How Not to Kill Your Houseplants: The Foolproof Guide to Lush, Healthy Plants

Accenting the negative, Pregosin delivers emphatic don'ts in her entertaining, dependable guide. Owner of Village Green, a garden shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., the author advises: don't fall for bargain plants at supermarkets or specimens hawked by street vendors; don't buy the wrong plant (for you); don't give your choices too much or too little food or water; don't suffer their enemies to live, etc. Accompanying the prohibitions are data on evidence of mishandling and instruction on breaking bad plant-care habits. The last words sum up: ""How not to pay big money for a big mistake.'' Pictures not seen by PW. (May)