The Study of Plants in a Whole New Light “Matt Candeias succeeds in evoking the wonder of plants with wit and wisdom.” ―James T. Costa, PhD, executive director, Highlands Biological Station and author of Darwin's Backyard #1 New Release in Nature & Ecology, Plants, Botany, Horticulture, Trees, Biological Sciences, and Nature Writing & Essays In his debut book, internationally-recognized blogger and podcaster Matt Candeias celebrates the nature of plants and the extraordinary world of plant organisms. A botanist’s defense. Since his early days of plant restoration, this amateur plant scientist has been enchanted with flora and the greater environmental ecology of the planet. Now, he looks at the study of plants through the lens of his ever-growing houseplant collection. Using gardening, houseplants, and examples of plants around you, In Defense of Plants changes your relationship with the world from the comfort of your windowsill. The ruthless, horny, and wonderful nature of plants. Understand how plants evolve and live on Earth with a never-before-seen look into their daily drama. Inside, Candeias explores the incredible ways plants live, fight, have sex, and conquer new territory. Whether a blossoming botanist or a professional plant scientist, In Defense of Plants is for anyone who sees plants as more than just static backdrops to more charismatic life forms. In this easily accessible introduction to the incredible world of plants, you’ll find: • Fantastic botanical histories and plant symbolism • Passionate stories of flora diversity and scientific names of plant organisms • Personal tales of plantsman discovery through the study of plants If you enjoyed books like The Botany of Desire, What a Plant Knows, or The Soul of an Octopus, then you’ll love In Defense of Plants.

I hope that somewhere within these pages you will be inspired, that the words inside will comfort you and give you hope. My prayer is that each and every person who reads this book will be drawn to seek out God for themselves.

"Michele Lowe's radiant new play explores the possibilities that open up in the lives of an array of women as they come into contact with a certain strand of pearls. While the pearls are stolen, bought, bestowed, unstrung and nearly lost, four actresses play 27 characters in this deeply moving drama that is as fresh as it is funny. On the eve of her granddaughter Amy's wedding, Beth asks to see the pearls she gave Amy's mother long ago. When Amy cannot produce them Beth determines to find the pearls. She takes us back to the time when she received them and then gave them to her daughter, who passed them on to her dearest friend Ela who lost them one Sunday morning. Spanning 35 years, the pearls touch the lives of mothers and daughters, sisters and friends, even husbands and wives as they weave a deeply affecting story of love and loss."--Publisher's website.

Don has written something more than a masterpiece he has written straight from the heart, about one of the most unique events in the realm of near-death out of body experience. Having conducted extensive research of his phenomena for over three years and coming to the following conclusion: He now knows he is the ONLY ONE CALLED BY GOD OUR CREATOR to encounter the actual Dome of Creation and able to return to the world with true eye witness testimony, describing it's marvelous, magnificent beauty and overwhelming joyful experience in an infinitesimal time table designed by GOD HIMSELF. He also returned with an apostolic mission, special graces including outward signs or miracles, to bring hope and salvation to the entire world, of course, this conclusion is at the discretion of each reader.

Thirty-eight years in Muleshoe, Texas, has gifted me with a wealth of stories about the people, places, and history of our little town in the Blackwater Valley. But as time goes by, these priceless stories and town history are often lost forever as the people who know the details die and take their history to the grave with them. The Bright Lights of Muleshoe is a repository of West Texas lore set in a place with a name as unique as its people-Muleshoe. From a great newspaper sting to the travels of a fiberglass mule, this book tells the rich history of small-town life. But you don't have to be from Muleshoe to enjoy these stories because the common denominator in each and every one is the human experience. "Stories of intrigue and history define so many small towns in our Texas, and Muleshoe has a unique version of its own. From the life-size statue of "Ol' Pete," the memorial to a mule, to the many individuals who have claimed this town on the Llano Estacado their home, The Bright Lights of Muleshoe gives insight into this island upon an ocean of land." -WYMAN MEINZER, award-winning photographer "As its tongue-in-cheek title suggests, The Bright Lights of Muleshoe offers a refreshing take on small-town life in remote West Texas. The collection of entertaining, well-researched stories ranges from the origin of one of the state's oldest Mexican restaurants to the shock-and-awe experience of latter-day dust storms. Profiles of local personalities reveal an area where residents value hard work, honesty, and humor. An accomplished photographer, the author illustrates this delightful compilation with numerous color photographs." -NOLA MCKEY, former senior editor of Texas Highways and author of From Tea Cakes to Tamales: Third-Generation Texas Recipes "Meet the people and places of Muleshoe, Texas, through the eyes of Alice Liles. If you have never heard of Muleshoe you will want to visit the place with a most unusual name and see the National Mule Memorial, the Muleshoe Heritage Foundation, the Muleshoe Area Public Library, and the Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge, the first established in the state of Texas. If you are from Muleshoe, you'll love the stories about your hometown. The people of Muleshoe make a difference!" -MAGANN RENNELS, Owner of Gil Lamb Advertising/Channel 6, www.muleshoetv.com "Bravo to Alice Liles for capturing the broader texture of small-town America through the stories from her adopted home on the Texas High Plains. One has to chuckle at the thought of how poetic the name of the town would have been had the founders named it "Jennyslipper" instead of "Muleshoe." -GERALD E. MCLEOD, Author of Day Trips for the Austin Chronicle

Summer Rayne Oakes, an urban houseplant expert and environmental scientist, is the icon of wellness-minded millennials who want to bring nature indoors, according to a New York Times profile. Summer has managed to grow 1,000 houseplants in her Brooklyn apartment (and they're thriving!) Her secret? She approaches her relationships with plants as intentionally as if they were people. Everyone deserves to feel the inner peace that comes from taking care of greenery. Beyond the obvious benefits--beauty and cleaner air--there's a strong psychological benefit to nurturing plants as a path to mindfulness. They can reduce our stress level, lower our blood pressure, and improve our overall outlook. And they offer a rare opportunity to find joy by caring for another living being. When Summer Rayne Oakes moved to Brooklyn from the Pennsylvania countryside, she knew that bringing nature indoors was her only chance to stay sane. She found them by the side of the road, in long-forgotten window boxes, at farmers' markets, and in local garden shops. She found ways to shelve, hang, tuck, anchor, secure, and suspend them. She even installed a 150-foot expandable hose that connects to pipes under her kitchen sink, so she only has to spend about a half-hour a day tending to her plants--an activity that she describes as a "moving meditation." This is Summer's guidebook for cultivating an entirely new relationship with your plant children. Inside, you'll learn to: Pause for the flowers and greenery all around you, even the ones sprouting bravely between cracked pavement Trust that your apartment jungle offers you far more than pretty décor See the world from a plant's perspective, trading modern consumerism for sustainability Serve your chlorophyllic friends by learning to identify the right species for your home and to recreate their natural habitat (Bonus: your indoor garden won't die!) When we become plant parents, we also become better caretakers of ourselves, the people around us, and our planet. So, let's step inside the world of plants and discover how we can begin cultivating our own personal green space--in our homes, in our minds, and in our hearts.

In Denmark, the railway is a string of pearls. In Europe, the pearls of this necklace are Paris, London, Vienna and Naples. Here, we see six pearls of the Danish railway and quickly find that it is easier to travel since the invention of the train! Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, poet and artist. Celebrated for children’s literature, his most cherished fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Match Girl". His books have been translated into every living language, and today there is no child or adult that has not met Andersen's whimsical characters. His fairy tales have been adapted to stage and screen countless times, most notably by Disney with the animated films "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 and "Frozen", which is loosely based on "The Snow Queen", in 2013. Thanks to Andersen's contribution to children's literature, his birth date, April 2, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.

"This book is published in conjunction with the exhibition Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts, presented at The Walters Art Museum from November 8, 2015 to January 31, 2016 and at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco from February 26 to May 8, 2016."

A design-focused, easy-to-use guide to colorful, eye-catching foliage and flowers for your whole yard, from the ground plane to the canopy, for homeowners and landscapers faced with replacing thirsty gardens in California and other dry regions in the Western US. If readers must reluctantly remove water-guzzling favorites from the garden, they need equally beautiful substitutes! This book is a visual treat that supports the transition to dry gardening by proving that gardeners can have all the gorgeous color and flowers they had in the past using just a fraction of the water. Maureen Gilmer provides chapters on design categories of plants—flowering shrubs, the ground plain, eye-catching accents, ephemeral flowers, perennials for color, animated plants and fine textures, canopy, and edibles—with profiles for each plant plus background info and top picks lists. The Colorful Dry Garden is unique because it features only bold plants that are also heavy bloomers despite heat and limited water. It also features more than just Western native plants by including varieties from the world's driest climates.