When my oldest Daughter was a toddler, we stayed in Texas with my sister for a while. The state has so much beauty I would of loved to just stayed there forever. Just driving down the road while the wildflowers are in bloom would make anyone want to live there. There were so many colors, shapes, and sizes of the flowers, and so many fields just filled with stunning flowers.

This books takes an in depth look at each and every wildflower you will find in Texas. There is a picture of each flower and a short description of each one. It gives you the official name as well as all the other names each flower is known as. It describes the plant, how many flowers per plant or bunch on the plant, the flower size, the height of the plant, and the best parts of Texas to find the plant. There are several plants with diffrent variations and all of those are also picture.

Not all of these plants are only found in Texas. So I see in my yard and driving down the streets in my town in Florida, as well as other states I travel too. So even if you don't live in Texas this book would still be nice to have to show some of the wildflowers in your own state.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

Why did I read it?  When first published, several people recommended this book to me, and it was recommended more than once by some.  I imagine those recommendations came because of my like of the natural world, and of language.  I have no idea why, but I put it on my 'wish list' and then my 'to be read</i>' pile, but never actually started it; these decisions I now regret.

What's it about? With the Oxford Children's Dictionary removing words relating to nature, e.g. acorn, in favour of technological terms, Robert Macfarlane explores the United Kingdom in search of those words to describe, and connect us to the natural world.  Connection.  That is the key to this book.  In a time, and place which seems to breed disconnection, this book seeks to reunite us with a deep love for landscape, and language.

What did I like? Every single word, and most especially the glossaries.  Rich in words and landscape, there is so much to enjoy, and explore in this book.  I listened to the audio book, which is rather nicely done.  I did query a few of the Gaelic pronunciations - being a learner of the language, not a native speaker, I may not completely comprehend the dialectal nuances.  I am very pleased I opted to purchase the Kindle edition, too, so I can explore those glossaries at my leisure.

Oh, the joy I found in this book: learning new words for phenomenon I had no idea might even exist; remembering 'childish' the way children use language to describe their surroundings; and discovering new Gaelic words I wanted to include in my (ever-expanding) vocabulary.  

The narrator, Roy McMillan|, did a splendid job.  I'm afraid I have no idea of the name of other gentleman whose voice was used to read out various words, but his voice gave  luscious contrast to Mr McMillan's smooth tones.

What didn't I like?  I could find no fault with this book.  I find fault with myself for not reading it sooner.

Would I recommend it? Yes! Yes! Yes!  Not necessarily the audio version though - not because it is not well read, but because once you've read the book, I'm pretty sure you'll want to keep it to hand to pore over the word glossaries, and then add to your own.

Finally having a bit of down time after some exhausting days hiking. Haven't seen any TV and not even had time to do any reading, but the amazing scenery and wildlife I've seen, kind of makes up for it. 

Zion National Park

Bryce Canyon

Tomorrow we're heading for Capitol Reef, and after that it's Arches and Canyonland before we head to Salt Lake City and then home. 

So I put a bunch of books on hold at my library and this was the first one to become available. It's on my Kindle and ready to go.

And in case you were wondering, Birds of Utah isn't actually a bingo square; I'm going on vacation later this week, and will be hiking in Bryce, Zion, and Arches.

If you're a gardener with a scientific bent, or a fan of science with a botanic bent, this is a great book.

Chamovitz breaks down the current science of botany and makes it interesting and comprehensible to the average armchair enthusiast by using our own senses as a basis for what a plant...knows.  Do plants 'see'?  Do plants 'feel'?  So plants have a sense of 'smell'?  The answers might surprise a few people.  The author is very clear that these comparisons are very loose and plants are not, of course, thinking or sentient.  But as a starting point for understanding how plants do thrive and survive, our senses make for an excellent starting point.

This is a fast read; I was able to complete it in one day, and there was nothing dense about the writing or the research.  Chamovitz provides suggestions for links in the footnotes, a very thorough Notes section and an excellent index.  There wasn't a wealth of practical knowledge (although I do now know how to force short-day plants to bloom at will), but all of it was interesting and I learned a lot.

Highly recommended for the greenies.  ;-)