TONIGHT ON NATURE PBS: WHAT PLANTS TALK ABOUT.
= new reply since forum marked as read
then the show would be X-rated.....
I wish.... 
midnight
My grandmother did that - talked to her plants - both inside and outside the house - and had some of the best plants in the whole county - so I guess it might be true to a level, that plants at least can communicate some...
And why not should not plants be able to communicate - after all, they have been there for millions of years - and probably have learned some on the road about what works, and what not works 
Diclotican
freshwest
True - the word is a far more complex space than we know I guess.... Life exist on many levels - even our own existence is far from fully known and philosophers have for thousands of years wondered about what make us tick.. And I guess it exist levels of existence that is well advanced for plants to.. And it is well known that even plants, and "lower level of animals" have form of "wars" going on, who they are virtually fighting to the brink of death. Plant life is anything than peacefully if you have the time to look at it - it is a constant battle for the best space to exist - and no trick in the book is not used to survive..
Yeah - things are definitely coming along now - the days is lighter - longer and warmer - who I would say is good for my bones .. But it is still a lot of snow here - and April can still by a mount who could surprise us all, with some snow before it finally starting to come to spring..
Diclotican
They have a 'plan' in their growth, but are so slow compared to the animal kingdom, it's not recognized. In my horticulture major we studied botany, microbiology, chemistry, entomology, etc., we learned about how plants send bitter fluids to make insects stop eating and various other ways to survive.
The attraction to light and seeking darkness, moisture, minerals, etc. are what in animals is called instinct and reflexes. It's not really a match, but on some level they are affected by many things we aren't.
The entire process of photosynthesis, taking of photons of light energy to convert, is just one of the wonders of nature I never tire of. If animals were capable of this function, we'd be near to self-sufficiency instead of chasing the next meal so hard.
Just a few thoughts. I'm a tree hugger and not ashamed to say so:
When I used to go up mountains, I 'd also get a close up looks at wildlife. Here's a good review on that book, The Secret Life of Plants:
http://www.harmonyforest.org/books/titles/secretlifeofplants/about.htm
Give it a read, it is full of that wonder you describe. Tree hugging has a history before environmentalists gave it a different meaning. Some people in the past hugged trees for health. Energy going from the ground up in trees is being experimented with to power electronics, as was covered in an OP at DU.
In today's world of high-tech portable gadgets, iPods and cell phones, we've become dependent upon readily accessible electric outlets to power our devices and charge our batteries. But now researchers at the University of Washington have discovered nature's alternative to the power outlet: living trees.
That's right, living trees. UW engineers Babak Parviz and Brian Otis have invented an electrical device that can be plugged directly into any tree for power. "As far as we know this is the first peer-reviewed paper of someone powering something entirely by sticking electrodes into a tree," said Parviz.
The research was based upon a breakthrough study last year out of MIT, when scientists found that plants generate a voltage of up to 200 millivolts when one electrode is placed in a plant and the other in the surrounding soil. Those researchers are already designing devices which act as forest sensors powered entirely by this new method. But until now, no one has applied these findings to the development of tree power.
It all began last summer with UW undergraduate student Carlton Himes (also the study's co-author). He spent his summer wandering around the woods surrounding campus, hooking nails to bigleaf maple trees and connecting them to his voltmeter. Sure enough, the trees registered a steady voltage of up to a few hundred millivolts.
The next step for the UW team was to build a circuit to run on the available tree power. Because the voltage generated by the trees can be so small, the resulting device -- a boost converter -- was specialized to take input voltages of as little as 20 millivolts to be stored to produce greater output. The device's produced output voltage ended up being 1.1 volts, which is enough to run low-power sensors.
more at link. http://m.mnn.com/green-tech/gadgets-electronics/stories/electrical-device-plugs-directly-into-trees-for-power
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021954055
I always loved the story of Johnny Appleseed and story of how the Red Delicious Apple was a 'wild start.'
And for you:
