The Secrets of Great Botanists : And What They Teach Us About Gardening

Botanists have been the trailblazers in discovering how plants work to benefit our species, collecting many of the plant-species we find in our gardens today from all around the world. This informative and beautiful guide presents the stories and reveals the secrets of 35 of these botanists, plant collectors and gardening pioneers of the past and present. This includes Joseph Banks, Asa Gray and Marianne North, highlighting the qualities that brought them success. Every botanist included in The Secrets of Great Botanists was, or is, passionate about their particular specialty. Whether they were searching for plants in wild places, prescribing herbal medicines or forming new structures of plant classification, they were driven by an insatiable desire to learn and discover, so that we, as humans, might benefit from improved crops, medicines or gardens. Through the vibrancy of botanical photographs and beautifully illustrated period botanical watercolours, this book aims to teach readers about the observations, ideas, secrets and discoveries of these ground-breaking botanists. Their influence on gardening and the wider world will provide inspiration and practical guidance for budding gardeners of all levels and inspire readers to try these plants and tips at home.

Contents: Introduction Pedanius Dioscorides c. ad 40-90 Leonhart Fuchs 1501-1566 William Turner c. 1508-1568 John Ray 1627-1705 Mary Somerset 1630-1715 Henry Compton 1632-1713 William Dampier 1651-1715 John Bartram 1699-1777 Carl Linnaeus 1707-1778 Jeanne Baret 1740-1807 Joseph Banks 1743-1820 James Edward Smith 1759-1828 Philipp von Siebold 1796-1866 John Lindley 1799-1865 Anna Atkins 1799-1871 Georgiana Molloy 1805-1843 Asa Gray 1810-1888 William Colenso 1811-1899 Joseph Dalton Hooker 1817-1911 Gregor Mendel 1822-1884 Marianne North 1830-1890 Luther Burbank 1849-1926 Henry Nicholas Ridley 1855-1956 Charlotte Wheeler-Cuffe 1867-1967 George Forrest 1873-1932 Ernest Wilson 1876-1930 Francis Kingdon-Ward 1885-1958 Nikolai Vavilov 1887-1943 Carl Rudolf Florin 1894-1965 E. K. Janaki Ammal 1897-1984 William Stearn 1911- 2001 Richard Evans Schultes 1915-2001 Mikinori Ogisu Born 1951 Bleddyn & Sue Wynn-Jones Born 1948 (Bleddyn) and 1952 (Sue) Patrick Blanc Born 1953 Bibliography Index Credits