Flora : inside the secret world of plants

I didn’t expect to like “Flora: Inside the Secret World of Plants.” Publications from big institutions (in this case the Smithsonian and Kew Gardens) can be ponderous. At first glance, it looks like an overblown coffee table book. Lovely photos, but – yawn – not much interesting content.

I was wrong. I recommend this to every gardener. Start with the Table of Contents – pedantic advice, yes, but seeing the layout helps you understand the book’s flow. First, it answers the question, what is a plant?

The rest is very systematic, starting from the ground up with roots, moving along the stems and branches to the leaves and flowers, and finally seeds and fruits. It makes a lot of sense to read this in order.

The publisher is DK, well known for books with strong graphic design and as expected, the illustrations are excellent and enhance the text. The individual concepts are brief, easy bites, but as you read, you’ll pick up all sorts of knowledge about the plants you love that will inform your gardening. Along the way, too, there are brief bios of the people of plants – the botanists, the gardeners, the illustrators. It’s a surprisingly complete package.

Excerpted from the June 2019 Leaflet Volume 6, Issue 6