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"Good farmers are artists. They paint the landscape with squash, corn, celery, beans, and a cornucopia of other fruits and vegetables. Their tools are the rake, the hoe, the pitchfork, the shovel, and the shears. Like all artists, they seek to balance technique with heart and harmony." Maryjo Koch celebrates the beauty of the natural world, mixing plenty of charm and wit into the scientific ... More

"Good farmers are artists. They paint the landscape with squash, corn, celery, beans, and a cornucopia of other fruits and vegetables. Their tools are the rake, the hoe, the pitchfork, the shovel, and the shears. Like all artists, they seek to balance technique with heart and harmony." Maryjo Koch celebrates the beauty of the natural world, mixing plenty of charm and wit into the scientific formula. For instance, did you know that the dandelion is named for its jagged leaves, which resemble a lion's teeth?

Though most adults will already know the "body plan" of a flower, the information is presented in such an appealing fashion as to bring out the eager student in all of us. Each page takes a unique approach to its subject matter and shows off Koch's wide variety of illustrative styles--straight naturalist paintings alongside cherubs sleeping in a lily pond. "Barking up the right tree" is Koch's way of imparting a tidbit about the importance of a tree's bark and how not to damage a tree by toying with this outer layer. Venture through eccentric English gardens, Japanese gardens, formal French gardens, topiary, and the fine art garden. As Claude Monet said, "More than anything I must have flowers, always, always."

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