House Jungle: Turn Your Home into a Plant-Filled Paradise!

by Annie Dornan-Smith

House Jungle is a joyful, illustrated introduction to indoor gardening, presented with a decorator’s eye. The vibrant drawings and hand-lettered text of author-illustrator Annie Dornan-Smith show how to prepare the perfect container and select plants based not only on their light and watering needs, but also on their looks! Whether your home style calls for large architectural plants, hanging baskets, or cacti and succulents, Dornan-Smith offers a visual rundown of the top choices. No gardening experience? No problem! Check out the section on “Houseplants That Can Take Abuse.”

Genres: Nonfiction, Plants, Gardening

104 pages, Paperback

Published August 8, 2017

Reviews

[Lorilin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute---but very basic---book about growing houseplants. It very briefly covers topics like planting equipment, potting soil, containers, ways to decorate with plants, basic care practices, propagation and cuttings, and, finally, common types of houseplants.

House Jungle is definitely best used as a coffee table book. The illustrations are adorable, and, sure, there's enough info in here to get you started. But if you are looking for a more thorough guide on houseplants, you'll want to look elsewhere. I'd suggest The Indestructible Houseplant: 200 Beautiful Plants that Everyone Can Grow or Succulents: The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Designing, and Growing 200 Easy Care Plants.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute little book! I’m all for instructional books that allow me to follow along with lovely illustrations and that’s exactly what House Jungle is! I’m not a big plant person but Annie Dornan-Smith really makes me believe I could be a plant person. I will definitely buy this for later research.

[Cathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just what I need as I start my house jungle. I like the straightforward and easy to follow education. It’s simple and made me feel inspired...like I can’t fail. I also like the playful illustrations.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very sweetly illustrated book, but extremely basic. If you have never considered houseplants or just bought your first one, this is probably an ok start, but it is so limited, there are dozens (and more) books out there with more complete info. But the art is adorable, so get it from the library just to have a look!

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very basic book with lots of pictures to explain plants. I think it is perfect for people who are interested in becoming a Plant Mom but are dragging their feet. Aka this was perfect for me. 🙂 *Added later on: I also wish this basic plant book gave basic symbols on each plant page on whether that plant was toxic to cats (and I guess dogs, lol). Most plants recommended in the floor plant section were toxic to cats and that’s a no no. I’m a Cat Mom first and foremost over a Plant Mom.

[Y T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple and easy to understand. Provides a quick guide to setting up some house plants and how to take care of them, e.g. which ones might do better with indirect light, less water, etc.

I also learnt how to propogare the plants to make new ones.

Overall simple and interesting enough to keep the reader interested!

[Ashley Wold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book, quick read. The art and hand lettering is adorable. There is basic information to help beginners get started.

If you're just looking to get some plants to decorate with and don't know where to begin, this is nice book for that.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute little book. Helpful basic info, easy to flip through. Nothing terribly detailed though.

[Madison Daches · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a house plant fanatic it was nice to learn some quick and easy tips to help me continue with my love and care for plants.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pretty book with some general and sometimes specific information. Suitable for amateurs and those (like me) interested, but not that great with, plants in general.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations! It isn’t heavy on details or facts, but it will convince you that you need more house plants in your life. 🌱

[Cate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book as a primer to get a little more serious about my plants. Very pretty, easy to read and the illustrations are gorgeous. A nice addition to my plant pursuits.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! A fantastic little book with beautiful drawings and info on house plants that really appealed to me!

[Megan Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful quick guide but could have included more in depth information. I'd give it 3.5 stars.

[Doris Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME BOOK.

[Lidia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little coffee table book. Love the illustrations!

[Kimberly Rohling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple. Easy to read. Correct information.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly cute but definitely basic. Love the coziness of the artwork.

[Kristiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A delightful quick read - even though it covered mostly the basics, I still learned a few new things, such as most root rot can happen from too frequent watering than from too much water at once.