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All locations of the Des Moines Public Library will be closed Sunday, March 31 for the Easter holiday.

Book Picks: Houseplant Love

Brighten up your home with help from these fifteen books! Let the experts guide you on houseplant care and using houseplants in home design, and learn about the healing power of houseplants.

The Healing Power of Plants

'The Healing Power of Plants,' by Fran Bailey

Welcome these plants into your home and learn to care for them...and they'll care for you in return.
 
Plants don't only beautify your home. They promote healing too. For example, the luscious scent of lavender aids in a good night's sleep, while the kentia palm controls humidity levels that increase mold and mildew. This lushly illustrated guide explains the properties of the most beneficial species, from plants that lower stress and provide a breath of fresh air to ones that bring joy, boost brainpower, and help you communicate. It explains how to choose the right plants for your specific needs, where to place them in your home and office, which ones are pet friendly, and how to make sure they thrive, so you will too. And if you don't have a green thumb, you'll find 10 easygoing plants that are perfect for starting out.

Wild at Home

'Wild at Home,' by Hilton Carter

Take a tour through Hilton Carter’s own apartment and other lush spaces, filled with a huge array of thriving plants, and learn all you need to know to create your own urban jungle. As the owner of over 200 plants, Hilton feels strongly about the role of plants in one’s home – not just for the beauty they add, but for health benefits as well:

"Having plants in your home not only adds life, but changes the airflow throughout. It’s also a key design element when styling your place. For me, it wasn’t about just having greenery, but having the right variety of greenery. I like to see the different textures of foliage all grouped together. You take a fiddle leaf fig and sandwich it between a birds of paradise and a monstera and... yes!"

You will be armed with the know-how you need to care for your plants, where to place them, how to propagate, how to find the right pot, and much more, and most importantly, how to arrange them so that they look their best. Combine sizes and leaf shapes to stunning effect, grow your own succulents from leaf cuttings, create your own air plant display, and more.

Home Sweet Houseplant

'Home Sweet Houseplant,' by Baylor Chapman

Nothing gives the homey, lived-in feel of a sunny kitchen quite like planters of fresh herbs hanging in the window . . . or makes a statement like a fish-bone cactus suspended from a repurposed birdcage stand. From the classic to the unique, a houseplant has the ability to instantly elevate the look of your home and allows you to add your own special flourish of character. But where to begin?

In this curated handbook, adapted from Decorating with Plants, author Baylor Chapman guides the reader through the home, room by room, providing myriad inspirational design ideas: Place an aromatic plant like jasmine or gardenia in your entry to establish your home's "signature scent." Add a proper sense of scale to your living room with a ceiling-grazing palm. Hang a planted pendant fixture above your dining table for a striking accent that will last long after your dinner party. From air purification to pest control, there's no limit to what houseplants can do for your home--and Home Sweet Houseplant is here to show you how to add them to spaces big and small with style.

 

The New Plant Parent

'The New Plant Parent,' by Darryl Cheng

A new way to grow healthy and happy house plants

For indoor gardeners everywhere, Darryl Cheng offers a new way to grow healthy house plants. He teaches the art of understanding a plant's needs and giving it a home with the right balance of light, water, and nutrients. After reading Cheng, the indoor gardener will be far less the passive follower of rules for the care of each species and much more the confident, active grower, relying on observation and insight. And in the process, the plant owner becomes a plant lover, bonded to these beautiful living things by a simple love and appreciation of nature. The New Plant Parent  covers all of the basics of growing house plants, from finding the right light, to everyday care like watering and fertilizing, to containers, to recommended species. Cheng's friendly tone, personal stories, and accessible photographs fill his book with the same generous spirit that has made @houseplantjournal, his Instagram account, a popular source of advice and inspiration for thousands of indoor gardeners.

Indoor Green

'Indoor Green,' by Bree Claffey

 

A visual ode to the transformative power of the houseplant in home décor, with practical information for arranging your own indoor green

For centuries, plants have transformed interiors. Today the plant-filled home is an inspiration to every avid shelter-blog reader or expert Pinterest-board maker. Author Bree Claffey journeys into the interior worlds of fellow plant lovers to explore the enduring attraction of houseplants. From the ever-reliable peace lily and beguiling fiddle leaf fig to the elusive Chinese money plant, Indoor Green makes it obvious that even the humblest greenery can transform a home.

Houseplants for All

'Houseplants for All,' by Danae Horst

Turn over a new leaf with Houseplants for All, and actually keep all your plant babies happy and healthy. Use the plant profile quiz to easily find your perfect match instead of picking up whatever catches your eye at the store and hoping that it'll survive your home and lifestyle. Whether you're always busy and can't remember to water, get unobstructed natural light all day, or live in the shadow of a skyscraper, a tropical oasis or arid winter-land, there is a plant that'll thrive with you.

After finding the right plants for your home, this book will help you to master plant care, complete with projects and tips for which containers work best, the best plants for small places, how to live together with pets and plants, and solutions to problems like pests, root rot, and lack of nutrients. Whether you're an experienced plant parent or have never owned anything other than a fake ficus, this book is the perfect guide for happy plants in your home.

Urban Jungle

'Urban Jungle,' by Igor Josifovic

Urban Jungle: Living and Styling with Plants is a source of inspiration, ideas and a manual for all of those who want to bring more plants into their home. The book guides the reader through different "green" homes in five European countries and shows how beautiful, unique, creative and even artistic living with plants can be. More than that the reader finds endless ideas for styling from the bloggers of the "Urban Jungle Bloggers" community. To complete the topic of indoor plants the book offers easy help for taking care of the plants and DIY tips.

 

Pocket Guild to Houseplants

'Pocket Guide to Houseplants,' by Jack Kramer

Looking to make your home greener? The most comprehensive and complete guide to house plants you'll ever need, take this conveniently compact guide with you the next time you feel inspired to bring new plants home to help you decide! With plant descriptions and complete growing and care information per page for 240 popular species, Pocket Guide to Houseplants will show you everything you need to know to incorporate plants in your interior design. Containing over 500 color photographs and illustrations, find inspiration for your home and the perfect plants for any and every space. Author and garden expert Jack Kramer has written over 100 gardening books and makes it enjoyable for you to flip through these beautiful pages to see for yourself all the easy-care possibilities that lie ahead!

Home Jungle

'Home Jungle,' by Sonia Lucano

This book describes 27 DIY projects in depth to upgrade and decorate your apartment with plants, including succulents, cactus, epiphytes, pileas, or even monsteras. These creations are eco-friendly, stylish, and easy to apply and will bring comfort to your home, especially to those who have no garden. More than ever plants are playing a major role in the decoration of the house and this current trend is presented in this inspiring book with many beautiful photos. At the end of the book, the reader finds many templates that help with the featured creations.

How to Make Your Plant Love You

'How to Make Your Plant Love You,' by Summer Oakes

Summer Rayne Oakes keeps over 750 live houseplants spanning 400 species in her Brooklyn apartment. She is living proof that there's a strong psychological benefit to keeping plants. Taking care of other living beings is a basic human need. Urban Millennials with weaker community networks don't have the chance to do that. This book ties together all the obvious benefits of taking care of plants with a much bigger benefit: taking care of plants makes you a more life-giving person. Through colorful vignettes, Oakes shows how our chlorophyllous friends can be a gateway to a greater life.

Cómo No Matar tus Plantas

'Cómo No Matar tus Plantas,' by Veronica Peerless

Cómo no matar tus plantas resuelve todas tus dudas y problemas de jardinería. ¿Por qué el tallo está de color marrón?, ¿por qué se están marchitando las hojas a pesar de que la mantienes en el lugar correcto y la riegas? Esta guía te explica mediante sencillos trucos todo sobre las plantas de interior: cuánta luz, agua, calor o humedad es necesitan, cómo rescatar a una planta, qué bichos podrían ser perjudiciales...

Aprende a identificar los signos de peligro y las señales de qué necesita la planta según sus cambios.

Además, incluye sencillos consejos para elegir las mejores plantas para el baño, cuartos fríos, escritorio y alféizar de la ventana y así crear tu propio oasis interior.

Plantopia

'Plantopia,' by Camille Soulayrol

Taking the houseplant trend to the next level, this book offers-in addition to growing tips for over twenty varietals- rich inspiration for home decoration, crafting, and DIY natural health and beauty projects using nature.

Leafy green houseplants, hardy succulents and cacti, and flowering perennials add as much to your daily sense of well- being as to the beauty of your home once you convert it into a plant paradise. Opening her book with all the essentials you need to cultivate twenty home varietals-from calathea to monstera to pilea peperomioides -with practical tips for repotting, watering, and sunlight recommendations, Elle Décor Idée co-editor Camille Soulayrol takes the houseplant trend to the next level by offering a broad program of gorgeous DIY projects. She shares step-by-step inspiration for creating terrariums and aquatic plant habitats, decorative tips for showcasing plants at home with wreathes or geometric frames that allow vines to thrive, and nature-inspired table setting ideas incorporating leaves and dried herbs. Tips on how to frame blossoms and leaves and how to create herbal dyes for textiles round out a rich palette of home decorating projects. Learn to leverage the benefits of specific plants through recipes for natural cosmetics, essential oils, and herbal infusions sourced from your houseplant haven.

The Inspired Houseplant

'The Inspired Houseplant,' by Jen Stearns

The ultimate go-to guide for aspiring indoor gardeners, offering inspiration and instruction to envision and create your own gorgeous in-home garden spaces.

With plentiful images and a distinctly modern and sophisticated feel, this book imparts both easy-to-follow advice and creative garden-design inspiration. Whether you are looking to pick a statement plant for your living room, create a terrarium centerpiece, or arrange an artful display of air plants, this book will provide the tools you need. And like the garden spaces it will inspire, the book will be a piece of art to display. You'll be tempted to thumb through it again and again--for both resource and relaxation.

Houseplant Party

'Houseplant Party,' by Lisa Steinkopf

Grow some of the world's most unique and beautiful houseplants with this one-of-a-kind guide. Plus, find DIY projects for using houseplants to kick up your decorating skills!

Houseplants make epic house guests--they don't talk back, they're 100% no drama, they're exceptional listeners, and they help beautify your bedroom and calm your senses. Plus, houseplants are fun to nurture and care for. In Houseplant Party, you'll discover dozens of amazing, easy-to-care-for houseplants that are a perfect fit for your desk, windowsill, bedside table, or bathroom vanity. From peace lilies and ponytail palms to fairy washboards, air plants, and Venus fly traps, author and houseplant guru Lisa Eldred Steinkopf has your back with easy-to-follow houseplant advice and insight
 

Skogluft (Forest Air)

'Skogluft (Forest Air),' by Jorn Viumdal

The simple, easy to understand Norwegian method for bringing nature into your home and office to help your health and mood.

Jorn Viumdal is on a mission to bring a natural living environment back to the home and workplace. In Skogluft--which translates to" forest air"--he draws on data from the University of Environmental Research and Bioscience in Norway and three decades of NASA research to reveal how a carefully chosen selection of plants grown and placed in a specific way indoors can dramatically improve health, reduce fatigue, strengthen the immune system, and enhance concentration, communication, and vitality. Having these plants around us can help improve how our bodies feel and prevent disease, make us happier and calmer, and increase our efficiency and productivity.

Skogluft teaches you how to transform any wall in a home or office into a living wall to help remove toxins from the air, reduce stress, and strengthen the immune system. Viumdal explains which plants improve overall health and release different gases for optimal well-being. All the vegetation can be found in local nurseries or stores and online.

Following Viumdal's method, you will feel better, have more energy, and lift your spirits as you add natural beauty into your world.

 

Published on May 20, 2021
Last Modified March 29, 2024