An Amazon Editor's Pick for Best Nonfiction Book!

A ground-breaking investigation into newly discovered evidence showing that remarkable things happen to our bodies and our minds when our senses connect with the natural world.

We all take for granted the idea that being in nature makes us feel better. But if you were a skeptical scientist--or indeed any kind of skeptic--who wanted hard scientific evidence for this idea, where would you look? And how would that evidence be gathered?

It wasn't until Dr. Kathy Willis was asked to contribute to an international project looking for the societal benefits we gain from plants that she stumbled across a study that radically changed the way she saw the natural world. In the study there was clear proof that patients recovering from gall bladder operations recovered more quickly if they were looking at trees.

In fact, in the last decade there has been an explosion of proof that incredible things happen to our bodies and our minds when our senses interact with the natural world. In Good Nature, Kathy Willis takes the reader on a journey with her to dig out all the experiments around the world that are looking for this evidence--experiments made easier by the new kinds of data being collected from satellites and big-data biobanks. Having a vase of roses on your desk or a green wall in your office makes a measurable difference to your well-being; certain scents in room diffusers genuinely can boost your immune system; and, in a chapter that Kathy calls Hidden Sense, we learn that touching organic soil has a significant effect on the healthiness of your microbiome.

What is remarkable about this book is how its revelations should be commonsense--schools should let children play in nature to improve their health and concentration; urban streets should have trees--and yet it reveals just how difficult it is to prove this to businesses and governments. As Kathy Willis says in her narrative, We now know enough to self-prescribe in our homes, offices or working spaces, gardens, and when out walking. However small these individual actions might be, overall they have the potential to provide a large number of health benefits. And we need to be encouraging others to do the same. Nature is far more than just something that is useful for our health. It is not a dispensable commodity. It is an inherent part of us.

Why do buttercups glow when held beneath your chin? Which blooms are sometimes called fairy phones? Why are foxgloves sometimes ominously referred to as 'Deadman's Bellows'? And what is the true meaning of a rose?

Humans have given meanings and stories to plants and flowers for thousands of years, whether they're myths about Ancient Greek Gods who pecked out the eyes of anyone who dared move the sacred but thorny Peony plant, or 19th-century superstitions of how flowers could foreshadow love, life or death. After reading Floral Folklore, you'll never look at a bunch of flowers the same way again!

Brought to life with enchanting, full-color illustrations of the plants, flowers and visiting creatures, the book explains the origins of the folklore behind each plant, and offers a beautiful ritual to help you better connect with the teaching each plant has to offer. This is the perfect gift for foragers, gardeners, and budding horticulturists looking to develop their knowledge of plants beyond the exterior.

From the old wives' tale that sage thrives in the garden of a woman who rules her household (and husband!) firmly, to poppies growing in places where blood has been shed, learn the meanings and stories behind:

• Bay
• Mint
• Basil
• Lotus
• Tulips
• Orchids
• Sunflowers
• Lily of the Valley
• Nightshade
• Mulberry
• Hyacinth
• Valerian
• Parsley
• Daffodil
• Rose
• ...and more!

A guide to 32 of the best and most common edible wild plants in North America, with detailed information on how to identify them, where they are found, how and when they are harvested, which parts are used, how they are prepared, as well as their culinary use, ecology, conservation, and cultural history.

In the Victorian language of flowers, hundreds of blooms were ascribed specific meanings based on folklore, science, and ancient history. Page through this botanical encyclopedia to learn each flower's Victorian meaning (ranunculus, for example, boldly states, I am dazzled by your charms, while marigold represents despair), common names, and cultural history. There is also an index of the flowers grouped by theme, should you want to challenge your local florist to create a coded message for a loved one.

The study of floriography can be used by readers to decode hidden messages in beloved novels like The Age of Innocence or speculate as to why two canary-yellow roses--which signify jealousy and infidelity--were featured in Diana Spencer's wedding bouquet. You might share some honeysuckle (meaning bonds of love) with a friend or partner as a gesture of commitment. Or perhaps you'll choose a celebratory bouquet of angelica (inspiration) and purple columbine (resolved to win) for a friend who has triumphed over something difficult.

Karen Azoulay pairs nineteenth century botanical drawings with electric photography, creating a one-of-a-kind flower dictionary with a contemporary, artful feel. With a foreword by Kate Bolick and a helpful sentiment-based index, Flowers and Their Meanings is both a beautiful volume and a practical guide to incorporating the language of flowers into your own life.

Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest is a comprehensive field guide for anyone wishing to learn about the amazingly diverse wildflowers of the region. Organized by flower color and shape, and including a range map for each flower described, the guide is as user-friendly as it is informative. This must-have book is perfect for hikers, naturalists, and native plant enthusiasts.

• Covers Oregon, Washington, northern California, and British Columbia
• Describes and illustrates 1,220 commonly encountered species
• Includes perennials, annuals, and shrubs, both native and nonnative
• 1,248 superb color photographs and 1,220 range maps
• User-friendly organization by flower color and shape

Easily Identify the Flowers You Find!

Enjoy this essential guide to identifying spring wildflowers and flower families, written by celebrated ecologist May Theilgaard Watts. With this handy, easy-to-use book, you'll be able to identify a wide variety of flowers in no time.

Features:

• Covers the United States and southern Canada, east of the Rockies and north of the Smokies
• Pocket-size, key-style field guide fits in your pocket or pack, making it easy to take along with you
• Provides a series of simple questions, so you can find the family the flower belongs to, and then the name of the individual species

This easy-to-use reference is designed for the increasing numbers of serious home gardeners, commercial nurserymen, and members of the professional horticultural and botanical community who want to propagate the native flora of California. Such information is vital if we are to meet the challenges of limited water for our landscapes, revegetation of our open space, and the preservation of endangered species. We hope that you will find this book a useful addition to your gardening library.

Wildflowers of California is a comprehensive field guide for anyone wishing to learn about the amazingly diverse wildflowers of the region. Organized by flower color and shape, and including a range map for each flower described, the guide is as user-friendly as it is informative. This must-have book is perfect for hikers, naturalists, and native plant enthusiasts.

• Describes and illustrates 1200 commonly encountered species
• Includes perennials, annuals, and shrubs, both native and nonnative
• Thousands of superb color photographs and range maps
• User-friendly organization by flower color and shape

Identify Arizona wildflowers with this easy-to-use field guide, organized by color and featuring full-color photographs and helpful information.

With this famous field guide by Nora Bowers, Rick Bowers, and Stan Tekiela, you can make wildflower identification simple, informative, and productive. There's no need to look through dozens of photos of wildflowers that don't grow in Arizona. Learn about 200 of the most common and important species found in the state. They're organized in the field guide by color and then by size for ease of use. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification.

This new edition includes updated photographs, expanded information, and even more of the authors' expert insights. So grab the Wildflowers of Arizona Field Guide for your next outing--to help you positively identify the wildflowers you see.

Book Features

• 200 species: Only Arizona wildflowers!


• Simple color guide: See a purple flower? Go to the purple section


• Fact-filled information and stunning professional photographs


• Icons that make visual identification quick and easy


• Naturalist notes, including tidbits and facts


• Plants typical of Arizona

Along with a beautiful visual depiction, each entry provides the flower's scientific and common names, characteristics, and historic meanings and powers from mythology, medieval legends, folklore, and flower poetry.

For centuries, symbolic flower meanings have fascinated readers, writers, poets, and suddenly smitten couples alike. Extremely popular during the Victorian era, these floriographies flourished and versed the public on the hidden meaning of popular flowers such as:

• Purple Tulip--Eternal love
• Amaryllis--Adventurousness; Enthusiasm; Passion
• Daisy--Beauty and innocence; Cheer; Childlike playfulness
• Sunflower--Ambition; Constancy; Devotion

Learn to identify the Pacific Northwest's wildflowers.

At the cabin, in the park, or on a hike, keep this tabbed booklet close at hand. Featuring only wildflowers of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, this booklet by George Oxford Miller is organized by color for quick and easy identification. When you see a wildflower in nature, open the correct colored tab and view photographs of just a few wildflowers at a time. The easy-to-use format and detailed images, with key markings of more than 150 species, help to ensure positive ID for even casual observers. The pocket-sized format is much easier to use than laminated foldouts, and the tear-resistant pages help to make the book durable in the field.

Is it 4 AM or chicory o'clock? In this short book, botanist and award-winning author Sandra Knapp walks us through a day in a global garden. Each chapter of Flower Day introduces a single flower during a single hour, highlighting twenty-four different species from around the world.

Beginning at midnight in the Americas, we spot the long tubular flowers of the moonflower, Ipomoea alba; they attract a frenzy of hawk moths before the dawn arrives and the flowers wither and collapse. As day breaks, dandelions and chicory open their heads--actually made up of many individual flowers tightly packed together--and flies and bees visit to get the energy they need to lay eggs and raise their young. Later, at eight o'clock in the morning, the sun rises over the watery Amazon basin, and we meet the giant waterlily, slowly turning from white to pink and purple. Trapped inside are the beetles who feasted on the flowers during the night. That evening, at seven o'clock, we travel to the Caribbean to smell night-blooming jessamine's powerful--some may say nauseating--sweet scent. But this member of the nightshade family isn't just a thing of beauty--it has a reputation as both a poison and invasive species, crowding out endangered native trees.

For each hour in our flower day, celebrated artist Katie Scott has depicted these scenes with gorgeous pen-and-ink illustrations. Working closely together to narrate and illustrate these unique moments in time, Knapp and Scott have created an engaging read that is a perfect way to spend an hour or two--and a true gift for amateur botanists, gardeners, and anyone who wants to stop and appreciate the flowers.

Amateur and expert alike can quickly and accurately identify almost any wildflower using Lawrence Newcomb's system, which is based on natural structural features that are easily visible even to the untrained eye. Every time you see an unknown plant, ask yourself the same five questions (related to the type of plant and the structure of its petals and leaves), and you will be directed to the page on which the plant can be found. Beautiful illustrations make confirmation easy.

A delightful illustrated treasury of botanical facts and fancy

Florapedia is an eclectic A-Z compendium of botanical lore. With more than 100 enticing entries--on topics ranging from achlorophyllous plants that use a fungus as an intermediary to obtain nutrients from other plants to zygomorphic flowers that admit only the most select pollinators--this collection is a captivating journey into the realm of botany.

Writing in her incomparably engaging style, Carol Gracie discusses remarkable plants from around the globe, botanical art and artists, early botanical explorers, ethnobotanical uses of plants, botanical classification and terminology, the role of plants in history, and more. She shares illuminating facts about van Gogh's sunflowers and reveals how a hallucinogenic weed left its enduring mark on the early history of the Jamestown colony. Gracie describes the travels of John and William Bartram--father and son botanists and explorers who roamed widely in early America in search of plants--and delves into the miniature ecosystems entangled in Spanish moss. The book's convenient size allows for it to be tucked into a pocket or bag, making it the perfect companion on your own travels.

With charming drawings by Amy Jean Porter, Florapedia is the ideal gift book for the plant enthusiast in your life and a rare pleasure for anyone interested in botanical art, history, medicine, or exploration.

• Features a cloth cover with an elaborate foil-stamped design

Illustrator Angie Lewin and author Christopher Stocks celebrate wild flowers and their place in the landscape with The Book of Wild Flowers.

Christopher Stocks reveals the interesting and unusual history and science of wildflowers, including guidance on where they can be found and tips for identification. The book will focus on twenty-one of Lewin's favorite wildflowers, and include reproductions of her paintings and illustrations, many created specifically for the book.

Sustaining the long-held affection for the British countryside, The Book of Wild Flowers will appeal to anyone who loves British wildflowers, as well as fans of Lewin, who is widely admired for her alluring images of the natural world.

Learn to identify wildflowers in Michigan with this handy field guide, organized by color.

With this famous field guide by award-winning author and naturalist Stan Tekiela, you can make wildflower identification simple, informative, and productive. There's no need to look through dozens of photos of wildflowers that don't grow in Michigan. Learn about 200 of the most common and important species found in the state. They're organized by color and then by size for ease of use. Fact-filled information contains the particulars that you want to know, while full-page photographs provide the visual detail needed for accurate identification.

Book Features

• 200 species: Only Michigan wildflowers!
• Simple color guide: See a purple flower? Go to the purple section
• Fact-filled information and stunning professional photographs
• Icons that make visual identification quick and easy
• Stan's Notes, including naturalist tidbits and facts
• Plants typical of the Upper Peninsula and Lower Michigan

This new edition includes updated photographs, expanded information, and even more of Stan's expert insights. Grab Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide for your next outing--to help you positively identify the wildflowers that you see.

Explore the charmed world of flora with this delightful flower book, part of the Pocket Nature series. Learn when and where to look for wildflowers, how to identify different varieties, and what flowers can teach us, from fireweed's resilience to dandelion's adaptability.

This petite guidebook also offers creative ideas for appreciating blooms, such as making botanical art, writing poetry, meditating in nature, and arranging a beautiful bouquet when picking is appropriate. Flower and nature lovers and mindfulness practitioners will appreciate the appealing illustrations and thoughtful reflections throughout.

Take Flower Finding on your next nature walk or create a thoughtful gift for a friend or loved one by pairing it with new garden clippers or a vase of pretty blooms.

EASY WAY TO SPEND MORE TIME OUTSIDE: More and more people are turning to the outdoors to escape and unwind. Searching for wildflowers is an enjoyable pastime that gets you outside, moves your body, and calms your mind. With mindful activities sprinkled throughout, Flower Finding is more than a flower identification guide; it is also an invitation to spend more time in nature and away from screens and tech.

GREAT GIFT BOOK: Petite, gorgeously illustrated, and written in an inviting tone, this approachable guide makes a great gift or self-purchase for nature and flower lovers. And who doesn't love flowers? Package the book with hiking boots, garden clippers, a beautiful vase, or other books in the Pocket Nature series for a delightful anytime gift.

PERENNIAL & COLLECTIBLE: The topics covered in the Pocket Nature series are perennial--flowers, beaches, clouds, and sunsets will always be there to enjoy and admire. With new titles coming out every season, there will be ever-new opportunities to grow a charming collection that looks great on your bookshelf.

Perfect for:

• Flower lovers and home gardeners
• Nature enthusiasts, walkers, and hikers
• Conservationists and environmentalists
• Mindfulness practitioners, meditators, and anyone seeking simple practices for stress management
• Anyone looking for a birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, holiday, or just-because gift for nature-loving family and friends
• Collectors of the Pocket Nature books