The Botanical Bible: Plants, Flowers, Art, Recipes & Other Home Uses

by Sonya Patel Ellis

“This encyclopedia for flora fiends is packed with info on everything from photosynthesis to fig leaf ice cream, plus it’s pretty enough for the coffee table.” —S outhern Living

The Botanical Bible is an elegant and comprehensive introduction to the beauty, diversity, and value of the botanical world.

Author Sonya Patel Ellis is a writer, editor, and artist who works primarily with pressed botanicals. She founded The Herbarium Project in 2013 to explore the parallels and interconnectivity among nature, art, books, and culture. Here she The author’s love of plants shines through with full-color stunning illustrations and enlightening descriptions. Ellis’s love of flora pushes her to share the wide variety of knowledge she botany, recipes, herbal uses, seasonal foods, botanic artists (famous and not)—there is a bit of everything, often with essential details.

Gorgeously illustrated throughout, and packed with information and hands-on projects, The Botanical Bible offers both practical information and the beauty of the natural world in one package, perfect for display on a coffee table or to give as a gift. It is the ultimate guide for aspiring gardeners, botanists, homesteaders, and anyone seeking a more meaningful relationship with nature.

Genres: Gardening, Nature, Nonfiction, Plants, Reference, Art, Cookbooks

416 pages, Hardcover

Published September 25, 2018

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was in this just to look at the pictures and illustrations honestly because they look so good. It sure covers a lot of ground that's for sure.

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

First off, this books is gorgeous. Visually it’s just stunning. Beautiful drawings, photographs, and visuals are abundant.

The history/science behind plant evolutionary history, anatomy, etc was a lot more interesting than I expected.

There are a ton of recipes for eating, beauty, wellness, cleaning, etc. I was surprised by how many of these actually seem “do-able” and can’t wait to try out making my own tinctures, facial steams, cleaning solutions... nevermind the food I can eat.

I also loved how they highlighted different plant-focused artists/artwork in the later chapters. I’ll definitely be flipping through this section again to admire the art.

Anyways, if you have an interest in botany and any/all things plants I strongly recommend this book.

[Max D'onofrio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really awesome book on plants. Has such cool artwork, history and cool sections on arts, food, etc. Highly recommended to anyone who has a fondness for plants.

[Lia · Rating 5 out of 5]

LISTEN. If for nothing else (not the amazing photographs/illustrations, interviews, biographies, recipes, histories and concise yet layman-friendly breakdown of the basics of botany) buy this book for the incredible reference guide and 'Further Reading'. Broken down by section/subsection, there are EIGHT PAGES of lists of books, articles, magazines, and websites to expand your knowledge.

My love for reference guides aside, this book is wonderful and, now, marked and annotated and underlined and it'll have to be kept on an easily accessible shelf so I can come back to it again and again.

[brendon b. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, ultimately, a fun book for garden enthusiasts and plant lovers. If you're specifically looking for a gift, this is a great one. Plenty of beautiful illustrations, everything inside is correct and up-to-date, the fact that there is even an entire section on art history involving plants is awesome. Truly, this is an amazing read for anyone of any age.

I would say if I had any criticism at all (which is difficult considering I know this took a lot of time to put together), I think the page formatting isn't quite "have it all in your hand" particularly for things like tinctures and the pages on planting- I would have liked to see these put it in an easy to digest way through a more technical visual layout, such as on page 187 with the "Eat The Seasons" piece.

While I see what others mean by "this book does a lot of many things but does little with each thing", this book is not trying to be an information guide for experienced or intermediate gardeners (hi!!) but rather a visual and informational experience of plants and what they mean to all kinds of people, whether that be through medicine, art, science, food, and gathering.

But overall, an amazing experience that's gorgeous on the eyes, fun for the mind, and a fun tabletop book to spark conversation.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful and sophisticated tome belongs on every gardener/artist/self-proclaimed-hippie's shelf. The glossy pages are carefully and aesthetically arranged, somehow presenting history, art, science, cuisine, and homeopathy in one volume without feeling scattered. I especially appreciate the trajectory, beginning with a broad "what is botany?" theme and progressing through the humanities to finish up with a survey on modern botanical artists (with several detours in between).
Just for fun, I kept this book on my kitchen table for a couple of months and opened it to a random page every so often. Each time I found some new information and brilliant, colorful photos. The author, an artist herself, clearly holds a deep reverence towards nature, and wants others to cultivate the same. Cannot recommend highly enough as a gift for anyone who appreciates the sensory and medical brilliance of what plants have to offer.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's love of plants shines with beautiful illustrations and enlightening descriptions. It seems as though Ellis wants to put all of her plant knowledge and love into one compendium, whether it belongs or not. Botany, recipes, herbal uses, seasonal foods, botanic artists (famous and not): there is a bit of everything, sometimes overly detailed, sometimes just a glaze of information. This bit of everything concept isn't satisfying because there is too little of too much, minutiae mixed with random recipes, detailed plant lineage mixed with a teaser uses section. She goes into great detail about plant lineage and cellular structure, and then just lightly touches on herbal remedies. The detailing would have been helpful throughout, such as the whys and hows to the herbs instead of a few hints of their powers.

[Tibby]

An interesting mix of botanical information from the evolution of plants to how to use them in cleaning products around your home. I enjoyed dipping into this collection of information, particularly the chapter on botany. I also enjoy cooking and found the chapter on eating plants interesting. Unfortunately, like many books that try to be a little pretentious, many of the plant ingredients are hard to come by unless you live near a world-class, year-round farmers market. The art chapter was also interesting although many of the artists introduced didn't have examples of their art included.

I would think of the book as something to give you the basics on plants and whet your appetite to go deeper into art, medicinal use, and cooking.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a beautiful, thoughtful volume. The Botanical Bible is a uniquely comprehensive book that celebrates plants in all their diversity and beauty. This book not only provides a useful overview of botany and plant taxonomy, it also deal ins depth with the ways in which humans interact with plants: as food, as medicine, and as artistic inspiration. The production quality is fantastic and the I especially loved the artist profiles in the last section. An absolute must-read for plant lovers.

[Carissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful reference for all things botany: the basics, what's in season, foraging, herbal remedies, crafts, and all in between. It's a fun book, if not incredibly in-depth, but it's informative where it matters. If you have any interest in any aspect of botany, this could be a nice place to start before leaping into deeper topics.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its a fantastic resource with a ton of information on everything that is understood about plants, their history as well as ours with assorted specimens. However, the percentage of the book that is actually dedicated to recipes of any kind is very small. It would consider this more a textbook than anything else.

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very nicely researched and organized coffee table book. The aesthetic makes it a pleasure to browse whether looking for inspiration for gardening, recipes, or artistic pursuits. It is doing a lot (perhaps too much) but can definitely serve as a helpful reference for crafting, cooking, foraging, etc.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Botanical Bible: Plants, Flowers, Art, Recipes & Other Home Uses (Hardcover)
by Sonya Patel Ellis
The book has a broad history of botany with a twist to personal use. The book shows the story from the botanical sciences but also the ages of plant evolution. The book shows recipes for many of the beneficial plants it describes. The book is a good home resource for the typical gardener, or natural plant uses.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book about flora beginnings and all the way up to now with herbal recipes, information artists, it is an amazing wealth of information, foods, herbs, art. you name it is in here. Next book? The Beekeepers bible..

[Donna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

The botanical bible has a bit of everything. I spend an afternoon paging through the entire book and found beautiful art, recipes, and scads of information. Definitely a reference book for my library.

[Caitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional resource for every gardener.

[alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to all things botany book. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re great.

[Sadie Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book to introduce you to so many concepts and inspiration botanical! If you're looking for a deeper information based learning in any one subject, I recommend looking elsewhere.

[Chance · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beast.

[Anna Abney Miller]

DNR

[nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love plants

[Sarah Piane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to botany. A good amount of detail without becoming a textbook as well as beautiful artwork. I appreciate the herbalism recipes at the end.