When most people think about plants, they remember a riot of colour and the heady scent of perfumes. But plants are also the foundations of Earth’s ecosystems, the wonderfully complex webs which support the myriads of animals, birds, and humans. We damage them at our peril because we are only part of them. The Living Plants book contains chapters on evolution, history of plant collection, biodiversity, pollination, and plants for food and medicinal herbs. It also contains some controversial topics on plant communication and intelligence as well as the effects of climate change.

The presentation on Tuesday May 13th at 6.30 pm in Ardkeen Library is on The Ecology of the Suir Estuary. It is a unique example of an ecosystem just half a kilometre from the library. Only very specialised plants can survive the constantly changing salinity as the tides rise and fall. What mechanisms do the plants use and can we learn from them? And then there is the seaweed in the lower estuary. They have their challenges too but give us health enhancing products and other valuable uses.

Dr. Eddy Fitzgerald was a crop specialist with an international company and worked in several countries in Europe and North America. Later he became Programme Leader in Agriculture at the South East Technological University in Waterford. As well as teaching, he carried out research in estuarine and agriculture-environment projects. Since retiring Eddy has concentrated on writing and published Hugh O’Neill: Earl of Tyrone. His latest book, Living Plants: Their Place in the World, explores the amazing world of plants. Eddy lives with his wife Mary in Butlerstown, County Waterford, visited by their growing number of grandchildren from home and abroad.