Infinite Succulent: Miniature Living Art to Keep or Share


Book Description

Take your succulents to the next level with these stylish and creative projects From blue- green to purple and pink, flower-shaped to squat and spiky or tall and fuzzy, the variety, versatility, and low-maintenance care of succulents makes them go-to plants for home gardeners. Here, succulent stylist Rachael Cohen shows that these traits also make succulents the ideal material for living art. Tiny, jewel-like succulents can be clipped and replanted in infinite combinations, and unlike cut flowers, they thrive in these arrangements. When planted in corks, they become charming living magnets; when placed in seashells, they are a delightful reminder of a day at the beach. Succulents can also grow nestled in moss, creating an opportunity for even more creativity: arrange them atop mini pumpkins or adorn a headband or a tiny wreath. In addition to illustrated step-by-step instructions for more than a dozen crafts, Cohen explains which succulents are best for each project, how to clip and prepare rosettes and leaves, and what to do when the plants outgrow their art pieces. Lush photographs throughout capture the natural beauty of the plants and boundless range of possible creations.




Cacti and Succulents Handbook, Expanded 2nd Edition


Book Description

· A newly updated, user-friendly guide to more than 300 varieties of cacti and succulents · Each plant profile details essential advice, plant characteristics and habitat, both scientific and common names, all new stunning photography, and more · Also includes informative sections on selecting and caring for plants, propagation, repotting, grooming, pest control, and other must-know tips · Newly expanded edition features double the amount of cacti and succulent species from the previous edition, up-to-date scientific names, new photography, and a new foreword and preface · Gideon F. Smith served as president for the International Organization of Succulent Plant Study and has published over 500 scientific and award-winning papers on the taxonomy, biology, and evolution of succulent plants




Succulent Container Gardens


Book Description

Define your individual style. With their colorful leaves, sculptural shapes, and simple care, succulents are beautiful yet forgiving plants for pots. If grown in containers, these dry-climate jewels—which include but are not limited to cacti—can be brought indoors in winter and so can thrive anywhere in the world. In this inspiring compendium, the popular author of Designing with Succulents provides everything beginners and experienced gardeners need to know to create stunning container displays of exceptionally waterwise plants. The extensive palette includes delicate sedums, frilly echeverias, cascading senecios, edgy agaves, and fat-trunked beaucarneas, to name just a few. Easy-to-follow, expert tips explain soil mixes, overwintering, propagation, and more.




This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage


Book Description

'So compellingly personal you feel you're looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times 'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.




Stylish Succulents


Book Description

Make inexpensive projects with a Japanese aesthetic--whether you're an interior designer, avid gardener, small space enthusiast or gardening beginner! Colorful and hardy succulent plants are perfect for creating Japanese-style Bonsai and Ikebana arrangements. Stylish Succulents presents a totally new approach to container gardening. Trendy, low maintenance succulents come in hundreds of different colors, sizes, shapes and textures--making each project one-of-a-kind. Every design is carefully explained using detailed step-by-step instructions and photos: How to choose succulents and containers to match your personal space and mood How to utilize empty wall spaces to make dramatic hanging planters How to make a lovely wreath for the holidays How to create thoughtful and inexpensive succulent gifts for plant lovers Gardeners of every level can create these miniature works of art using with relatively little time and money. The possibilities are truly endless!




Succulent Wild Woman


Book Description

This book is my glowing invitation to you—to live a rich, succulent life! I explore love, sexuality, romance, money, fat, fear and creativity. It's a little bit like reading my diary -- with permission. Succulence is powerFull! and so are we as women.




Fair Play


Book Description

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK Tired, stressed, and in need of more help from your partner? Imagine running your household (and life!) in a new way... It started with the Sh*t I Do List. Tired of being the “shefault” parent responsible for all aspects of her busy household, Eve Rodsky counted up all the unpaid, invisible work she was doing for her family—and then sent that list to her husband, asking for things to change. His response was...underwhelming. Rodsky realized that simply identifying the issue of unequal labor on the home front wasn't enough: She needed a solution to this universal problem. Her sanity, identity, career, and marriage depended on it. The result is Fair Play: a time- and anxiety-saving system that offers couples a completely new way to divvy up domestic responsibilities. Rodsky interviewed more than five hundred men and women from all walks of life to figure out what the invisible work in a family actually entails and how to get it all done efficiently. With 4 easy-to-follow rules, 100 household tasks, and a series of conversation starters for you and your partner, Fair Play helps you prioritize what's important to your family and who should take the lead on every chore, from laundry to homework to dinner. “Winning” this game means rebalancing your home life, reigniting your relationship with your significant other, and reclaiming your Unicorn Space—the time to develop the skills and passions that keep you interested and interesting. Stop drowning in to-dos and lose some of that invisible workload that's pulling you down. Are you ready to try Fair Play? Let's deal you in.




A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids


Book Description

With step-by-step project instructions for building unique and kid-friendly terrariums, family time has never been more fun! Crafting a terrarium boosts confidence, develops motor skills, and combines imagination and creativity with a dash of hands on science. Together you'll learn how to pick the best container for your miniature landscape, fill it with the best plants, and add decorative elements to make it your own. Plus, with quick and simple lessons on ecosystem functions, kids and their grown-ups can both tap into their inner "science geeks" to grow a miniature world in glass. Includes fully illustrated plans to: Grow a Zen-like landscape with "living rocks", Set up a mini peat bog, complete with a collection of carnivorous plants, Make an aquatic terrarium with marimo moss balls (and maybe a fish or mini shrimp!), Go low-maintenance with a hanging terrarium of air plants, Build a plant-filled habitat for a praying mantis, Use moss to craft tiny rolling hills in a mini mountain scene, Get prehistoric with a dinosaur bone terrarium, With A Family Guide to Terrariums for Kids, your family can be imaginative, have fun, and get growing-together! Book jacket.




Luxury Arts of the Renaissance


Book Description

Today we associate the Renaissance with painting, sculpture, and architecture—the “major” arts. Yet contemporaries often held the “minor” arts—gem-studded goldwork, richly embellished armor, splendid tapestries and embroideries, music, and ephemeral multi-media spectacles—in much higher esteem. Isabella d’Este, Marchesa of Mantua, was typical of the Italian nobility: she bequeathed to her children precious stone vases mounted in gold, engraved gems, ivories, and antique bronzes and marbles; her favorite ladies-in-waiting, by contrast, received mere paintings. Renaissance patrons and observers extolled finely wrought luxury artifacts for their exquisite craftsmanship and the symbolic capital of their components; paintings and sculptures in modest materials, although discussed by some literati, were of lesser consequence. This book endeavors to return to the mainstream material long marginalized as a result of historical and ideological biases of the intervening centuries. The author analyzes how luxury arts went from being lofty markers of ascendancy and discernment in the Renaissance to being dismissed as “decorative” or “minor” arts—extravagant trinkets of the rich unworthy of the status of Art. Then, by re-examining the objects themselves and their uses in their day, she shows how sumptuous creations constructed the world and taste of Renaissance women and men.




The Little Book of Cacti and Other Succulents


Book Description

Succulents and cacti make the perfect indoor plant pets. Inexpensive to purchase, easy to care for and resilient to the neglect of even the laziest of gardeners, growing these plants is virtually foolproof. Often small in size these plants are the ideal green solution for the city dweller, who has little time and only a small amount of space. However, there are so many different cultivars of cacti and succulents to collect – each with their own needs – that the watering, feeding, potting and general care can differ from plant to plant. The Little Book of Cacti and Other Succulents features a directory of 60 of the most popular varieties of cacti and succulents to own. The entry for each of the 60 plants is accompanied by a photograph and all the essential requirements for that variety in an easy-to-follow breakdown. This includes details on size, growth, spread and flowering, along with any extra tips on care for that specific plant. When given the right care, your cacti and succulents will thrive and grow. Additionally this book includes a general care section on everyday maintenance and potting, along with tips on how to deal with common pests and disease. This is a must-have guide for all cacti and succulent lovers, who already own or want to start a collection of these hardy little plants.