A nice introduction to growing succulents, mainly as indoor plants. Misa Matsuyama provides useful tips on repotting, propagating, and displaying succulents. I was particularly fond of her tip on how to remove cleanly a large withered leaf from a rosette-shaped succulent by cutting it lengthwise. I tried this on a stubborn leaf on my aloe vera and it worked very well! Less useful are the monthly growing tips, as these are going to vary depending on your local climate. For example, I live in a much drier climate than Japan, so Matsuyama's tips on avoiding summer humidity were not relevant to me at all.

I liked how Matsuyama organized the plants by genus, so that readers can see how similar species need similar care, although I wish she labelled the photos of individual species. As a bonus, the photos in this book are excellent and all of the plants appear to be especially healthy, attractive, and well cared for. ( )