Book 544

Bonsai: Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy

Deborah Koreshoff

Timber Press 1997

Another aspirational book. It’s not that I wouldn’t try to grow a bonsai tree, it’s that I actually did have a bonsai tree. It was a devastating loss. And I’m not putting myself through that again. But it’s like a lot of my books. I’m much better off with lots of pretty pictures of, say, birds, flowers, and plants than the actual thing.

My favorite garden read for 2021 was The Earth in Her Hands 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants. In this beautiful and empowering book, Jennifer Jewell introduces 75 inspiring women. I savored each bio, usually reading only one each evening. If there’s a gardener on your holiday gift list, consider this lovely book.

The Earth in Her Hands celebrates the important contributions women make to the wide world of plants--in the fields of horticulture, environmental science, botany, floral design, farming, landscape architecture, herbalism, food justice, and more. These influencers are creating change from the ground up. (From Amazon).

Profiled women include flower farmer Erin Benzakein; codirector of Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman; plantswoman Flora Grubb; edible and cultural landscape designer Leslie Bennett; Caribbean-American writer and gardener Jamaica Kincaid; soil scientist Elaine Ingham; landscape designer Ariella Chezar; floral designer Amy Merrick, and many more. Rich with personal stories and insights, Jewell’s portraits reveal a devotion that transcends age, locale, and background, reminding us of the profound role of green growing things in our world—and our lives. (From Amazon).

I’m not going to lie, my dream house includes a giant attached green house just like the one in the movie Practical Magic! Over the last year I have been trying to learn more and more about plants, including reading these two beautiful books!

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Thank you to @timberpress and @netgalley for the gifted ALC’s of Herbarium by Barbra M. Thiers and Botanical Art Techniques by the American Society of Botanical Artists.

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Herbarium is a very detailed account of the history and process of classifying and preserving the different plants of the world. This book is all about the importance of studying plants and preserving samples to study over time. Not only was this book a wealth of knowledge, but it was also a beautiful book with detailed photographs and illustrations. Out this November.

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Botanical Art Techniques is a very informative guide of how to capture a variety of botanical subjects through various art mediums. Some of the tutorials provided are definitely for a more advanced artist than myself but I did like taking various lessons to practice and try new methods. This book is available now!

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What is something that you have wanted to learn more about or practice since the pandemic began this Spring? As someone who grew up in farm country, and was always outside helping my parents grow a wide variety of flowers and vegetables I have always wanted to learn more about successful gardening. In particular this year I wanted to learn more about different uses and benefits of different plants. Thank you to @netgalley @timberpress and to author @iwigara for the beautifully detailed and informative ARC of Iwígara: American Indian Ethnobotanical Traditions and Science.

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Synopsis from the publisher: The belief that all life-forms are interconnected and share the same breath—known in the Rarámuri tribe as iwígara—has resulted in a treasury of knowledge about the natural world, passed down for millennia by native cultures. Ethnobotanist Enrique Salmón builds on this concept of connection and highlights 80 plants revered by North America’s indigenous peoples. Salmón teaches us the ways plants are used as food and medicine, the details of their identification and harvest, their important health benefits, plus their role in traditional stories and myths. Discover in these pages how the timeless wisdom of iwígara can enhance your own kinship with the natural world.

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Not only did I learn about a wide variety of plants used for hundreds and hundreds for years by native cultures, but also the stories and beliefs associated with each that have been passed down from generation to generation. The photographs accompanying each plant help the readers have a strong reference for visual identification, which is vital when locating and using plants that unfamiliar. My only wish is that there was more detail of the preparation and use, almost like cookbook instructions, for each plant highlighted. This book is as beautiful as it is informative, and I fully intend on buying a physical copy for future reference when it is published next month.