For gardeners in most parts of the country, January is a slower time—a time of reflection, of list-making, of planning for the future, whether for your greenhouse or your garden. And what better way to expand your horizons than by putting your nose in a good book? Or engaging your ears while you potter about in the greenhouse? Here are three books that will heighten your relationship with your plants as you start a new gardening year.
The first book is Mythic Plants—Potions and Poisons from the Gardens of the Gods by Ellen Zachos. She takes the gods, demigods, and a panoply of characters beloved by the ancient Greeks and connects their stories with the garden plants we know today. For instance, yarrow is a fabulous garden perennial, which I value, not only for its sturdy ability to take on all soils and weather, but for its flat flower heads, which are a perfect landing pad for so many pollinating insects. What I didn’t realize was that its scientific name (Achillea) is from Achilles, the hero of Homer’s Iliad. As Ellen explains, Achilles was tutored by a centaur, Cheiron, who taught him all about herbs, including yarrow for wound healing on the battlefield. Now I will look at yarrow with even more respect.
While Mythic Plants is well-researched, there’s nothing ponderous about the information. That’s due to Ellen’s humor and breezy style. When I recommended this book to my neighborhood book group, one woman said, “But I don’t know anything about ancient Greece.” No worries—Ellen opens the book with an explanation of some of the relationships and a page entitled, “The Original Dysfunctional Family Tree.” When she explains two different myths about how Dionysus came to be, the second one, she dubs, “Dionysus 2.0.”
My next suggestion is Robin Wall Kimmerer’s latest, The Serviceberry—An Economy of Abundance. Here, I’m going to recommend it as an audio book, because Robin reads it, and her voice is a marvel of fullness, and a calming completeness that is an antidote to what is happening in the outer world. Not that she doesn’t take on the world’s troubles. Right in the beginning, she compares cultures and societies that follow an abundance awareness—the same profligate abundance that is in nature—with societies that must rely on scarcity—the gap between what something is worth and what it can be sold for. In a time when everything seems scarce, thinking about an abundant way of life can hearten the listener and calm the soul.
And last, I will recommend The Light Eaters—How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoë Schlanger. This book explores the history of changing thought regarding patterns of behavior in plants as well as some of the latest research into plant awareness. Fascinating stuff—how electricity functions in plants; the many ways they react to predation; what happens when we touch our plants. With a massive amount of information, we can also learn more details about how our own bodies function, as we navigate our plant-filled world.