The Planthunter: Truth, Beauty, Chaos and Plants

Author Georgina Reid and photographer Daniel Shipp welcome us into the world of plants, and along the way, teach the reader valuable lessons about life and the people within it.

Words: Emma-Kate Wilson | Photography: Daniel Shipp

Photo: Daniel Shipp

Photo: Daniel Shipp

Featuring the sculptural, patterned Nepenthes Mirabilis, also known as the Tropical Pitcher Plant, front and centre on the cover with a bright yellow spine and bold black font, The Planthunter doesn’t appear like your usual ‘how-to’ plant book. 

Each section of the book is defined by a bold colour inspired by a plant, bringing a little bit of that Evi O magic through the design. Similarly, the plants are captured like art thanks to the stunning photography by Daniel Shipp. 

The Planthunter came together as a project between author Georgina Reid and the photographer over five years, following from The Planthunter online magazine. ‘It’s a reflection of our complimentary creative vision, shared aesthetic sensibility, and commitment to truthful storytelling,’ says Georgina. 

The first page of the decidedly luscious hardback asks us to grab our secateurs as we delve into the interconnectedness and processes of gardening. As such, the book is centred on this approach—the gardens are reflective of the people who grow them, and the networks formed throughout. 

With whimsical, traditional gardens in New Zealand joining rented courtyards overflowing with potted plants in inner-city Melbourne, The Planthunter reveals the diversity of a curated landscape; each as unique as us. 

‘Each of the people in the book are constant gardeners – committed to the cultivation of both the earth and the human spirit. They are all, in one way or another, carers. This is the thread that weaves them together. Their gardens articulate the ways they think about and care for the world around them,’ says Gerogina Reid. Photo: Daniel Shipp

“The older I get, the less I’m caught up in what I do and don’t like. It’s important to me to find beauty and wonder everywhere: in a weed, in an ant, in a gorgeous magnolia flower. ”

— Georgina Reid

‘The people I’m most interested in – and those profiled within the book – are engaging with the land in inventive, exciting, and creative and caring ways. Every single person we met I was surprised by in one way or the other,’ says Georgina Reid. Photo: Daniel Shipp

The book is not just about pretty gardens but also about the people and the places they’re in. Photo: Daniel Shipp

The Planthunter reveals the diversity of a curated garden. Photo: Daniel Shipp

‘It was less about finding the gardens than the people,’ says Georgina. ‘I think the important aspect of this book is that it’s not just a collection of pretty gardens, it’s about the people as much as the places. How they see the world, how they garden, how they care.’

Some of the people she’d met before, others had been on her radar for a long time; but each of them offered something new and surprising. From ‘The Gangsta Gardener’ Ron Finley’s LA urban garden to former lawyer Leslie Bennett’s first black women’s sanctuary garden in West Oakland.  

‘People often see gardening as some sort of innocuous, innocent pastime,’ says Georgina. ‘But a garden is not an island; it is a cultural product influenced by worldviews, politics, class, race. If you are taking gardens – and the act of gardening – seriously, these topics cannot be avoided, nor should they.’

For the author, this premise of gardening extends beyond the physicality of picking up your secateurs. Instead, it expands into philosophies of life. Loving our planet, growing communities, questioning everything. 

‘Anything, anywhere, can be gardened,’ Georgina concludes. ‘It is the framework of caring action that makes gardening an important, powerful and positive way of engaging with ourselves, each other, and the world around us.’

‘What I’ve realised as a result of making the book is this: You cannot be a gardener and not care, you cannot be a gardener and not act. Both are cultivated in the earth, and in the self. Caring action is the true work of the gardener,’ says Georgina Reid. Photo: Daniel Shipp

This is an edited extract from The Planthunter by Georgina Reid and Daniel Shipp, published by Thames & Hudson, RRP $59.00. Available where all good books are sold and online.

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GEORGINA REID & DANIEL SHIPP