COVER TO COVER

Leafing through books for gardeners and cooks

THE SECRETS OF GREAT BOTANISTS By Matthew Biggs, Exisle Publishing, $39.99 The original citizen scientists, botanists were often gentlemen of leisure, stout chaps of independent means who had the time to observe and catalogue the natural world. Far from desk-bound academics, many were intrepid explorers as well. Take Ernest Wilson — like author Matthew Biggs, an alumnus of Kew Gardens. Before his mid-30s, Wilson had made two trips to far-flung corners of China. On his second trek, in 1910, after discovering the king’s lily (Lilium regale) in Sichuan, he came close to losing a leg in a rockslide. Biggs’ fascinating book is a compendium of scientific ripping yarns starring towering trailblazers like Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks as well as such contemporary greats as Patrick Blanc and Bleddyn and Sue…

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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, 15.5

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