Petal to the Metal

Houseplants can be a challenge when you have poor conditions (poor lighting, freezing windows in winter, humidity levels that match the Sahara Desert's, destructive toddlers, cats that use flowerpots as a litter box, etc.) This book goes through a few simple tips for caring for and raising houseplants, things I've learned through the years as I worked at various garden centers, greenhouses, and when I ran my own greenhouse as city horticulturist. I hope that when you get done reading, you should be able to take care of your own plants a little more easily.

This book gives you ways to beat insect infestations on your houseplants, tips on preparing plants for winter, how to raise orchids, African violets, grow a Christmas cactus the way your grandma did, and make poinsettias rebloom. You can learn how to make a dish garden and terrarium. You learn about the right way to water your houseplants, ways to fight back against aphids, mealybugs, spider mites on your English ivy, and fungus gnats (when I worked in the greenhouse, they always flew straight at my eyes and I mastered how to kill them in mid-flight). When insects afflict your houseplants, consult this book.

I've worked over 20 years in horticulture, and before then, I was reading all of my grandma's houseplant books and getting plant starts from her, and had two tables of houseplants when I was in junior high and high school. These days I'm raising Phalaenopsis orchids (butterfly orchids) and other fussbudget plants. I've learned things through long experience. I share them all in this book to make your time with your houseplants fun and easy.