One of the best documentaries I’ve seen in a long while is The Botany of Desire.  It is the story of four amazing plants, the apple, the tulip, the potato, and marijuana.  The latter is apparently one of the randiest specimens of horticulture out there, but I’ll let you download the movie on Netflix to find out the rest.

I learned that if you plant the seeds from say, a “Gala” apple, you don’t get “Gala” apple trees.  You would, in fact, get any number of varieties, none of which may be fit to eat.  The only way you can produce more of the same apple is to graft the tree.  Jiminy Cricket!  Who knew pomiculture was so complex?

Realist, Barbara Kaciceck knows her fruit intimately, and her paintings invite us all to look closer.

 

This is one of her drawings!