[.ca] Growing Cacti And Other Succulents In The Conservatory ... (ISBN 1861082053)

One for the Novice Grower:
I applaud any book that sets out to help people enjoy their hobbies or collectibles more, but approached this book with a little trepidation. I have kept cacti and other succulents for over 40 years and I believe that the best place to keep them successfully (certainly in Britain) is in a greenhouse, where light, temperature and ventilation can be controlled to suit the plants and not humans. Having read the book the author has gone a long way towards helping to alleviate the thousands and thousands of cacti that die either through neglect or lack of good growing conditions. This is a book aimed at those people who are fascinated by that `unusual plant' they see in the supermarket or garden centre. When they get it home they are amazed how long the flowers last, until, eventually they realise they are made of coloured paper and are stuck on, or even worse pinned to the plant. The book has a reasonable selection of plants , it does help to differentiate between those that will remain manageable and those that will need a hole cutting in the ceiling. It also deals with plants that will flower (in fact virtually all of them will) given the right conditions and are of an age to do so. Regarding conservatories, yes they are ideal as far as light goes, but sometimes lack the ventilation required by the plants. I hope I have not been too critical of the book as I think it is well written and well produced and for those who know little or nothing about these plants but would like to learn more it is ideal. Also of course not everyone has a greenhouse. Though be warned, once you have read this book and your eyes are opened to the wonderful variety of plants available, you probably will.