Joey Santore
Concrete Botany
Botanist, Illustrator, Lawn-Killer, Author of Concrete Botany
Mission, TX
BOOK COVER
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: April 7, 2026
Genre: Botany
Publisher: Quarto
Page Count: 224
Format: Hardcover/Audio
ISBN: 9780760391884
Price: $28
ABOUT THE BOOK
Concrete Botany is a gritty, kick-in-the-guts look at the ecological disturbance humans have caused and the resilience of the plants living amongst it.
Delivered in his raw and unapologetic yet botanically accurate tone, Joey Santore—the unforgettable host of Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t—offers an often unsettling view of human-caused ecological destruction and its impact on the natural ecosystems our very lives depend on.
The choices of modern civilization have led to a messed up planet, scraped bare and covered in concrete and invasive species. We’ve wiped out entire ecosystems, moved invasive plants to new continents where they don’t belong, and, in a few hundred years, we’ve managed to muck up the intricate balance of a planet that has been evolving for eons. The consequences of our actions are now at our doorstep, ready to strike a match.
But not all is lost. In this groundbreaking examination of plants and their role in the Anthropocene (the age of human disturbance), we see light through the cracks in the concrete and learn that humanity’s course correction starts with an understanding of plant ecology. With this knowledge comes the realization that the lives of humans and plants are interconnected in ways humans cannot live without. Plants are the base of every terrestrial ecosystem on the planet, and their presence can heal the damage humanity has caused. Our willingness to restore native plant communities and the biodiversity they support (starting in our immediate surroundings) is an essential first step in the right direction.
While returning every abandoned brownfield and old rail corridor into a native plant– filled, fully restored ecosystem may be out of reach for the average citizen, fostering the native ecology and biodiversity of our own backyards is not. Concrete Botany is ultimately about how the choices we make as individuals can help ensure humanity’s survival on a very disturbed and rapidly changing planet.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joey Santore is the misanthropic Chicago Italian creator and host of Crime Pays but Botany Doesn’t. A self-described “tender bastard beneath an epidermis covered in spines, caustic sap, & irritating hairs,” Joey is the writer, director, producer, editor, and talent behind the brand’s many videos, podcasts, and written missives. He’s into botany, taxonomy, evolution, and toilet humor. Joey’s everyman’s approach to plant ecology and evolution is adored by millions of plant and nature lovers worldwide.
TIMELY TIE-INS
March
- National Ag Day – March 17
- Spring Begins – March 20
- International Day of Forests – March 21
- World Water Day – March 22
- National Weed Appreciation Day – March 28
April
- National Native Plant Month
- International Plant Appreciation Day – April 13
- National Environmental Education Week – April 19-23
- Earth Day – April 22
- Stewardship Week – April 25-May 6
May
- American Wetlands Month
- International Permaculture Day – May 3
- International Day of Plant Health – May 12
- Plant Something Day – May 19
- International Day for Biological Diversity – May 22
PRAISE
“Meet Botany’s Badass… a breath of fresh air [who is] not afraid to mix the sacred, mundane, and lewd.”
—Outside
“Santore is an amateur, self-taught botanist who posts videos nearly every day to his YouTube channel Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, which he describes as ‘a low-brow, crass approach to plant ecology as muttered by a misanthropic Chicago Italian.’”
—Chicago Magazine
Botanist Joey Santore on WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about plants! What’s the weirdest plant in existence? Why do the leaves change colors in the fall? Can you cross-breed fruits? Why are plant medicines so taboo?
Meet the YouTube Botanist with a Thick Chicago Accent and Foul Mouth on Chicago Tonight on WTTW-TV
Life & Work with Joey Santore in Voyage Austin
Listen to Joey on the Pacific Horticulture’s Garden Futurist Podcast
BOOK DETAILS
Pub Date: May 17, 2022
Genre: Memoir / Christian Inspirational
Publisher: She Writes Press
Page Count: 304
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1647429003
Price: $15.99
