Let's Botanize 101 Ways to Connect with Plants

Botanizing is the new birding! This fascinating book of 101 botany prompts is about the joy of getting to know plants in much the same way we get to know birds, through observation and attention. 

Let's Botanize! is a guide to learning about and understanding the world of plants, a hobby that can ease stress, bring joy, and deepen your connection with the incredible diversity of life all around you. With easy entry points and lush photography, the 101 prompts inspire readers to engage with plant life meaningfully each day by observing the parts, patterns, and processes that make plants so amazing. Examine a bud at the tip of a branch—does it have hairs or scales? What is the most brightly colored plant part you can find that is not a flower or a fruit? Listen to the plants—what sounds do you hear them making? Follow the prompts on dedicated walks in the woods, on your sidewalk, on your commute to work, or even in your kitchen! Revisit prompts at different times of year, in different countries, climates, and ecosystems. As you learn more, you may even find that revisiting the same prompt and the same tree can provide a completely different perspective as you become more familiar with the wonderful world of plants.

Ben Goulet-Scott, Ph.D. and Jacob S. Suissa, Ph.D., are the co-founders and directors of Let's Botanize, an educational non-profit that spreads the hobby of botanizing by sharing plant stories in order to spread curiosity and passion for plants. Their motto is: a care for plants is a care for the planet. Goulet-Scott and Suissa earned their doctorate degrees in evolutionary biology at Harvard University. Goulet-Scott currently designs and manages higher education programming at Harvard Forest, the ecology-focused research station of Harvard University in Massachusetts. Suissa is currently an Assistant Professor of evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Find them teaching at in-person school events, presenting hands-on seminars and lectures, and on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @letsbotanize.  

The prompts are organized into three sections: parts, patterns, perspective. Readers can engage with prompts in sequential order which will build from an organismal scale to a larger scale and integrate ideas from earlier prompts to later ones. At the same time, readers can open up to any random page and more spontaneously choose a prompt to follow. Revisiting prompts during different times of the year, in different geographic locations, or even multiple times in the same place will provide endless opportunities to engage with the botanical world.
 
Section 1, Parts is concerned with the organism, specifically focused on the parts of plants (e.g., stem, roots, leaves, flowers). These prompts will explore the minutiae of the botanical world, focusing on plant structure and organization.
Section 2, Patterns builds on the foundation established in Section 1 and focuses on patterns of plant survival. These prompts will call upon concepts of plant development, physiology, and phenology to investigate how plants build their bodies and how they function. We will explore mutualistic relationships between plants and other organisms, physiological processes that help plants survive, and phenological cues that signal plants to change their behavior with the seasons.
Section 3, Perspective integrates the human experience with prompts that engage us with plants. Mindfulness engagement with plants will aim to help build new relationships between humans and the botanical world, with plants as distinct organisms that we can appreciate.   
 
Parts
What is the smallest leaf vein you can see with the naked eye?
Dissect a fruit and describe its contents.
Find a bud at the tip of a branch. Can you see tiny leaves? Is the bud covered by scales, hairs, or something else?
Dissect a tubular flower and count the number of lobes.
Compare the upper and lower surfaces of a leaf.
Find a root above ground
Compare a fern leaf that is visually complex to another that is simpler.
Compare the thinnest and thickest leaf you can find.
Find the smallest and largest flower you can.
 Find a flower on a tree

Patterns
Pick a plant and try to figure out if it is an annual (lives and dies within one year) or a perennial (lives for more than one year).
Find two plants that you believe may be closely related based on their appearance.
Find a flower that is open when no others are.
Compare two leaves on different individuals of the same species.
What is the most brightly colored non-flower plant part you can find?
Can you find a plant growing on another plant?
Find a flower with no petals.
What is the tallest moss you can find?

Perspective
Keep track of how many different types of plant you eat today.
Spend ten consecutive minutes with one tree.
What was the first plant you noticed today?
Listen to the plants, what sounds do you hear them making?
Ask how old your wooden furniture is.
Imagine the life of a plant growing in a sidewalk crack, from seed to death.
Count the number of other species living on and around one tree.
Think about the 400 million year old tree that powers your car.