The Sceptical Botanist: Separating Fact from Fiction

Do trees talk to one another? Can a plant use up the oxygen in a room while you sleep? What is a native plant and what is a weed? Are some plants truly immortal?

Through 50 beautifully crafted essays, former director of preeminent botanic gardens and self-confessed plant punk Tim Entwisle shines a gentle light on everyday questions about plants and gardens, guiding the reader through fact and fiction.

Including the best of his contributions to gardening magazines and newspapers over four decades, as well as 24 pieces written specially for this book, The Sceptical Botanist is a tour de force of investigative writing from one of Australia’s most thoughtful and inquisitive botanical minds.

Pick up The Sceptical Botanist and you’ll never look at a plant or garden in the same way again!

Features:

• Includes 50 thought-provoking essays on the myths of plants and gardens.
• Gently provocative, quirky and captivating.
• Scholarly but always witty and fun, with light-hearted cartoons.
• Dispelling myths and unpicking taboos, always with good humor and a lightness of touch.
• Covers a variety of topics associated with gardening, including "What makes plants tick?," "Plants from elsewhere," "Garden plants and landscapes," "Gardening with convictions," and "Observing and cataloguing nature."

Timothy J. Entwisle is a highly respected botanist, broadcaster and author, with over 30 years’ experience as head of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and Melbourne, and in a senior role at Kew Gardens in London.