Lessons from Plants PDF
Preview Lessons from Plants
Lessons from Plants Lessons from Plants . beronda l montgomery Harvard University Press Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts London, England 2021 Copyright © 2021 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of Amer i ca First printing Cover design by Candace Carson 9780674259393 (EPUB) 9780674259423 (PDF) Credits for chapter opening illustrations: Introduction, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 6, Conclusion: Morphart Creation / Shutterstock.com Chapter 4: R. Wilairat / Shutterstock.com Chapter 5: clipart.email The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Names: Montgomery, Beronda L., author. Title: Lessons from plants / Beronda L. Montgomery. Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020047170 | ISBN 9780674241282 (cloth) Subjects: LCSH: Human-plant relationships. | Plants. | Botany. Classification: LCC QK46.5.H85 M65 2021 | DDC 581.6/3—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047170 To the memory of my beloved Dad Roots of distinction bear great fruit Contents Preface ix Introduction: A Sense of Self 1 1 A Changing Environment 17 2 Friend or Foe 33 3 Risk to Win 55 4 Transformation 71 5 A Diverse Community 97 6 A Plan for Success 111 Conclusion: Groundskeeping 133 Notes 153 Acknowl edgments 205 Index 209 Preface As a child I did not grow up on a farm or near a forest, the classic kind of upbringing that might ex- plain my later enchantment with botany. But I did grow up in a house full of plants that were tended under the careful, observant eye of a m other with an incredible green thumb. Plants were everywhere around us, both inside and outside our home. My mom’s gardens were the gem of the neighborhood, a green oasis, a friendly abode for plants in a large city. She was able to cul- tivate such incredible flowers and healthy greenery because she was closely engaged with her beloved plants. She read and responded to their cues— this wilting plant needed more w ater, that one with the yellowing leaves required fertilizer, and the plant bending toward the light from the nearest wind ow must be rotated so it could reo rient itself. Mom’s plant tending was part of her daily routine, an in- grained part of my childhood. She watched her
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