How Not to Kill Your Plant

Magda Gargulakova has a degree in Art History and is a co-founder and also curator of the OFF/FORMAT gallery in Brno, Czech Republic, which exhibits and promotes contemporary progressive art, mostly by young artists. She worked for a time in marketing, but her love affair with books has been a long one. For OFF/FORMAT, she has edited and published several art publications. Since 2019, she has added to this experience as an editor of literature for very young readers at Albatros Media, using her two daughters for quality control.
Lenka Chytilova was drawn to books and writing from a young age. It was no surprise, then, when she got a degree in Czech Language and Literature and German Translation. She has always tried to connect books and reading, her greatest hobby, with her work; she worked part-time in a bookshop for many years and she also worked as an editor and proofreader. Lenka likes classic Czech fairytales, and she loves Večerníček, the Czech television program for children’s bedtime stories. She grew up in a village in East Moravia.
Hannah Abbo is a self-taught illustrator originally from Brighton, UK. When she’s not drawing, she loves making ceramics, visiting botanical gardens, and growing vegetables. She currently lives and works in Lisbon, Portugal, with her partner and child, their (slightly) overweight cat, and 15 houseplants.

1. BASICS OF CARE
Getting to know: houseplants
Glossary
Houseplants up close
My room with and without houseplants
What you will need
Soil and pots
Water and watering
Light and heat
Choosing the right houseplant for you
2. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HOUSE PLANTS
Spathe lily
Fiddle-leaf fig
Monstera
String of hearts
False shamrock
Chinese money plant
Crassula
Cactus
Aloe vera
Dwarf umbrella tree
Moss ball
Palm
Polka dot begonia
Prayer plant
ZZ plant
Mother-in-law’s tongue
3. CULTIVATION PRACTICE
Buying your houseplant
Your houseplant throughout the year
Transplanting
Trimming
Propagation
Expectation vs. reality
Problems
Pests
You’re a proper carer at last!