"For green-fingered enthusiasts seeking advice on how to look after their leafy companions, there are plenty of titles on hand to guide them through plant parenthood. None of them, however, resemble Vanlige Potteplanter (Common Houseplants), a new title from Oslo-based publisher Ljå Forlag with unconventional plant portraiture from photographer Thomas Ekström. Its pages are filled with advice on how to care for 24 of the most common houseplants, accompanied by Ekström’s shots of everything from a red- flowering hibiscus perched on top of a lavatory to a jungly mass of greenery tumbling out of a car window. “We wanted to create something that was a mix between an art book and a cookbook for plants,” says Ekström.The book was designed by Jørn Aagaard, a frequent Ljå Forlag collaborator. “He’s a good friend of ours and we pretty much gave him free reign to design it as he liked,” says Ivar Kvaal, one half of the duo behind Ljå Forlag. “We wanted the book to appeal to a slightly different group than those who might normally buy a book about plants,” says Kvaal. “So we took the visual language of an artist to create a non-fiction book.” The result? A title that’s perfect for leafing through. Just remember to wash the potting mix off your hands before you crack the spine." — Monocle, 10.11.2021

2021