Showing titles in Botany & Plants

Trouet, a leading tree-ring scientist, takes us out into the field, from remote African villages to radioactive Russian forests, offering listeners an insider's look at tree-ring research, a discipline formally known as dendrochronology. Tracing her own professional journey while exploring dendrochronology's history and applications, Trouet describes the basics of how tell-tale tree cores are collected and dated with ring-by-ring precision, explaining the unexpected and momentous insights we've gained from the resulting samples. 

Unearthed is the story of how Claire Ratinon found belonging through falling in love with growing plants. For years, her troubled relationship with the land of her birth left her feeling unwanted, but reconnecting with nature allowed her finally to put down roots. Like many diasporic people of colour, Claire grew up feeling cut off from the natural world. She lived in cities, and stuck with the belief that success and status could fill the space where belonging was absent. Through learning the practise of growing food, she unpicked her beliefs about who she ought to be.

Over seven billion people depend on plants for healthy, productive, secure lives, but few of us stop to consider the origin of the plant kingdom that turned the world green and made our lives possible. And as the human population continues to escalate, our survival depends on how we treat the plant kingdom and the soils that sustain it. Understanding the evolutionary history of our land floras, the story of how plant life emerged from water and conquered the continents to dominate the planet, is fundamental to our own existence.

The organic grower's guide to planting, propagation, culture, and ecology. Trees are our allies in healing the world. Partnering with trees allows us to build soil, enhance biodiversity, increase wildlife populations, grow food and medicine, and pull carbon out of the atmosphere, sequestering it in the soil. Author Akiva Silver is an enthusiastic tree grower with years of experience running his own commercial nursery. In this audiobook, he clearly explains the most important concepts necessary for success with perennial woody plants.

Bloomsbury presents One Thousand Shades of Green written and read by Mike Dilger. ‘A cracking read.’ IOLO WILLIAMS ‘What an incredible achievement!’ ALISON STEADMAN ‘An inspirational odyssey.’ NICK BAKER 'Immediately accessible.' BBC COUNTRYFILE Mike Dilger's nationwide quest to find...

When most people hear the word “fungi,” they think of mushrooms — the whimsical toadstools that pop up after rain, the champignons in our kitchens, or the button mushrooms scattered on a pizza. But mushrooms are only the tip of the iceberg. The true world of fungi is vast, hidden, and endlessly fascinating. These organisms represent one of life’s great kingdoms, existing alongside plants and animals yet fundamentally different from both.

As plants see it, humans are not the masters of the Earth but only one of its most unpleasant and irksome residents. They have been on the planet for only about 300,000 years ago (nothing compared to the three billon years of plant evolution) yet have changed the conditions of the planet so drastically as to make it a dangerous place for their own survival. It's time for the plants to offer advice. 

Have you ever wondered why the leaves of the Swiss cheese plant have holes? How aloe vera came to be harnessed as a medicinal powerhouse? Or why—despite your best efforts—you can’t keep your Venus flytrap alive? You are not alone: houseplant expert Jane Perrone has asked herself those very questions, and in Legends of the Leaf she digs deep beneath the surface to reveal the answers.

Brought to you by Penguin. The half a million species of plant alive today are a mere 3% of the vast number of plant species ever to have existed. All share a single common origin: the first plant-like algae to wash up on land 484 million years ago. Through the stories of sixteen plant families...

Oliver Sacks, the bestselling author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, is most famous for his studies of the human mind: insightful and beautifully characterized portraits of those experiencing complex neurological conditions. However, he has another scientific passion...

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Discover the joy of houseplant care with this welcoming and practical guide filled with no-nonsense tips and encouraging advice from plant expert and content creator Tanner Mitchell a.k.a. Tanner The Planter. Caring for plants can be a meditative practice, even a form...

Flowers have been depicted as objects of beauty and wonder in countless paintings and poems, exchanged as tokens of love and affection, and displayed as symbols of both celebration and remembrance - "saying it with flowers" is truly part of the human experience. But how does the significance of flowers vary across cultures and at different points in history? And what makes certain flowers special?

All around us are plants and herbs that can be used to improve our wellbeing and encourage a more nature-focused approach to health. Steeped in history, the herbalist's art paved the way for modern science - but didn't necessarily need to have been replaced by it. In The Time Traveller's Herbal, the traditional remedies and recipes that were passed down through the ages are offered to the modern listener as a means to reconnect with the natural world, while reaping the benefits.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery “Finding the Mother Tree reminds us that the world...

The uplifting, adventure-filled memoir of one groundbreaking scientist’s quest to develop new ways to fight illness and disease through the healing powers of plants. “A fascinating and deeply personal journey.” ­—Amy Stewart, author of Wicked Plants and The Drunken Botanist Traveling by...

Summer Rayne Oakes, an urban houseplant expert and environmental scientist, is the icon of wellness-minded millennials who want to bring nature indoors, according to a New York Times profile. Summer has managed to grow 1,000 houseplants in her Brooklyn apartment (and they're thriving!) Her...

Celtic Hedge Witchery delves into the secret liminal space exemplified by the English hedgerows and expands the listener's understanding of how to truly embody the witchcraft life. Joey Morris reaches out across the spiritual ecosystem to teach ideas and methods of the hedgerow. Listeners learn how to connect to their natural witchcraft, find the sacred landscape within themselves, and commune and benefit from working with spirits. Spell work, recipes, meditative guides, and evocative poetry guide the listener in connecting with the Celtic gods and in crossing the hedge into the Otherworld.

Turning your gardening passion into a prolific business doesn’t have to be rocket science. We’ll teach you everything about how to grow lavender for profit. If you decided to turn your gardening passion, congratulations! Lavender is the best place to start. While the plant thanks you with its alluring fragrance for nurturing it, it is virtually every industry’s favorite, making it one of the most profitable plants to grow. This lovely member of the mint family will make itself desirable fresh or dried, in soap, incense, or potpourri.

‘After I finished this book I alarmed my family by going into the garden and climbing the apple tree.’ – Damian Whitworth, The Times ‘One of the publishing sensations of the year … For anyone who has ever felt a little overwhelmed in a big city, or wanted to step out of the rat race...

Acclaimed nature writer Susan Hand Shetterly opens a window into the world of this fascinating organism by providing an elegant, often poetic, look at life on the rugged shore of the Gulf of Maine. Shetterly offers a close look at the life cycle of seaweed and introduces us to the men and women who farm and harvest it - and their increasingly difficult task of protecting this critical natural resource against forces both natural and man-made.