How to Make a Plant Love You

This isn't an interior design book about hanging ivy on your window sills. It's about the real reasons it's good for you to bring plants inside. Most people think that the common potted plant is just a decorative object, but there's also a strong psychological benefit to taking care of plants as a path to mindfulness. Taking care of other living beings is a basic human need. Urban Millennials with weaker community networks than previous generations just don't have the chance to do that.

This book ties together all the known benefits of taking care of plants (lower blood pressure, lower stress, cleaner air) with a bigger, less obvious benefit: taking care of plants makes you a more life-giving person. Through colourful vignettes that draw us into the mysteries and hidden stories of our plants, Summer Rayne shows how our chlorophyllous friends can serve as a gateway to a greater life.

Summer Rayne Oakes keeps over 750 live houseplants spanning 400 species in her Brooklyn apartment. She installed a sub-irrigation system and helpful watering hacks, such as a 150-foot expandable hose that connects to pipes under her kitchen sink, so she only has to spend half-hour a day tending to her plants - an activity she describes as a 'moving meditation.'