the essential
In a 143-page book illustrated with taste and attention to detail, the two authors go off the beaten track (and clean gardens) by putting the spotlight on 50 common plant species “among the most neglected and even hated”. Essential.
Chard amaranth, basket willow, floating jussie, hedge clematis, lamb's-quarters… These pretty names evoke “unloved”. “Spontaneous plants” which thrive in wastelands and gardens abandoned to anarchy, on vacant lots and in ditches, or even on sidewalks.
Sometimes pungent or smelly, these plants with a bad reputation are nevertheless precious and full of lessons. In a magnificent 143-page work published by Terran, Gersois Alain Canet, former boss of Arbre & Paysage 32, tells us about them, along with the illustrator Florence Gendre.
DDM
A native of Lyon, the artist left Paris and now lives near L'Isle-Jourdain. Accustomed to orders in the fields of luxury (haute couture, wines, etc.), cosmetics and even architecture, Florence Gendre is also an expert in the art of drawing the plant kingdom: she is also a member of several companies of botanical illustration, in France and abroad.
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“Everything started from a meeting with Florence, from the common desire to get botany out of a technical and scientific impasse,” explains Alain Canet, a long-time publisher but who began writing for the first time at this time. opportunity, we must create vocations, make sure to interest as many people as possible, and we hope to achieve this goal with this beautiful object… Its release comes before Christmas, it's no coincidence!
Witnesses to climate change
The interest in these “unruly” trees seems obvious to the Gersois, an eternal lover of “trognes” and unkempt trees, which evoke their assets. “The example of ivy is telling: 50% of people think that it kills trees even though it is a plant with a thousand virtues, very valuable for pollinators,” points out the Gers agronomist.
DDM – BC
“These unruly plants are bio-indicators and also help us measure climate change. Many of the plants mentioned come from the ends of the world, such as the Cape groundsel. They are sometimes considered undesirable and invasive. Originating from hot countries, they are adapt. The seeds are transported by storms etc. But if there is a break from dormancy, it is because the conditions are met. They do not necessarily take the place of the others. They play the roles that no longer play. other species. I am thinking in particular of Japanese knotweed, which has been uprooted for forty years, but which nevertheless cleans the water of heavy metals.”
To enjoy the rest of the trip, go to your bookseller or to the Terran editions website (price: €29.50).
