WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK UNIQUE IN ITS FIELD, BEYOND ANY OTHER FACTOR, IS THE CARE, TIME, AND PATIENCE THAT HAVE BEEN SPENT ON THE ILLUSTRATIONS... (FROM THE FORWARD)

{HISTORY}

In 1975, you didn't have to live in a house with a big yard or a big garden in order to enjoy the rewarding benefits of playing around in the dirt. Indoor gardening was on the rise in the 1970s thanks to a keen awareness that greenspace was slowly vanishing as urbanization was quickly taking over the landscape. But as award-winning teacher, lecturer, and author, Russell Mott, is first to tell you in this gorgeous book, trees and flowers are an integral part of the human spirit dating all the way back to the beginning of mankind. Our thirst, lust, and attraction for nature never needs to be squashed, cast aside, or undermined on account of where we live or how we live. When no natural outdoor greenspace is available, you can turn your living area into an indoor garden that is just as fulfilling, exotic, and captivating as any outdoor patch, thanks to the diverse beauty of house plants.   

An artistic collaboration between a revered Cornell University horticulturist and seven of the 1970s most talented nature artists, The Total Book of House Plants includes over 350 different types of flowers, plants, ferns, fruits, bulbs, and cacti that can be grown successfully indoors with proper care and attention. 

Enhanced with vibrant watercolor illustrations on each page depicting every plant, this book is an absolute gem for anyone who does not have immediate access to an outdoor garden but carries a passionate desire to grow things. Here In The Vintage Kitchen, we love this book so much because it has a big chapter on fruit-bearing plants that expertly describe how to grow pineapples, oranges, pomegranates, lemons, avocados, coffee, fig, and banana trees - a veritable fruitopia - all inside!

Each entry contains fun-fact type background information along with details on planting, potting, room temperature, pests, light, moisture, propagation, and pruning. And because Richard wanted readers to be totally successful in their planting endeavors, he often includes a bonus remarks section for any particular helpful hints, tips, or techniques that will keep your specimen looking healthy and happy year-round.

All aspects of the planting process are discussed here from containers to soil, equipment to space size. Familiar varieties of house plants mingle in between more alluring and exotic plants with wonderful names like Fishtail Ferns, Magic Flowers, Maidenhair, Umbrella Trees, Mind-Your-Own-Business, and Kangaroo Vines.

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Contains 208 pages

- 22 chapters plus detailed index and glossary

- Large coffee table-sized book

 - Illustrated throughout by Alan Singer, Dorothea Barlowe, Susan Korner, Enid Kotschnig, Manabu Saito, Arthur Singer (the famous 20th-century bird painter!), and Elmer Smith

 - Published in 1975

 - Contains original dust jacket

{CONDITION}

In wonderful vintage condition. The dust jacket is all intact and is very clean. The interior pages are practically brand new with no marks, spots, stains, or rips. There is a lovely gift inscription written in pen and dated 1988 on the inside front endpaper. A small rectangle has been cut from the bottom cover flap of the dust jacket on the inside cover in the margin area. The spine is tight, and all pages are intact. 

{SIZE}

Measures 11.25" inches (length) x 8.25" inches (width) x 1" inch (thickness) and weigh 2.8 lbs.

{FOR THE COLLECTOR}

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