Curious Stories of Familiar Garden Plants

Just like gardeners, garden plants have interesting stories, from their sometimes peculiar origins to their travels far across the world, to their role in politics. Knowing these stories makes the garden a richer place.

Did you know:
- In Victorian England they thought tomatoes were an aphrodisiac because they were called "love apples", and therefore avoided at all costs
- In Greek mythology they believed wherever the Goddess Iris walked on earth a rainbow color of iris flowers sprang up.
- The Dakota Sioux thought every flower species had its own song. Because the Pasqueflower was the first native wildflower to bloom, it's song called all the other plants from the ground.
- In about 1600 plant breeders in Holland bred an edible carrot, prior to that they were used as medicine or only for food flavoring.

Curious Stories of Familiar Garden Plants is full of interesting stories that look at the folklore, myths, legends, symbolism and curiosities of everyday garden plants.

Kathy Keeler, A Wandering Botanist, has wandered the world collecting stories to not only teach us about our favorite plants, but to also delight and entertain us.