Weeds in My Garden

"Weeds, by their nature, get around. This book treats about 140 weeds, and more than half of these may be found throughout most of North America. Many were originally native to eastern North America, and others first came from Eurasia. The author chooses weeds that have found their way into "his garden," the Botany Experimental Field at Indiana University where he has grown plants for more than half a century.". "The weeds are arranged by family because the author, a retired botany professor, cannot resist trying to turn other people into botanists, and it helps to know something about a plant's relatives. In the mode of his sixteenth-century forebear John Gerard, Charles Heiser discusses each weed according to The Name, common and scientific, The Time and Place, of flowering, and from where the plant originally came, The Description, and The Virtues, in which he relates fascinating weedy tales in a witty, conversational style.". "Not intended to be a manual of weed identification - although the descriptions, drawings, and photographs will help readers name many of their newfound friends - or weed eradication, this book is for anyone interested in weeds as plants. A veritable natural history of weeds, it will encourage readers to look anew at these previously unwelcome guests."--BOOK JACKET.