The Urban Gardener Indoors: How to Grow Things Successfully in Your House, Apartment, or Condo

Pleasance Crawford is the co-author of The Canadian Landscape and Garden
History Directory and Garden Voices: Two Centuries of Canadian Garden
Writing.

This is a worthy companion to The Urban Gardener (2003), in which master
gardener Sonia Day offered sage advice to those with balconies and other
small outdoor spaces. Here she focuses on plants for indoors, where
connecting with nature’s greenery can be especially difficult in the
winter. She covers 20-plus common houseplants that are usually
hassle-free; lists 10 species and genera that inexperienced gardeners
should probably avoid; suggests possibilities for people who don’t
like houseplants; gives in-depth advice on nurturing herbs, amaryllis,
clivias, African violets, and holiday plants; and reminds readers of the
dangers of poisonous plants and the benefits of those known to help
purify indoor air.

As in The Urban Gardener, she also provides a wealth of cultural
advice. The bulk of this information is presented in snippets—“do”
and “don’t” lists, highlighted boxes, sidebars, and marginal
“hot tips” from fellow gardeners—all of which enliven the text.

Eight pages of colour photographs, while unspectacular, may help
readers visualize some of the plants and practices Day mentions. Peter
Maher’s clear, consistent text design and Jock MacRae’s elegantly
simple black-and-white illustrations make the book easy to look at and
fun to delve into at random. It is a good choice for urban gardeners on
the go.