Once upon a Windowsill: A History of Indoor Plants

by Tovah Martin

We have grown so accustomed to sharing our houses with plants that it may be surprising to learn that it was only in the last century that plants began to move indoors. The story of how this came to pass is an engrossing and complex one, involving many separate the horticultural explosion of the Victorian period, stimulated by the plant hunters of the golden age, changing styles of architecture, new techniques of heating and lighting, the cultural values implicit in home design and decoration, and the changing role of women. Tovah Martin weaves these strands together in a chronological account of the introduction of houseplants in America, starting with the first bulbs brought indoors for forcing, through the successive introductions of ever more exotic plant materials, including the proliferation of ferns. It is a story equally rich in plant lore and insights into American culture. Once Upon a Windowsill is one of those books that manage, through a perceptiv

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1989

Reviews

[Suzy Kopf · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be totally honest, I skimmed this book and read the relevant aspects for research over a couple days. I think if I read it earlier in my study of houseplants it would have had more impact but there's great information and history here. I also appreciated the author's conversational style and it was fun imagining someone obsessed with Victorians writing about them with some of the language of the 1960s/70s-- memorably the phrase "helter skelter" is used to describe a Victorian parlor, haha.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most misogynistic books I have happily endured - found myself laughing out loud at the dripping celebratory text on, among other things, American botanical 'innovations' and inspirations from... Europe. A 101 on the cults of domesticity, femininity, Orientalism, capitalist profiteering and modifications of built environments that brought the appropriated wealth of the tropics 'home.'

[Sarah Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if this was a possible text book for a horticulture class or what, but it definitely read like one. Martin does a great job going through the history of house plants in the home as well how they found their way to Europe and North America.