From Library Journal
This book is somewhat misleadingly titled, as the first 155 pages are narrative, covering many different short topics on container gardening. Sections include room locations for plants, botanical information, plant care and propagation, pests and diseases, and garden types such as miniature and desert. The glossary included in this section is misplaced for optimum use. The two-part encyclopedia section, which lists house plants alphabetically, covers the plant family name, native habitat, flowering time, care directions, propagation, pests and diseases, and uses and also provides a color photo. (The many excellent color photos are an attractive feature.) The first section of the encyclopedia includes better-known container plants, while the second section covers specialized plants, including orchids and cacti, that are difficult to grow in home situations because of their unique requirements. The authors are experts in gardening and plant care, and their text is a translation from a European publication. Recommended for the circulating collections of larger public libraries.?Dale Luchsinger, Milwaukee Area Technical Coll. Lib, Wis.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Agnes Palazzetti, The Buffalo News, Dec 17, 1999
It has an A to Z listing of 1,000 houseplants with full color photos; information on how to tackle pests and diseases for each plant along with a detailed description, advice on placement, care and propagation as well as advice on light, watering and feeding needs.


Mary Cameron Frey, Chicago Sun-Times, December 7, 2001
If you or someone you know really enjoys gardening indoors, you must have this book.


From the Publisher
The most complete book on indoor plants ever published. More than 1,000 species and varieties for the interior, balcony, patio and sunroom. This richly illustrated guide, with full color photographs throughout, introduces you to the care and propagation of plants. There are a multitude of ideas, tips and suggestions for the novice, and a complete reference for those well-acquainted with plants. The plants themselves include the most well-known and popular plants, to exotic flowers, modern hybrids and rare specimens. The extensive plant encyclopedia is central to the value of the book: its 250-odd pages describe more than 1,000 plants, alphabetically by their internationally recognized botanical names, and each is illustrated by at least one photograph. There is a description for every plant and a detailed care plan. In addition, the book provides care plans for less familiar species, new varieties that have not yet established themselves, "old" plants that are making a comeback, botanical rarities and curiosities, as well as useful plants from the tropics. Finally, an extensive list of sources for plants and tools helps the reader and researcher order by mail.

Sections include:

--Placement and purchase (location, terrariums, support, plants with special needs)

--Care and propagation (light levels, watering, special planting media, nutrients, repotting, pruning, overwintering, pests and diseases, cutting and seed propagation)

--Decorating with plants (furniture, containers, accessories, plant windows and mini-gardens, balcony plantings)

--The most beautiful plants A-Z (250 pages of solid information, in full color, including rarities)

--Addresses of reader services and suppliers.

--The House Plant Encyclopedia will be every plant lover's complete reference.


Excerpted from The House Plant Encyclopedia by Ingrid Jantra, Ursula Kruger, Maya Anyas, Joan Campbell. Copyright © 1997. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Foreword Greener Living With Plants Greener living with plants -- who wouldn't want that? Flowering and leafy plants give us so many opportunities to create an agreeable environment. They delight us with the beauty of their decorative form, their color, their perfume. Happy are those who possess a garden they can transform into a piece of paradise. Yet, it is also possible to create green and flowering oases -- spaces that will make you the envy of all -- in and around the house: in living rooms, on landings, on small and large balconies and patios, and in greenhouses and conservatories. With plants from temperate, tropical, and subtropical regions -- familiar to us as room, balcony, tub, and garden-room plants -- this is no magic trick, provided that you learn their needs, cultivate them appropriately, and understand how to use their beauty to best advantage. Step by step to success This richly illustrated guide, in color throughout, introduces you step by step to the care of plants, and offers you a multitude of suggestions, tips, and ideas for decorating with leafy and flowering plants in and around your own house. First, we explain what you must consider before you decide to buy plants. Then we offer easily understandable basic information about the habitat and lifestyle of plants. (You will be amazed at how fascinating botany can be!) Next, you will learn all you need to know about the prerequisites for growth: about light, air, water, fertilizer, soil, plant health, and propagation. Those seeking quick information will find it colored boxes scattered throughout the text. The color of the boxes is used to highlight the sections summarizing the practical information that follow every major topic, making them quick and easy to find. Drawings are provided to illustrate countless practical tasks or the individual steps involved in watering, fertilizing, repotting, propagation, pruning, training, and over-wintering. Colored drawings illustrating symptoms make possible instant identification of pests or diseases that have affected your plants to help you determine what countermeasures to take. The motto Living Greener, Living Better introduces a chapter that should inspire you to decorate creatively with plants. It is truly amazing what decorative effects can be achieved with plants, indoors and out! Allow yourself to be surprised by novel decorating ideas and suggestions for planting. A brief Glossary containing the most important technical terms will increase your gardening know-how, and serve as a useful guide to terms used in the major section of the book: an extensive series of plant portraits of the most beautiful plants, alphabetically arranged. Care Plans for More Than 1000 Varieties Central to this guide is an extensive plant encyclopedia. Its 250-odd pages describe more than 1000 of the best-known and best-loved varieties of plants for the house, garden room, balcony, and patio. Plants are listed alphabetically by their internationally recognized botanical names, and each is illustrated by at least one picture. For every plant, there is a description and a detailed care plan. In addition, the book deals with and provides care plans for less familiar species of plants: new varieties that have not yet established themselves, "old" plants that are making a comeback, botanical rarities and curiosities, as well as useful plants from the tropics. Also, because we wish not only to stimulate your interest but also to satisfy it, the book concludes with a section that lists important addresses and sources for plants and items related to their care.

ANNOTATION

Leaving no leaf unnoted, Ingrid Jantra and Ursula Kr￯﾿ﾽger cover virtually every aspect of the selecting, planting, placement and nurture of more than 1000 varieties of house plants in their exhaustive volume, The House Plant Encyclopedia. With 1000 full color drawings and photographs and down-to-earth advice, this all-embracing guide offers homeowners with even the blackest of thumbs information to nurture plants of which they can be proud. Includes an extensive section, "The Most Beautiful Plants from A to Z."

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The most complete book on indoor plants ever published! More than 1,000 species and varieties for the interior, balcony, patio and sunroom.

This richly illustrated guide, with full color photographs throughout, introduces you to the care and propagation of plants. There are a multitude of ideas, tips and suggestions for the novice, and a complete reference for those well-acquainted with plants.

The plants themselves include the most well-known and popular plants, to exotic flowers, modern hybrids and rare specimens. The extensive plant encyclopedia is central to the value of the book: its 250-odd pages describe more than 1,000 plants, alphabetically by their internationally recognized botanical names, and each is illustrated by at least one photograph. There is a description for every plant and a detailed care plan. In addition, the book provides care plans for less familiar species, new varieties that have not yet established themselves, "old" plants that are making a comeback, botanical rarities and curiosities, as well as useful plants from the tropics. Finally, an extensive list of sources for plants and tools helps the reader and researcher order by mail.

Sections include: Placement and purchase (location, terrariums, support, plants with special needs) Care and propagation (light levels, watering, special planting media, nutrients, repotting, pruning, overwintering, pests and diseases, cutting and seed propagation) Decorating with plants (furniture, containers, accessories, plant windows and mini-gardens, balcony plantings) The most beautiful plants A-Z (250 pages of solid information, in full color, including rarities) Addresses of reader services and suppliers.

The House Plant Encyclopedia will be every plant lover's complete reference.

FROM THE CRITICS

Agnes Palazzetti - The Buffalo News, December 17, 1999

It has an A to Z listing of 1,000 houseplants with full color photos; information on how to tackle pests and diseases for each plant along with a detailed description, advice on placement, care and propagation as well as advice on light, watering and feeding needs.

Mary Cameron Frey - Chicago Sun-Times

If you or someone you know really enjoys gardening indoors, you must have this book.

Library Journal

This book is somewhat misleadingly titled, as the first 155 pages are narrative, covering many different short topics on container gardening. Sections include room locations for plants, botanical information, plant care and propagation, pests and diseases, and garden types such as miniature and desert. The glossary included in this section is misplaced for optimum use. The two-part encyclopedia section, which lists house plants alphabetically, covers the plant family name, native habitat, flowering time, care directions, propagation, pests and diseases, and uses and also provides a color photo. (The many excellent color photos are an attractive feature.) The first section of the encyclopedia includes better-known container plants, while the second section covers specialized plants, including orchids and cacti, that are difficult to grow in home situations because of their unique requirements. The authors are experts in gardening and plant care, and their text is a translation from a European publication. Recommended for the circulating collections of larger public libraries.-Dale Luchsinger, Milwaukee Area Technical Coll. Lib, Wis.

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