Palace of Palms: Tropical dreams and the making of Kew by Kate Teltscher 2020. Picador. The UK’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew near London are famed as much for the buildings and grounds, as the ground-breaking, world...
Category - Reviews
Nigel Chaffey
Much more than juniper – the botany of gin
The Botany of Gin, by Chris Thorogood and Simon Hiscock 2020. Bodleian Library. As one who ‘appreciates’ a well-proportioned gin & tonic, and having previously read Just the Tonic by Kim Walker & Mark Nesbitt, I...
“Conservation – success or failure – is cultural”
Framing Nature: conservation and culture by Laurence Rose 2020. Gritstone Publishing. A gentle reminder that this is a botany blog and whilst the reviewed book focuses on conserving animals it explores the relationships...
Juniper Kiss
Seaweeds, lichens and phytoplankton, what’s not to like..?
Rocky Shores, by John Archer–Thompson and Julian Cremona 2019. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. “Rocky shores are one of the most extreme environments on the planet.” [Anon.] This is a BOTANY blog site! OK, let’s...
An author spins a black cloud of depression into gold
A diary written during depression explores the healing power of nature.
Alun Salt
Running rings around world history
Tree story: The history of the world written in rings, by Valerie Trouet 2020. Johns Hopkins University Press What links the following: That (in)famous ‘hockey stick graph’ which showed that Earth’s temperature...
The refreshing tale of gin-and-tonic (well, half of it…)
Just the tonic, by Kim Walker and Mark Nesbitt 2019. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. What is: carbonated water, citric acid, sodium citrate, natural quinine, and aspartame? That is the declared list of ingredients in a can...
Tales of tea, still stirring emotions in 2020
Tea leaves might not predict the future, but they have a powerful connection to our past.
How do plants work?
Beauty is more than skin deep in this book explaining how plants function.
Mankind and the magnificent mulberry; a plants-and-people tale
Mulberry by Peter Coles 2019. Reaktion Books Ltd. Arguably, the only thing you need to know about Mulberry by Peter Coles is that it’s a title in Reaktion Books’ Botanical series. Anyone who’s read my book appraisals...
The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson
(or Gardening to Save the Planet) On my every growing to-do list is create a wildlife-friendly garden, should I ever move house and have a garden. That’s not happening any time soon, but if you do have a garden...
When plants go to war!
Plants go to war: A botanical history of World War II by Judith Sumner, 2019. McFarland & Co. Lest there be any doubt at the outset, this blog item is an appraisal of a book that looks at the role of plants in...
