New Field Guide out: Free this weekend!

Last week I finished uploading and publishing another of my Field Guides, this one is for the slightly esoteric selection of Acacias:  trees that look like Acacias, that are called Acacias, and that have pinnate leaves and spines, and which might get confused with Acacias.

But Amazon made a slight bish with the cover:

Can you spot the mistake?

Yes - *sigh* - they used the Scabious cover.

Dratski!

I waited a couple of days for them to sort it out, but a sorting out was not forthcoming, so in the end I had to unpublish the book, then create a new listing. However, it was not all a bad thing, as I spotted a spelling mistake, and then I looked at the next paragraph and thought that, actually, I could reword it to make it a bit easier to understand.

Anyway, it is now done, and available for FREE download if you have Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime: and if not, well, it's only the cost of a cup of coffee,  and you need never again be confused by this group of trees.

However, as I like to spread the good word of Botany amongst my fellow iSpotters, I'm offering it FREE this weekend, Sat/Sun 21st and 22nd November, so hang on until then.

Oh,  and talking of the principle of free download weekends, I have noticed that Amazon, being an american company, have a rather jingoistic approach to their timekeeping.

So when I say "free on Sat/Sun" it will actually start being free when America starts the day, which is roughly 5 hours after we do... and it will continue to be free on Sunday night, long after midnight.

I expect to see, over the next few weeks, a whole pile of iSpot Observations of this group of trees!

New Field Guide out today - Wild Roses

There have been a few iSpot Observations recently dealing with Field Rose, Dog Rose etc, and it seemed that quite a few people were not entirely sure of the differences, so here we are:

...my Field Guide to the commonest wild roses that you are likely to find whilst out and about in the UK countryside.

It's available now, HERE, on Amazon.

As always, these Field Guides are not intended to replace proper botany reference books, they are intended to provide a quick and easy reference resource for differentiating between each group.

I found this Crib to be a very easy one to write: once I got started, I found that the differences in the wild roses are actually very straightforward, unlike the pesky Veronicas (a book that I am going to revise almost immediately after publishing it, as I think it could be clearer..), but this one is nice, very easy to use.

As always, if you have Kindle Unlimited, or Amazon Prime, then you can download it for free at any time ("whoopee!"), but if you don't, then hang on until next weekend and get it free then.

Yes, it will be FREE to download next weekend, the 10th and 11th October.

If you don't have a Kindle, that's not a problem, Amazon kindly provide a free programme ("app") so you can download it to your own device, and if you don't have a tablet, it still doesn't matter as you can even download it to your PC or laptop.

You can't get any more helpful than that!

If you have any comments on the book, do please email me on rachy.ramone@gmail.com, as I love to hear from people who have used the Cribs, and quite often there are good suggestions which I am very happy to incorporate. Also, if there is a group of plants that you are struggling with, do let me know as there might already be a Crib for them, in which case I will bump it up the publication list: I still have 40 or so to do, and as I work full time, it is taking me quite a while to get through them all, but I hope to have them all published before the end of the year.

Or maybe before the end of next year.... *laughs*

Finally, if you like it, do please leave a Review on Amazon, as that will encourage other people to download it. 

Speedwells - FREE again this weekend

This one was so popular that I'm offering it free again this weekend, 15th and 16th August.


They are not a particularly difficult group, but it's nice to have all the details in one place.

And remember - if it has five petals, it's Myosotis, which is Forget-me-not!

As always, if you have Kindle Unlimited, or Amazon Prime, then you can download it for free at any time, but if you don't, then hang on until the weekend and get it free then.

If you don't have a Kindle, that's not a problem, Amazon kindly provide a free programme ("app") so you can download it to your own device, or even to your PC or laptop.

Give it a go, it's really easy!

And then this weekend, you can rush outside and start searching for small blue flowers to ID.

If you have any comments on the book, do please email me on rachy.ramone@gmail.com  and if you like it, do please leave a Review on Amazon, as that will encourage other people to download it.

FREE guide this weekend: Bryony and Nightshades

Can you remember the difference between Black Bryony and White Bryony, two climbers commonly found in hedgerows?

Do you know which of them is poisonous? (Trick question - they are both poisonous!) And can you tell the difference between the two bryonies and the nightshade which is also commonly found climbing in hedgerows?

What about the Nightshade family - one of them is edible, but the rest are toxic, can you tell the difference?

All these questions and more are answered in the Field Guide to identifying Bryony and Nightshades in the UK, available on Kindle from Amazon.

It's FREE this weekend, Sat/Sun 6th and 7th June,so download it for free: and don't worry if you don't have a Kindle, it will work on any tablet, and if you don't have a tablet, you can download it to your PC, so there is no excuse!

Amazon generously provide a free programme, or "app"  to allow you to view Kindle ebooks on your pc, it's very easy to install it, and then you can read not just this one, but any of the other Field Guides which I have published.

There are more than a dozen of them already out there, and I am working through the others - 57 at the last count, and the list keeps on expanding - as and when I get the time.

If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can download all of them for free, every single one: but if not, try this one as a taster and see what you think.

And if you like it (which I hope you will) and find it useful (which I am sure you will) then do please leave a review.

To find it,  click on the link above, or go to the Amazon Kindle store and type in Field Guide UK to see the current list.

As I have said before, these Cribs are for Beginners, and Improvers. They only cover commonly found species, and they cannot replace a proper Field Guide such as Poland or Rose: they are intended to be an easy-access, non-off-putting way to present the salient information in an easy-to-read format, to people who have gone beyond having to key out every single plant, and who are trying to learn the difference between species.

So get out there this weekend, and check out your local hedgerows!

Field Guide to Speedwell: FREE this weekend

Yes, it's that time again, time to publish another Field Guide.

This time I have turned my attention to Veronica: not a particularly difficult group, but it's nice to have all the details in one place.

And remember - if it has five petals, it's Myosotis, Forget-me-not!

As always, if you have Kindle Unlimited, or Amazon Prime, then you can download it for free at any time, but if you don't, then hang on until the weekend and get it free then.

If you don't have a Kindle, that's not a problem, Amazon kindly provide a free programme ("app") so you can download it to your own device, or even to your PC or laptop.

Give it a go, it's really easy!

And then this weekend, you can rush outside and start searching for small blue flowers to ID.

If you have any comments on the book, do please email me on rachy.ramone@gmail.com  and if you like it, do please leave a Review on Amazon, as that will encourage other people to download it.

Free Field Guide to Violas, this weekend

Yes, iSpotters, yet again I am giving away a free Field Guide this is the one for Violets and Pansies, an interesting little group, not particularly difficult, but much easier with this Field Guide to hand:

As you can see, it's free all the time if you have Kindle Unlimited, but it will be free to everyone this weekend, 14th/15th March.

Here's the link to the Field Guide to Violets and Pansies. 

Do download it if it you get time, then get out there and find some Violets to botanise!!

Oak Field Guide: FREE this weekend!

All these Field Guides are free to anyone with Kindle Unlimited, but this weekend - 7th and 8th March - this one is free to everyone.

It doesn't matter if you don't have a Kindle, as Amazon provide a free "app" (or "programme" as we grown-ups call them) which allows  you to view Kindle books on other devices, and even on  your own pc.

I've tried this, and it really works!

Of course, the point of publishing these Field Guides to Kindle is for people to be able to take them outside with them, on a mobile device, but there's nothing to stop you reading them indoors, then printing off the Table of Difference and taking it out and about with you - after all, that's what I do, with my pack of cards, the original version.

It's a bit early in the year to be looking at oaks, but now's your chance to download this one for free.