A Garden of Marvels by Ruth Kassinger

A Garden of Marvels by Ruth Kassinger
The subtitle to this book is: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants
This book came out in April of 2015.
Ruth Kassinger didn’t always have a green thumb. in this book, she'll tell you that until she completely understood how plants actually worked, she couldn't know precisely what they needed.
Her story starts this way,
“This book was born of a murder, a murder I committed.”
The victim - it turns out-was a beloved kumquat tree. Ruth had decided to prune it. Her efforts made the tree turn brittle and brown. It made her wonder:
Why did the kumquat die when a rose bush and a crepe myrtle that was pruned the very same way were both thriving?
The dilemma is what made Ruth begin a quest to understand more about plant physiology. This book is part memoir and part science-class.
Ruth writes with a friendly voice. This book is a beautiful way to learn basic botany - the marvel of flowers, roots, stems, and leaves. While we're learning botany from Ruth, we also get to know her personal stories. Ruth shares how she learned to become a better gardener. Initially, Ruth made the same mistakes we all make: over-watering, under fertilizing, making untrue assumptions about what plants need.
 
You can get a used copy of A Garden of Marvels by Ruth Kassinger and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $5.