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Granny's Green Thumb - Part 1

© Georgene A. Bramlage

Amos answered Amaziah, I was no prophet, nor have I belonged to a company of prophets; I was a shepherd and a dresser (slasher) of sycamores. Amos 7:14

Seeing a fig tree by the road, He (Jesus) went over to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. Matthew 21:19

"My grandmother had a green thumb. She could make anything grow." Americans often state this while excusing their gardening shortcomings. British cousins fault their lack of "green fingers."

However, what made Granny's thumb so green was that she was a prodigious, if quiet, observer of plants growing in her world. Granny was also probably a regular reader of Scriptures. While she probably could not tell you why Amos had to slash those figs (Ficus sycomorus, sycomore figs) she perhaps knew that this might have helped their ripening. As for the fully leafed out fig tree Jesus came upon outside of Jerusalem, Granny almost certainly knew enough from her observations to say that either it was too early in the season for flowers, or that the tree's flowers had not been pollinated. ( More modern explanations for why these biblical plants behaved as they did are located at the end of this article.)

While the best gardeners in today's world are still those with sharp powers of observation, there is also an increase in books devoted to the botany and science of gardening. These books support and explain the observations of keen gardeners. More gardeners need to explore these books, learn more about why plants do what they do, and capitalize on their obvious love of growing great garden plants.

Reviewed below are five recent plant science books that are among my favorites. I keep them nearby for checking facts and learning new pieces of information. What makes these books out of the ordinary is that they are not textbooks, but are written for the most part in lay language and while not in the same league as a novel, are very readable.

Botany for Gardeners: An Introduction and Guide and Plant Adaptation in a Hostile World are both written by Brian Capon, who received a Ph.D. in botany from the University of Chicago and was for thirty years professor of botany at California State University, Los Angeles. These books are skillfully illustrated with line charts and drawings and in Botany for Gardeners colored photographs and photomicrographs (photos of items under a microscope)are also used.

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