Booktopia has been placed into Voluntary Administration. Orders have been temporarily suspended, whilst the process for the recapitalisation of Booktopia and/or sale of its business is completed, following which services may be re-established. All enquiries from creditors, including customers with outstanding gift cards and orders and placed prior to 3 July 2024, please visit https://www.mcgrathnicol.com/creditors/booktopia-group/
Add free shipping to your order with these great books
A Little Book of Latin for Gardeners - Peter Parker

A Little Book of Latin for Gardeners

By: Peter Parker

Hardcover | 30 October 2018 | Edition Number 1

Sorry, we are not able to source the book you are looking for right now.

We did a search for other books with a similar title, however there were no matches. You can try selecting from a similar category, click on the author's name, or use the search box above to find your book.

How did the delphinium get its name? Which parts of the body lend their names to auriculas and orchids? Who are the gentian, lobelia and heuchera named after? Why are nasturtiums and antirrhinums connected? What does an everlasting pea have to do with Indian miniature paintings?

These are some of the questions answered in Peter Parker's adventurous exploration of the mysteries of Botanical Latin.

Evolved over many centuries and often thought to belong to the rarefied world of scholars and scientists, this invented language is in fact a very useful tool for everyday gardening. It allows us to find our way around nurseries; it sorts out confusions when two plants have the same English name; and it gives us all kinds of information about how big or small a plant will grow, what shape or colour it will develop, and what habitat it prefers.

In his lively survey, Parker agues that Botanical Latin is not merely useful, but fun. The naming of plants draws upon geography, social and medical history, folklore, mythology, language, literature, the human body, the animal kingdom and all manner of ancient beliefs and superstitions.

The book, beautifully illustrated with old woodcuts, explains how and why plants have been named, includes handy lists of identifying adjectives, and takes the reader down some of the stranger byways of human endeavour and eccentricity.

About the Author

Peter Parker was born in Herefordshire and now lives and gardens in London's East End. He is the author of two books about the First World War, The Old Lie and The Last Veteran, biographies of J. R. Ackerley and Christopher Isherwood, and Housman Country: Into the Heart of England. He has written about plants and gardens for HORTUS and the Daily Telegraph, and is a former Chair of the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library Advisory Committee.
Industry Reviews
Parker makes a convincing case that a little bit of Latin goes a long way towards enhancing gardeners' knowledge and enjoyment of what they grow . . . an entertaining and invaluable resource -- Ian Critchley * Sunday Times *
Offers something memorable on every page . . . Parker's book is filled with piquant little facts . . . It should be on every gardener's bedside table -- Jane Powers * Sunday Times (Ireland) *
A snip at the price for an elegant, and not so little, hardback . . . Witty, comprehensive and uncondescending . . . will become classic -- Victoria Glendinning * Literary Review *
Lively and informative . . . This is a book to delight any gardener kept indoors by dark winter days * Church Times *
Parker writes fluently, delving into fascinating details that immediately absorb the reader -- Penelope Hobhouse * Oldie *

Those looking for an excuse to break off from weeding or deadheading by a sudden desire to know why the Latin name for the foxglove is digitalis, or what delphiniums have to do with dolphins, will find themselves still reading an hour later, unable to break away from the fascinating mixture of history, literary allusion, anecdote
and occasional gardening advice. The effect on the reader is sometimes that of being led round an English country garden by a charming plantsman

* Times Literary Supplement *

More in Gardening: Plants & Cultivation Guides

Companion Planting in Australia - Brenda Little

RRP $22.99

$21.90

Deadly Apothecary Oracle : Poisonous plants as guides and healers - Priestess Moon
Petal : The World of Flowers Through an Artist's Eye - Adriana Picker
Orchids For Dummies : 2nd edition - Steven A. Frowine

RRP $41.95

$34.80

17%
OFF
Yates Garden Guide ANZ Edition - Yates

RRP $45.00

$37.25

17%
OFF
Trees of Australia : Green Guide : Green Guide - Peter Krish
Tomato : Know, Sow, Grow, Feast - Penny Woodward

RRP $65.00

$48.75

25%
OFF
From Earth : A guide to creating a natural apothecary - Charlotte Rasmussen