HOW TO MAKE A PLANT LOVE YOU

Potted plants aren't mere decoration; they offer a rare opportunity to find joy by caring for another living being. HOW TO MAKE A PLANT LOVE YOU isn't an interior design book about hanging ivy on your window sills, nor is it simply a collection of tips to keep your succulents succulent. It's about the real reasons that it's good for you to bring plants inside.

Summer Rayne Oakes keeps over 750 live houseplants spanning 400 species in her Brooklyn apartment. She is an environmental scientist, an entrepreneur, and (according to a New York Times profile) the icon of wellness-minded millennials who want to bring nature indoors. She even 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 about a half-hour a day tending to her plantsan activity that she describes as a "moving meditation."

HOW TO MAKE A PLANT LOVE YOU isn't an interior design book about hanging ivy on your window sills, nor is it simply a collection of tips to keep your succulents succulent. It's about the real reasons that it's good for you to bring plants inside. Most people think that the common potted plant is just a decorative object, but there is also a strong psychological benefit to caring for plants as a path to mindfulness. Taking care of other living beings is a basic human need. And often, unfortunately, city-dwelling 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, etc.) with a bigger, less obvious benefit: Taking care of plants makes you a more life-giving person. Through colorful vignettes that draw us into the mysteries and hidden stories of our plants, Oakes shows how our plant friends can serve as our gateway to a greater life.

Who doesn't want to cultivate beauty, care for the natural world, and live mindfully in these crazy times? Summer Rayne Oakes shows us the way.

Summer Rayne Oakes is an environmental scientist and entrepreneur whose work focuses on health, wellness, and sustainability. She founded Homestead Brooklyn, a website and YouTube channel, to help people become more attuned to nature in the city. Her work has been featured by many media outlets, including CNN, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Inc.