The Best Indoor Plant Books To Gift Your Terrarium-Obsessed Friends

The women behind RoCo are two indoor plant specialists and botanical stylists (yes, that’s a job) who have been transforming spaces all over London since they were tasked with guarding a hidden conservatory in Hampstead Heath, in the summer of 2014. Then they secured a stall at coveted Broadway Market, and eventually came this beautiful book. They source, grow and propagate everything from local plants to the most beautiful tropical species – always keeping in mind that it has to be easy to maintain – and their book tells you how to do exactly that yourself, with a focus on succulents, cacti and air plants.

If you live in East London, you probably already know the delightful cacti and succulent shop Prick, on Kingsland Road – and you might have heard the story of the inspiring entrepreneur woman behind it. Her book is all about choosing, styling and caring for the spiny creatures which are famed to be impossible to kill but, let me warn you, are not. Pay her a visit, and enjoy the book.

Plants in the home are a win-win and come with a myriad health benefits, as well as their obvious aesthetic perks. They clean the air, improve wellbeing (spend Sunday morning taking care of your plants and I guarantee you’ll feel more relaxed) and even have been shown to boost productivity.

Plant Society focuses on 25 tropical and leafy indoor plants, organised from the most easy to maintain through to the more precious and delicate. It includes 'styling advice' for different rooms in your house, suggestions for pots and planters, and interviews with 'plant people' all over the world. Oh, and this one covers plants and pets, so it’s a good one for your friend with the cat or dog.

The hipster trend par excellence of the house plant boom of the last few years, here you’ll find 33 ideas for terrarium projects, these wonderful and sometimes pesky mini indoor gardens – they are incredibly fun habitats to create, though, take it from me, they’re much harder to keep alive.

This handbook is a guide to every step involved in crafting them, and what’s even cooler is that its terrariums are inspired by ecosystems around the world including a fern-filled bit of the Black Forest in Germany and a bonsai garden in South Japan.

It’s important to remember what Instagram never shows: caring for plants is a trial and error that often involves dealing with a huge amount of soil, mess, dying leaves, and bugs. Alice Vincent has been hitting all the right notes both on her Instagram and her coverage of gardening and plant trends for the Telegraph. Her book is an easy, effective and 'no stress' guide for the beginner gardener in your life to learn how to grow not just the safe-but-lovely pothos but also herbs, veg and flowers.

This is a bit different: a book to gaze at pictures for hours on end for pleasure’s sake – and without the risk of falling into an Instagram rabbit hole. This photographer captured the strange, sometimes ethereal beauty of plants in greenhouses in the hearts of cities all over Europe, by photographing them through translucent glass. Calming and serene, this is the coffee table book equivalent of a stress ball.

It says it in the can, really. More than about how to actually keep the plants alive, this one’s all about interior decoration with houseplants – for the Apartamento subscriber in your life. Interior landscape designer and Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner Ian Drummond paired up with interiors editor Kara O’Reilly to show – with the help of more than 200 pictures, naturally – how plants can give your home a makeover and help hone whatever style you’re after.

From pruning to propagating, the author offers tips on how to care for 60 different indoor species, from dramatic palms and ferns to flowering potted plants. Each plant gets its spread with beautiful photography and personalised details and tips.

Emma Sibley created the start-up London Terrariums and now runs a plant shop in Nunhead, South London. She is also is the author of two previous plant-themed books, including the one this is a follow-up to, The Little Book of Cacti.