May 7, 2018
This winsome beginner’s guide to caring for cacti and succulents packs a lot of information into creatively designed, colorful pages. Most of the book is taken up by profiles of 105 cacti and succulents, and each profile includes information about watering, feeding, and propagating, as well as a fun section highlighting related species called “Meet the Relatives,” allowing readers to connect the dots between, for instance, old lady cactus (named for its white hairlike spines) and its “pincushion” cacti cousins. The pictures are helpfully illustrative, and a guide to scale offers essential perspective for those looking to invest in a new plant. The book’s chipper tone perfectly matches its friendly visual design, with plants pictured at the center of the page accompanied by informative speech bubbles. Experienced cacti growers will know this basic stuff, but those newly interested in cacti and succulents will be well served by this book.
May 15, 2018
Succulents, the group of plants that includes cacti, are having an undisputed moment. This guide to succulent care begins with a handy spread to identify plants readers may be familiar with by look, if not by name. A detailed, 20-or-so-page introduction on the basics of growing them at home comes next, including instructions for repotting, fertilizing, handling, and when and how to best propagate them using cuttings. The importance of mimicking these particular plants' unique native rainfall and growth periods is appropriately emphasized. (Those well-labeled ID photos from the beginning are cleverly used throughout the text when plants are referenced.) The lion's share of the book is devoted to Prickly Profiles: appealing two-page spreads of 105 different succulents and cacti that address plants' stats, standard needs, and special requirements in a fun, conversational style. Informative and easy to reference, this is also well designed and graphically rich, making it a great addition to popular-gardening collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)