Since launching his TikTok account in December 2019, Marcus Bridgewater, known as Garden Marcus, has been compared to Bob Ross and Mister Rogers for the genuine warmth, compassion, and enthusiasm he conveys. His unique approach to botany and humanity combines with content grounded in plant care as a metaphor for personal growth, which has garnered praise and a huge audience. 

Whether his audience finds solace in his daily doses of wisdom, or simply enjoy his how-to guides caring for plants, Marcus Bridgewater creates a space for us all to grow and reflect in his debut book, How to Grow: Nurture Your Garden, Nurture Yourself.  In the book he focuses on a trinity of wellbeing—mental health, physical fitness, and spiritual awareness—and weaves together stories of his life, starting with the first lesson he learned from tending his grandmother’s garden in his youth: “…that growth cannot be forced, only fostered.” Throughout, Marcus reflects on his own development while providing readers with tools to look inwardly on their own growth, and maximize their own potential for kindness, patience, and positivity.

How to Grow isn’t a gardening book, rather a self-help book that draws inspiration from the garden. Original, timely, and filled with nurturing wisdom, it takes perennial knowledge from the plant world to teach us about ourselves and opens our eyes to what we can achieve.