It’s Nice To Know You Can Grow a World on Your Windowsill

An apartment is never truly inhabited until it has plants in it. There is no excuse for not growing things. Brown thumb? Nonsense! That just means someone can’t be bothered or isn’t paying attention. Start with something simple, like a cyclamen. It doesn’t need a lot of light. It doesn’t need a lot of water. It comes in a lot of colors. The only thing anyone needs to remember is to water it from the bottom. How hard is that? Do not water it from the top.

Water a cyclamen from the bottom.

There you go. You have a house plant. Isn’t it cheerful? Doesn’t it make the place pretty? Don’t you feel better already? Now you are ready to step up to more, aren’t you.

The good news is that millennials have warmed to the idea of houseplants. According to a recent New York Times article, Millennials are responsible for 31 percent of house plant sales. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that so many of them are wedded to their computers, iPads and cellphones. Americans spend only 7 percent of their time outdoors, and much of that is walking from their cars to the offices and homes or schools. Some of those house plants might be gifts for parents or grandparents, but anecdotal evidence is that 20- and 30-somethings are nesters, and they like houseplants as a natural part of a healthy life at home.

A book from Flammarion to be published March 26, called “Plantopia,” seems right on trend. The author is Camille Soulayrol, the co-editor-in-chief of “Marie Claire Idees. She is the stylist who comes up with the kinds of craft ideas that this hands-on generation seems to love, so her book not only encourages the growing of plants but gives step-by-step instructions for DIY building projects and instructions for using plant materials to make herbal textile dyes. And turning plant materials into decorations.

I’m surprised she doesn’t include beer recipes!  The book is amply illustrated.

Oh, and she gives plenty of advice about things like repotting typical houseplants, making a terrarium, and even throws in some decorating tips. We love indoor plants and this space is dedicated to advice about growing them, buying them, and sometimes even knowing when you need to throw them out. But don’t throw it away until you’ve read “Plantopia.”