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Reviewed by Kevin Tipple
In a
way air plants are the cats of the plant kingdom. They require little
maintenance to thrive and will work almost anywhere. In Living With Air Plants: A
Beginner’s Guide to Growing and Displaying Tillandsia by Yoshiharu
Kashima and Yukihiro Matsuda, readers are taken step by step through the world
of air plants.
Because
no dirt is involved, you don’t have to worry about dirt or special soils. As
long as you have air, you are good. If you don’t have air, you have bigger
problems and this book absolutely will not help you at all. Instead of using
soil, air plants take in water and nutrients by absorption through the leaves
and are often hardy in dry conditions.
The very
colorful and informative book is broken into three parts. “Part 1: Cultivating Air
Plants” is where readers learn that air plants are separated into two
categories- silver and green leaf color. The silver ones are slow growers
and are more resistant to dry conditions. They are also less suited for
terrariums because they tend to grow mold. On the other hand, the green
ones don’t do well in direct sunlight and usually like steamy conditions so terrariums
work well for the. While air plants can be easy to deal with, it is important
to getting the right ones for the right situation. Advice on location,
sunlight, ventilation, watering, and other cultivation tips dominate this
section.
Now
that you have your plants and things are going well, you may have decided you
wish to show them off a bit. That is where “Part 2: The Fun of Displaying Your
Air Plants” comes into play. Starting on Page 27, various ways of showing off
your air plants are offered and they are not just limited to standard pots on a
shelf or a table setting. Using on old display rack, a hanging mobile, as a
sort of wild chime, and other suggestions are offered as are terrarium options,
a doorway bouquet, bird cages, and more.
With
more than 110 types of air plants depicted in the book, “Part 3: Air Plant
Reference Guide” is rather important. This part begins on page 54 and leads off
with an explanation of their guide to plants. That is immediately followed by
the 48 plants that make up their “Easy-to-grow Varieties Recommended for Beginners.”
Each plant has a picture, an idea of their size when in bloom, how much
sunlight is needed, and a short text about the plant that is chock full of
information. These pages, starting on page 55, are color coded a light green
color making them easy to find when flipping through the book.
They
are followed by the light blue color coded pages. These signify the plants that
are “Specialty Varieties.” Hard to find plants that can be difficult to grow.
They outnumber the easier ones as there are seventy varieties in this section.
A two
page index of the Latin name of each plant brings the book to a close.
Living
With Air Plants: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing and Displaying Tillandsia is exactly as
marketed. Filled with large color pictures and plenty of informative text, this
is a book aimed primarily at folks new to gardening with air plants. This good
book primarily serves as a resource for people new to this type of gardening
but also has plenty of tips and information for seasoned air plants gardeners
as well.
Living With Air Plants: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing and
Displaying Tillandsia
Yoshiharu Kashima and Yukihiro Matsuda
Tuttle Publishing
ISBN#978-08048-5104-6
March 2019
Hardback (also available in eBook form)
96 Pages
$17.99
Material
supplied by Twyla Marr, Publicist, Tuttle Publishing with no expectation of a
review.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2019
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