Air Plant Care and Design: Tips and Creative Ideas for the World's Easiest Plants

by Meriel Lesseig, Meriel Lesseig

Air plants, also known as tillandsia, are some of the easiest plants to grow, which helps explain why they’re popping up in stores across the country and appearing in magazines, on blogs, and all over Pinterest. The amazing thing about air plants is that they use their roots to anchor themselves to an object, which allows them to grow in a variety of locations naturally. This flexibility of growth makes air plants ideal for decoration of home and office.

While air plants are known for being easy to grow, they still do need attention to survive and live a healthy life. If taken care of, tillandsia will live for several years and will even provide “pups” for additional years of enjoyment! Authors Meriel and Ryan Lesseig are air plant enthusiasts who turned their passion into profit with Air Plant Design Studio, an e-commerce site that sells all things air plants. Here they share tips for properly caring for air plants as well as inspiration and instruction for a myriad of ways to use air plants to enhance your space or event, including air plant wedding bouquets, wall art, terrariums, wreaths, and more.

Air plants can enhance the design of any space, big or small. This beautiful, inspiring and practical guide is the perfect introduction to the wacky, hip, gorgeous world of air plants.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gardening, Plants

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2016

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a nice overview to beginners just learning about Tillandsia , or air plants. I expected more detailed and in depth information, but unfortunately this book did not provide it. The book notes that fertilizer can be beneficial, but does not explain when or how to use it. It says pups can be separated from the mother plant, but, again, not when or how to do that. The pictures are nice and were useful in identifying the species of Tillandia that I have at home. Out of the 157 pages, only about 30 were dedicated to display and decoration ideas (not including the section on incorporating air plants into wedding decor). Overall this was a nice book for a novice air plant caregiver, but did not live up to my expectations for a detailed book on air plant care with diverse design ideas.

[Genevieve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good general instructions on care in the early part of the book. I wished that the section on the different types had more photos, as I have several plants whose species I don't know. Some of the latter sections felt like they had originally been separate essays or blog pieces, rather than being integrated with the style of the early part of the book.

[Michelle Smart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good photography, good care tips, but repetitive.

[Joan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillandsia, a.k.a. air plants, are easy plants to care for, but they still do need some care in order to thrive. Air Plant Care and Design: Tips and Creative Ideas for the World's Easiest Plants does a great job of explaining the different Tillandsia species and proper care of each.

This book is filled with gorgeous photographs and creative ideas (including instructions) for projects to incorporate air plants into your home décor. I especially liked the idea of the “air plant frame.” (I’ve added that one to the top of my list as an upcoming project.)

As an avid indoor gardener, I am always looking for new and unique ideas. This book piqued my interest in air plants and provided me with creative inspiration for bringing these cute, popular plants into my home.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great for information and inspiration

Who knew there were so many kinds of air plant? I didn't! I learned more about caring for the ones I have and got plenty of ideas for displaying them.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now I know what an air plant is, I'm still not sure if they'd work for me. The authors sell air plants so they do not list local growers in their list of resources.