What a lovely little book!
I chose TP because I’m a plant parent too, a hobby I picked up from my mom: her place is chock full of them, bought and rescued both – don’t ask – and every once in a while she knocks on my door with a grin and a new leafy baby.
Her thumb is greener than mine though, and I also have a cat. A young, bad-mannered cat whose motto is ‘I’ll feast on your bones the moment you look away’.
See where this is going?
My plants are survivors. Brave little soldiers who have to fight my good intention/poor execution attempts at keeping them alive and a chewy, fluffy in-house predator. They’re holding the position as we speak.
Anyway. This intro has a point, I swear. The point is, I was looking for a book to help me take better care of my plants, and TP caught my attention.
Cover:
Interesting composition! Maybe a light filter would have been a better choice – the wall is a bit too dark – but I love the arrangement.
Yay!
- First things first, I need to tip my hat to Leslie. You’re very competent, very passionate about your job, and your love for plants shines through the whole book. It’s engaging and it compels readers to keep turning the pages.
- The pictures are lovely. Filter notwithstanding, looking at so many wee plants gave me so much joy. So small yet so beautiful! Kudos for the captions, too. Kindle (and e-readers in general) tend to mess them up, all ‘caption X refers back to picture 1, which is one scroll left/right/up/down/hahahahawhoknows’, but here I was able to match pictures & captions without a glitch.
- I went in hoping to learn a couple tips, I resurfaced with a lot of info. Wick watering is something I’m really itching to try out! Water quality and methods – raining water on plants like the spirit of Aquaman possessed me? Guilty, your Honor – are implemented already, while cloches and maybe a LED growth shelf or two will make an appearance soon. Plus, I want to repot everything 😀
- Terrariums! No, really ❤
Special mention:
- Creeping button fern: last year I had a luscious fern, bought from a well-known nursery, ‘it’s so easy,’ they said, ‘just keep it in the shade and mist it,’ they said. Liars. I’ll make Attempt #2 with one of these.
- Miniature African Violet – ‘Rob’s Wascally Wabbit’ : those white-green leaves? Adorable.
- Asian Violet – Primulina ‘Piccolo’: tall flowers, lavender. Awwww.
- Living stones: this is a siren call. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep resisting, because living stones! OTOH, Aquaman. Aquawoman. Whatever.
- String of pearls: round leaves! I mean, this plant has round leaves, omg.
- Terrariums: no, really ❤ (it bears repeating, trust me)
Nay!
- Sometimes the book gets too technical, and I lose track of what I’m supposed to do. Being a clueless beginner tho, I’m splitting this nay 50/50.
TL;DR
I’m recommending this to all PPPs: Puzzled Plant Parents. 4 on GR, 8 here. Great job, Leslie!
Bookshelves & Teacups 