I’ve just published the latest GardenEzi book, this time on the Ten Best plants for indoor growing.

Why did I choose these plants, from all the many available?

Well, first of all, I chose those that have proved themselves the most reliable performers under all sorts of conditions.  The plants that you just can’t kill unless you actually poison them!

I also selected for good looks, with emphasis on patterned leaves or colourful spathes (the big, beautiful leaf-like structures that surround the small flowers in some plants).

I concentrated on foliage rather than flowers because flowers always require more work and more demanding light requirements.

I avoided ferns because they are generally a bit more difficult to grow than the foliage plants from (mostly) the aroid group that feature in the Top Ten – and anyway it’s hard to pick one fern over another for inclusion in so short a list and ferns really deserve a Top Ten book of their own; I’ll probably do it one day.

And then I focused on those that were readily available in most garden centres/nurseries in most countries.

Of course, picking just ten plants is not easy, even when you stick to the above criteria.  There are just so many other little beauties out there, especially among the aroids.  So I hope people will use this book as the guide to a basic collection, adding others – peperomias, fittonias, alocasias and colocasias come to mind – as they gain confidence or want something different.

You can read more about Ten Best Indoor Plants by clicking on the My Books tab.  To buy, go to the gardening book section on Amazon and look for  Ten Best Indoor Plants and Julie Lake, or else just put this info into your browser and that will take you there.

Because a good display of colour photos is not easy with e-books, I’m putting the photos of the Top Ten right here, so those who buy the book can have a better look. Here they are: