What do you think?
Rate this book
Botany for Gardeners
A bestseller since its debut in 1990, this indispensable and handy reference has now been expanded and updated to include an appendix on plant taxonomy and a comprehensive index. Two dozen new photos and illustrations make this new edition even richer with information. Its convenient paperback format makes it easy to carry and access, whether you are in or out of the garden. An essential overview of the science behind plants for beginning and advanced gardeners alike.
239 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1990
570 people are currently reading
2768 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews
April 26, 2011
Botany for Gardeners is an excellent intro to botany for anyone. Luckily, gardeners in this context seems to simply refer to anyone who wants to learn about botany outside of a school course and from a book that isn't a textbook (unlike several other agroecology-focused books I've read recently that were more about gardening advice somewhat informed by science than about the science itself).
While perhaps not as compelling as David Attenborough's The Private Life of Plants, Botany for Gardeners had much more of the basic how-plants-work knowledge that I was seeking at the moment. Attenborough's book focuses on the really incredible natural history of plants all around the world, rather than their basic biology. If you're really interested in plants, I'd suggest you read both, but start with this one.
The only qualm I had with the book was that he kept talking about fungi as though they belonged in a book about botany. He did clarify that they are not plants, but then went right on saying things like "Plants like fungi this, other plants that." Highly unprofessional.
After finishing the book, I skimmed my Intro Biology textbook's chapter on plants. While Capon is a more compelling, tolerable writer, the textbook was substantially more informative.
While perhaps not as compelling as David Attenborough's The Private Life of Plants, Botany for Gardeners had much more of the basic how-plants-work knowledge that I was seeking at the moment. Attenborough's book focuses on the really incredible natural history of plants all around the world, rather than their basic biology. If you're really interested in plants, I'd suggest you read both, but start with this one.
The only qualm I had with the book was that he kept talking about fungi as though they belonged in a book about botany. He did clarify that they are not plants, but then went right on saying things like "Plants like fungi this, other plants that." Highly unprofessional.
After finishing the book, I skimmed my Intro Biology textbook's chapter on plants. While Capon is a more compelling, tolerable writer, the textbook was substantially more informative.
May 27, 2022
This is an incredibly comprehensive guide to botany that will help gardeners understand everything about their garden plants. It's well illustrated and packed with information. It's the sort of book you'd expect in a college level course and really gives the reader a thorough understanding of everything from root systems to pollination to plant families. Well recommended.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
August 17, 2018
We read this book for my botany class. We ended up skipping around a lot, but eventually read the whole thing. The book is informative with lots of vibrant pictures and diagrams, which makes understanding these somewhat overwhelming and technical terms easier.
The book covers cells and seeds, roots and shoots, stems, leaves, adaptation, growth and development, and reproduction. There is a lot of info to absorb, but, overall, I enjoyed reading it.
The book covers cells and seeds, roots and shoots, stems, leaves, adaptation, growth and development, and reproduction. There is a lot of info to absorb, but, overall, I enjoyed reading it.
May 30, 2018
I read this because I thought I was going to be taking a botany-ish class; the class ended up not happening but this was a good book. Plants are terrifying.
May 12, 2022
For the information, illustrations and diagrams, the colourful pictures you can just go for this book. The book delivers exactly what it promises.
I would definitely get this book for school and college. I love how informative the content is with all the relevant details including the microscopic views. A must keep if you need a good up-to-date textbook on plants.
Thank you, Timber Press, for the advance review copy.
I would definitely get this book for school and college. I love how informative the content is with all the relevant details including the microscopic views. A must keep if you need a good up-to-date textbook on plants.
Thank you, Timber Press, for the advance review copy.
September 6, 2022
Hitting the basics that I have long forgotten from Core Biology at UF. I needed a refresher.
Great diagrams, interesting inserts and photos!
Great diagrams, interesting inserts and photos!
April 6, 2025
awesome!
This book brings me back tp my school years! I was born and raised in a rural city, with close contact to nature, plants and animals. I also read a lot about before my med school and during that. And as a child who grow up with plants, lived with them and did medical research on them, I could say this book is one of the best options to learn practical knowledge about them!
Thank youuu Brian Capon!
This book brings me back tp my school years! I was born and raised in a rural city, with close contact to nature, plants and animals. I also read a lot about before my med school and during that. And as a child who grow up with plants, lived with them and did medical research on them, I could say this book is one of the best options to learn practical knowledge about them!
Thank youuu Brian Capon!
December 12, 2019
One of the few textbooks I've ever actually read, front to back. Usually professors just pick and choose chapters. It is an easy book to understand for the most part. Covers the science of plants, and how they grow and reproduce.
February 7, 2014
I had to read this book in about 3 weeks for an exam. It reads a little dense for material but it's very thorough. I suggest familiarizing yourself with some plant anatomy before delving in as this text doesn't address the basics.
November 13, 2025
Excellent, succinct guide to the science of plants. I read this book as a refresher, especially since I am working on lesson planning for high school level nature and science programs. The evolutionary history and classification of plants was especially helpful, as were the explanations for photosynthesis and diploid-haploid reproduction.
Written through a gardening lens, I especially found it fascinating.
As a visual person, I appreciated the pictures and diagrams.
As an artist, I think this would be helpful for botanical artists to understand why plants have the parts they do. Plus there are fun words like archegonia and perianth. What a wealth of language!
Written through a gardening lens, I especially found it fascinating.
As a visual person, I appreciated the pictures and diagrams.
As an artist, I think this would be helpful for botanical artists to understand why plants have the parts they do. Plus there are fun words like archegonia and perianth. What a wealth of language!
January 7, 2013
I really liked this book, it's very indepth about how plants grow and their needs. This book might be a bit advanced for the average gardner who justs wants to grow some annuals and the odd perrenial, and just wants an instruction book on where and when to plant them. This book explains the actually works of the plant and gives you whys of where you should plant them in the particular places and when you should plant them to best meet the needs of the plant. This book is not necessary for the adverage gardner it is mainly for the geeky person who wants to look beyond just the pretty flowers or foliage.
January 10, 2013
This is an excellent primer on botanical topics. While most of the information had been covered in many of my collegiate classes, I was impressed by the author's ability to synthesize breadth of detail with accessibility and ease of reading. The book also managed to cover a a lot ground, evident by the inclusion of topics that came up in an array of classes I had taken - from biology to entomology, and plant identification to soil science. Overall, this is a great book for anyone interested in the science of plants.
May 27, 2022
If you want to learn more than mere cultivation of the plants you grow, this book will clue you in on how they are constructed, and how they develop, survive and reproduce, Ultimately, Botany for Gardeners gives you a better appreciation for plants.
This fourth edition brings Botany for Gardeners bang up to date.
Concise and accessible, with clear illustrations and full colour photographs, and a glossary of terms.
Suitable for the layperson, as well as students in further and higher education.
This fourth edition brings Botany for Gardeners bang up to date.
Concise and accessible, with clear illustrations and full colour photographs, and a glossary of terms.
Suitable for the layperson, as well as students in further and higher education.
October 27, 2008
Contrary to its title, this book is actually really interesting. It is totally accessible, and it leaves me with facts about how plants grow that I find myself referring to when looking at a plant.
Like, look at the shape of that leaf - it means this. Or, those buttress roots are designed to help that tree stay upright in the loose soil of this tropical rainforest.
DOESN'T THAT SOUND INTERESTING??
Like, look at the shape of that leaf - it means this. Or, those buttress roots are designed to help that tree stay upright in the loose soil of this tropical rainforest.
DOESN'T THAT SOUND INTERESTING??
July 13, 2012
I was reading this book for an hour at a time sitting in the front garden, luxuriating in the subtropical winter sunshine, so I could leap up and examine leaves and stems as needed or just contemplate the plants around me in a new light.
Obviously, a book so dense with basic scientific information about the world of plants, most of which was new to me, needs to be re-read and used for reference purposes but it was also well-written and a good read.
Obviously, a book so dense with basic scientific information about the world of plants, most of which was new to me, needs to be re-read and used for reference purposes but it was also well-written and a good read.
June 19, 2013
This book really changed my approach to gardening. There are a million 'tips' online for different plants and often the advice is contradictory. This helped me get to the basics of how plants work and what they need from me. I realized that I was going about gardening backwards, trying to treat the problems as they arose. Now I'm taking a more proactive approach, working on keeping the plants healthy.
May 29, 2007
Brian Capon presents Plant Science to the layman in an easy-to-read format with diagrams and microscopic photography that virtually everyone can follow to develop a basic understanding of plant cell biology and function. A brilliant introduction to Botany.
February 13, 2022
Got this book out of the library a few years ago on whim, was blown away by the material - it's like college biology written for 3rd graders (well, maybe 6th graders, but still). Just bought the book to own a week ago - definitely a must have!!
October 18, 2007
This is a great, easy to read, interesting intro to the world of botany. I had to read it for a class, but had actually already read (and enjoyed) it the previous summer!
September 15, 2012
Readable reference book that is a must-have if you want to know what's really inside the green world.
August 3, 2024
An interesting introduction to a very wide field! Lots of useful photos and diagrams.
Some interesting tidbits:
- You should cut bouquet stems under water so air bubbles don't enter the xylem and with sharp shears so that the xylem stays open. That way transpiration will continue to suck water through the plant.
- Pruning apical stems causes hormonal changes that encourage axillary bud growth. (Why pruning leads to bushier, rather than taller, plants.)
- The N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) ratio plants needs varies depending on their growth stage. For example, nitrogen is needed to encourage leaf and stem growth. More potassium and phosphorous is needed for flowering.
- Hormones control the speed at which cells elongate, which makes the plant grow in different directions.
- Dark wood's color comes from the buildup of waste products and chemicals.
- Tomato leaves are toxic.
- Desert plants often hibernate during the summer, while arctic plants hibernate during the winter.
- When leaves begin turning yellow before falling off (not due to malnutrition), the plant is reabsorbing nutrients — don't pull them off!
- Chopping off the apical meristem of grass (a monocot) should mean it will never be able to grow again. But grass has an intercalary meristem, which means the growth continues from lower down in the leaf.
- Full grown victoria water lilies can support an adult human's weight in the water.
- Every time a venus fly trap closes it enlarges, because the act involves enlarging cells and bringing in water. That's why they can only close a set number of times before becoming useless and falling off.
Some interesting tidbits:
- You should cut bouquet stems under water so air bubbles don't enter the xylem and with sharp shears so that the xylem stays open. That way transpiration will continue to suck water through the plant.
- Pruning apical stems causes hormonal changes that encourage axillary bud growth. (Why pruning leads to bushier, rather than taller, plants.)
- The N-P-K (nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium) ratio plants needs varies depending on their growth stage. For example, nitrogen is needed to encourage leaf and stem growth. More potassium and phosphorous is needed for flowering.
- Hormones control the speed at which cells elongate, which makes the plant grow in different directions.
- Dark wood's color comes from the buildup of waste products and chemicals.
- Tomato leaves are toxic.
- Desert plants often hibernate during the summer, while arctic plants hibernate during the winter.
- When leaves begin turning yellow before falling off (not due to malnutrition), the plant is reabsorbing nutrients — don't pull them off!
- Chopping off the apical meristem of grass (a monocot) should mean it will never be able to grow again. But grass has an intercalary meristem, which means the growth continues from lower down in the leaf.
- Full grown victoria water lilies can support an adult human's weight in the water.
- Every time a venus fly trap closes it enlarges, because the act involves enlarging cells and bringing in water. That's why they can only close a set number of times before becoming useless and falling off.
December 22, 2025
Botany for Gardeners is written by a botanist, but it never forgets the curiosity of the non-expert reader. Brian Capon’s main strength lies in his ability to explain how plants work through solid scientific foundations, without turning the book into an academic obstacle course. The tone feels almost like evidence-based storytelling: familiar gardening advice is unpacked, explained, and given a biological reason to exist, which makes the reading both reassuring and enlightening.
What I appreciated most was the way the book widens your perspective. Plants, often perceived as silent and motionless, emerge as highly complex systems, constantly adapting, reacting, and strategizing to survive in very different environments. The chapter on adaptation strategies, in particular, sparked genuine awe, even if its placement in the book felt slightly out of context to me.
Some sections, such as those dealing with generations and reproduction, were tougher and less engaging for my personal interests, but this never detracted from the overall experience. On the contrary, the book left me wanting to know more, which I take as proof of its success.
I would recommend this book to gardeners and plant enthusiasts who want to move beyond “how” and start understanding “why.”
What I appreciated most was the way the book widens your perspective. Plants, often perceived as silent and motionless, emerge as highly complex systems, constantly adapting, reacting, and strategizing to survive in very different environments. The chapter on adaptation strategies, in particular, sparked genuine awe, even if its placement in the book felt slightly out of context to me.
Some sections, such as those dealing with generations and reproduction, were tougher and less engaging for my personal interests, but this never detracted from the overall experience. On the contrary, the book left me wanting to know more, which I take as proof of its success.
I would recommend this book to gardeners and plant enthusiasts who want to move beyond “how” and start understanding “why.”
November 19, 2017
When I started reading Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon I was a little bit disappointed. I was hoping for more "for gardeners" and a lot less "botany" - an introduction to gardening on solid botanical grounds.
But after the initial disappointment faded away the book turned out to be really pleasant. It is what it is - an introduction to botany for gardeners, yet the author is so clearly passionate you'll be glad for the ride.
The book covers the anatomy, physiology, evolutionary adaptations and reproduction of plants. Every part of a plan is covered: from the cell to the ecosystem and from the roots to the leaves. The pictures and diagrams (and occasional "did you know" tidbits) add to the understanding. The style is very simple yet surprisingly charming, scientific terminology is introduced at a need to know basis without any unnecessary jargon.
It's hard to judge a textbook when you don't have sufficient domain knowledge but I think that Botany for Gardeners is a pretty straightforward introduction to botany. Although, it's marketed for gardeners pretty much everybody can pick it up. All in all a very wholesome read.
But after the initial disappointment faded away the book turned out to be really pleasant. It is what it is - an introduction to botany for gardeners, yet the author is so clearly passionate you'll be glad for the ride.
The book covers the anatomy, physiology, evolutionary adaptations and reproduction of plants. Every part of a plan is covered: from the cell to the ecosystem and from the roots to the leaves. The pictures and diagrams (and occasional "did you know" tidbits) add to the understanding. The style is very simple yet surprisingly charming, scientific terminology is introduced at a need to know basis without any unnecessary jargon.
It's hard to judge a textbook when you don't have sufficient domain knowledge but I think that Botany for Gardeners is a pretty straightforward introduction to botany. Although, it's marketed for gardeners pretty much everybody can pick it up. All in all a very wholesome read.
December 2, 2018
Botany has been a difficult subject for me as a mature learner with poor school-based Science results. I have read this after studying a diploma of Arboriculture and found it an excellent resource. The title could be slightly misleading, I think you'd have to be a fairly educated gardener to appreciate this book, due to the depth and breadth of information presented. All of the basics are explained, from plant structure, taxonomy, cells, flowers, Latin terminology, and lots more. The descriptions are written factually and illustrated using diagrams and photos which increase the accessibility of the information. I've found myself making copious notes and i now have a greater appreciation of the difference between a pedicel and a peduncle and have been inspired to create many artistic drawings and musings in my journal. I definitely got a lot more from this text than I expected to; I even want to purchase a microscope now.
Definitely worth the read if you're interested in the world of plants and what makes them grow. Or not grow.
Definitely worth the read if you're interested in the world of plants and what makes them grow. Or not grow.
August 3, 2018
Like a highly readable textbook, elegant in its thoroughness. I was skeptical at first how studying these biological processes (some of which I already knew about) was going to translate into gardening but I learned so much! It filled all kinds of gaps and reorganized my understanding of biology into more useful structures.
Plus I learned random neat things like why plants that eat bugs exist (most live in swampy, nitrogen-poor areas, and evolved insect capture as a source of nitrogen).
It also gave me a clearer understanding of what can go wrong with plants as they grow/reproduce and why, which will help in my gardening. It’s dense, I had to read it ten pages at a time, which took awhile, but I’m glad I read it.
Plus I learned random neat things like why plants that eat bugs exist (most live in swampy, nitrogen-poor areas, and evolved insect capture as a source of nitrogen).
It also gave me a clearer understanding of what can go wrong with plants as they grow/reproduce and why, which will help in my gardening. It’s dense, I had to read it ten pages at a time, which took awhile, but I’m glad I read it.
December 3, 2022
If you want to know more about the mechanics of plants, this book is fantastic. Capon introduces both concepts and vocabulary without getting too technical. I just read it through, and of course I won't retain all of it, but it acts as a convenient reference and provides a general schema of both functions and anatomy plants. To be clear, the book is Botany for Gardeners, but it is not a guide for gardeners. The info about nutrient deficiencies are directly applicable, but by and large the author introduces concepts that deepen your understanding in ways that may not guide you directly, but will allow you to better diagnose and understand your plants. Strongly recommend if the botany interests you and you want a starting point.
September 15, 2022
Good detail, examples, diagrams, and photos. I liked it. Occasionally poetic moments such as
"From air, water, and the dust of the earth, atoms unite, albeit temporarily, into living, functioning plants and animals. And when, inevitably, the spark of life is lost, it is back to those primal forms that
the elements return."
Like how after taking sunglasses off after a prolonged time makes everything seem brighter and more colourful, reading this book made the plants around me glow. I've never appreciated how fascinating something so prevalent can be. Cool!
"From air, water, and the dust of the earth, atoms unite, albeit temporarily, into living, functioning plants and animals. And when, inevitably, the spark of life is lost, it is back to those primal forms that
the elements return."
Like how after taking sunglasses off after a prolonged time makes everything seem brighter and more colourful, reading this book made the plants around me glow. I've never appreciated how fascinating something so prevalent can be. Cool!
February 21, 2023
Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon is a book for plant enthusiasts to learn about their leafy friends from a scientific point of view. It is not a how-to book; it does not tell its readers how to pamper or care for their plants directly. Instead, it breaks down the components of what each plant needs to thrive, helping readers understand that one-size-fits-all solutions won’t work for those, like me, who have indoor city gardens artificially brought together from different corners of the world.
May 5, 2025
I wanted to know how plants work and this was the book for me. I think the science coverage is perfect for a gardener. I learned quite a bit and I think it will help me garden better. I tend to forget to "water transplants in" and don't always ensure that roots are buried properly or that I pay attention to sun exposure. The depth of information in this book has helped me see the error of my ways and I think it will cause me to be more mindful. I loved reading this. This is a book ideal for me to have on the shelf.
August 3, 2017
The Book that Made Me Fascinated with Plants
I really liked this book. The author had some very interesting facts about plants that made me want to learn more. The author also presented the information quite simply, so it was easy to read and learn. It refreshed my biology knowledge from high school, but at the same time gave me some fascinating facts that were put into bigger context. I really enjoyed it and bow want to read the books recommended at the end of this book.
I really liked this book. The author had some very interesting facts about plants that made me want to learn more. The author also presented the information quite simply, so it was easy to read and learn. It refreshed my biology knowledge from high school, but at the same time gave me some fascinating facts that were put into bigger context. I really enjoyed it and bow want to read the books recommended at the end of this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 139 reviews