A great little book on indoor plants and also ones that are kept on a balcony in urban areas.

I will say though it doesn't seem like a good book for beginners, as it doesn't discuss the usual how-to stuff like - how to pot/repot, problems and how to deal with them, soil types etc. Despite this each plant has 2 wonderful pages of information including: place of origin, natural conditions, tips for how to grow in a home, etc and also a beautiful watercolour picture of the plant.

Although this is a good book for plant lovers, I feel like a few things got ignored or weren’t looked into at all. This includes the fact it is legal to grow peyote (type of cactus) as a plant in the U.K. and some other countries, but it isn't legal everywhere. In some areas of the U.S. for example, you could face fines up to $10,000 and/or a year in jail/three years in prison, depending on if the law decides. So maybe it would've been a better idea to leave that plant out, or at least the publisher should include a note to check the laws and include the fact it maybe illegal in some Countries.

Although this is a good book, I found it lacked depth and real information and wouldn’t be great for a newbie in the house plant world. Maybe more for someone who has an interest in plants, due to the simplicity and lack of overall quality and knowledge in some areas.

This is a great little guide for indoor plants and ones for your tiny balcony in urban living. Everyone needs some sunshine in their lives and these plants are wonderful for that.

Okay, bear with me here, because this is a good book but there are things a potential reader should be aware of. First, to me this doesn't seem like a good book for beginners. It doesn't have the usual how-to stuff (how to pot/repot, problems and how to deal with them, soil types, etc), and the overviews of the plants are brief - good enough for an experienced indoor gardener, but not enough information for a newbie. Another thing to keep in mind is that both the author and the publisher are in the U.K., and that does affect some of the information here (more on that later). This seems more of a lookbook of plants than a guide to raising them; each plant has a two page spread, with one page being a gorgeous watercolor illustration, and the other page including some information about the plant: place of origin, natural conditions, tips for how to grow in a home, etc. While there is brief growing info, a beginner would need a more comprehensive book on houseplants to get the basics. I really liked the variety of plants shown; I'd say at least half are plants I haven't seen in a houseplant book before. However, quite a few plants require very specific conditions and care that would be daunting to many plant parents (myself included), which is why this seems more geared toward an experienced indoor gardener. The real point of contention for me was the inclusion of the divine cactus. Granted, I read a digital review copy, and haven't seen the final copy, but divine cactus is peyote. It's legal to grow peyote in the U.K. and some other countries, but it isn't legal everywhere. I'm in California, U.S., and could face fines up to $10,000 and/or a year in jail/three years in prison, depending on if the law decides to charge me with a misdemeanor or a felony, so maybe it would've been a better idea to leave that plant out, or at least the publisher should include a note to check your local laws.. Just sayin'.
So, this is a good book if you don't look at it as a how-to-grow book that is beginner friendly, and do look at it as "hey, here's some cool plants you might be interested in growing, with a bit of info about them." that I think will be nice for someone with some experience with plants. One star off for a kinda misleading publisher description, and one star off for suggesting a plant that might get you prison time for growing it.

#UrbanBotanics #NetGalley

★★★★ ☐ The publisher has provided a copy for review.
Gardeners and DIY decorators, do you ever wonder what plant is thriving on your windowsill? May you have something green turning brown or yellow and need a "how to resuscitate" guide?

Or do you just want to copy some gorgeous watercolors of botanicals?

Here's your book! Enjoy the illustrations, descriptions, and helpful instructions. A beautiful practical volume for artists and green-thumbs alike.

Sparse and minimal, covering just a handful of plants and giving just a bit of info on each one. Although the accompanying illustrations were beautiful, they weren't all that helpful in plant identification for cases where you were given a plant and aren't sure of the name (so, some actual photographs would be helpful). More of a hipster look-book rather than an actual useful one.

Since August 2020 has been the longest I have stayed in one place, under one roof for such an extended time (in the last decade), I finally invested in house plants.
I am a newbie who knew nothing about what I was looking for, and although I still am, my plants are still alive, for which I am daily grateful. Whenever I see a book that suggests additional reading material that might help me see them in a different light, I pick it up. This was no different.
This is a collection of beautifully done artwork describing the families of indoor plants. The art was good enough for me not to grumble my usual reaction of wanting pictures since I can compare better.
There are quite a few plants listed here, with a short background and salient facts defining individuality, etc. That said, a few of the ones I own were missing from the list, which was surprising because I thought they were quite common. It is an interesting collection, which is well presented. I would suggest it more as an educative reading than as a guide to the plants.
I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

3 stars

This book has lovely illustrations of many indoor plants, but only minimal information about the plants. It’s more suited as a picture book for your coffee table than a care guide for your plants, which isn’t what I was expecting.

[What I liked:]

•There is a nice range of plants included, both more common ones (aloe, snake plant, spider plant, etc.) & ones I was less familiar with (rose grape, wax plant, etc.). The four categories are succulents, cacti, flowering plants, & foliage plants.

•The art work is gorgeous! Each plant included in this book has a full page, color illustration. This would make a nice coffee table book.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The information included on each plant is minimal, just a description of the plant & its most basic care requirements. This book would be useful for determining which type of succulent might fit your living space/environment best, but it is *not* a detailed care guide. I wish there were more details, like what common ailments or problems a plant might have & how to resolve them, fertilizing & watering tips, etc.

•I was surprised at the omission of several popular plants, such as crotons, cyclamen, African violets, orchids, herbs, etc. Especially in the flowering plants category, several of (imo) the prettiest varieties were omitted.

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Really beautiful illustrations and useful tips on each individual plant. If you're new to growing houseplants, this would be a great way to dip your toe in.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. This was an enjoyable read. I work with plants and have a love for them. I have many plants at home, and am always looking for a good plant care book. I learned more about plants, and liked the beautiful art. It was easy to read and follow along as well, This book shows the basic care for some indoor plants people have nowadays… a great read for newer plant parents.

A great book on using houseplants to beautify your home no matter where you live. Those living in smaller spaces will appreciate plants that bring the outdoors in yet doesn’t require constant care. Many plants I currently own and can attest to their ease of care and the satisfaction they bring into one’s life.

What a beautiful book. Basic information that is subtle and not overwhelming
This would be a plant lovers dream coffee table book.

I will definitely grabbing a copy when it comes out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Emma Sibley. #UrbanBotanics #NetGalley

Urban Botanics discusses types of plants that have grown in popularity. The illustrations are beautiful (sidenote). There is an existing surge in beautifying our home, ever since we have been spending more time living and working from our there, and many people are doing that with plants. Urban Botanics shows you that there is no better way to breathe life into a room than with some greenery. A great gift to give alongside one of the plants mentioned. Urban Botanics provides quick, useful information for the caring of each plant so you can be the best plant parent, no green thumb is needed.

This indoor plant guide is a piece of art! The book contains beautiful watercolour illustrations of each plant accompanied by a brief description of the plant with a few care tips of note. It is divided into sections containing succulents, flowering plants and foliage plants. Although it is not an extensive care guide for looking after specific plants, it provides a good starting point for people looking to get into the hobby of indoor gardening and it doubles as a good coffee table book to flip through.

A beautiful read to introduce house plants to someone or a lovely gift for the plant lover in your family, Urban Botanics is brimming with lovely plant illustrations and short but concise care descriptions for all your various houseplants. All the plants discussed can be grown indoors making this the ideal guide for someone who resides in a city but loves greenery. I throughly enjoyed my read of this.

Urban Botanics is a beautifully illustrated guide to a variety of different houseplants. Alongside the full page watercolour illustration there is an information paragraph all about the plant and where it comes from. Guidance is given on how to care for the plant and where to place it in the home. The plants are divided into succulents, cacti, flowering plants and foliage, and while the information for each plant is succinct it is enough to help you get started. Overall a lovely coffee table book to help you get a feel for the different types of houseplants. It would make a lovely gift book with one of the plants detailed in the book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It’s a really useful guide to indoor plants. Beautifully illustrated and with lot of tips for the care of your plants. Really enjoyed it.

This is a different sort of houseplant book. On the one hand, the illustrations are gorgeous. You might want to buy the book to rip them out and frame them. They're wonderful watercolor illustrations, but I'm not sure that watercolors are the best ways to show houseplants in an actually helpful houseplant guide. Also, the text gives little information on caring for the plants and no real info on how to find them, which ones are affordable, whether you can propagate them from cuttings, etc. They are grouped by types and it tells you where in the world each one is from and basic info like needing a window with morning sun and to dry out between watering, but not a lot of nitty gritty info. Did I mention the beautiful art though?

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

Thank you for my advanced copy. This book contains beautiful illustrations and well worded descriptions on how to care for a range of house plants.

I had read the first version, but this illustrated one is beautiful!

Avevo letto la prima versione, ma questa illustrata é bellissima!

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.