Book Description Review “Weinstein’s homage to the fern is as useful as it is educational” – Publishers Weekly“The Complete Book of Ferns” is a valuable resource for gardeners of all levels who are interested in venturing into the magical world of ferns.” – The Oregonian Read more About the Author Currently, Mobee Weinstein is the Foreman of Gardeners for Outdoor Gardens at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. She has a degree in Plant Studies and has done post-graduate work in Botany. She has worked as an adjunct professor of Indoor plants at SUNY. She frequently appears and represents New York Botanical Garden on television (NBC, ABC, Martha Stewart Living, et al.) and radio (Ralph Snodsmith’s The Garden Hotline program, et al.). She is a frequent lecturer to outside organizations and a Judge for Philadelphia Flower Show (Ferns and other plant classes) and NYC Community Gardens. She organizes and leads field trips for NYBG School of Professional Horticulture and has published more than a dozen articles and book chapters on various topics, including ferns and water lilies. Read more Customers Review: I am a plant lover but ferns seem complex to me – they always seem hard to identify but are so beautiful. I bought the book because I wanted to learn more about ferns and was attracted to the design of the book. I also had seen the author on Martha Stewart’s show several times. I really loved this book because it made ferns seem simpler to me. I love the writing – as if someone was talking to me. And I love that there were craft projects included besides great info on the use of ferns in my garden and home.
For whatever reason and for the life of me I cannot keep an indoor plant alive. I really like ferns. They are so green and lush and yet they struggle to survive for me. So, when I saw this book I immediately scooped it up in hopes that it can shed light for me on how to keep my last two ferns alive.Thoughts:The book is broken out into five main sections. These are not what they are called within the book, but terms I am just using to describe in general: History, Botany, Growing Indoors, Growing Outdoors, Crafting/CreativityHistory: Includes evolution, Victorian fern craze, lore, uses, and lots of lush green pictures.Botany: Includes plant parts and diversity based on climate. This section includes information on how ferns propagate as well as step-by-step instructions, with pictures, on how you can propagate them.Growing Indoors: Includes information on light, temperature, potting mix (includes 3 soil recipes), watering, and humidity. Since I suspect my personal fern issue lies within the watering and humidity area, I paid specific attention to this part of the book. The book gave some ideas of how to increase humidity, which I immediately put into action by buying some mini ferns and placed them in a type of holder with pebbles and water. This section also includes a trouble-shooting guide. A good portion of this section includes quite a few pictures of indoor ferns with specific information on each fern.Growing Outdoors: Similar to the Growing Indoor section, this one includes information on light, soil, water, temperature, seasonal care, and a trouble shooting portion. At the end is also a lot of beautiful pictures of outdoor ferns.Crafting/Creativity: This section includes information on crafting projects, such as terrariums, vertical gardening, kokedama, moss baskets, fern mount, and more. A lot of step-by-step instructions in this sections with pictures to go with them. My next fern goal is to tackle a terrarium with ferns, so it was good to have instructions here.Overall, a lovely, informational book on ferns that came at the perfect time for me. Pictures of the ferns are beautiful and are mostly set against a white background allowing us to clearly see the stunning green foliage. Warning, if you don’t like green then this book may not be for you.Rating: 5 starsThanks to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Press – Cool Spring Press for the advanced reader copy and opportunity to provide an honest review.
Often times, when “complete” is included in a title, it’s a misnomer, but not in this case. If you have ever had a question about ferns, it is answered in this book. Ferns has everything from botanical information, to information on growing ferns outdoors, growing ferns indoors, and also crafting with them. This would make a great gift for your friends with shade gardens or pair it with some indoor ferns for a housewarming gift for those who love houseplants. Crafters will appreciate the instructions as well.I received this as a review copy with no expectation of a review. I’m happy to have this book, though. A great addition to my library. |
4 reviews