My Indoor Garden

Lerner, Carol

ISBN 10: 0688147542 ISBN 13: 9780688147549

Publisher: Morrow Junior, 1999

Synopsis

Discusses how to care for plants indoors, including such aspects as light, temperature, humidity, pests, diseases, equipment, and how to choose and grow your own plants

About this title

About the Author:

If Carol Lerner were asked to list three reasons why she started writing and illustrating books for children, she would probably say the Morton Arboretum, Joshua, and Jesse. The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, on the outskirts of Chicago, is one of the few institutions in the country that offers instruc-tion in botanical illustration on a regular basis. Over the years, Ms. Lerner had taken courses in botany, the local flora, birds of the Midwest, and other aspects of nature, but she hesitated to join the illustration class because the members seemed very accomplished. "Finally I gave it a try," she says. I continued attending for the next three years; then I felt ready to do something with my skills. I thought of illustrating children's books because they would offer more variety than strictly scientific illustration. "

Joshua and Jesse are Ms. Lerner's sons, now grown. "Initially my husband, Ralph, and I introduced them to birds and plants, but this realm of experience took such a tremendous grip on their interests and imaginations, they became expert birders [bird-watchers] and very savvy all-around naturalists on their own. All through their childhood years, their curiosity sparked my interest in the natural world."

The first book Ms. Lerner wrote and illustrated was On the Forest Edge. An ecological portrait of the animal and plant life found at the forest edge, it was given an award for Special Artistic Merit by the Friends of American Writers. Ms. Lerner's third, fourth, and fifth books, Seasons of the Tallgrass Prairie, A Biblical Garden, and Pitcher Plants, were named ALA Notable Books, as was Tree Flowers, which she illustrated. Plant Families was named a New York Academy of Sciences Honor Book. Among her recent titles are Cactus, Dumb Cane and Daffodils, A Forest Year and Moonseed and Mistletoe, all of which are NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children. Her critically acclaimed Backyard Birds of Winter has recently been followed by Backyard Birds Of Summer.

Carol and Ralph Lerner live in Chicago. Summers and weekends are spent at their house in rural Indiana, where they are surrounded by forests and wetlands. "Wild birds are at our doorstep. There's a swamp across the road that is frog heaven. And I finally have enough space to realize the garden of my dreams. I garden with a certain passion." The same passion is evident in Carol Lerner's fine ecological portraits.

From Kirkus Reviews:

PLB 0-688-14754-2 There are few gardeners of any age who would not benefit from this companion to My Backyard Garden (1998), in which Lerner offers an alternative to yardless or winterbound young plant-tenders. Combining savvy, systematic advice with pleasantly muted watercolors of easily identifiable single specimens and entire windowsill collections, she goes beyond the rudiments of light, food, water, and general care to discuss disease control, artificial lighting, and such challenging techniques as stratification and propagation. Her reasonably low-budget regimen permits prepared fertilizer, but not chemical insecticides, and she suggests adult help for any activity needing a sharp tool. The plants she mentions throughout are all common, inedible ones with distinctive flowers or foliage; some, such as petunias or rex begonias, are hard to keep healthy and attractive indoors, but most are easy to nurture. Of course this isn't the only volume on the subject, but it stands out for its low pressure approach and methodical coverage of the basics. (charts, diagrams, index) (Nonfiction. 8-10) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Morrow Junior
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0688147542
• ISBN 13: 9780688147549
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 48