ArtPlantae Today

In the urban landscape, we are surrounded by plants.

When talking about plants in this environment, we tend to use very general labels (e.g., street tree and patio tree). In today’s Plants, Life, Riverside column we focus on another group of plants with a vague name — houseplants.

Houseplants may be the least exciting plants we encounter in everyday life. Unfortunately that expression “seen one, seen them all” kind of fits in their case. But did you know houseplants contribute much to your well-being?

Houseplants are fascinating in their own right because of the role they play in improving indoor air quality. This information comes to us from the National Aeronautics Space Administration’s (NASA) research into creating livable environments in space. Thanks to NASA and the work of international research teams, we have a better understanding of how plants in built environments improve indoor air quality.

According to B.C. Wolverton and Kozaburo Takenaka, authors of Plants: Why You Can’t Live Without Them, plants not only improve indoor air quality but also have:

• A positive effect on the physiological and psychological well-being of people occupying built spaces.
• A positive effect on recovering patients.
• A positive effect on worker productivity.

Wolverton and Takenaka discuss indoor and outdoor air quality, volatile organic chemicals in built environments, and the purification abilities of plants in the first half of their book. Wolverton and Takenaka (2010) have many years’ experience studying indoor and outdoor environments. Dr. B.C. “Bill” Wolverton is a retired NASA scientist and has received patents and awards for his research into environmental pollution. He is the author of How to Grow Fresh Air (1997) and Growing Clean Water – Nature’s Solution to Water Pollution (out of print). Kozaburo Takenaka is the founder of Takenaka Garden Afforestation, the top plant leasing company in Japan. Takenaka has created green environments in indoor and outdoor spaces and has researched green plant-related technologies.

In their book, Wolverton and Takenaka also discuss rooftop gardening, vegetable gardening, commercial crop production, medicinal plants, aromatherapy, and phytoremediation (the use of plants in waste filtration). To guide the reader through these topics, the authors include a glossary of terms and a bibliography of interesting articles and resources in the back of their book.

Plants: Why You Can’t Live Without Them can be purchased online from your local independent bookstore.

Literature Cited

Wolverton, B.C. 1997. How to Grow Fresh Air: 50 House Plants That Purify Your Home or Office. New York, NY: Penguin Books

Wolverton, B.C. and Kozaburo Takenaka. 2010. Plants: Why You Can’t Live Without Them. New Delhi, India: Lustre Press

Wolverton, B.C. and John D. Wolverton. 2001. Growing Clean Water: Nature’s Solution to Water Pollution. Picayune, MS: WES, Inc.

Related
Bring plants into your classroom

Encourage an interest in plants and locally-grown food with this one-of-a-kind coloring book.

The coloring book, Colorful Edibles, was the brainstorm idea of botanical artist and organic farm owner, Wendy Hollender. Grounded in a desire to promote the work of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA), a small committee formed to raise awareness about the ASBA through the development and sale of products created by its members. It took about one year for the first idea, a coloring book, to take shape. Botanical illustrator Bobbi Angell signed on as Co-Project Coordinator and Editor. Graphic artist and book designer, Charlotte Staub Thomas, also joined the project. Together they created a coloring book highlighting the contemporary botanical art of 26 ASBA members.

Editor, Bobbi Angell, says it was easy to get artists involved in this project. The project team made a specific request for pen-and-ink illustrations so that they could include as many ASBA artists as possible. They received 85 submissions from 38 artists. Because they wanted to keep the book inexpensive, only 36 illustrations were selected. The illustrations in Colorful Edibles showcase the strong and diverse line work of ASBA members, and includes work from new artists alongside​ work by more established artists, things Angell said the project team was hoping to do.

Most pages of the coloring book feature a full-page illustration. Informative passages about each fruit and vegetable are included on each page. Angell wrote the passages with young readers in mind. Through her writing, Angell makes reference to the origin and domestication of each fruit and vegetable so that readers learn about the history of their food. She also includes comments from contributing artists.

Colorful Edibles is truly a coloring book for all ages. Garden teachers will find this activity book to be a helpful teaching tool because it not only explains where familiar fruit and vegetables come from, it touches upon the subjects of botany, history, agriculture and nutrition.

The project team hopes to expand the coloring book format to other books about native plants and wildflowers.

Colorful Edibles is sold by the American Society of Botanical Artists.