Customer Reviews:
Delightful.......2005-06-21
This book is a joy-containing not only the facts about the Medieval herbs and plants-but also charming references to the amazing character of Cadfael.
Don't be put off by negative comments-this book's a gem.
Cadfael's pictures.......2002-04-04
This is most useful as a guide to Elis Peters' novels. The index of plants is oriented toward the fictional Cadfael and his uses, rather than to mediaval practice.
The pictures are coffee table book quality.
A must for gardeners who are Brother Cadfael fans, or Cadfael fans who are gardeners, but not a serious work.
Medieval Plants and Brother Cadfael.......2000-08-17
Not only is this gorgeous books with excellent pictures of plants, it shows a deep insight into Brother Cadfael's herbarium and his respect for plants. I loved the excerpts from the many Brother Cadfael books. I would have liked to have seen a bit more on the layout of Brother Cadfael's garden and perhaps some recipes and potions. Still the authors produced a beautiful book at a reasonable price with the pages crammed with in-depth information on herbs.
Misleading Title.......1999-08-26
I believe that this book is much more of a picture book than anything else. Within the text, it describes Brother Cadfeal more than it does his gardens or how he planned them or used them. This book is nicely done but it is not worth the price if you are looking for a comprehensive reference for how to grow and use herbs. Please look somewhere else. There are many out there which hold better information.
It is a wonderful and informitive book on herbs........1999-03-08
This book was very informitive on the uses of herbs for medicines in the Middle Ages. I happen to be a fan of Cadfael and thought the pictures were wonderful. I had been doing a project on medical herbs in the Middle Ages and it was my best resource.
Average customer rating:
- Gorgeous book for the botanical art lover
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The Rose: An Illustrated History
Peter Harkness
Manufacturer: Firefly Books
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Roses: A Celebration
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In Search of Lost Roses
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Flora: An Illustrated History of the Garden Flower
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Fruit: An Illustrated History
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Graham Stuart Thomas Rose Book
ASIN: 1552977870 |
Book Description
A spectacularly illustrated reference.
Roses are valued for many reasons including beauty, symbolism, fragrance, and history.
The Rose tells the fascinating story of this treasured flower accompanied by lively text and sumptuous full color illustrations. The book is divided into three sections: Roses of Nature, Roses of History and Roses by Design. Each section traces the links that tie the wild roses of nature to the earliest roses of civilization. It also explodes a few myths along the way and tells how the tireless efforts of horticulturists from many nations have brought into being the full-petalled beauties of today.
The captivating archival illustrations are from the Royal Horticultural Society's collection, home to one of the world's finest archives of horticultural art. This spectacular collection of roses of every description is certain to capture the hearts of gardeners and art lovers alike.
Customer Reviews:
Gorgeous book for the botanical art lover.......2005-04-19
This large coffee-table book features beautiful rose illustations, many never seen before, from the archives of the Royal Horticultural Society. The artists include John Lindley, Alfred Parsons, Mary Lawrence and of course probably the most famous rose artist of all time, Pierre Joseph Redoute. The author also includes an introduction to the history of rose cultivation, from 5000 years ago in China when species roses were grown and he discusses how these roses were used by present day hybridizers to create our modern-day roses. Many of these roses' history have been unknown but recent DNA analysis has helped solve the mysteries of their heritage. Highly informative or just beautiful to look at, this is a beautiful book.
Book Description
Did you know that the smell of sassafras blowing offshore convinced Columbus he was near land? Or that the American sycamore, which has the largest tree trunk in the eastern forest, can live for 500 to 600 years? Or that in the period before the American Revolution, patriots designated a sycamore tree in each colony as a "Liberty Tree" -- a meeting place for plotting against the British?
These facts are just a few of thousands you'll find inBotanica North America, an encyclopedia of the wonderfully diverse North American native plants by noted Canadian garden writer Marjorie Harris. This charming compendium is filled with more than 420 entries that provide essential information on each plant's physical attributes, natural history, common uses, and ethnobotany. There are also fascinating, often surprising anecdotes about plants you won't find anywhere else. From the Eastern forest to the desert, this beautifully written volume roves across the continent exploring how climate and plant life have affected, aided, and inspired us, from the first Native Americans to North Americans living in the twenty-first century: "The lonely majesty of a wind-swept jack pine has inspired generations of poets and painters," Harris writes. "These trees endure in spite of terrible weather . . . a jack pine forest has a dense, closed canopy with an understory of cherry, blueberry, hazels, bracken, and sweet fern along with trailing arbutus."
Comprehensive and engaging, Botanica North America is also filled with lush photographs of plants in their natural habitat and insightful quotes from a variety of gardening experts and amateurs, from naturalist Rachel Carson to famed conservationist John Muir.
Here is a reference no gardener or environmentalist should be without.
Customer Reviews:
A Delight in Every Way!.......2007-01-25
I am usually not impressed by "coffee table" books, but a few are much more than just pretty pictures. "Botanica North America" is just such a book. Well written by Canadian horticulturalist Marjorie Harris and lavishly illustrated with color photographs this is a delightful compendium of North American plant science and lore. The chapters are arranged primarily by region (with a few digressions) and a final chapter on the "Three Sisters"- Corn, beans and squash, plus a few other North American food plants. Each entry is readable independently of the others and each has some gems of information, plus occasional informed opinion by the author. None of the entries are dull in any way! In my examination I could find no major typos and almost every statement I checked out seemed to be accurate.
This is not in any way a guide for identification, but it is a delight to read and peruse! I recommend it to all people interested in botany and/or gardening. It is well worth the price.
A Delight for the Natural Historian.......2005-08-24
This book is a delightful ramble through a selection from the world of economically, historically, and medicinally important plants. As does a preceding reviewer, I dip into it frequently just for pleasure and to increase my general knowledge of how these plants have been useful to others, especially the indigenous population. It is NOT a guide to cultivation (William Cullina's wonderful pair of books on native plants offer that), or identification (Britton and Brown remains supreme), but a well-written survey of carefully chosen plants with interesting attributes other than their beauty, ease of cultivation or commercial availability. It's a book written by a plant lover for other plant lovers.
A Fitting Tribute to Our Native Plants.......2003-12-19
Botanica North America is a hefty tome at a little over 650 pages (and I?m guessing over 5 pounds), but the necessity of such a length is explained by the subtitle. Indeed, it would seem an overwhelming task to encapsulate in a book the history, botany, and traditional uses of North America?s native plants. Who would even dare try? We can thank Marjorie Harris.
For this comprehensive volume, this prolific and admired Canadian author sought information and opinions from hundreds of experts throughout North America. The acknowledgments alone are over three, packed pages long, so we know that Harris consulted thousands of knowledgeable individuals, and she collected photographs from among the most talented artists on the continent.
Throughout the book, Harris conveys a reverence for our natural world and the plants that inhabit it. She writes with an ecologist?s view, noting that ?If the point of this book is to honor native plants, it is also to honor their history, the secrets they have shared, the role they have played and must continue to play in the survival of our species. . . . We are the stewards of this land and if we do our best . . . to save as much of their habitat as possible, then we will be giving these plants the respect they deserve.?
To organize such a daunting task, Harris divided North America into the following regions: the Eastern Forests (covering the Northeast and Southeast); Swamps and Wetlands; Florida; The Boreal Forest; The Prairie; The Desert; California; Montane; The Tall Trees; and The Tundra.
The profile of each region begins with several pages of overview that introduce each area and capture its essence. Then Harris concentrates on the plants that are critical to the region and have been historically important to the human inhabitants. She organizes the plants by family, and each species she highlights is described through its botanical structure, ethnobotany, and natural history.
One feature I especially appreciate is this book?s ?browsability.? I can pick it up just to admire the photos if I wish. Or I can thumb through, picking up captivating quotes by nature writers and early explorers, from William Bartram to Walt Whitman. Or I can browse the plant descriptions, learning fascinating tidbits of information. I have always wondered why the blooms of bluebells turn from pink to blue as they mature ? now I know. And I learned that Native Americans used the dogwood as an ?indicator plant,? timing their planting of corn to the blooming of the tree.
I look forward to learning more about the secrets and history of our native plants as I continue to explore this extensively researched book. Botanica North America will not get stored on my bookshelf; rather it will stay at my fingertips, always ready to supply me with information or inspiration.
Botanica... Beautiful but not the most comprehensive.......2003-12-18
I bought Marjorie Harris' Botanica after reading gardening magazine reviews that this was the most comprehensive volume on native plants ever assembled. However I've already found about 6 native plants that I have that aren't listed and I'm sure there will be more as I make my way through the huge volume. That aside, the photography is very nice and the plant descriptions are thorough and informative. I especially liked how each of these plants were used by native peoples was included. This is definitely a keeper on my shelf but will be used as a companion with other books, rather than being the complete, one and only volume on native plants it claims to be.
Native plants in their glory.......2003-11-24
This book is a departure for Canada?s best-known garden writer. The reviews I?ve read tend to give the impression that it is a gardening book, but it?s more of a venture into history, geography, botany and enthobotany, than horticulture. Information that gardeners depend on, such as hardiness zones of plants, isn?t there, but that doesn?t mean gardeners won?t be fascinated by this extensive exploration of North American native plants.
The book offers photos and the stories of more than 420 plants?trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants?that grew in North America before Europeans arrived. The plants were selected because they are or were in some way valuable or important to people, whether native peoples or European settlers. At more than 650 pages, the book is extensive (it would have taken several volumes to encompass all the important plants). Still, there are some surprising omissions, for example, hickory, bitternut and pecan are included in the juglandaceae, but the ubiquitous black walnut isn?t.
Organized geographically, the book ranges from the eastern forests to Florida, from the boreal forest to the prairies, the southern deserts to California and the Pacific Northwest. The northern tundra is included, as well as a chapter on the ?three sisters?, the agricultural plants aboriginal peoples cultivated, corn, squash and beans.
Lush photographs accompany many of the entries, which provide essential information on each plant?s attributes and historical uses. Harris includes stories and quotations from early European plant enthusiasts who often courted hardship and danger to learn as much as they could about the new plants they were encountering. Many compelling stories come from these early observers and amateur botanists. Unfortunately, the publisher chose only to index plant names (common and botanical), and not the names of people. For example, I was hoping to find reference to Catharine Parr Traill, the sister of Susanna Moody (of Roughing it in the Bush fame), and the author of Canadian Wild Flowers (1868). As early as the mid-nineteenth century, Parr Traill regretted the almost wholesale destruction of the Canadian wilderness and its plants due to the onslaught of farmers clearing the land for crops and loggers harvesting timbers to ship to eager markets in Europe. Parr Traill is, in fact, quoted several times, but you won?t find her name in the index. Notes for each chapter do detail sources, but an alphabetical index would have made these names so much easier to find.
Botanica North America isn?t a book you can read from cover to cover quickly?instead it?s one to keep on the coffee table or at the bedside table to savor and dip into over many weeks. Harris brings to our attention the enormous variability and richness of the North American landscape. One can?t help but come away with a sense of regret over how much was destroyed, both deliberately and by accident (and still is being ruined today as suburban sprawl continues to eat up the landscape). Fortunately, awareness of native plants is on the upswing, and this book certainly marks a welcome contribution to the current revival of interest in these magnificent and under appreciated plants. Bravo, Marjorie Harris!
Book Description
With stunning illustrations from the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library collection and concise text by Royal Horticultural Society archivist Dr. Brent Elliott,
Flora tell the fascinating story of the worldwide botanical exploration undertaken over the past 500 years.
Founded in 1804, the RHS led the way in sending collectors around the world in search of new floral species, fostering the domestic cultivation of the garden flowers we know and love today. In the process the RHS has built an unrivaled collection of stunning artworks and rare books covering five centuries of plant history. The Society's Lindley Library is one of the world's finest horticulture archives, containing more than 250,000 paintings, illustrations and rare books.
The illustrations in
Flora, many by the great names in botanical art, are notable not only for their historical value in charting the development of garden flowers, but also for their indisputable beauty and artistic merit.
Flora is divided into six geographical sections: Europe; Middle East; Southern & Tropical Africa; Australasia & The Pacific; The Americas; and Asia. Biographies of the botanists and artists are also included.
The history of botanical illustration is long and broad. Today, the art is undergoing a renaissance: botanical illustrations are found on everything from greeting cards to wallpaper to expensive original artworks. This spectacular collection of Royal Horticultural Society illustrations will capture the attention of gardeners and art lovers alike.
Average customer rating:
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Gardens of the Hudson River Valley: An Illustrated Guide
Ogden Tanner
Manufacturer: Harry N Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0810926431 |
Customer Reviews:
Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest by E.N. Kozloff.......2000-04-01
This is the best PNW plant and animal identification book on the market (and I have lot of such i.d. books). Lots of really good color pictures and detailed b/w's. Informative text on life history/cycles. Good index and well-organized. Great for helping children get going on school projects (the Latin names are there, but the text is plain English, flows well, and provides information that interests ordinary persons of all ages who enjoy the out-of-doors). Would make a nice gift for someone new to the area or otherwise interested in the topic.
What a beautiful book!.......1999-12-13
I fell in love with wild plants at the tender age of 11 when I went to camp with my 5th grade class. We did plant identification and I became intrigued by all the wonderful plants in the NW. WHen I got home I poured through my mom's copy of this book. I had been seeing it on our coffee table since I was like a tot! I fell in love with plants. This book has beautiful color pics of all kinds of wonderful plants and animals. It's awesome!
Book Description
A visual feast of stunning illustrations and authoritative text.
Fruit appears in art, mythology, and nearly every religious belief. The uses of fruit are varied: for food, drink, paint pigment, decoration, and medicine. The cultivation of fruit encouraged the development of plant propagation methods, grafting, hybridization, and selective breeding to produce ever improved varieties.
In this book Blackburne-Maze challenges myths such as the story of Johnny Appleseed whose real name was John Chapman. The fable that he indiscriminately scattered seeds is admittedly the worst way to propagate fruit trees. In truth he established a chain of successful apple nurseries that stretched from Pennsylvania to Indiana.
Fruit is illustrated with 300 large, striking and superbly reproduced color illustrations from the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society. Created by the finest botanical artists, these graceful illustrations are notable for their historical value in chronicling the evolution of fruit and as masterpieces in their own right. Included are varieties of fruit now extinct or no longer in widespread cultivation.
The book is organized into the 4 major fruit groups and covers 61 varieties:
Pome (apples, pears, etc.)
Stone (plum, cherry, peach, etc.)
Berry (currant, blueberry, etc.)
Exotic (fig, citrus, olive, almond, etc.)
A companion volume to the critically acclaimed and extremely popular, Flora, this book will appeal to gardeners, art lovers, and food connoisseurs.
Customer Reviews:
What a treat!!.......2003-11-18
Fruit, An Illustrated History is one of those books you *really* want to have around as winter kicks in, especially if youÕre a gardener (or artist). There is no better way to spend a cold gray afternoon than reading this fascinating history, and taking in this stunning collection of botanical illustrations from different eras. The price is very reasonable for the wealth of information and the quality of the artwork. Excellent book!
Customer Reviews:
A must for anyone interested in gardening or history!.......1999-08-16
To truly understand something you have to dig into its past. An Illustrated History of Gardening gives gardeners a glimpse into how gardens have impacted civilization and how little of our art is new. When in the garden I have a better connection with those who came before me. Lots of historical illustrations, great for anyone creating a period garden. Also discusses the tools of the gardener, most of my most dependable tools have been designed by ancient civilizations. Also gives ground to what all gardeners know, gardening is essential to civilization.
Average customer rating:
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An Illustrated Reference to Garden Plants of the World: Over 4,250 of the World's Most Popular Plants
Don Ellison
Manufacturer: New Holland
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1843303132 |
Book Description
With more than 4,250 entries photographed in close-up and alphabetized for quick identification, this is the most exceptional guide to trees, shrubs, and climbers. All listings include country of origin, climatic preference, planting use, and propagation methods. Under each genus, its most relevant species appear, with common names, characteristics, and growth habits.
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