The Plant Recipe Book: 100 Living Arrangements for Any Home in Any Season

For those who like their gardens small, contained, restrained, and delicate, Chapman’s new book will be cause for celebration. Container gardening has gained an enthusiastic following, but this book takes it to a micro level: tabletop containers. The book’s generous number of color photos (400) indicate in detail, right down to the roots, what horticultural ingredients combine effectively to create a sustainable and stunning tabletop display. The book also offers clear direction on where to position plants within the container for greatest effect. Beyond the plethora of plant choices that fill the pages, the grittier elements are also included in the “recipes,” such as container dimensions and soil amendments. The horticulture is daring and innovative: for example, in Lichen Recipe 3, two types of orchid, a variety of air plants, and a large lichen-covered branch, are all displayed in a “container” of squares of sheet moss. This is a great addition to the library of any gardener; those whose tastes incline toward the small will find this book positively transformative. (Apr.)