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

by Tanner Mitchell

Discover the joy of houseplant care with this welcoming and practical guide filled with no-nonsense tips and encouraging advice from plant expert and content creator Tanner Mitchell a.k.a. Tanner the Planter.

Caring for plants can be a meditative practice, even a form of self-care.

Tanner Mitchell knows this firsthand. As the owner of a beloved plant store he opened with his wife in 2020, Mitchell has seen how house plants bring so much comfort and joy to people, regardless of what else is going on in their lives or in the larger world. With his kids’ encouragement, Mitchell began posting plant care tips on TikTok and soon, he found his calling.

Now, Mitchell combines his expert knowledge and experience into an easy-to-follow and inspiring resource for houseplant care. For the Love of Houseplants covers everything from selecting plants suited to your space’s natural conditions to step-by-step guides for watering, repotting, fertilizing, and more. Mitchell offers troubleshooting advice for common plant problems, like yellow leaves, brown tips, pests, overwatering, and mushy stems. The book also includes in-depth profiles of thirty of the most popular houseplants—aglaonema, anthurium, fiddle-leaf fig, orchid, peace lily, philodendron, snake plant, succulents, and many more.

Most importantly, Mitchell reminds us to appreciate the small joys in life and embrace the challenges and setbacks of plant care as part of the journey. Whether you are a seasoned plant parent or just starting out, For the Love of Houseplants is a must-have for anyone looking to bring a bit of the natural world into their home.

Genres: Plants

256 pages, Hardcover

Published April 14, 2026

About the author

Tanner Mitchell is a small business owner and influencer based in Texas. With a strong background in the houseplant industry and an obsession for teaching, his work bridges the gap between professional horticulture and at-home hobbyists who want to find joy by caring for plants in their spaces. When he's not writing, educating, watering or repotting his plants, Tanner is growing community with his wife, Erika, through their plant shop, Famous In Oregon.

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

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 indoor 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.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the Love of Houseplants by Tanner Mitchell
Caring for & Keeping Plants with Confidence
#1 Best Seller
in House Plant Gardening
Discover the joy of houseplant care with this welcoming and practical guide filled with no-nonsense tips and encouraging advice from plant expert and content creator Tanner Mitchell a.k.a. Tanner The Planter.

Caring for plants can be a meditative practice, even a form of self-care.

Tanner Mitchell knows this firsthand. As the owner of a beloved plant store he opened with his wife in 2020, Tanner has seen how house plants bring so much comfort and joy to people, regardless of what else is going on in their lives or in the larger world. With his kids’ encouragement, Tanner began posting plant care tips on TikTok and soon, he found his calling.

Now, Tanner combines his expert knowledge and experience into an easy-to-follow and inspiring resource for houseplant care. For the Love of Houseplants covers everything from selecting plants suited to your space’s natural conditions to step-by-step guides for watering, repotting, fertilizing, and more. Tanner offers troubleshooting advice for common plant problems, like yellow leaves, brown tips, pests, overwatering, and mushy stems. The book also includes in-depth profiles of thirty of the most popular houseplants—aglaonema, anthurium, fiddle-leaf fig, orchid, peace lily, philodendron, snake plant, succulents, and many more.

Most importantly, Tanner reminds us to appreciate the small joys in life and embrace the challenges and setbacks of plant care as part of the journey. Whether you are a seasoned plant parent or just starting out, For the Love of Houseplants is a must-have for anyone looking to bring a bit of the natural world into their home.
The pictures are wonderful.
Lots of good information.
A good book for a new gardener or seasoned gardeners.
I recommend this book.
For the Love of Houseplants by Tanner Mitchell, I recommend this book.
is a 5 -star book.
I am looking forward to reading more books by Tanner Mitchell.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions shared here in this review are my own.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the Love of Houseplants provides an excellent guide to growing healthy houseplants and, in my case, keeping them alive. Detailed, easy to understand information will appeal to both seasoned plant owners and amateurs alike. For instance, I never knew that there were so many different kinds of light - or that you can use a chopstick to tell when your plants need to be watered. However, I wish this guide had been organized in a different way. In first section of For the Love of Houseplants, all the information is presented. The second section lists houseplants alphabetically. The illustrations are all in grey, nearly black and white. This may be because I was reading an advanced review copy but I would have preferred color. I also thought the plants should have been interspersed with the copy to add variety. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon Element and Tanner Mitchell for this ARC.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved how Tanner was able to put complicated and scientific information into such easy terms or examples that anyone could understand. I e followed his videos for a while and those are the reason I gained the confidence to add more houseplants to my collection and not instantly fear I’d kill them. This book puts the information all those videos I learned on I to one convenient location, right at my fingertips. I not only was able to be reminded of things his videos had taught me, but a lot of it was more in depth than social media reels allow. I also came across many new topics and information I didn’t even realize existed. I very much appreciated the breakdown of all the info we learn throughout the book out into real world examples for some of the most popular houseplant. I’m able to see exactly how the info needs to be applied, but it’s specific to my plants I own. I loved this book and will absolutely be returning to it constantly as a reference later.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite helpful, and also happened to get it just after adding 3 new plants to my collection (thus doubling it in size!) In the first couple of chapters the author talks a lot about how these plants were never meant to live in our houses or, in many cases, our part of the world so we shouldn’t feel like failures when they die, and that was probably the most valuable part of this book to me. I had never thought of it that way. The rest of the book was helpful - and the photos were lovely - but I think that’s what will stick with me.

[Linden · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first three quarters of this book is all text, unlike other books on houseplants I’ve read. The author discusses, watering, fertilizing, repotting, and light requirements. The last quarter lists some favorite houseplants, photographed in black and white, and their care requirements. I was surprised that there were no color photographs in this book except for the cover--was this just true for the advance copy? Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

[Meghan Greigtardiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book a few days before release. This is a wonderful guide for owning house plants. Tanner has a way of helping the everyday person understand. His curiosity helped make this book the wonderful guide that it is. I love how he helps make the mistakes and deaths we may cause learning experiences so you don’t become discouraged from what you can clearly tell is his favorite hobby. This book is exactly what beginners and experts should all reference!

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very straightforward and easy to understand! Mostly stuff that I already knew, but I think this would be a great present for your friend who has only ever owned one succulent that immediately died but now they want to get more serious about houseplants. And the illustrations and photos are very nice. (Reviews that mention black-and-white illustrations are referring to the advance copies, the actual book is in full color).

[Evelyn Switzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I have a lot of plant books that usually just give you information on different plants. The first half of this book is Tanner explaining what he has learned on his houseplant journey. I have followed him on social media so I didn't hesitate to buy the book unseen, I was not disappointed. It's worth adding to your book collection.

[Sylvia Meese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Factual and Fun!

A entertaining and educational book chocked full of in-depth facts on plant care p!us the ups and downs of what makes a good plant caregiver! The fun facts entertain the humor and myths of plant care. Ten Thumbs Up!

[Angela Buettner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fan of Tanner and his wife. From Instagram I noticed him. As I read his book it’s different from most household books. He explains but, tells you why you do it his way. The book not only is educational. You feel you learned new ways. A fantastic book with so much new inspiring ways.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on how to take care of house plants