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A garden of marvels : = how we disco...

Kassinger, Ruth, (1954-)

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A garden of marvels : = how we discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, and other secrets of plants /

Record Type:	Language materials, printed : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	A garden of marvels :/ Ruth Kassinger.
Reminder of title:	how we discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, and other secrets of plants /
Author:	Kassinger, Ruth,
Published:	New York, NY :William Morrow, : 2014.,
Description:	xviii p., 395 p. :ill. ;22 cm.
Subject:	Women gardeners - Anecdotes. - United States -
ISBN:	9780062048998

A garden of marvels : = how we discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, and other secrets of plants /
Kassinger, Ruth,1954-

A garden of marvels :how we discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, and other secrets of plants /Ruth Kassinger. - First edition. - New York, NY :William Morrow,2014. - xviii p., 395 p. :ill. ;22 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 368 -379)and index.

"A witty and engaging history of the first botanists, interwoven with stories of today's extraordinary plants found in the garden and the labIn Paradise Under Glass, Ruth Kassinger recounts with grace and humor her journey from brown thumb to green, sharing the lessons that she learned from building a home conservatory in the wake of a devastating personal crisis. In A Garden of Marvels, she extends the story. "This book was born of a murder, a murder I committed," she begins. The victim was a kumquat tree. Though she diligently did her best--watering, fertilizing, repotting, and pruning--the plant turned brown and brittle. Why did the kumquat die when other plants in the garden that received the same attention thrived? she wondered. It was an experience that offered invaluable insight. While she knew the basic rules of caring for indoor plants, Kassinger realized that she understood very little about plant physiology--how roots, stems, leaves, and flowers actually function. Determined not to repeat her failure, she set out to learn the fundamentals of botany in order to become a better gardener. A Garden of Marvels is the story of her wise and enchanting odyssey to discover the secret life of plants. Kassinger retraces the progress of the first botanists--including a melancholy Italian anatomist, a renegade French surgeon, a stuttering English minister, an obsessive German schoolteacher, and Charles Darwin--who banished myths and misunderstandings and discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, roots choose their food, and hormones make morning glories climb fence posts. She goes out into the world as well, visiting modern gardens, farms, and labs to discover the science behind extraordinary plants like one-ton pumpkins, truly black petunias, ferns that eat the arsenic in contaminated soil, biofuel grass that grows twelve feet tall, and the world's only photosynthesizing animal. Kassinger also introduces us to modern scientific research that offers hope for combatting climate change and alleviating world hunger. She then transfers her insights to her own garden, where she nurtures a "cocktail" tree that bears five kinds of fruit, cures an ailing Buddha's Hand plant with beneficial fungi, and gets a tree to text her when it's thirsty. Intertwining personal anecdotes, accessible science, and little-known history, A Garden of Marvels takes us on an eye-opening journey into Kassinger's garden--and yours--offering us a new appreciation of this exquisite gift of nature: "Our garden is more than a marvel. It's as close to a miracle as there is on Earth.""--

ISBN: 9780062048998US25.99

LCCN: 2014002824Subjects--Personal Names:

2168532
Kassinger, Ruth,
1954-Subjects--Topical Terms:

2168533
Women gardeners
--United States--Anecdotes.

LC Class. No.: QK31.K37 / A3 2014

Dewey Class. No.: 580.92

A garden of marvels : = how we discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, and other secrets of plants /
LDR:03624cam a2200205 a 4500 001 2010402
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010 $a 2014002824
020 $a 9780062048998 $q (hbk.) : $c US25.99
020 $a 9780062049018 $q (trade paperback)
020 $z 9780062049032 $q (e-book)
040 $a DLC $b eng $c DLC $d DLC $e rda
050 0 0 $a QK31.K37 $b A3 2014
082 0 0 $a 580.92 $a B $2 23
100 1 $a Kassinger, Ruth, $d 1954- $3 2168532
245 1 2 $a A garden of marvels : $b how we discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, and other secrets of plants / $c Ruth Kassinger.
250 $a First edition.
260 $a New York, NY : $b William Morrow, $c 2014.
300 $a xviii p., 395 p. : $b ill. ; $c 22 cm.
504 $a Includes bibliographical references (pages 368 -379)and index.
520 $a "A witty and engaging history of the first botanists, interwoven with stories of today's extraordinary plants found in the garden and the labIn Paradise Under Glass, Ruth Kassinger recounts with grace and humor her journey from brown thumb to green, sharing the lessons that she learned from building a home conservatory in the wake of a devastating personal crisis. In A Garden of Marvels, she extends the story. "This book was born of a murder, a murder I committed," she begins. The victim was a kumquat tree. Though she diligently did her best--watering, fertilizing, repotting, and pruning--the plant turned brown and brittle. Why did the kumquat die when other plants in the garden that received the same attention thrived? she wondered. It was an experience that offered invaluable insight. While she knew the basic rules of caring for indoor plants, Kassinger realized that she understood very little about plant physiology--how roots, stems, leaves, and flowers actually function. Determined not to repeat her failure, she set out to learn the fundamentals of botany in order to become a better gardener. A Garden of Marvels is the story of her wise and enchanting odyssey to discover the secret life of plants. Kassinger retraces the progress of the first botanists--including a melancholy Italian anatomist, a renegade French surgeon, a stuttering English minister, an obsessive German schoolteacher, and Charles Darwin--who banished myths and misunderstandings and discovered that flowers have sex, leaves eat air, roots choose their food, and hormones make morning glories climb fence posts. She goes out into the world as well, visiting modern gardens, farms, and labs to discover the science behind extraordinary plants like one-ton pumpkins, truly black petunias, ferns that eat the arsenic in contaminated soil, biofuel grass that grows twelve feet tall, and the world's only photosynthesizing animal. Kassinger also introduces us to modern scientific research that offers hope for combatting climate change and alleviating world hunger. She then transfers her insights to her own garden, where she nurtures a "cocktail" tree that bears five kinds of fruit, cures an ailing Buddha's Hand plant with beneficial fungi, and gets a tree to text her when it's thirsty. Intertwining personal anecdotes, accessible science, and little-known history, A Garden of Marvels takes us on an eye-opening journey into Kassinger's garden--and yours--offering us a new appreciation of this exquisite gift of nature: "Our garden is more than a marvel. It's as close to a miracle as there is on Earth.""-- $c Provided by publisher.
520 $a "In the tradition of The Botany of Desire and Wicked Plants, the author of Paradise Under Glass gives us a witty and engaging history of the first botanists interwoven with stories of today's extraordinary plants found in the garden and the lab"-- $c Provided by publisher.
600 1 0 $a Kassinger, Ruth, $d 1954- $3 2168532
650 0 $a Women gardeners $z United States $v Anecdotes. $3 2168533
650 0 $a Botanists $z United States $v Anecdotes. $3 2168534
650 0 $a Botany $v Periodicals. $3 514623 $3 1274074