front cover of Grasses, Pods, Vines, Weeds
Grasses, Pods, Vines, Weeds
Decorating with Texas Naturals
Quentin Steitz
University of Texas Press, 1987

Purple three-awn.
Tree of heaven.
Alamo vine.
Narrowleaf cattail.

These exotic and fanciful names conjure up visions of lush foliage, colorful grasses, and dense plant life. They are, in fact, names of native and naturalized Texas plants—grasses, pods, vines, and weeds. Lovely and all-too-often overlooked in nature, they become ornamental delights when used imaginatively and decoratively.

Grasses, Pods, Vines, Weeds introduces 44 of Texas' most common and important naturals. Quentin Steitz shows how to recognize them and discover their aesthetic wealth. By taking the reader through all of the steps involved in utilizing naturals—from harvest to design—her book becomes an important tool for floral and landscape designers, decorators, horticulturalists, home gardeners, botanists: all those people who enjoy hands-on experience with Texas' vast array of native and naturalized plants.

The book presents clear and concise descriptions of many Texas naturals, accompanied by approximately 150 full-color photographs showing each in one or more stages of growth and also in a design. The reader can see the plant as it looks not only in the wild but also in an arrangement. The author offers techniques on how the species can be prepared for display, discussing drying and arranging. And a chapter on cultivation and conservation suggests to outdoor enthusiasts species they can grow for decorative natural materials as well as conserve and appreciate in the wild.

Grasses, Pods, Vines,Weeds is enhanced by flora selected, collected, prepared, and dried by the author. These hand-culled materials have been used in designs contributed by some nineteen notable floral designers as well as the author. The text and designs combine to reveal the fresh, creative applications of Texas' decorative naturals and to increase our pleasure in the wonders of natural Texas.

[more]

front cover of Where Our Food Comes From
Where Our Food Comes From
Retracing Nikolay Vavilov's Quest to End Famine
Gary Paul Nabhan
Island Press, 2011
The future of our food depends on tiny seeds in orchards and fields the world over. In 1943, one of the first to recognize this fact, the great botanist Nikolay Vavilov, lay dying of starvation in a Soviet prison. But in the years before Stalin jailed him as a scapegoat for the country’s famines, Vavilov had traveled over five continents, collecting hundreds of thousands of seeds in an effort to outline the ancient centers of agricultural diversity and guard against widespread hunger. Now, another remarkable scientist—and vivid storyteller—has retraced his footsteps.
 
In Where Our Food Comes From, Gary Paul Nabhan weaves together Vavilov’s extraordinary story with his own expeditions to Earth’s richest agricultural landscapes and the cultures that tend them. Retracing Vavilov’s path from Mexico and the Colombian Amazon to the glaciers of the Pamirs in Tajikistan, he draws a vibrant portrait of changes that have occurred since Vavilov’s time and why they matter.
 
In his travels, Nabhan shows how climate change, free trade policies, genetic engineering, and loss of traditional knowledge are threatening our food supply. Through discussions with local farmers, visits to local outdoor markets, and comparison of his own observations in eleven countries to those recorded in Vavilov’s journals and photos, Nabhan reveals just how much diversity has
already been lost. But he also shows what resilient farmers and scientists in many regions are doing to save the remaining living riches of our world.
 
It is a cruel irony that Vavilov, a man who spent his life working to foster nutrition, ultimately died from lack of it. In telling his story, Where Our Food Comes From brings to life the intricate relationships among culture, politics, the land, and the future of the world’s food.
[more]


Send via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter