Plants

This book explores the apple's history and the latest debates about the use of agrichemicals, the rise of organic and heirloom orchards, and the hopes and fears of genetic crop modification. Beautifully illustrated with historic and contemporary images, and with a directory of popular and heirloom varieties, Apple is a mouth-watering exploration of this fascinating fruit.

An inspirational and beautifully illustrated book that tells the stories of 80 plants from around the globe. In his follow-up to the bestselling Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori takes another trip across the globe, bringing to life the science of plants by revealing how their worlds are intricately entwined with our own history, culture, and folklore. From...

Australian Rainforest Fruits is a beautifully illustrated field guide that covers 504 of the most common fruiting plants found in Australia's eastern rainforests. It also includes a few species that are rare in the wild but generally well-known. These spectacular plants can be seen from Cape York to Victoria, with some species also found in the Northern Territory, Western Australia,...

Mountains, deserts, and coastlines are home to some of the most interesting plants in the world, and a crevice garden, with its closely packed rocks and free-draining soil media, provides the perfect environment for them. The Crevice Garden offers in-depth guidance on the design, construction, and planting of crevice gardens of all kinds, including those suitable for containers, small gardens,...

This book takes the houseplant look outside by exploring the delights of lush, green, foliage plants that are hardy in the garden. Unlike flowers, which fade, these arresting, often big-leaved plants provide year-round impact. Courtyards and small gardens are the perfect home for them. The sumptuously illustrated A-Z recommends over 100 jungle plants hardy to -20°C (-4°F). Philip Oostenbrink's jungle...

Identify Arizona succulents with this easy-to-use field guide, organised by shape and featuring full-colour photographs and helpful information. Learn about a variety of cactus species in Arizona. With this famous field guide by Nora Bowers, Rick Bowers, and Stan Tekiela, cactus identification is simple and informative. The Cacti of Arizona Field Guide features 50 of the most common and widespread...

Cannabis, one of humanity's first domesticated plants, has been utilised for spiritual, therapeutic, recreational, and even punitive reasons for thousands of years. Humans have excellent practical knowledge of the uses of cannabis, yet limited understanding of its sociocultural consequences, past or present, due to its widespread prohibition. In Cannabis, Chris Duvall explores the cultural history and geography of humanity's most...

Carnation permeates our culture from the wedding bed to the funeral wreath. Derided in Shakespeare as 'nature's bastards', they challenged the tulip as the florist's favourite flower and went on to give their blessing to both a military coup and a Soho nightclub. Spanning the world from the gardens of the Ottoman Empire to the Mothers' Day traditions of America...

Cronin's Key Guide to Australian Wildflowers serves both as a field guide for travellers and a reference book for the home library. It covers more than 590 wildflowers from all parts of the continent. Each species is beautifully illustrated and described in clear, concise language, including details about the leaves, flowers, fruit, flowering season, and habitat. Additionally, there is a...

There is food within 3 metres of your front door. Three generations ago, it was common practice all over the world to collect this wild food; knowledge of what, where, and when to forage was a necessary part of daily life. We still had lived experience of harvesting wild food with our own hands. However, with the advent of supermarket...

The extraordinary palm: diverse, prolific, essential, symbolic, and often sacred, exotic—and at times erotic—exploited and controversial. The signature plant of the tropics and subtropics, these record-breaking botanicals produce the world's biggest and heaviest seed, the longest leaf, and the longest stem. Over thousands of years, palms sustained rainforest communities and were bound up with the development of ancient civilisations. They...

More than 60,000 species of trees are found in an amazing variety of forms, sizes and habitats. Every tree has its own story, and here are over 60, selected for their particular resonance and connection with humankind, representing most of the world's major zones and ecologies. In portraits that combine vivid cultural and historical narrative with a firm scientific grounding,...

Although we tend to think of our cities as concrete jungles, our post-new urban environment is awash in plant life. Wild urban plants have taken root along roadsides and chain-link fences, between cracks of pavement, and within vacant lots, rubble dumps, and highway medians. Spontaneously propagating, these resilient plants find distinctive niches to thrive in and inhabit our most derelict...

Produced in association with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, this collection of 40 orchids tells the many intriguing stories of this beguiling plant. It is enhanced with botanical illustrations by the great orchid artists, 40 of which have also been selected to be included as prints and presented in a handsome collector's box. Captivating, beautiful, incredibly diverse and often elusive, orchids...

The Sydney district is one of the great wildflower regions of the world, with over 1500 species occurring within an hour's drive of the city centre. Wildflowers of Sydney by Alan Fairley is a field guide containing 268 of the more common species or those with striking attributes. Each page is devoted to a single plant, offering a full-colour photograph...

When and how did we humans lose our connection with nature, and how do we find it again? Matthew Yeomans seeks to answer these questions as he walks more than 300 miles through the ancient and modern forests of Wales, losing himself in their stories (and on the odd unexpected diversion, too). Return to My Trees weaves together history and...

A beautiful and comprehensive handbook covering everything you need to know to grow plants in pots all year round, no matter how small or large your space. Pots includes top tips on how to plan and prepare your containers, a directory of plants to dip into, and pro advice on achieving year-round interest and structure. The guide also includes winning...

As a wildflower enthusiast and keen amateur botanist, Arthur Bennett aims to capture, and convey to a wider audience, the pleasure that can be had from observing wildflowers. Immigrating to New Zealand almost 60 years ago, Bennett admits that, although he has put down roots and acclimatised, he will never be regarded as a native. He finds a parallel in...