A Garden of Marvels: How We Discovered that Flowers Have Sex, Leaves Eat Air, and Other Secrets of Plants

Ruth Kassinger combines the history of early botanical discoveries with accounts of modern plants to explore how we came to understand plant science. After recounting her journey from inexperienced gardener to conservatory builder in her previous book, Kassinger now investigates the fundamentals of botany to improve her gardening skills. She traces how the first botanists dispelled myths and uncovered plant secrets: that flowers reproduce sexually, leaves absorb air, roots select their nutrients, and hormones enable plants like morning glories to climb. She visits contemporary gardens, farms, and laboratories to examine the science behind remarkable plants, including one-ton pumpkins, a black petunia, a biofuel grass reaching twelve feet tall, and a photosynthesizing animal. Applying these discoveries to her own garden, Kassinger cultivates a tree bearing five fruit varieties, treats a Buddha's Hand plant with beneficial fungi, and develops a tree that sends her text messages when it needs water. Through personal narrative, scientific explanation, and botanical history, she offers an exploration of plant science accessible to home gardeners.