Staehling - Happy houseplants: 30 lovely varieties to breathen up your home

To my kids, Cole, Mia, and Ella,
in the hopes that they embrace the joys of gardening someday.

Copyright 2017 by Angela Staehling.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-6146-4 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4521-6307-9 (epub, mobi)

Designed by Allison Weiner
Typesetting by Howie Severson

Chronicle books and gifts are available at special quantity discounts to corporations, professional associations, literacy programs, and other organizations. For details and discount information, please contact our premiums department at or at 1-800-759-0190.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

imagine yourself in a tranquil setting, birds chirping, the scent of wildflowers all around while you breathe in the fresh air. Sounds good, right? Nature has the power to relax, restore, and rejuvenate. So why not bring a hint of that blissful goodness right into your home?

Houseplants can spruce up any indoor space. But for some of us, growing these green lovelies and tending to their needs is intimidating. Caring for the life of any organism can be daunting at first. Luckily, sustaining happy houseplants is actually pretty simple and, in the end, is a rewarding experience.

This book lays out the basic rules of thumb for growing thirty popular and easy-to-grow plants inside the home. Most plants have four basic needs: sunlight, water, soil, and fertilizer. In the following pages, Ive outlined variations on these needs in each plants Step-by-Step Care section. Follow the right recipe for your plants needs and you can expect to have some happy houseplants at your side.

Most greenhouse experts will tell you that the more they learn about plants, the more they realize is yet to be learnedso keep an open mind and go easy on yourself. Slight fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and sunlight often occur throughout your home without your realizing it, and these changes, however small, can impact the life and health of your houseplants. The more you grow houseplants, the more familiar youll become with the nuanced needs of each type of plant and the differences in conditions around your space.

Make no mistake: there are fussy plants that will test your wits. If a temperamental plant is looking sickly after youve given it everything you think it needs, dont give up. You can simply try switching things around to find the plants perfect growing conditions. Sometimes little things have the biggest impact on the health of your planta nudge closer to the window, less water to prevent root rot, or a nutritious boost of fertilizer. And if your love of one plant has completely faded, feel free to move on; there are plenty of others that would adore being in your home.

After neglecting some of my plants and smothering others with too much attention, I have learned over the years that finding a happy medium is key. Houseplants simply need a little love and carenot too muchand they will happily thrive for years to come.

Happy planting!

growing and caring for the thirty plants in this book only requires a few common tools and materials (some of which you may already have stashed around the house). Stock up on these basics and you can start creating a home full of happy houseplants in no time.

As adorable as they look hanging in the checkout lanes at your local nursery, gardening gloves often get overlooked when it comes to indoor planting. But trust me, as soon as you start getting your hands dirty, youll be wishing for a pair. They do much more than prevent black soil from getting wedged under your fingernailsgloves prevent your skin from drying out and protect hands from spines and sharp leaves. (They are mandatory when it comes to handling cacti.)

Gardening gloves come in various sizes and different materials such as cloth, rubber, leather, suede, or synthetic blends. Thicker, heavier fabrics work for holding cacti, whereas thinner, less bulky gloves are better for handling delicate plants. For most indoor planting, a lightweight cloth or nylon glove with a nitrile (rubber alternative) palm is all you need.

There are three basic hand tools used in indoor gardening: cultivators, transplanters, and trowels. You dont need to own all three, but I recommend purchasing any tool that makes your experience of indoor gardening more pleasurable. These tools are widely available and luckily not too expensive. Some companies even sell them as a set of three.

CULTIVATOR: A cultivator is a hand rake that can be used to aerate compacted soil, mix granular fertilizer into soil before watering, and loosen roots when repotting.

TRANSPLANTER: A transplanter is a narrow trowel with depth measurements on the spade for quick reference, designed for easy transplanting of plants.

TROWEL: This small tool with a curved scoop is used for breaking up soil, digging holes, lifting plants, and planting bulbs.

There are several different tools you can use to trim unwanted material from your plants. While a sturdy pair of scissors or sharp knife could do the trick, cutters specifically designed for plants usually yield better results (plus you dont dull your knives or scissors in the process).

PRUNING SHEARS: Also called hand pruners, pruning shears make clean cuts that heal quickly. They are ideal for trimming woody stems and snipping off roots when cutting back a root ball (a mass formed by roots and soil). There are two basic types of pruners: bypass and anvil. Bypass pruners (the most popular type) have two curved blades that move past each other like a pair of scissors. These pruners work well for live stems and roots. Anvil pruners use one sharp blade to cut against a flat edge, much like a knife on a chopping board. Anvil pruners are heavy duty and work well on tough, dry, and dead stems.

GARDEN SCISSORS: This variety of scissors is typically more delicate than pruning shears, making them perfect for deadheading (snipping off spent flower blooms) and making precision cuts. Some garden scissors have large handle hoops to accommodate your whole hand for a more secure grip.

GARDEN SNIPS: Like garden scissors, garden snips work well for light pruning and trimming. Snips are spring-loaded to reduce hand stress when making numerous cuts. These cutters are ideal for shaping small plants.