Herb Gardening Books Review

Gardening and cooking are related in many ways. Both start with basic ingredients and produce something fragrant, aesthetically appealing, and very fulfilling. Growing an herb garden is the perfect way to combine a love for gardening and cooking. Cultivating herbs and spices yourself, and then incorporating them into your cuisine forms a delightful duo. The books we review here will provide you will all the instruction you need for growing a first-rate, useful herb garden.

1. Your Backyard Herb Garden: A Gardener’s Guide to Growing Over 50 Herbs Plus How to Use Them in Cooking, Crafts, Companion Planting and More, by Miranda Smith: That title is a mouthful, and you’ll love the mouthfuls of delicious food you prepare with herbs from your own garden. Smith writes with an enthusiastic, engaging style that will have you excited about the possibilities. Her detailed explanations make growing healthy, productive herbs easy and fun. Helpful sections on soil preparation, fertilizing, irrigating, and preparing harvested herbs for use are worth the price of the book. Bonus material covers employing herbs outside the kitchen, in potpourri, cosmetics, crafts and more.

 

2. The Herb Gardener: A Guide for All Seasons, by Susan McClure: Practical and inspiring, this guide offers clear instructions illustrated with generously provided color photographs and drawings. Solid basics about herb cultivation are covered before McClure turns to a discussion of maintaining outdoor and indoor herb gardens that will keep you in fresh herbs all the year round. Herb garden designs that feature beauty and accessibility are included. The section on dividing your plants offers you the opportunity to share your hobby with family and friends, giving them a memorable gift they’ll appreciate with each herb-enhanced meal!

 

3. The Complete Book of Herbs: A Practical Guide to Growing and Using Herbs, by Lesley Bremness: This full-color best seller is a gold mine of practical advice, beginning with clear explanation of how to plan a design a productive herb garden. All the details of planting, nurturing, and harvesting your lovely little crops are at your fingertips. Helpful extras include a guide to herb identification, gift ideas to spread the bounty of your efforts, medicinal uses, and fantastic recipes that deliver fresh flavor in each meal.

 

4. Little Herb Gardens: Simple Secrets for Glorious Gardens–Indoors and Out by Georgeanne Brennan: Herb gardens are as easy to grow as they are delightful to use, and this enjoyable book will detail how to cultivate and fully enjoy your herb garden. This book is unique in that Brennan offers an extensive guide to container gardening, in addition to sound instruction on creating luscious outdoor herb gardens. This best selling guide offers detailed profiles on 30 different herbs, offering instruction on how to grow them, and tips for using them to create culinary masterpieces.

Low maintenance indoor plants

People appreciate indoor plants for many reasons. To be sure, some houseplant aficionados love to give daily attention to their green, blossoming, leafy friends. Others have houseplants for the beauty of their blooms, verdant vegetation, or air purifying qualities, but lack the time or skill needed to keep their plants healthy and happy. This guide offers low maintenance indoor plants that will keep growing and blossoming even when you can’t give them the attention you’d like to.

1. Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior): The name screams for inclusion in this list! This plant boasts lots of attractive greenery, needs to be watered infrequently and pruned even less. It will go dormant for a time when completely neglected or placed outdoors, and can be brought back with watering and warmth. The Cast Iron plant is also disease and insect resistant.

2. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum): This easy-to-please houseplant does well in a standard pot or in a hanging planter where it can let its spider-like stems grow long and loose. It will continually re-root itself, so that in a year or two the root ball will need to be divided. Hardy and durable, the Spider Plant is a low-maintenance pleaser.

3. Dragon tree (Dracaena marginata): Resembling a small palm tree, this low maintenance potted plant will grow to 10 feet or more with a bit of support, now and again watering, low to average amounts of light, and little else. Native to the rainforest floor where it must make the most of the light it receives, it will do just fine in your home or workplace when you show it just a bit of attention.

4. Christmas Cactus (Zygocactus or Schlumbergera): Want something that is as near to indestructible as a houseplant gets? Choose the Christmas cactus for a simple, beautiful touch of greenery on your desk, countertop, or bathroom vanity. Given minimal care, and subjected to cool temps and darkness, this desert-derived plant will reward you with stunning blooms or red and pink.

5. Mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria): Despite an unfortunate name, this low maintenance indoor plant won’t complain when you give it the cold shoulder. It really does better with less light and very little watering, while delivering attractively long, slender leaves. This popular plant is known for its durability and easy propagation.

6. Prayer plant (Marantaceae): This flowering family of indoor plants boasts large leaves with intricately detailed markings in shades of white and pink, in addition to green. The Prayer plant thrives in low to average light conditions and requires watering once a week to every 10 days. Expect this indoor pollution fighter to provide years of low-maintenance beauty for your home or office.

7. Croton (Codiaeum variegatum): This shrub may reach 8 to 10 feet indoors, and boasts thick, leather-like evergreen leaves that turn lovely shades or yellow, and orange-red with seasonal changes. Male and female plants offer delicate flowers of white and yellow that give way to small, rubbery fruits. The Croton does well in average light and requires sparse watering and no pruning or general maintenance.

How to maintain indoor plants

Like all living things, indoor plants require an environment suited to their needs in order to thrive. With attention to these basics, you’ll soon have healthy, happy plants, adding beauty and cleaner air to your home or work place.

Step One: Begin with healthy plants! When you shop, or receive plants you’ve ordered online, inspect them for disease. Check both the tops and bottoms of the leaves for insects or damage left by insects. Allow only plants that are in good condition to become part of your collection.

Step Two: Select a pot large enough for the roots of the plant – with room to grow! A plant will only be as healthy above ground as it is below ground. If its roots are constricted, its growth will be hindered, or it may begin to fail. Periodically check to see that the roots have not outgrown the container, and if they have, either divide the plant or transplant it to a larger home. If roots begin protruding up from the soil, that’s a clue that repotting should take place immediately.

Step Three: Use only high quality soil, and change the soil every one to two years. When you purchase a new plant it will likely come with good soil. But over time, the nutrients in the soil are depleted, and getting the fertilizer mix just right can be tricky. Use recommended amounts of fertilizer, but it is still a good idea to replace the soil periodically. If your plant is losing its vibrancy, and there is no obvious cause like visible disease, then that may indicate the necessity of some fresh dirt. Choose a soil mixture high in sphagnum peat with perlite and vermiculate as part of the mix. Adding modest amounts of fully decomposed compost to the soil will give your indoor plants a nice boost, as well. Note: Cacti and other succulents need soil that is well-drained, so mixing in potting sand may be needed. Many experts recommend the use of an electronic soil tester to evaluate the quality of the soil. Learn what soil types your plants do best in, and give them what they want. They’ll give you years of service in return.

Step Four: Know the proper moisture content of the soil for each variety of indoor plant you have, and water carefully. Most beginners don’t realize that too much water can be just as harmful as not enough water. Use a container with holes in the bottom for excess water to escape. Otherwise, root rot may take place before you know it. Remember that clay pots will absorb some water, so add a splash extra for plants growing in them.

Step Five: Prune your plants in their off-season for growth, according to established guidelines. A pruned plant will take off more quickly when it does begin to grow again, and will produce more and healthier blossoms if it is a flowering plant.

Step Six: Practice your techniques, and you will soon be sporting as green a thumb as the local nursery owner! Enjoy your indoor plants, talk to them like old friends, and they will become treasured companions.

10 Indoor Flowers

Gardeners who love their flowers hate to see autumn come, thinking the blooms are gone until spring. But with a plentiful variety of indoor flowers that can be easily cultivated, the blossoms will continue regardless of the weather outdoors. Here is our choice of ten indoor flowers that will give you something colorful to enjoy throughout the year.

1. African Violet (Gesneriaceae Streptocarpus): This lovely, compact houseplant is a favorite among gardeners for its majestic purple blooms that the experienced “thumb” will be able to bring forth several times per year.

2. Angel’s Trumpet (Solanaceae Brugmansia): This flowering plant is known for its many subspecies, each of which delivers an attractive bouquet of flowers to the indoor plant cultivator. Large cone-shaped blossoms boast five petals and pleasing, rich fragrance that varies with species. These versatile plants serve many purposes the world over, and do very well in all light conditions, including low light indoor settings.

3. Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima): Typically given to one another only during the holiday season, those experienced with houseplant care will be able to enjoying these breath-taking beauties throughout the year. Many are surprised to learn Poinsettias are actually a shrub, and they hold the distinction of being the world’s single most popular flowering houseplant!

4. Begonia (Begoniaceae): Gardeners who love begonias out in the garden are pleased to find they do very well indoors, as well. These durable plants do well in low light conditions and require only periodic watering. The large number of varieties afford you the choice of colors for your indoor decorating, ranging from white to purple, with lots of pinks and yellows in between.

5. Jasmine (Jasminum): Lovely scents emanate from the Jasmine, making it a great choice for those who love to brighten their homes or offices and want some natural aromatherapy, too. These shrubs do well in pots alone, but will climb if a trellis is included. The delicate, subtle flowers open each evening for a brief but dazzling display.

6. Desert Cactus (Cactaceae): These houseplants show little sign of life for months, and then burst into bloom with some of the most gorgeous flowers even seen indoors. It is always worth the wait! Desert cactus is easy to maintain, and a good variety of colors is available from which to choose.

7. Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia): This indoor favorite blooms throughout the year, so regardless of what’s happening outside, your home can be filled with the intoxicating smell of lavender! This fragrant favorite is often used in the kitchen, as well, to enhance any dish with a buoyant, slightly sweet flavor.

8. Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe delagoensis): Experienced gardeners often suggest this plant to their friends just beginning to try their hand at indoor cultivation because it is easy to start, grow and maintain. Best of all, it is generous with its blooms, pouring forth a steady supply of them each season.

9. Hibiscus (Hibiscus tiliaceus): This flowering shrub is a low-maintenance pleaser, with large, radiant blooms that boast delicate petals exuding a delightful aroma. This indoor flower goes by many names, and several different colors have been cultivated, for a varied and pleasing display where you live or work.

10. Anthurium (Anthurium scherzerianum): This very popular member of the anthurium family is the one that does best indoors. The broad, red flower features a vertical yellow or white floral spike. Look for one that is in bloom, and then give it lots of TLC to bring it back into bloom next season.

7 Low Light Indoor Plants

Many houseplant enthusiasts discover that certain varieties do not do well indoors where low light conditions exist. Rather than adding expensive, energy consuming lights, they prefer to choose plants that naturally do well in low light settings. These varieties typically are native to low light conditions, like the rainforest floor where a thick canopy ranges overhead, or swamps where thick foliage often blocks direct light. The plants listed below will thrive in low light conditions while beautifying your home or work place.

1. Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior): This hardy plant grows indoors to about 3 feet in height, with a thick bunch of dark green or variegated leaves growing directly up from the root, without use of a stalk. Exquisite purple-toned flowers appear annually and its base. This attractive plant lives up to its name – requiring low light conditions and able to withstand a lack of maintenance. It is not susceptible to damage from insects, either.

2. Ceriman (Monstera deliciosa): This plant is big, beautiful, and bushy, being a favorite choice of interior decorators in homes and businesses. Its durable stalks support luxurious, verdant foliage featuring large, palm-shaped leaves with bunches of narrow leaflets. Great for large spaces where light is at a premium.

3. Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata): Its name derives from the shape of the firm, dark green leaves which grow vertically from the base and feature lighter gray-green horizontal bands. These leaves may reach 3-4 feet. This evergreen sports soft white flowers bursts with very delicate petals. The Snake plant will grow thick bunches in potted, indoor conditions.

4. Peperomia (Various): This broad family of flowering plants is ideal for indoor, low-light settings because they typically originate in shaded areas of undergrowth. The flowers tend to be small to medium sized, in colors ranging from yellow, through orange, to purple. All are quite fragrant, and may bloom throughout the year.

5. Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana): This quick-growing indoor plant sends up slender shoots that support narrow, rectangular leaves. This decorative plant is usually pruned to heights between 3 and 5 feet, while the leaves are allowed to grow upward vertically from there, giving it a striking posture. Lucky Bamboo can live for months with roots fully submerged, making it a popular aquatic plant.

6. Silver Vase (Aechmea fasciata): When mature and well maintained, a large, boldly colored blossom will open in the center of this plant, like a flower in a vase. The Silver Vase is a wide houseplant, with broad leaves extending outward 1 ½ to 3 feet each. Keep out of direct sunlight for best results!

7. Silver Vine (Epipremnum aureum): This stout, hardy houseplant will climb if given the opportunity, hooking its branches over those of other plants or over a decorative trellis indoors. It will drop trailing stems that will take root when reaching the pot, creating a full, bountiful look to the plant. Attractive heart-shaped leaves feature marbling of yellow or white.

How To Choose an Indoor Plant

When you are in the looking for the right indoor plant, whether it is your first or you want to add another one to a collection, there are 5 main factors to consider.

First, what is your level of ability to care for the plant? A couple of things are important here. If this will be your first houseplant, then choose from among those that are easy to care for. Many fine indoor plants are very hardy and will thrive even as you develop the green-thumb touch. See our guide for plants that require little maintenance, and begin there. If you are away from home a lot, or if this indoor plant is for your work place, that list of easy-care plants will also provide options that will give you a great return for a small investment of time. On the other hand, if you are an expert gardener, or have the time to learn quickly, your options will be extended to include an indoor plant that might be more delicate, requiring more attention to detail like your home’s humidity, frequent watering, or consistent direct sunlight.

Secondly, consider your home environment. Factors include the amount of natural light available. If you live in a home with picture windows and good southern or eastern exposure, your choices are greater than for someone who lives in an apartment with windows facing only north, for example. If your living space or office does not feature abundant natural light, be sure to see our guide “Low Light Indoor Plants” for a listing of those that thrive in low light conditions. If your home gets very dry in the winter, or if your general climate is dry, you’ll want to choose plants that require less watering and humidity than if these are not concerns.

Thirdly, look for plants that meet the purpose you’re looking to fulfill. If you simply want some greenery, your options abound. If flowering plants are your desire, then choose from among those that will deliver the beauty and fragrance of blossoms. See our guide “10 Indoor Flowers” for wonderful options to fit the other conditions detailed here. Many homeowners are also looking for plants that will purify the air, removing pollutants commonly found in any house. Our guide “10 Houseplants For Making Indoor Air Very Clean and Healthy” will give you a great start in this direction.

Next, if small children or pets will be around the plants, it is important to buy those that are not toxic. Many plants can be quite poisonous, and should be avoided. A bit of research will help you discover whether or not the plant you are considering would be safe, should a child or pet take a nibble of it.

Finally, consider the space available in your home for plants. Trees will need space on the floor, and in time might grow to monopolize the light from one window. Most smaller potted plants simply require a bit of room on a table, desk or shelf, and are the most adaptable to any size home or office. Other plants prosper in hanging baskets where their branches and leaves can trail downward. Placing screws in the ceiling, near windows, may be required, so consider whether or not you are prepared to do that.

Indoor gardening is a growing hobby with many benefits, including beautifying the space, purifying the air, and enjoying relaxing time caring for living plants. Choose plants that will fit your style, and you’ll have years to enjoy them!

10 Houseplants For Making Indoor Air Very Clean and Healthy

Homeowners concerned about indoor air quality have been turning to nature’s air purifiers, houseplants, for many years. Highly respected tests from NASA and other agencies have proven that they remove a wide variety of pollutants from the air including those commonly found in household furnishings and products, such as formaldehyde and benzene. These plants deliver the additional benefits of enriching your home’s oxygen supply and beautifying your surroundings. Experts suggest about 1 house plant per 100 square feet of living space, with a variety producing better results than choosing all the same plant.

Here are ten houseplants that will make your indoor air very clean and healthy. They are readily available wherever houseplants are sold, and most also grow well in low-light conditions and are easy to maintain.

1. English Ivy (Hedera helix): This evergreen climbing plant grows very well either on an indoor trellis where it may climb, or as a hanging plant with drooping runners. English Ivy produces fragrant greenish yellow flowers and small berries that vary in color.

2. Cornstalk Dracaena (Dracaena fragans ‘Massangeana’): Rosettes of silky green leaves with a distinctive yellow stripe make this an attractive and popular houseplant. Leaves reach about 3 feet when grown in pots, and the plant yields white flowers that are richly fragrant.

3. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum): The plant features long narrow leaves sporting one or two lighter bands down the center and delicate white flowers. Easy to maintain in a variety of conditions, it is a good choice for beginners, and is easily propagated by dividing the central rosette.

4. Elephant Ear Philodendron (Philodendron domesticum): Most Philodendrons are outstanding pollution reducers, and the Elephant Ear is among the very best. Broad, fleshy leaves and gorgeous flowers highlight the attractive appeal of this hardy houseplant.

5. Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema modestum): This foliage plant is native to tropical swamps where efficient gas processing characteristics are essential in low-light conditions, making it a fantastic pollution fighter. The Chinese Evergreen features small bunches of attractive leaves, small greenish-white flowers, and red berries. This ornamental is easy to grow and maintain indoors.

6. Gerbera Daisy (Gerbera jamesonii): This ornamental plant is part of the sunflower family, and boasts brightly colored flowers with stunning beauty. Various species are cultivated for indoor use, so homeowners will have a variety of floral colors from which to choose, including white, pink, red, yellow and orange.

7. Golden Pothos (Scindapsus aures): This popular indoor evergreen grows to 8 feet with proper support. Bright green heart-shaped leaves feature white or yellow variegation that varies from plant to plant. The Pothos is very hardy and needs little maintenance .

8. Bamboo Palm or Reed Palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii): Native to low-light rainforest floors, these palms developed the ability to efficiently process gases required for photosynthesis, leading to their fine ability to remove pollutants from the air. Cane-like stems support narrow, verdant leaves, clusters of flowers, and red-orange fruit.

9. Warneck Dracaena (Dracaena deremensis ‘Warneckii’): This houseplant grows on a thick stalk and produces dense rosettes of green or whitish green leaves. Usually won’t flower indoors, but a dynamic anti-pollution plant.

10. Peace lily (Spathiphyllum ‘Mauna Loa’): Peace lilies have long been popular for their dramatically beautiful flower featuring a broad, upright petal of pure white. That it grows in low-light indoor conditions and reduces common household pollutants in the air only adds to its appeal.

Simple Tips for Taking Good Care of your Indoor Plants

Most of the people buy indoor plants and after a few days they find their plants getting witted and brittle. No matter what place you are putting or placing your indoor plants at, you can still create an artificial atmosphere for the plants which will ensure their proper health and growth. In this piece of writing, I am going to discuss some simple tips which you can apply practically for taking good care of your indoor plants.

First of all, in order to take good care of your plants, you should place the right type of plant at the right place. The level of sunlight is really important because when you place a plant within the suitable medium, it would fulfill its requirements on its own with the provided medium. Most of the indoor plants get used to of the sunlight which they are getting on the consistent basis. However, some indoor plants can’t adjust themselves with specific amount of sunlight, so in order to take good care of such types of indoor plants; you need to place them in a place where they can get consistent sunlight in order to remain healthy and attractive.

Consistent and frequent watering is yet another aspect which you need to consider if you want to take good care of your indoor plants. Different plants require different amount of water however this doesn’t mean that you keep on watering them all the time. Make sure that you are watering your indoor plants at least once in a day. You most also make sure that you stop watering your indoor plants instantly once you see that the soil is all moist and wet.

You should buy quality indoor plants for the purpose of their proper nourishment. If the plants are available on bargain, you should first seek if they are efficient and effectual enough for you to buy or not. It happens too often that cheap plants are not actually rooted and they don’t have developed stem for the transportation of food. It is better to buy plants from the place which is reliable and provides quality and healthy indoor plants. This will make the work much easier for you because they will be healthy and will like require minimal amount of maintenance as well.

Lastly, for taking good care of your indoor plants, you shouldn’t put them around warm places such as radiators and fireplaces. Also make sure to keep them away from air conditioning ducts and cold draughts.