Book Review: Botany for Gardeners 3rd ed. by Brian Capon

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Botany for Gardeners - Brian Capon

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For someone without a horticultural background who enters into the hobby, there is a rather steep learning curve in just knowing how plants behave and what is really going on inside of them as they grow. In the first few months, I easily found videos of knowledgeable bonsai artists speaking about xylem, phloem, auxin, etc. and while the words were not unfamiliar to me, I really had no idea what was being discussed. In “Botany for Gardeners” Capon breaks down a couple of semesters worth of plant biology into an easily digestible 246 pages. While this book is by no means a comprehensive replacement for college curriculum or master gardener’s courses, it provides a great springboard into the nuts and bolts of horticulture and provides a ton of good knowledge for better understanding your trees.

Capon organizes this book from the bottom up, starting with basic plant cells and seed structure, working up through the roots and shoots, detailing how plants grow. He then breaks down plant physiology, explaining the parts of roots, stems, and leaves and how each part processes water and nutrients through the plant as a whole. The best part about this book are the full color illustrations of the concepts written about. It is chock full of beautiful photos of plant parts, cross sections as seen through microscopes, and hand drawn illustrations. Because it is a book written with gardeners in mind, as opposed to Bonsai enthusiasts, one might be tempted to skip over some parts of the book detailing edibles, plant adaptations, and garden environments, but this book is so well written and easy to read that I found myself reading each page, cover to cover in my first run through. After that, I have referred back to individual chapters and sections many times to try to help solidify my understanding of concepts discussed in other literature and media.

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In my opinion, this book should sit on a shelf alongside your existing Bonsai library and is worthy to be referred back to time and again. The ease of reading, the great illustrations, and the clear breakdown of concepts chapter by chapter make this a great reference book. I find myself pausing bonsai videos when they start talking plant physiology and thumbing through the index to read up on the concept discussed in real time. Its less than $15 on Amazon and well worth every penny.
 
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