This book has an interesting twist that you won't find in most plant books - it has a whole section on what plants go well in what rooms. It includes the standard "How this book work" and plant basics. I like how they have plant care broken down into "Everyday care" and "Longer-term Maintenance." Every day care includes picking your plants, transporting plants, light, temperature, feeding, watering and cleaning. Longer-term maintenance includes repotting, pruning and training. These sections are short, but cover the necessary basics. There is a section on propagating and a section on problems (over/under watering, pests and diseases). There is a section on choosing your plants for their flower (Floral Effect) or for their beautiful or interesting leaves (Foliage Effect). If you are looking for a plant with yellow leaves or a plant with sword shaped leaves the Foliage Effect section a good place to look. There is a section call "Special Uses" which includes "Houseplants for Beginners," Houseplants Tolerant of Neglect," "Beneficial Houseplants," and many more.

Some plants are listed more than once because they fit into more than one category. Each time the plant is listed it includes a very short description and water, light and feeding information. I use this book mostly for the pictures and the placement ideas. It has great pictures and great ideas for placement.

The room to room guide is something I haven't found in any other book. It gives you an idea of what plant to put in what room. Do you have a room with a sunny windowsill? The Locations will give you some suggestions for your windowsill. If you have a dry room, this book has suggestions. It has suggestions for almost every room in the house. This book is good for beginners and intermediate plant grower. The advanced plant grower might not find it as helpful, but the advance grower might still find the Locations section interesting.

All I know about caring for houseplants is that you have to water them now and then. No wonder that I have killed most plants that I have owned! This book was really helpful for me. It is great in that it's broken down into categories such as locations (windowsill, low light, full light, humid rooms, offices etc). There are also sections for different types of flowers (fragrant, winter blooming) and foliage. And for me there are the sections on houseplants tolerant of neglect and houseplants for beginners. Every plant listed in the book is accompanied by a nice picture. Next to each plant there are directions on the type of light it needs, fertilization and watering guidelines and the temperature and humidity it needs. The beginning has great tips for everyday care, trouble shooting problems.

This book is definately for someone with little gardening experience. I found it to be extremely helpful.

Unlike another reviewer, I found this book very useful. I am pretty much a beginner with houseplants. I don't understand why some plants fail and others don't. This book was very helpful to me because it gives details about which plants like low light, full sun, lots of water, a dry environment, etc.

Based on the info in this book I purchased a large hibiscus plant for a sunny sliding glass door window. It's gorgeous, it's blooming -- it's all I could want in a plant.

The book IS organized -- and it's true, the same plant appears in several places, but that's because a low-light plant might also be a good trailing plant! The organization is by type of foliage, light requirements, showiness of the plant, and other categories. Probably not the kind of classification that a horticulturist would like, but it was very useful to me. There are lots of pictures so you see exactly what the plant will look like, and they're labeled with both Latin and common names.

If you're looking for a plant for a specific place in your house, this book is an excellent resource.