For the Love of Houseplants: Caring for & Keeping Plants with Confidence

 

For the Love of Houseplants is a beginner friendly, accessible primer to houseplant care by Tanner Mitchell. Due out 14th April 2026 from Simon & Schuster on their Simon Element imprint, it's 256 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio (!!), and ebook formats. 

There is a wealth of info available for houseplant selection, culture, and propagation. This is an appealing, up to date primer which is aimed at beginner to intermediate houseplant enthusiasts. The author is experienced and shares a lot of joyful enthusiasm for the subject. He covers a range of culture requirements for the different types of plants along with some short tutorial protocols for all aspects (including troubleshooting and treating inevitable problems which occur). 

The second part of the book contains an alphabetical indepth profile section with 30 popular houseplants, from Aglaonema (Chinese evergreen) to Zamioculcas zamiifolia (Zanzibar gem/ZZ plant). The choices are up-to-date (no African violets and a couple "ferns", it's not your grandmother's houseplant book from the 60s). There are a couple of eyebrow raising inclusions however, such as Venus flytraps which tend to be challenging keepers in the middle to long run. To be fair, the author does go into some detail about the more exacting requirements (demineralized water and sufficient light). 

The book has a nice slightly retro graphic vibe, with side-lit photos and simple line-drawn graphics. There are lots of shots of the author and his wife and pets. It's a cozy and attractive book full of healthy, well styled plants and containers. 

The unabridged audiobook version runs 8 hours 30 minutes and is narrated by the author himself. Although audio would work well enough for the theory/practice content of houseplant culture, there are a lot of visual elements in the book such as plant styling and container choice which would be more easily accessed in the print versions. It's nice the book will be accessible for sight impaired readers though, so that's a plus; kudos to the author/publisher for accessibility. 

Four stars. Nothing extremely groundbreaking, but a solidly useful primer for the home gardener, public or school library acquisition, garden club libraries, and similar.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.