Decorating with Plants: What to Choose, Ways to Style, and How to Make Them Thrive

Chapman (The Plant Recipe Book), founder of San Francisco’s Lila B. plant design studio, offers an easily followed roadmap to horticultural success with this well-appointed guide, supplemented with attractive images from photographer Aubrie Pick. After declaring that everyone can learn to garden, she sets out to communicate the basics of indoor plant use—settling on a style and budget, matching plants with the right soil, repotting plants, knowing how often to water—before moving onto her go-to plant list, which includes orchids, spider plants, and air plants. For each, Chapman gives the basics—care level, required lighting, soil, watering, fertilizing, temperature, and size—accompanied by a full-page color photo. Part II discusses which species to use in which rooms, from the bedroom (chrysanthemums, English ivy), to the dining room (hydrangeas, hellebore), to one’s home office (neon cactus, earth star). As a San Franciscan, Chapman is also attentive to space constraints, a point she drives home with “small space, big impact” ideas, such as “Standouts for the Coffee Table,” “Clear Your Countertops,” and “Repurposed Accessories.” Chapman’s inviting tone mixed with the gorgeous photography makes for an ideal volume for the brown- and green-thumbed alike. (Apr.)