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Weeds, July 2011
Hardcover
In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants
Ecco
July 2011
On Sale: June 28, 2011
336 pages
ISBN: 0062065459
EAN: 9780062065452
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction | Non-Fiction Gardening
The true story—and true glories—of the plants we love to hate From dandelions to crabgrass, stinging nettles to poison
ivy, weeds are familiar, pervasive, widely despised, and
seemingly invincible. How did they come to be the villains
of the natural world? And why can the same plant be
considered beautiful in some places but be deemed a menace
in others? In Weeds, renowned nature writer Richard Mabey embarks on an
engaging journey with the verve and historical breadth of
Michael Pollan. Weaving together the insights of botanists,
gardeners, artists, and writers with his own travels and
lifelong fascination, Mabey shows how these "botanical
thugs" can destroy ecosystems but also can restore war zones
and derelict cities; he reveals how weeds have been
portrayed, from the "thorns and thistles" of Genesis to
Shakespeare, Walden, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and
he explains how kudzu overtook the American South, how
poppies sprang up in First World War battlefields, and how
"American weed" replaced the forests of Vietnam ravaged by
Agent Orange. Hailed as "a profound and sympathetic meditation on weeds in
relation to human beings" (Sunday Times), Weeds shows how
useful these unloved plants can be, from serving as the
first crops and medicines, to bur-dock inspiring the
invention of Velcro, to cow parsley becoming the latest
fashionable wedding adornment. Mabey argues that we have
caused plants to become weeds through our reckless treatment
of the earth, and he delivers a provocative defense of the
plants we love to hate.
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