INDOOR PLANTS_GEM EB

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• Publisher: Collins
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780007204045
• eBook ISBN: 9780008266257
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Horticulture
• Index: Biological Sciences

A practical, easy-to-use, pocketable guide covering all the basics of choosing and caring for plants in your home.

Indoor plants can decorate any room – transforming the space with colour and scent all year round. But few people are aware of the incredible range of weird and wonderful species it is possible to grow indoors – and it seems even fewer people know how to keep them alive! This title in the highly successful Collins Gem series will show you how.

There are plants to suit every taste – and every level of commitment – which means that the absolute beginner to the green-fingered gardener can enjoy beautiful plants indoors.

Contents include:

Buying plants
Care and maintenance
Soil preparation
Propagation
A-Z of species including flowering plants, foliage plants, cacti and succulents
Tips on how to grow food and herbs indoors

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A–Z DIRECTORY

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Putting a plant in a room can have a big impact. Indoor plants can make a house looked lived in and looked after, and can soften and even humanize the starkest office space by bringing a small piece of the outdoors inside.

Whether your taste in indoor plants leans towards the flowering varieties or whether you prefer year-round foliage interest, this A–Z directory will provide all the information you need to keep your plants looking their best. It will also help you to decide on choosing new plants that will suit your needs and that of the environment the plant will be living in.

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ACALYPHA

Acalypha wilkesiana

KEY FACTS

Flowers bright red; intermittently year-round

Foliage green and copper, splashed with red

Site warm light shade

Temperature ensure an even 18ºC (64ºF)

Height 200cm

Spread 100cm

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CARE: Keep Acalypha warm. Mist regularly and keep soil constantly moist in summer. Keep humidity high. Feed throughout summer. Prune regularly each spring.

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The red-hot catstail, Acalypha hispida, is a spectacular flowering plant. Its long, fluffy, feather bower-like catkins dangle down from the leaf joints. Its bright colour and unusual appearance evoke the spirit of the tropics, from where the plant originates.

Unfortunately, Acalypha can be a difficult plant to look after and to keep looking good. In fact, it generally prefers the conditions in a conservatory to those in the house.

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ACHIMENES

Cupid’s bower

Achimenes cettoana

KEY FACTS

Flowers summer/early autumn; purple and blue

Foliage attractive, often hairy leaves

Site brightly lit

Temperature minimum of 10ºC (50ºF)

Height 35–50cm

Spread 40–50cm

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CARE: Achimenes likes brightly lit conditions, but do not site plants in direct sunlight. Water freely once growth begins. Apply liquid fertilizer throughout summer.

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Achimenes is an easy indoor plant to look after and rewards the gardener by producing masses of flowers all summer and early autumn. In addition to the colourful flowers, Achimenes has attractive, often hairy, leaves.

Plants can grow leggy, so keep pinching out the tips as the stems grow.This will encourage sideshoots and will help to keep the plant bushy. It may also be necessary to provide a little light support for the plant to prevent the long, weak stems from flopping over as they grow.

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ADIANTUM

Maidenhair fern

Adiantum capilus-veneris

KEY FACTS

Flowers this plant does not flower

Foliage pretty, delicate; matures to bright green

Site light shade

Temperature between 16–27ºC (61–81ºF)

Height 30–80cm

Spread 40–90cm

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CARE: Needs lots of water during the growing season, sparingly in winter. Apply liquid fertilizer monthly when in growth. Trim dead fronds away.

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Adiantum, the maidenhair fern, is an extremely pretty and delicate foliage plant. Its fine, arching black stems carry tiny rounded leaflets that start life pale green or pale pink and mature to a bright mid-green.

Ferns generally, and particularly the maidenhair fern, are for people who enjoy nurturing their plants, as they will really suffer if neglected. Because the leaflets are so delicate, adiantum plants need constant humidity. Dry air will cause them to turn brown at the edges and eventually the frond will die back completely.

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AECHMIA

Urn plant or Coral berry

Aechmia fasciata

KEY FACTS

Flowers bright colours; dramatic; year-round

Foliage spiky; frequently striped

Site well-lit; no...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• How to Use this Book
• Indoor Plant Care
• A–Z Directory of Indoor Plants
• About the Publisher