A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants

In the tradition of The Botany of Desire and Wicked Plants, a witty and engaging history of the first botanists interwoven with stories of today s extraordinary plants found in the garden and the lab.In Paradise Under Glass, Ruth Kassinger recounted with grace and humor her journey from brown thumb to green, sharing lessons she learned from building a home conservatory in the wake of a devastating personal crisis In A Garden of Marvels, she extends the story Frustrated by plants that fail to thrive, she sets out to understand the basics of botany in order to become a better gardener She retraces the progress of the first botanists who banished myths and misunderstandings and discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, roots choose their food, and hormones make morning glories climb fence posts She also visits modern gardens, farms, and labs to discover the science behind extraordinary plants like one ton pumpkins, a truly black petunia, a biofuel grass that grows twelve feet tall, and the world s only photosynthesizing animal Transferring her insights to her own garden, she nurtures a cocktail tree that bears five kinds of fruit, cures a Buddha s Hand plant with beneficial fungi, and gets a tree to text her when it s thirsty Intertwining personal anecdote, accessible science, and untold history, the ever engaging author takes us on an eye opening journey into her garden and yours. Free Download A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants [ author ] Ruth Kassinger [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr I love this book She teaches while writing in engaging manner 1 More than 85% native plants in the US are perennials.2 KNOX genes orientates stems to grow straight.3 The canopy IOC a tulip poplar will hoist 100 gallons per day..4 A sinker root goes stra...Ruth Kassinger s lovely book about the plants in our lives starts with a murder she describes, in heartbreaking detail, the death of a kumquat tree that she had lovingly cared for From the beginning, I knew I had found a kindred spirit in Kassinger I love plants one of my favorite activities is photographing flowers at the botanic gardens, and I dream about someday having a garden full of food that I can take from the ground to my dinner table Unfortunately, I m most adept at killing Ruth Kassinger s lovely book about the plants in our lives starts with a murder she describes, in heartbreaking detail, the death of a kumquat tree that she had lovingly cared for From the beginning, I knew I had found a kindred spirit in Kassinger I love plants one of my favorite activities is photographing flowers at the botanic gardens, and I dream about someday having a garden full of food that I can take from the ground to my dinner table Unfortunately, I m most adept at killing plants, partly because I m absent minded, partly because I just have no idea what I m doing Actually, if you will excu...Scientific based with history lessons all about our plant world.This book is excellent, it s full of educational knowledge It s perfect for anyone interested in the how s and why s in the science of plants, whether you are a student in botany, horticulture or a plant lover, you will ga...This book has made me seriously consider handing in my resignation and studying botany, biology and genetic engineering It touches on the history of science, evolution, genetic modification as well as great introductions to the work and personalities of the many eccentrics and geniuses that have discovered incredible facts about plants Like the Diversity of Life by E.O Wilson it argues, intentionally or not, why we should care about biodiversity Take the rare shrub, Amborella trichopoda, for This book has made me seriously consider handing in my resignation and studying botany, biology and genetic engineering It touches on the history of science, evolution, genetic modification as well as great introductions to the work and personalities of the many eccentrics and geniuses that have disc...i like gardening as much as the next guy and it seemed like a good idea to find outabout what was happening beneath the soil and in between the leaves, but i found myself over my head the book is well written and at it s best, when the author talks about her everyday garden experiences, plant murdering, etc it s pretty fun, but those passages are trapped by overwhelming science principles, scientist bios, the history of the microscope and botanical stuff that askedfrom me than i i like gardening as much as the next guy and it seemed lik...A mixed bag The history of botany and how scientists gradually figured out how plants eat, live and reproduce is fascinating four stars The botanical information itself is three stars simply because I already know a lot of it The personal anecdotes Kassin...If NPR wrote a book, it might be like this The most technical parts sometimes sent my brain wandering off to think of other things, but then the book would snap me back into focus with unusual or wondrous facts that I knew I could whip out at my next social gathering.Kassinger has done her research, for sure She describes not only the methods and discoveries in the history of botany, but also the personalities and brief biographies of the researchers who made those discoveries She also If NPR wrote a book, it might be like this The most technical parts sometimes sent my brain wandering off to think of other things, but then the book would snap me back into focus with unusual or wondrous facts that I knew I could whip out at my next social gathering.Kassinger has done her research, for sure She describes not only the methods and discoveries in the history of botany, but also the personalities and brief biographies of the researchers who made those discoveries She also relates the often entertaining misconceptions that preceded each discovery In several cases, the newly found truth about how a pl...This astonishing book opened my eyes about the possibilities that exist for our future.The biomass grass that produces so much wood or wood substitute that you can heat your house all winter by devoting just an acre and a half to growing it The next Spring, it regrows from the roots I mentioned this to an aunt, who was disdainful because it was only carbon neutral, drawing CO2 from the air in the Summer but returning it in the Winter Nevertheless, that is still better than pulling fossil This astonishing book opened my eyes about the possibilities that exist for our future.The biomass grass that produces so much wood or wood substitute that you can heat your house all winter by devoting just an acre and a half to growing it The next Spring, it regrows from the roots I mentioned this to an aunt, who was disdainful because it was only carbon neutral, drawing CO2 from the air in the Summer but returning it in the Winter Nevertheless, that is still better than pulling fossil fuels from the ground and adding CO2 with no way of pulling it out again.The existence of perennial forms of wheat and other cereal grains yes, they re harder to harvest, but you don t need to replant them every year, ...Well kind of boring.The theme is interesting but the overall concept was a bit to blah blah blah I admire all the work, investigation and reading necessary to write the book but why does the author write about something she doesn t know and smetimes it looks like she doesn t care much It s too much about anythind Bem, achei o livro aborrecido.O tema interessante mas muita conversa com pouco conte do Admiro todo o trabalho de investiga o necess rio para escrever um livro deste tipo Well kind of boring.The theme is interesting but the overall concept was a bit to blah blah blah I admire all the work, investigation and reading necessary to write the book but why does the author write about something she doesn t know and smetimes it looks like she doesn t care much It s too much about anythind Bem, achei o livro aborrecido.O tema interessante mas muita conversa com pouco conte d...Nice blend of botany and history of botany I actually knew much of this but I m a littlewell read than most on the subject I was less interested the author s stories of her current life and explorations than I was when the figures in the history of botany and I ended up just skimming them on my way to the meat of the matter so to speak.Kind of recommendedto folks...

• English
• 11 April 2019
Ruth Kassinger
• Hardcover
• 416 pages
• 0062048996
• Ruth Kassinger
• A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants