases, plant distinctions etc. A large selection of recommended species with detailed information about each.

Beautifully Written and Illustrated 5 out of 5 stars.
14 of 15 people found this review helpful.

The old adage never judge a book by its cover, fortunately does not apply with this offering. True, the cover will have anyone interested in the subject smacking their lips, but the content is just as good and the book is by Graham Charles, a well respected name in cacti circles.

The book certainly is not up there with the `Cactus Family' or the `Cactus Lexicon' and does not even try to compete with these expensive and truly comprehensive volumes but what it does it does well. It is not aimed at any specific section, i.e. those starting out in the hobby or the more experienced. It is simply a well written and well illustrated book, with many colored photographs to add emphasis to the informative text. It is worth a place in anyones bookcase.

Editorial Review:

An essential guide to cacti and other succulents, featuring 420 color photos and a wealth of information on the plants and their cultivation. Beautifully illustrated and highly accessible, this guide is both an instructive practical manual and a rich source of reference. More than 250 different species or genera and their natural habitats are profiled and illustrated. Topics include: the unique nature of succulents; their natural environment; history, classification, and nomenclature; watering, feeding, general care, and propagation; and pests and diseases. Lavishly illustrated, this is an indispensable guide for growers and enthusiasts.

Graham Charles is a National Cactus and Succulent Society judge and lecturer.