I’ve long had it in mind to write a book. Trouble is, so far I have not been able to decide on a subject. I have a wide range of interests which I’ve researched quite fully, but for one reason or another, they’ve never quite made it to the stage where I wanted to take them forward into a full length book. Maybe I didn’t know enough or for one reason or another I wasn’t quite passionate enough about the subject in hand. I want to be totally passionate about whatever I write about. So, I’ve kept files of my interests on hand basically to see which one I keep going back to time and time again.
The one that I’ve kept going back to has surprised me the most …
When I was in university the subject that enthralled me most was botany. Now most people might say, plants are such dry and boring things and if all you’re going to do is count petals and classify Latin names – I’d firmly agree with them.
But plants have another side – a more exciting side, for me anyway. They can cure or they can very definitely KILL! How many of us as little children were shooed quickly away from the plant in the garden from the plant with pretty flowers or even more commonly bright shiny pretty berries?
I remember moving into one of our old houses as a child and seeing a plant at the bottom of the garden with big shiny black berries – I was fascinated and when I pointed it to my Father and asked him what it was – I was dragged away from it quick smart and told that if I ever touched that plant I would die. Said plant was then dug up by the roots and burnt – quick smart. Only when I was much older did I learn that it was deadly nightshade and that my darling dad spoke no less than the truth when he said that it could kill me. It very definitely could!
When I studied botany at university as part of my degree – these were the plants that fascinated me then and still do. The bad boys, the glamour boys, the Lord Byrons of the plant world: “Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know!”
So I think this is where my thoughts are headed and my ideas have been crystallised by a chance discovery of a fantastic site – Mrs Grieve’s Herbal, which can be found here:
The illustrations are beautiful (and this site is where the illustration above comes from) and the whole herbal is written from the 1930s (one of my favourite eras), personally I just found it a fascinating read.
I’m off now to immerse myself in a few old botany texts. Hope you are all well.
Love and Hugs Radders xx
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