Books for Plant Lovers

Stolen Tea

| Flower Roberts

When my gardens go dormant, I turn to my books to keep me occupied. Many of my books are about plants.

For All the Tea in China by Sarah Rose is an excellent account of Robert Fortune’s adventures, undercover, as he infiltrated the Chinese tea trade and stole its secrets and thousands of plants and seeds.

The secret to his success was the use of Wardian Cases to keep the seeds and seedlings alive on the long journey from China to India. These little greenhouses were crucial to his success in maintaining the health of his stolen crop.

Robert Fortune also spied on the picking and processing of the tea leaves. He even discovered that the Chinese were adding poisons to their tea to make it look green. This revelation eventually gave the new crops in India an extra advantage in the minds of the British consumers.

Robert Fortune brought back many other plants and treasures from his years in China. His espionage assignments in China left him both rich and famous.

Sarah Rose did an excellent job of covering the tale of tea. This book gets a 10!

FLOWER

I Wish I Was Mee

| Flower Roberts

I have been too sickly to go out into the garden this week,

instead I traveled down the Amazon with Margaret Mee and her friend Rita.

I would have been terrified running the rapids in a dugout canoe,

if I had not been safely tucked in my bed while doing it.

Not only is she adventurous, she is also an artist.

Her botanical watercolors are famous for their beauty as well as accuracy.

Margaret Mee gets placed on my hero list with Marianne North and Beatrix Potter.

I was almost glad to be sick, so that I could float and forage through the jungles.

Almost..

FLOW

Inside a Book

| Flower Roberts

It’s warm and dry inside a book.

I have a winter stash that I only allow myself to look at when the weather is bad.

It is raining again today. Hooray!

I finally get to enjoy the two books my friend Joyce gave me in June.

IMG_4629

They are Flora Forager books. Both by the brilliant Bridget Beth Collins.

IMG_4638

She does magic with flower and plant pieces.

Some of her art is mosaic pictures.

IMG_4637

Some are replicas of famous paintings.

IMG_4633

Many are mandalas made of natural materials.

IMG_4634

The seasonal journal has plenty of room

to write that poetry I have been putting off putting down.

IMG_4635

I plan to lose myself in these books on this dreary day.

Oh look. There I am now!

IMG_4632

FLOW

 

My Hero, Marianne North

| Flower Roberts

My dreams are to be an artist and a plant hunter.

So, it is only fitting that I stumbled across this book in the middle of the night.

When I can’t sleep I do one of two things.

I play the app game, “Name That Bird” or I search through sample books on my Nook.

Who could resist this cover page?

img_8317

After reading a sample of Marianne’s adventures, I was hooked.

She was an artistic, female version of Charles Darwin, another hero of mine.   The two knew each other!

img_8324

I then ordered the Nook book Abundant Beauty.   No hard copies available on-line.

Her earlier book, Recollections of a Happy Life, is free as an e-book.

img_8330

The paperback book, Marianne North: A Very Intrepid Painter, by Michelle Payne can be purchased.

img_8321

Marianne traveled around the world in the 1800’s painting exotic plants, flowers, fruits, insects, birds and animals.

img_8325img_8328

She also painted landscapes.

img_8327

When she returned home, she donated a building in Kew Gardens to house all her paintings.

img_8322

She wanted to include a snack bar (tea room) but they wouldn’t allow that.

What an adventurous and talented woman, who was way ahead of her time.

img_8329

 

FLOWER

 

 

 

 

Hot Out? Stay In.

| Flower Roberts

July is brutal in North Carolina.

I have been out today working on two different posts.

I  just can’t stand the thought of another shower before my afternoon appointment.

So I plan to look over a new book I discovered via my Nook.

I check out samples of e-books.  If I like them, I then order the paper version.

My latest gardening book is A Gardener’s Latin by Richard Bird.

IMG_1937

I have learned a lot of Latin over the years as a scientist, but this one breaks it down for gardeners.

This is a lovely book that is hardback and a good size for carrying around.

It is sectioned by groupings such as prefixes and suffixes, places, textures, habitats, colors, shapes…

IMG_1938

Did you know that roseus, ruber, rubens, rufus, russatus and sanguineus all refer to various shades of red?

IMG_1942

The illustrations on each page are colorful and delightful.

IMG_1941

I plan to take this little treasure with me to my appointment.

No use sitting around looking at old magazines.

Read with the FLOWER.

 

 

 

 

 

Rainy Day Read

| Flower Roberts

I love plants. I love books. I love books about plants. I love paintings and drawings of plants.

So…. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

The Plant Hunters by Carolyn Fry is the most beautiful book I have ever owned. It comes in a sleeve to protect the many lovely documents inside.

IMG_7599

I just opened it this morning for the first time.

Every page has beautiful illustrations.

IMG_7598

If that isn’t enough, there are envelopes throughout the book containing copies of historic maps and documents.

IMG_7592

These explorers were like “Indiana Jones” characters hunting for green treasure instead of gold.

I am so happy to be going on an indoor adventure during this dreary, rainy day.

Read with the FLOWER.