The Complete Book of House Plants: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Caring for Houseplants [Hardcover]

John Evans (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1994

An easy-to-read and comprehensive guide to raising indoor plants offers information on 175 houseplants, with a full-page entry for each plant that includes a description, a photograph, and advice on ease or difficulty of care, along with other hints.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In an attractively designed guide highlighting nearly 200 varieties of houseplants, Evans places the emphasis on which plants are best suited to particular conditions in the home. By his reasoning, the kitchen calls for easy-care selections, and a conservatory or a sunroom lends itself to more exotic specimens. Evans is quite explicit in describing the needs of each plant, any potential problems, and, perhaps more important, the level of care necessary. From plants considered quite easy to maintain to those difficult but truly intriguing (such as the insect-eating Venus-flytrap), each selection is rated accordingly. Evans includes propagation advice and color photographs in this sound resource for indoor gardeners. Alice Joyce

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Studio (September 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670858684
• ISBN-13: 978-0670858682
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive help/advise, May 17, 2000

By 

Scott Lynch - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of House Plants: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Caring for Houseplants (Hardcover)

This is a great reference book for all levels of houseplant lovers (I have about 30 houseplants spread throughout my small house). I think the most useful part of this book is how the author rates each of the 200+ plants referenced as "Very Easy, Easy, Difficult, Very Difficult." These ratings refer to the ease (or difficulty) in growing these plants indoors. I've already consulted the book probably a dozen times before buying a particular plant, i.e., if I know a plant is going to be "difficult" or "very difficult," I usually think twice about the amount of time and work that might be involved with sustaining the plant.

In addition to ranking the plants like I've described, the author lists common problems associated with each plant, the fixes for these problems, how to proprigate, the average life-span, where to place the plant, how big/small you can expect the plant to get, and much much more information.

I'm a plant lover and consider myself knowledgeable on houseplants, but I get this book out at least once a week to either reference something about my existing plants or plan my next purchase. I enjoyed this book so much, I recently purchased one as a gift for my mother, who is also a plant lover.

If Amazon has this book in stock (it frequently goes on backorder I've noticed), get it. You won't be disappointed.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We now have plants that are thriving!, June 9, 2000

By 

C. E. Jones (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Book of House Plants: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Caring for Houseplants (Hardcover)

Before this book, the few plants we had were just barely surviving. Plants received as gifts invaribly died. It was horrible.

Then we got this book. We have filled our house with a variety of planets and our plants are doing extremely well. We now give cuttings and detailed care instructions to other people who love plants. Evans' book is very easy to use, it is an extremely attractive book with a color photo of each plant, and we consult it all of the time both as a reference and as guide to which plants we would like to add to the house. It is a pleasure just leafing through this book!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book, May 14, 2002

By 

Shorn (THE GILDED CITY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Book of House Plants: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Caring for Houseplants (Hardcover)

This is the most easy to read & comprehend book about houseplants that I've ever seen. Each plant is shown in color and rated on an very easy - very difficult basis, which is extra important when deciding on which plants to purchase. The book tells you commom problems of each plant and tips & hints on how to care for them. I check with this book before I purchase ANY plant!

A must buy for the houseplant lover!