Varla A. VenturaVarla A. Ventura is the author of several books, including Enchanted Plants, Among the Mermaids, and The Book of the Bizarre. As a lover of all things strange, Varla’s interests extend into the weirdness and magic of the plant kigdom. With a deep fascination with folklore and medicinal plants, she has been studying herbalism and botany for more than thirty years. Her plant knowledge comes from a combination of experimentation, formal classes in botany, and working in the horticultural industry for fifteen years. She ran a retail nursery in Portland, Oregon, as well as in San Francisco, California, and operated her own landscaping business for more than ten years. She is also the botanical brain behind Rotten Botany, a website dedicated to unusual plants. When not writing, she can be found wandering around the Minnesota woods or tending her poison garden. Read More Read Less