Pretty pictures. [Houseplants for All by Danae Horst]

Turn over a new leaf with Houseplants for All, and actually keep all your plant babies happy and healthy. Use the plant profile quiz to easily find your perfect match instead of picking up whatever catches your eye at the store and hoping that it'll survive your home and lifestyle. Whether you're always busy and can't remember to water, get unobstructed natural light all day, or live in the shadow of a skyscraper, a tropical oasis or arid winter-land, there is a plant that'll thrive with you.

After finding the right plants for your home, this book will help you to master plant care, complete with projects and tips for which containers work best, the best plants for small places, how to live together with pets and plants, and solutions to problems like pests, root rot, and lack of nutrients. Whether you're an experienced plant parent or have never owned anything other than a fake ficus, this book is the perfect guide for happy plants in your home.

Once upon a time I might have likened myself as a voracious reader, of fiction. Per my NetGalley history, that's a lie. I read a lot of nonfiction. Of the nonfiction I read a lot is either about plants or plant-adjacent. More often than not I read about plants growing wild or in outdoor gardens, so I jump at opportunities to read texts on houseplants. Billed as accessible to all, experienced plant parent or plant neophyte, my biggest issue with Danae Horst's Houseplants for All is that it's really not. 

Horst, founder of "plant boutique and styling studio" Folia Collective, has written a lovely book, itself filled with captivating photography that underscores that tone and aesthetic that dominates modern-day keeping plants indoors. We all know it, the Instagram plant aesthetic. With big and leafy verdure paired eclectic and highly stylized interior design, it appeals to many. But not everyone has a history with plants. Many first time plant parents dive in without information looking to hop on the bandwagon. And that's the key market here. 

That's not to say experienced plant people won't get anything out of this book, but there's a slant. The narrow but popular selection of indoor plants that always gets highlighted is highlighted here. Basic fundamentals are reviewed here, so for those looking to acquaint themselves with an indoor plant for the first time will find this book fantastic. Interspersed throughout are subtle redirects back to Folia Collective's brand partners. I mean that's on brand and I take little issue with it, but the book wasn't as broad on the subject of houseplants as I'd hoped. 

A plant person myself, I took some things away from this book. Would I get it for myself? No, but I can imagine gifting it to someone looking to get into plants but wanting to cover their knowledge gaps first. 4 stars from me.

Houseplants for All has an expected publication date of August 2020.