Do plants communicate telepathically with the world surrounding them? Do they collaborate with nature using telekinesis to control people and animals and objects? These questions surfaced last week as I read about sage plants, which blossom at incalculably irregularly times—yet when they do, every nearby sage blossoms in unison. The question was posed: Is it plant telepathy?

The immediate reply: “No.” Yet the debunker continues, almost excitedly, citing the classic, bestselling book on the topic, The Secret Life Of Plants which is also a documentary film with a soundtrack by Stevie Wonder! (Looks like an amazing read. Has anybody read it?) I found another debunker, who obviously still loves the idea. And Cecil Adams weighs in with some straight dope.

Nonetheless, this concept’s appeal continues to excite. Writer Michael Pollan (NPR audio) continues this theme in his gripping, genre-bending bestseller, The Botany Of Desire. But he’s much too agile to pigeonhole the plant-human communication as telepathy. And there’s a beautiful, ongoing stream of images at Flickr, The Secret Life of Plants.