Rating: 
Summary: A gardner can't escape the need to learn some botany.
Review: A super introduction or re-introduction to botany. The book will inspire the reader to delve even more deeply into botany for the pure love of plants. The only complaint from this reader is a mysterious off-handed remark, that monocots are the most advanced group of plants is not well substantiated within the text. "Advanced" because of their large numbers, because they include the major grain sources to feed mankind? Or are they smarter than dicots? Enjoy the thoughtful challenge and don't miss the book. Perhaps Capon will offer a sequel or at least a better explanation more suitable to his rookie readers!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific book for gardeners wanting to know more
Review: As a gardener, I found this book to be a great introduction to botany. It is not a simple book, but a very well written book that takes the details of botany down to a beginner's level.There's a lot of technical details here. It's not an easy breeze to get through it, as I'm sure a full semester's class in Botany might be. I've heavily underlined this book and refer to it often. I hope to take a college course in Botany after plowing my way through this book. I use the term plow not because the writing is hard to read, but because so many technical details are covered. The writing pushes you along because it is so interesting. This is a great book. John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
Rating:
Summary: Terrific book for gardeners wanting to know more
Review: As a gardener, I found this book to be a great introduction to botany. It is not a simple book, but a very well written book that takes the details of botany down to a beginner's level. There's a lot of technical details here. It's not an easy breeze to get through it, as I'm sure a full semester's class in Botany might be. I've heavily underlined this book and refer to it often. I hope to take a college course in Botany after plowing my way through this book. I use the term plow not because the writing is hard to read, but because so many technical details are covered. The writing pushes you along because it is so interesting. This is a great book. John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
Rating:
Summary: just the facts
Review: Capon gets down to business and explains how plants work. No more will the reader/gardener utter such pablum as "pinching forces energy down instead of up in the plant." She/he will intelligently note that pinching the apical meristem decreases the hormones that control upward growth, thus increasing the activity of hormones controlling lateral growth. Very well explained facts about how plants do what they do.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to botany; it reads like a novel
Review: Capon obviously loves his subject and is that rare science writer who can make his subject into an adventure, a romance, a thriller, an action-packed story. One of the best lay-science books I've ever read in any field and a must for anyone who loves plants.
Rating: 
Summary: A readable introduction to botany for non-scientists
Review: How do plants grow? What exactly is
photosynthesis? How did plants evolve and how
do they adapt to environmental stress? What
does each part of a flower do? How do plants
reproduce and pass on their genes?
This highly readable introduction to how plants work
answers all these questions and more, always
looking at botany from a gardener's point of
view. Capon explains the structure and function
of plants in clear, understandable language,
including and defining all the relevant scientific
terms. The book introduces readers to cell
structure and function, plant growth
processes, the many ways
plants adapt to protect themselves from
predators and the environment, and how plants meet their
basic needs for food and water. Photosynthesis, reproduction,
and the aging process are explained, and the fascinating processes necessary
for the transmission of genes are discussed in detail. Excellent color photos, line drawings,
and diagrams accompany the lucid text. Botany for Gardeners never
ceases to receive fan mail from grateful plant lovers who now look at plants
in a whole new way.
Rating:
Summary: A readable introduction to botany for non-scientists
Review: How do plants grow? What exactly is photosynthesis? How did plants evolve and how do they adapt to environmental stress? What does each part of a flower do? How do plants reproduce and pass on their genes?
This highly readable introduction to how plants work answers all these questions and more, always looking at botany from a gardener's point of view. Capon explains the structure and function of plants in clear, understandable language, including and defining all the relevant scientific terms. The book introduces readers to cell structure and function, plant growth processes, the many ways plants adapt to protect themselves from predators and the environment, and how plants meet their basic needs for food and water. Photosynthesis, reproduction, and the aging process are also explained, and the fascinating processes necessary for reproduction and transmission of genes are discussed in detail. Excellent color photos, line drawings, and diagrams accompany the lucid text. Botany for Gardeners never ceases to receive fan mail from grateful plant lovers who now look at plants in a whole new way.
Rating: 
Summary: "Botany for Gardeners" is not for every gardener
Review: I found this book to be helpful as a overview type coverage in botany, but it left a lot to be desired. It was not written for gardeners as the title may imply. This is a rather heavy text for the ordinary gardner, and not enough for a Botany student. I found the text to be poorly arranged, with poor chapter content. This is a text that would be good for a gardener that is really interested in learning more, but leaves a lot to be desired in some of the explanations.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really for gardeners
Review: I love gardening, reading, and science, so I was very hopeful when I saw the title of this book. The title sounds very interesting. This book left me disappointed. It felt like work to read. There were interesting tidbits about plants, but they were buried in mind-numbing details.
Opening the book at random I find this quote:
"The chemical name for natural auxin, produced by plants, is indole-3-acetic acid, or IAA. Several synthetic substances (naphthaleneacetic acid, or NAA; 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4-D, etc.), having auxin-like effects when applied to plant tissues, have been studied and are used commercially."
Fortunately, the entire book isn't written this way, but there are way too many sentences just like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Not really for gardeners
Review: I love gardening, reading, and science, so I was very hopeful when I saw the title of this book. The title sounds very interesting. This book left me disappointed. It felt like work to read. There were interesting tidbits about plants, but they were buried in mind-numbing details.
Opening the book at random I find this quote:
"The chemical name for natural auxin, produced by plants, is indole-3-acetic acid, or IAA. Several synthetic substances (naphthaleneacetic acid, or NAA; 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4-D, etc.), having auxin-like effects when applied to plant tissues, have been studied and are used commercially."
Fortunately, the entire book isn't written this way, but there are way too many sentences just like this one.
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