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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