A Botanical Odyssey

The new wide-ranging memoir of a Kew-trained horticulturist.

About A Botanical Odyssey

A Botanical Odyssey: Travels of a Gardener is the wide-ranging memoir of a Kew-trained horticulturalist and tour leader who has spent a lifetime spent travelling the world in search of plants.

Some 26 countries take a starring role in this travelogue. From Madagascar to Mongolia and Costa Rica to China, they span Europe and Asia, with forays into Central America, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia. The landscapes featured are as diverse as the political geography: join author David Sayers on expeditions through Himalayan mountains and treks in Papuan rainforests, in explorations of Israeli deserts, on hikes amid the hills of Atlantic islands such as Madeira, and in enjoyment of public and private botanical gardens everywhere. Plants wild and cultivated are the driver for Sayers’ often intrepid travels, whether leading a group, conducting research or travelling with like-minded friends for pure fun. The result is a collection of deeply rewarding narratives relating Sayers’ search for and delight in seeing wildflowers in native and garden settings from the tropics to the Arctic.

David Sayers knows his stuff. He is a horticulturist who studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and in botanic gardens overseas. For 26 years, he ran a company specialising in botanical and garden travel, including pioneering new destinations – and it is these travels that form the spine of his writing. Sayers’ authentic, enthusiastic text is complemented by over 160 photos of plants, landscapes and people. Mindful that global enthusiasm for nature has never been so deep, or so widespread, and that opportunities for experiencing it have never been better, Sayers hopes that his enthusiasm for plants will encourage further interest in where our garden flowers come from and, by going out to look for them, help raise wider awareness of their value and the need for their conservation.

Whether you are into plant hunting or relish reading nature writing, whether you like visiting botanical gardens or crave adventurous travel, A Botanical Odyssey makes for inspirational and enjoyable armchair travel, drawing you into seeing new species in novel parts of the world.

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Contents

Preamble
1 Armenia
2 Azores
3 Bhutan
4 China
5 Corsica
6 Costa Rica
7 Cyprus
8 Czechia
9 Ecuador
10 Georgia
11 Iceland with Greenland
12 India Northwest
13 India Northeast
14 India South
15 Iran
16 Israel
17 Madagascar
18 Madeira
19 Mongolia
20 Myanmar (Burma)
21 Nepal
22 Papua New Guinea
23 South Africa
24 South Australia
25 South Korea
26 Sri Lanka
27 Thailand

Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Plant Index

About the author

David Sayers is a horticulturist who studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and in botanic gardens overseas. Abandoning gardening after twenty years to graduate in social sciences, he worked in social policy and corporate planning while using annual leave to lead adventure and botanical holidays to the Himalayas. From 1982 to 2008, he ran a company specialising in botanical and garden travel, including pioneering new destinations. He is author of Bradt’s original Azores guidebook and now writes on botanical travel. Having spent a lifetime exploring the world for plants, he has synthesised his experiences into the book A Botanical Odyssey.