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This is a book for all nature enthusiasts, bird watchers, and avid gardeners; it is a love letter to the wonderful fauna and flora that we share the world with. In a series of bite-sized essays, Dr. Plummer presents his thoughts, opinions, and insight on a wide array of topics on nature and gardening. Each essay has tidbits of information sure to interest any nature lover, mixed in with a touch of science and a heavy dose of nostalgia and recollection on the author's part. The result is an odd but pleasing mix of genres and a book that is part bird watching and gardening companion and part memoir.
The author describes nature as he knows it personally from the perspective of his own experiences, his home region, home lot, and the trails and mountains he has visited. Despite this limited viewpoint, the book touches on a large variety of topics and tips, including descriptions of local birds and their habits, what kinds of plants require the least maintenance for the highest level of enjoyment, how to propagate different species of ferns, and so much more. The tone is friendly and enthusiastic and descriptive enough to make you feel as though you are quietly enjoying the author's thriving garden or taking a stroll down his fern-lined path (the "Pteridophyte Ptrail"—some gardening humor). Plummer’s book is not a beginner’s text—it might prove a bit too in-depth for the uninitiated. However, its pure joy can inspire the unsure or amateur to pick up a pair of binoculars and look to the sky, to look a bit closer at the plants at one’s feet, or to simply bring nature a bit closer through landscaping.