These are all words that describe the singular appeal of plants with black (or near-black) foliage, flowers, or fruit. For some gardeners, they are curiosities that yield a special thrill when closely examined. For others, they are invaluable for creating sophisticated designs in which dark leaves and foliage provide essential contrast with brighter elements. Whatever the source of their somber magic, these dusky denizens of the plant kingdom are irresistible to gardeners-or indeed to anyone drawn to nature's more unusual manifestations.

Discover the joys and self-nurturing benefits of plant parenthood, from learning how to begin building your own lush plant family to getting into those fun tips on how to care for your green gurls, with this beautiful, illustrated guide from the dazzling creator of the @plantkween Instagram account. “We all love some new growth, dahling.” Six years ago, Christopher Griffin was just beginning the plant parenthood journey with one small Marble Queen Pothos. Today, this Black Queer non-binary femme plant influencer known as Plant Kween tends to a family of more than 200 healthy green gurls in the Brooklyn apartment they call home. You Grow, Gurl! is Kween’s fun and fabulous guide to becoming a plant parent and keeping your green gurls growing and thriving. Anyone can be a plant parent! It’s all about TLC—taking the time and energy to focus on a plant’s needs, and ultimately your own. Featuring 200 full-color photos and illustrations, practical instructions and tips—on everything from propagating to measuring humidity to repotting—activities, and stories, this fun and joyful guide shows how to green-up any space and have it serving those lush lewks. Self-care takes many forms and tending to your plants’ needs helps you grow too. In addition to information and advice on plant care, Kween provides meditations, mindfulness activities, playlists, and more to help you practice self-care through plant-care. As Kween says, “We can learn a lot about how we treat ourselves, how we treat others, and how we navigate the world from these green lil creatures.” Healing and growing your heart, body, and soul takes time, love, and focus. Taking care of plants teaches you to apply that same attention and love to yourself and helps you find new pathways to explore on your own botanical adventure to self-love.

Gardeners through the ages have sought the truly black flower. Now there are many unusual plants within this colour range with which you can achieve dramatic contrasts in your flowerbeds and borders.

With over 50,000 distinct species in sub-Saharan Africa alone, the African continent is endowed with an enormous wealth of plant resources. While more than 25 percent of known species have been used for several centuries in traditional African medicine for the prevention and treatment of diseases, Africa remains a minor player in the global natural

Many edible plants considered exotic in the Western world are actually quite mainstream in other cultures. While some of these plants are only encountered in ethnic food markets or during travels to foreign lands, many are now finding their way onto supermarket shelves. Top 100 Exotic Food Plants provides comprehensive coverage of tropical and semi

Reconnect. Restore. Reciprocate. Repairing landscapes and reconnecting us to the wild plant communities around us. Integrating restoration practices, foraging, herbalism, rewilding, and permaculture, Wild Plant Culture is a comprehensive guide to the ecological restoration of native edible and medicinal plant communities in Eastern North America. Blending science, practice, and traditional knowledge, it makes bold connections that are actionable, innovative, and ecologically imperative for repairing both degraded landscapes and our broken cultural relationship with nature. Coverage includes: Understanding and engaging in mutually beneficial human-plant connections Techniques for observing the land's existing and potential plant communities Baseline monitoring, site preparation, seeding, planting, and maintaining restored areas Botanical fieldwork restoration stories and examples Detailed profiles of 209 native plants and their uses. Both a practical guide and an evocative read that will transport you deep into the natural landscape, Wild Plant Culture is an essential toolkit for gardeners, farmers, and ecological restoration practitioners, highlighting the important role humans play in tending and mending native plant communities.