Acknowledgements

My co-author, Bryce Wylde, has travelled the world seeking the truth about how individuals can improve their quality of life through natural elements, especially plants. I’ve always known how to grow plants, but Bryce has taught me to put them to use in ways that have already been rewarding, and hopefully will make me live longer!

I’ve always had an interest in using plants medicinally. It began in my childhood with my Nonna’s belief that generous portions of dandelion make the heart stronger. I learned more from my friend Rylan Vallee’s father, Dr. Brian Vallee, who was a naturopathic doctor in Abbotsford, B.C. He taught me about the healing powers of plants that have been known for thousands of years.

A project like this requires countless hours of research, writing, planting, watering, and photography. That workload requires the support of my immediate family. My wife, Laurie, is always patient and supportive of any project I take on, and I love her for that. My boys, Gavin and Matheson, came together to help me tend many of the plants featured in this book. My family business, Bradford Greenhouses, cultivated my knowledge from childhood to present day. I thank my mother, Alyce; my father, Tony; my sister, Chiara; my uncles, Sam, Peter, Mickey, and Len; my aunts, Mary, Eileen, Jen, Lucy, and Rosalba; and my many cousins for their support and love.

The horticultural industry in Canada has always been a source of inspiration: It includes many of the hardest-working and most passionate people I know. Freeman Herbs provided me with a host of plants for this book, and I want to acknowledge the exceptional quality of plants they produce, many of which are grown organically. To my cousins at Riga Farms, who work from sunrise to sunset growing some of Ontario’s best Swiss chard, beets, and kale: Thank you for providing this book with some great plants, and also for the food you put on Canadian tables throughout the growing season.

In life it takes a team to build a home, a business, a car. A book is no different, so I would like to acknowledge the team of talented people who helped create Power Plants: from the exceptional photography of Shannon J. Ross to the vision and guidance (and downright pestering!) of HarperCollins senior editor Kate Cassaday—you’re amazing! Dan Bortolotti has to be recognized, too—before his editing, some of this book looked more like notes on a sketch pad. To my publicists, Julia Barrett and Carolyn Ovell, thank you for helping keep me on track and in the public eye. I consider you both a part of my extended family.

We hope the work of our team will help you grow a healthy life!

—Frankie

This book wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Frank’s idea, many years ago, that we collaborate on a project that could benefit the general public. So I’d like to deeply thank Frank for his ingenuity, and for bringing me even closer to nature through this initiative. His passion for growing plants is contagious!

I came into this project “green” in more ways than one. Natural medicine is my life, but I only ever had a basic understanding when it came to growing plants. In this day and age, people need to remember the wisdom their grandparents and elders once held with respect to the miracles of nature. Until I met Frankie Flowers, I too was stuck in the mentality that “natural” and “complementary alternative” meant herbs or nutrients encapsulated and bottled to look like a medicine. That’s fine in most cases, but there is something special about getting back to nature and growing a medicine yourself.

My mother was an avid gardener. She insisted my two sisters and I share in the responsibility of watering and fertilizing the annual Wylde family bounty. We used an all-natural approach, of course. Among other now widely accepted practices, my mother raised us to compost before it was a household term and a municipal requirement. For all of this, I thank you, Momsie!

I’d also like to share my deepest gratitude to HarperCollins Canada, and in particular our editor, Kate Cassaday. I’ve met few others with such incredible vision, positive motivation, and strong determination to see the project come alive to its full potential.

The amount of time and energy spent by Dan Bortolotti focusing our prose so the book was ready for publishing was also impressive. Thank you!

It’s one thing to grow and bottle nature’s beauty, but capturing the process with such a keen eye and under significant time constraints required the genius work of Shannon J. Ross, for whom I’m very grateful.

I want to acknowledge a very important person without whom this project couldn’t have happened. My literary agent, Chris Casuccio, of Westwood Creative Artists once again stepped up and went way above and beyond the call of duty to support me. Thanks also to John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists.

To my team at Argyle Communications—you guys know what you do and there aren’t enough pages here anyway. My sincere gratitude to Nick Williams, Caroline DeSilva, Anna Campbell, and especially Rob McEwan.

To my “mushy” manager, Sharon Feldstein, thank you for all your constant efforts and belief in me.

To Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Andy Weil, we are very grateful for all the time it took to review this work.

I also want to thank my many patients for being so, well, patient with me during my time away from the clinic.

A very special appreciation goes to my wonderful wife and family. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to express how deeply I am grateful for their support during this project. Seeing my daughter, Zaya, picking and eating fresh basil and tomatoes from our garden, and my son, Devin, collecting the strawberries we grow out back of our house warms my heart and speaks to the success of this project.

—Bryce