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Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1497 John Cabot, the Canadian Explorer, set sail from Bristol, England, on his ship, Matthew. He was looking for a route to the west, and he found it. He discovered parts of North America on behalf of Henry VII of England. And in case you're wondering why we're talking about John Cabot today, it's because of the climbing rose named in his honor. And it's also the rose that got me good. I got a thorn from a John Cabot rose in my knuckle and ended up having surgery to clean out the infection about three days later. It was quite an ordeal. I think my recovery took about eight months. So the John Cabot Rose - any rose - is not to be trifled with.   1519 Leonardo da Vinci, the mathematician, scientist, painter, and botanist, died. Leonardo once said, We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.   He also wrote, The wisest and noblest teacher is nature itself.   And if you're spending any time outdoors, we are learning new lessons in spring. Isn't that the truth? There's always some new development we've never encountered - and, of course, a few delights. Leonardo continued to study the flower of life, the Fibonacci sequence, which has fascinated them for centuries. You can see it in flowers. You can also see it in cell division. And if you've never seen Leonardo's drawings and sketches of flowers, you are missing a real treat, and I think they would make for an awesome wallpaper. Leonardo once wrote about how to make your own perfume. He wrote, To make a perfume, take some rose water and wash your hands in it, then take a lavender flower and rub it with your palms, and you will achieve the desired effect. That timeless rose-lavender combination is still a good one.   I think about Leonardo every spring when I turn on my sprinkler system because of consistent watering. Gives such a massive boost to the garden. All of a sudden, it just comes alive. Leonardo said, Water is the driving force in nature.   The power of water is incredible, and of course, we know that life on Earth is inextricably bound to water. Nothing grows; nothing lives without water. Leonardo was also a cat fan. He wrote, The smallest feline is a masterpiece.   In 1517 Leonardo made a mechanical lion for the King of France. This lion was designed to walk toward the king and then drop flowers at his feet. Today you can grow a rose named after Leonardo da Vinci in your garden. It's a beautiful pink rose, very lush, very pleasing, with lots of lovely big green leaves to go with those gorgeous blooms. It was Leonardo da Vinci who wrote, Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple, or more direct than does nature because in her inventions, nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.   1803 On this day, Napoleon and the United States inked a deal for the Louisiana Purchase and added 828,000 square miles of French territory to the United States for $27 million. This purchase impacted the Louis and Clark Expedition because they had to explore the area that was bought in addition to the entire Pacific Northwest. To get ready for this trip, Meriwether Lewis was sent to Philadelphia. While there, he worked with a botanist, a naturalist, and a physician named Benjamin Smith Barton. He was the expert in Philadelphia, so he tutored Meriwether Lewis to get him ready because Lewis did not know natural history or plants. So he needed to cram all this information to maximize what he saw and collected. Now, in addition to all of this homework, all of this studying about horticulture and botany and the natural world, Meriwether made one other purchase for $20. He bought himself a big, beautiful Newfoundland dog, and he named him Seaman. It's always nice to have a little dog with you while exploring.   1806 The garden writer John Abercrombie died.  The previous day, John had fallen down some steps. He had broken his hip a few weeks earlier, and so this last fall is what did him in. John was a true character. He loved to drink tea. He was a vegetarian. He was Scottish, and he was a lifelong gardener. His most significant success was his book, Every Man His Own Garden. John would go on to write other books on gardening like The Garden Mushroom, The Complete Wall and Tree Pruner (1783), and The Gardener's Daily Assistant (1786), but none of them rose to the level of popularity as Every Man His Own Garden. John and his wife had 17 children, and they all died before him - with his last child dying about ten years before he died on this day in 1806.   1867 Thomas Hanbury bought a property in the French Riviera that he called La Mortola. In 1913, The Botanical Journal shared the story of Thomas and his brother Daniel, and it also described the moment that Thomas saw his property for the first time. It had been the dream of Thomas Hanbury from his early youth to make a garden in a southern climate and to share its pleasures and botanical interests with his favorite brother. While staying on the Riviera, in the spring of 1867, after many years of strenuous work in the East, he decided to carry out his plan. He was first inclined to buy Cap Martin, near Mentone, but gave up the idea as soon as he became acquainted with the little cape of La Mortola. As he first approached it by sea, he was struck by the marvelous beauty of this spot. A house, once the mansion of a noble Genoese family, and at that time, though almost a ruin, known as the Palazzo Orego, stood on a high commanding position. Above it was the little village, and beyond all rose the mountains. To the east of the Palazzo were vineyards and olive terraces; to the west, a ravine whose declivities were here and there scantily clothed by Aleppo pines; while on the rocky point, washed by the sea waves, grew the myrtle, to which La Punta della Murtola probably owed its name.   So Thomas purchased this incredible property in May of 1867, and by July, he returned with his brother, and together the two of them started to transform both the home and the garden. The article says that Thomas's first goal was to get planting because the property had been destroyed by goats and the local villagers who had come in and taken what they wanted from the property during all the years that it was left unoccupied now Thomas and Daniel went all out when it came to selecting plants for this property, and by 1913 there were over. Five thousand different species of plants, including the opuntia or the prickly pear cactus, along with incredible succulents (so they were way ahead of their time). Thomas loved collecting rare and valuable plants and found a home for all of them on this beautiful estate. Now, for the most part, Thomas and his brother Daniel did the bulk of the installations, but a year later, they managed to find a gardener to help them. His name was Ludwig Winter, and he stayed there for about six years. Almost a year after they hired him, Thomas's brother Daniel died. This was a significant loss to Thomas, but he found solace in his family, friends, and gorgeous estate at La Mortola - where Thomas spent the last 28 years of his life. Thomas knew almost every plant in his garden, and he loved the plants that reminded him of his brother. Thomas went on to found the Botanical Institute at the University of Genoa. The herbarium there was named in his honor; it was called the Institute Hanbury and was commemorated in 1892. As Thomas grew older, the Riviera grew more popular, and soon his property was opened to the public five days a week. The garden is practically never without flowers. The end of September may be considered the dullest time. Still, as soon as the autumnal rains set in, the flowering begins and continues on an ever-increasing scale until the middle of April or the beginning of May. Then almost every plant is in flower, the most marked features being the graceful branches of the single yellow Banksian rose, Fortune's yellow rose, the sweet-scented Pittosporum, the wonderful crimson Cantua buxifolia, and the blue spikes of the Canarian Echium.\\   But Thomas knew that there were limitations, frustrations, and challenges even in that lovely growing zone. It was Thomas Hanberry who said, Never go against nature.    Thomas used that as his philosophy when planning gardens,  working with plants, and trying to figure out what worked and what didn't - Proving that even in the French Riviera, never go against nature.   1928 On this day, folks were lined up to see the lilacs in bloom at Hulda Klagers in Woodland, Washington. Here's an excerpt from a book by Jane Kirkpatrick called Where Lilacs Still Bloom. In it, she quotes Hulda. Beauty matters… it does. God gave us flowers for a reason. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment, have a piece of paradise right here on earth.   Jane wrote, The following year there were two articles: one in Better Homes and Gardens and yet another on May 2, 1928, in the Lewis River News. The latter article appeared just in time for my Lilac Days and helped promote Planter's Day, following in June. They were covering the news, and we had made it! In the afternoon, a count showed four hundred cars parked at Hulda Klager's Lilac Garden in one hour, the road being lined for a quarter of a mile. It is estimated that at least twenty-five hundred people were there for the day, coming from points all the way from Seattle. In addition, there were several hundred cars during the week to avoid the rush. Today you can go and visit the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens. It's a nonprofit garden, and of course, it specializes in lilacs. The gardens are open from 10 to 4 pm daily. There's a $4 admission fee - except during lilac season when the admission fee is $5.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation A Gardener's Guide to Botany by Scott Zona This book came out in December of 2022, and the subtitle is The Biology Behind the Plants You Love, How They Grow, and What They Need. I think it's that last part - what they need - that most gardeners are intrigued by. If you're a true botany geek, you'll love every page of Scott's book. I wanted to share a little bit from the preface of Scott's book. Scott, by the way, is truly an expert. He's a research botanist by training, and his undergraduate degree is in horticulture, so he's a lifelong gardener and a trained expert. He's a conscious-competent. He knows exactly what he is writing about, Here's what he wrote in the preface of his book. As I sit down to write, I gaze at the windowsill near my desk. On it sits a dwarf sansevieria forming little rosettes of deep green leaves above. It hangs a slab of cork on which is mounted a tiny air plant that is pushing out oversized violet flowers, one at a time. Nearby are two plants, an agave, and an aloe, that have similar forms, but one evolved from Mexico and the other in South America. Above them, a furry-leaved and a hybrid philodendron both grow contently in the diffuse light that reaches the shelf next to the window. My most curious visitors might ask a question about a plant or two, and when that happens, I can barely contain my delight. There is so much to tell. Well, this book starts out with a chapter called Being a Plant, and if you are a bit of an empath, you may feel that you understand what it's like to be a plant, but Scott is going to tell you scientifically what does it mean to be a plant.   He writes in chapter one, For most people, the plant kingdom is a foreign land. It's inscrutable. Inhabitants are all around us, but they communicate in a language that seems unintelligible and untranslatable. Their social interactions are different. Their currency doesn't fit in our wallet and their cuisine. Well, it's nothing like what we eat at home in the plant kingdom. We are tourists.   So I would say this book is for the very serious and curious gardener- and maybe you. This book was a 2023 American Horticulture Society Award winner. I love the cover. It's beautiful, and of course, I love the title, A Gardener's Guide to Botany. This is the perfect book to round out your collection. If you have the Botany in a Day book, it looks like a big botany workbook. I love that book. This book is a great companion to that. There's also a book called Botany for Gardeners, and when I think about Scott's book here, I will be putting it on the shelf beside both books. This book is 256 pages that will amp up your understanding of plants - No more mystery -and provide all of the answers you've been looking for. You can get a copy of A Gardener's Guide to Botany by Scott Zona and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $20.   Botanic Spark 1772 Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, better known by his pen name Novalis, is born. He was an 18th-century German poet and writer, mystic, and philosopher of early German romanticism. All last week I was watching videos about Novalis. He led such an exciting but short life. He had a tragic romance after falling in love with a girl who tragically died of tuberculosis, and then Novalis himself died young. He died at 28 of tuberculosis as well. But in his concise life, he accomplished so much, including the fact that during his life, he had three moments of mystical revelation, which led to a deeper understanding of the world and time, and humanity. This is partly what makes him such a fascinating person to examine. One of the things that we remember Novalis for is his fascination with blue flowers. He made the blue flower a symbol of German romanticism. To Novalis, the blue flower represented romantic yearning. It also meant a point of unification between humanity and nature. It represented life, but it also described death. And if you are a gardener who the blue flower bug has bitten (and who hasn't? I mean, who does not love a blue flower?), you know what I'm talking about. Blue blossoms are so rare. They're so captivating. Most people can relate to Novalis' love of Blue Flowers and why it became so significant in his writing. Now the book where Novalis wrote about the Blue flower is a book called Henry of Ofterdingen, and it's here where we get these marvelous quotes about the blue blossom, which some believe was a heliotrope and which others believe was a cornflower, But whatever the case, the symbolism of the blue flower became very important. Novalis wrote, It is not the treasures that have stirred in me such an unspeakable longing; I care not for wealth and riches. But that blue flower I do long to see; it haunts me, and I can think and dream of nothing else.   And that reminds me of what it was like to be a new gardener 30 years ago. A friend got me onto growing Delphinium, and I felt just like Novalis; I could not stop thinking about the Delphinium and imagining them at maturity around the 4th of July, standing about five to six feet tall, those beautiful blue spikes. And, of course, my dream of the Delphinium always surpassed what the actual Delphinium looked like, and yet, I still grew them. I loved them. And I did that for about ten years. So there you go, the call and the power of the blue flower. Novalis writes later in the book, He saw nothing but the blue flower and gazed at it for a long time with indescribable tenderness.   Those blue flowers command our attention. Well, I'll end with this last quote. It's a flower quote from Novalis, and it'll get you thinking. Novalis was a very insightful philosopher and a lover of nature, and he believed in the answers that could be found in nature. And so what he does here in this quote is he asks a series of questions, and like all good philosophers, Novalis knows that the answer is in the questions and that the questions are more powerful than the answers. Novalis writes, What if you slept?  And what if, in your sleep, you dreamed?  And what if, in your dream, you went to heaven and plucked a strange and beautiful flower?  And what if, when you awoke, you had the flower in your hand?  Ah, what then?   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

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1772 Karl Friedrich von Gaertner, German botanist, is born.

Karl Friedrich von Gaertner had a fantastic last name; Gaertner translates to mean gardener.

Karl was a second-generation gardener. His dad was Joseph Gaertner, the great German botanist and horticulturist, so Karl essentially stepped in his father's footsteps.

Karl's claim to fame was his work with hybrids with hybridizing plants. Along with other botanists, he laid the foundation for Gregor Mendel, who discovered the basic principles of heredity through his experiments with peas in his garden at the Augustinian monastery he lived in at Brno ("BURR-no") in the Czech Republic.

1890 Phebe Holder's poem, A Song of May, appeared in newspapers this month.

In addition to her religious poems, Phebe wrote about the natural world.

Gardeners delight in her poems for spring and fall.

Phebe is a fabulous New England Victorian poet and gardener I love and admire.

She loved the delicate plants of springtime and wrote a poem called A Song of May.

What song hast thou, sweet May, for me, My listening ear what song for thee? A song of life from growing things, The life thy gentle presence brings; The tender light of budding spray. The blooming down on willow grey, The living green that earth overspreads, The creamy flowers on mossy beds.

From blossoms pure with petals white As pressed from out the moonbeam's light. The fragrant lily of the vale, The violet's breath on passing gale: Anemones mid last year's*leaves, Arbutus sweet in trailing wreaths, From waving lights of forest glade The light ferns hiding neath the shade.

A song of joy from wood and plain, From birds in old-time haunts again; The silvery laugh of tuneful rill O'er rocky bed, down craggy hill; Soft coming of warm dropping showers, The sighing wind in piney bowers; The music breathed by low-voiced waves, For listening, from ocean caves,

A plaintive strain doth memory sing, A breathing of departed Spring: An unseen Presence in the home, A spirit voice-"The Master's come!". While hearts in tender sorrow wept O'er one beloved who silent slept, Who in the May-time long ago Passed the pearl gates of glory through.

A grateful song, our God, to Thee For treasures of the earth and sea; For all the beauty Thou hast given; A dream to loving hearts, of heaven; A song of life, of joy, of love, Of trust, of faith in light adore This offering on thy shrine I lay; This song hast thou for me, sweet May.

Phebe's A Song of May recalls the flowers of spring. In the second verse, she's touching on many great spring beauties: the Lily of the Valley, violets, anemones, The Mayflower (also known as the trailing arbutus), and then, of course, ferns. In May, fern fronds cover the woodlands and understories. All of these spring plants emerge very quickly once they get growing. The ground transforms from leaf-littered - brown, drab, and dreary - to excellent with beautiful little blossoms.

1822 Thomas Hoy, English gardener, horticulturist, and botanist, died.

Thomas was a dedicated gardener and head gardener for the Duke of Northumberland for over four decades - so he worked with plants his entire life.

Thomas was a fellow of the Linnaean Society and liked to show his work at various plant societies And outings. 

Thomas is remembered as an experienced botanist and a capable cultivator. He was very good at his job. In fact, he was so good that the botanist Robert Brown named a popular plant genus for Thomas Hoy. Can you guess what it is?

Well, if you were thinking Hoya, you are correct.

The Hoya is a beautiful way to be remembered and honored.

I love Hoyas. I picked up a couple of variegated Hoyas over the winter, and I'm so excited to see what the flower looks like. 

Overall the Hoya is a gorgeous plant named for the intelligent, thoughtful, and dedicated gardener Thomas Hoy, who died on this day when he was 72. 

1867 Ralph Waldo Emerson inscribed a copy of his book, May Day, to Sophie Thoreau, the devoted sister of Henry David Thoreau.

May Day is a collection of Emerson's writing and poems and includes the line, "Why chidest thou the tardy spring?" from his May Day poem.

Why chidest thou the tardy Spring? The hardy bunting does not chide; The blackbirds make the maples ring With social cheer and jubilee; The redwing flutes his o-ka-lee, The robins know the melting snow; The sparrow meek, prophetic-eyed, Her nest beside the snow-drift weaves, Secure the osier yet will hide Her callow brood in mantling leaves; And thou, by science all undone, Why only must thy reason fail To see the southing of the sun?

In other words, why be upset that spring is late? Spring has everything in hand. Don't be angry about nature's timing.

A library first shared this inscription with Ralph Waldo Emerson's beautiful handwriting.

About a decade after receiving the book, Sophie gifted the book to her friend Mabel Loomis and inscribed the transfer in the book.

If you're looking for a sentimental month of May gift or have a May birthday and want to give something unique, look for an old copy of May Day by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It's a beautiful gift.

Well, it turns out that May 1st is a great day to release a brand new gardening book, and so I thought I'd wrap up today's botanical history with three great garden books released on May 1st.

2001 The Himalayan Garden: Growing Plants from the Roof of the World by Jim Jermyn.

If you're into growing mountain plants, Alpine plants, wildflowers, etc., and if you have a cold climate, you'll enjoy this book.

2015 Monet's Palate Cookbook: The Artist & His Kitchen Garden At Giverny by Aileen Bordman

2018 Herbal Medicine for Beginners: Your Guide to Healing Common Ailments with 35 Medicinal Herbs by Katja Swift

Emily's Fresh Kitchen by Emily Maxson

This book came out in January of 2022, and the subtitle is Cook Your Way to Better Health. 

I must be honest and let you know that I stumbled on this book at my local Goodwill and was immediately taken with it. I think it's fantastic. And I can't believe I missed it last year, so I'm playing catch up here. But the cover captivated me because it features a great soup - Her Roasted Butternut with Sage Soup infused with Coconut Cream. I bet it's fantastic. It sure makes for a pretty cover.

And I must say that all of the pictures in this book are beautiful.

I wanted to share a little bit about Emily because her story has inspired so much of her work, and she writes,

After a Crohn's disease diagnosis at age 28 and over a decade of unsuccessful traditional treatment, Emily Maxson discovered the specific carbohydrate diet's positive effects and food's transformative power to improve health.

She's a trained chef who poured her heart into creating delectable dishes that meet her diet's rigorous guidelines.

So the diet that she's following is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. If you haven't heard about it, Emily is an expert. And for her, the diet has led to a healthier and happier life.

Now, if you're curious about this and can't wait to get the book, head over to her website Emily's Fresh Kitchen - it's the same name as the book title. You will find incredible recipes, inspiring stories, and photos there. She does a top-notch job.

I also want to share more about this Specific Carbohydrate Diet because you're probably curious. This is a primarily plant-based diet, which is great for gardeners who want to eat fresh from the garden. And here's what Emily writes about on page nine of her book.

Following this diet, I cooked myself out of disease and into good health. While the diet was strict, the results were miraculous. It was such a blessing not to have to take medications or to spend time in hospitals, my gut was healthy again, and I was able to start introducing foods that were not allowed while following the diet.

Today, I strive for my diet to be 80% plant-based. I focus on fiber and try to get a variety of plant foods in my diet daily, including some gluten-free whole grains.

This diet and way of life are working for her. Consequently, Emily has written a great cookbook with lots of ideas.

I thought what I would do is walk you through the chapters here.

First, she does a quick overview of what's in her pantry.

Then, she talks about her favorite kitchen tools. I love the gadgets, and I love her tips on this.

Emily has an excellent section on salads, main dishes, soups, sides, breakfast, and smoothies. That's a critical section for me because I always feel like if I can nail down what I'm having for breakfast, the rest of the day goes well.

Then she shares appetizers and savory snacks, which is a good section, too. I've been looking for delicious things I can eat in the evenings. I will check this out.

The next chapter covers sweets, treats, condiments, dressings, and spice blends. This is an essential tool, especially if you're going to a plant-based diet because you don't want to lose the flavor.

And then drinks and cocktails.

Emily is pretty thorough, and it's easy to tell that this is an entire lifestyle for her. She's mastered this, and she can use her own story as a testament to the fact that it does work; to cook your way to better health.

This book is 284 pages of nutritious and flavorful dishes that will help heal your body and get you back on the road to health.

You can get a copy of Emily's Fresh Kitchen: Cook Your Way to Better Health by Emily Maxson and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $25.

This is a great gift book if you're looking for an excellent garden-to-table cookbook. 

1859 On this day, Calvin Fletcher, American attorney, banker, farmer, and state senator in Indianapolis, wrote these words in his diary:

This a most delightful Sabbath morn and the anniversary of my leaving Westford, Massachusetts in 1817 forty two years ago.

[It's] also the anniversary of my alliance to my sainted wife in 1821 thirty eight years ago to day.

Both days are of great beauty & loveliness.

This morn I worked my garden & retrospected on the past. Brought up the enumerable reasons for gratitude to Almighty God for the undeserved blessings have enjoyed. All nature seemed to accord to my strain of thought. Bless the Lord O! my soul & all that is within me say Amen!

Mrs. F. & I went to Westly Chapel to hear E. preach from the Canticles (Solomon's Songs):

"The winter is past & the time of singing of birds has come..."

And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

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1766 John Mulso writes to his friend English naturalist, Gilbert White, in Selborne

Gilbert White was born in 1720, So he was 46 when he received this letter from John.

At the time. Gilbert had been keeping a journal about the goings on in his garden. Gilbert kept a journal for about three decades, and it was eventually published to the delight of readers everywhere. Today people still love reading through Gilbert White's notations, drawings,  and comments.

Gilbert had a knack for observing the natural world and describing in a relatable way all the goings on outdoors. Gilbert was very curious. He was also really personable.

When John Mulso begins his letter with a comment on the garden, he finds a point of agreement. 

Vegetation thrives apace now, and I suppose you are quite intent on your new study.

You will not perhaps relish a Prospect the worse when we force you to look up, as presume you will go with your eyes fixed on the ground most part of the summer.

You will pass with country folks as a man always making sermons, while you are only considering a Weed.

John makes a very astute observation - Gilbert liked gardening more than anything else on Earth. Gilbert was like many pastors or reverends of his time who also pursued their hobbies as naturalists or gardeners. During the growing season, it was coming for a naturalist parson to get distracted by their gardens.

1809 A retired Thomas Jefferson enjoyed spending most of his time in his garden. (Finally!)

In the spring of this year. Thomas was no longer consumed with the duties of being president. We know that in the last year of his presidency, he spent many hours pining for his garden and accumulating plants from his friend Bernard McMann and other plantsmen.

So in April of 1809, Thomas Jefferson was living his dream and his best life as a gardener. He wrote to his friend, Etienne Lemaire, on this day,

I am constantly in my garden or farms. And am exclusively employed out of doors as I was within doors when I was at Washington.

I find myself infinitely happier in my new mode of life.

Isn't that an interesting observation? Comments like that may pass unnoticed, but this change in seasons, the warmer weather, and getting outdoors is powerful medicine. Spending time outdoors plays a role in our attitudes and our moods. We get more vitamin D we feel more energy.

This time of year, we eat the fresh green offerings from our gardens, whether microgreens or asparagus. The rhubarb is popping. You can even eat some hosta leaves, little tiny rolled-up cigars, as they emerge from the Earth. You can cut and fry them up in a pan the same way you would asparagus. (If they're good enough for the deer, they're good enough for us.) They're pretty tasty. The key is to harvest them early - just like you would the fiddleheads. The joys of spring...

1851 George Herbert Engleheart, English pastor and plant breeder, was born.

Like Gilbert White, George Herbert Engleheart was a gardener and a pastor. 

In 1889, George began breeding daffodils - some 700 varieties in his lifetime. Sadly many of them have been lost to time, but we know that some survived.

Fans of 'Beersheba,' 'Lucifer,' or 'White Lady' owe a debt of gratitude to Reverend Engleheart. Engleheart spent every spare minute breeding, and his parishioners would often find a note tacked to the church door saying, "No service today, working with daffodils."

Engleheart's charming note reminds me of the little notes that gardeners hang on their porches or somewhere on their front door saying something sweet, like, " in the garden." And if you don't have one of those signs, you can grab a little chalkboard and a little twine And make your own.

1905 On this day,  David Fairchild, the great botanist, married Marian Graham Bell, the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell.

Marian and David Fairchild had a long and happy marriage.

When David went on his plant explorations, Marian would often accompany him. Together the couple had three children.

David Fairchild is considered American botanical royalty for all his collecting and the sheer quantity of his plant introductions, including items like pistachios, mangoes, dates, soybeans, flowering cherries, and nectarines. Without David Fairchild, we would not have cherry trees blooming in Washington, DC. We also might not have kale at Trader Joe's. (David Fairchild is the man who brought kale to the United States.) David also got the avocado here as well.

David Fairchild had a fair amount of luck in his life. He had a generous benefactor in a wealthy woman named Barbara Latham, who funded many of his adventures.

Of course, by marrying Marian, David had access to the connections of his famous father-in-law. 

Today you can continue to learn about David Fairchild and see his legacy at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida. It is filled with many of the plants that David himself collected. And, of course, it's named in his honor.

1911 Harry Radlund, a gardener from Kilborne, Wisconsin, shared his garden successes with a plantsman named Henry Field.

In 1911, Henry announced a garden contest for his customers to encourage good gardening. Later, he put their stories together in The Book of a Thousand Gardens.

In the forward, Henry wrote, 

I requested them to send in the stories of their gardens, true unvarnish- ed stories telling what they grew, how they grew it, what paid best, how big the garden was, what troubles they had, and how they overcame them. Also asked them to send in some pictures if possible. These letters are the result. And they are the most interesting batch of letters I ever read.  They are real heart to heart talks, told in their own language and in their own way. And the pictures, well you can look at them for yourself. Every garden was a real garden not a paper garden. The people were real people like you and I and our neighbors. There were men and women and boys and little girls and old bachelors. They were all garden cranks and garden lovers. You can learn more by a study of these letters than by reading all the text books in creation. You get the real stuff here. Real experience. The only trouble was, I run short of room in the book. It would have taken a book as big as Webster's Unabridged to hold them all in full.

Here's Harry's garden story from 1911:

On April 23d, I planted some kale seed from you. We tried to raise kale for ten years but never had any success. This year, the best is about 3 1/2 feet high and about three feet wide without spreading the leaves. On the same day planted some dill, parsley, onion seed and onion sets. The dill grew good and went to seed, the parsley didn't grow very good. My early cabbage grew good and all the heads were used. The first planting of radishes was on April 25th, and I have had radishes all summer. The Shenandoah tomatoes in the garden are dandies, the best we ever had. So are the cucumbers. My cauliflower didn't grow very well in the warm weather, but is growing fine now.

1948 Leslie Young Carrethers, American poet & artist, died.

So much about Leslie has been lost to time. But one of his accomplishments is little garden poetry books that are very challenging to find nowadays. I got my copies on eBay, and I love them. I think they're so precious and filled with little poetry about various garden plants, trees, and nature.

Now, these books are tiny little pamphlets. Leslie produced about half a dozen or so. They've got adorable little titles, like These Shady Friends (about trees), blooming Friends, and More Blooming Friends. Now Leslie's friends called him Reggie. I didn't realize this until recently when I stumbled on some more research about him. But this clue leads me to think that one of the little books I bought on eBay was one of Reggie's copies because he signed it, making it even more precious to me.

But I thought I would share a few little snippets from Leslie to give you a taste. He's whimsical when he writes and coves the garden and plants.

Here's a little poem that he wrote about Lemon Verbena.

If I were allowed only to grow One fragrant herb I know I'd choose Lemon Verbena. Oh yes, my views Are prejudiced, I'll admit ts so. But I love the way She scents my garden At close of day On a silver plate, In a crystal bowl A spray of her leaves Delights my soul.

And then here's a poem that he wrote about the Foxglove.

The fox-glove in the garden Is very, very sly. She always looks at the earth below- Not at the passer-by. But I will tell her secret, Known only to birds and trees When no one is near With her spotted lips She eats the bumble-bees.

Finally, here's his poem about Monkshood.

Beware of the Monkshood- His deep purple cowl Is a tricky disguise- He's as wise as an owl. You may think that he bends his head over to pray- He doesn't he brews fearful poisons all day. He's a wicked magician, by evil obsessed Don't be tricked by his acting nor how he is dressed.

I hope this gives you a tiny sampling of the charming poetry of Leslie Young Carrethers.

The Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants by Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox

This book came out this year. It's another brand-new book for gardeners and an invaluable reference for Prairie plants.

So, if you are working with native plants, putting together a tiny meadow, as we discussed with yesterday's book, Tiny and Wild. or if you want to add to your garden reference collection, then this book is truly a gem.

Here's what Doug Tallamy wrote about this book.

If you are looking for the complete- and I do mean complete - guide to than this much-needed book. Diboll and Cox cover not only what prairie species look prairie ecosystems, you will not do better like each of their growth stages (a first!), they also dive deep into their historical and ecological roles in prairie ecosystems.

So overall, this book is an excellent book and reference guide.

One feature I love about this book is how they produced the cover. Even though it's a paperback, it's a little more firm plastic-coated cover, making it wipable. So I imagine having this book in the car with me or in the garden and handling the use and abuse.

Now I want to take a second and say, have you ever seen Neil Diboll? (Maybe you are lucky enough to have attended one of his workshops or presentations.) But I want to say he is the friendliest-looking guy, and he is so approachable in how he shares information. I've watched some videos of him on YouTube, and he is frank and genuinely passionate about plants. In short,  He is an excellent, very generous speaker and expert in the area of native plants, Prairie plants. Meadows wildflowers and the like, so the minute I saw that he was one of the authors of this book, I immediately put a little heart by it, and I was like, yes, I need to see this copy so that I can see what he did - And now I can also tell you about it.

Now I will walk you through how the book is structured, But I won't get too deep in the weeds here. No pun intended. 

I will walk you through each of the chapters.

So the book starts with the history and ecology of the Prairie.

They also talk about understanding your soil, which is essential for growing anything, much less Prairie plants.

Then they discuss how to design, plant, and maintain Prairie gardens.

Chapter five is significant because it talks about all the different types of plants; it's a Prairie species field guide. They go into great detail about monocots and dichotomy. Grasses and sedges. This is about 300-plus pages worth of data here.

Chapter Six is all about establishing a flourishing Prairie meadow. And so that dovetails nicely with yesterday's book, Tiny and Wild. So this would be a great companion piece to that book. I would say that book is more artistic and design oriented. This book is more of a reference.

Chapter Seven talks about burning your Prairie safely.

Chapter eight is about propagating Prairie plants from seed, which is pretty easy to do, and also a great way to save money because if you're creating a Prairie, you need to have plants in mass.

Chapter Nine is about propagating plants vegetatively.

So two excellent chapters on propagation there.

Then Chapter 10 is an excellent addition to this book;l It's the Prairie food web. So there's a deep dive into that.

And then there is a superb Chapter 11 at the back of the book that goes through the various Prairie seed mixes you might be intrigued by. So, if you are considering growing a Prairie - I had a friend do this a couple of years ago, and they did a beautiful job - but anyone who's raised a Prairie will tell you there is a science of growing a Prairie, which is precisely what is covered in this book - And then there is the art of developing a Prairie and maintaining a Prairie. So it's a little bit of both. It's the yin and yang of Prairie's,

but this book will be an indispensable guide. If you are serious and curious about Prairie plants and native plants, especially if you're doing some restoration work, Maybe you are a landscaper, and you need to work with a lot of native plants; maybe you're just a gardener who has a passion for Prairie's Meadows, wildflowers and that type of thing, whatever your scenario, this is a great guide.

It's also a heavy book - but it's not so heavy that it's cumbersome or unusable.

This book is 636 pages- although it doesn't feel like it - of Prairie plants. Everything you need to know and A truly definitive guide. "A one-stop compendium" is what they say about this book on Amazon.

You can get a copy of The Gardener's Guide to Prairie Plants by Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $25.

It is a worthy investment. 

1917 On this day, Maurice Baring writes about flying over the Fourth Army among some nature entries in his WWI diary.

Maurice was a soldier with the Royal Flying Corps, and I think Maurice would be surprised and delighted to know that his diary is part of a gardening podcast here in 2023.

I found a lovely little review of his diary, which became a book called A War Diary by Maurice Baring.

The reviewer wrote:

The remarkable thing about his book is that although it has an objective quality, it is also extraordinarily personal. It is far from being a history of the work of the R.F.C. during the war. It attempts nothing of the kind. It is rather an account of the author during the war, and by noting down whatever interested him at the moment, whether it was the book he happened to be reading or a talk he had had, he conveys to us what the war was in reality to him. His irrelevancies are relevant to that. An enormous number of these entries might have been made in his diary if there had been no war going on. Yet their inclusion is precisely what conveys to us the sense of actuality. He has endless details to attend to, news and odd rumours pour in from all sides, men are fighting and being killed (often he stops to record the death of a friend), yet his other interests persist. He is not always thinking about the war he copies out passages from the books he reads, quotes the poets, translates Horace; speculates about this and that, trusting that if he puts down all these things without emphasis, picture of what the war was actually like IS an experience to live through at H.Q. will be left in the reader's mind. Entries follow each other pell-mell. These are typical pages. Dip in anywhere and you will find the same drift of unconnected observations and unaccentuated records, noted down simply and quickly, by a man sensitive to many sides of life. Read the whole book and a curious ineffaceable impression remains of a confused process of human activity and emotion rushing on, on, on, in a definite direction, like a train which carries its passengers, now looking out of the windows, now talking together, now occupied with their own memories, on to a terminus. Such is Mr. Baring's record of the war.

As a gardener, I am delighted by the number of times Maurice mentions some plant or something happening in nature. The natural world was an anchor for him amid wartime chaos and heartbreak.

Here's what Maurice wrote:

On April 25th, 1917: We heard two shots in the air on the way there on the way back, just as we were this side of the Somme, a kite balloon was shot down and floated down into the river. We were looking at this; at that moment a scout appeared in the sky, and came swooping towards us. I thought it was a German, and that we were going to land looking down at the shelled condition of the ground. I was terrified. It turned out to be an S.E.It was bitterly cold : the earth looked like was a photograph: a war photograph.

April 26th. I cannot read any more, not another line of the Golden Bowl by Henry James.

April 28th. The garden full of oxlips and cowslips. The trees are red with sap. The hedges are budding.

April 20th. We went to Vert Galant to see Harvey Kelly, who commands No. 19 Squadron... He always took a potato and a reel of cotton with him when he went over the lines. The Germans, he said, would be sure to treat him well if he had to land on the other side, and they found him provided with such useful and scarce commodities. He was the first pilot to land in France.

A little look back at WWI through the eyes of a nature lover, a gardener, and a pilot.

And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

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1575 Birth of Jakob Böhme, German original thinker.

Jakob Böhme did a great deal of thinking and writing, not only about theology and Christianity but also about the natural world.

Here's what Mary Oliver wrote about Böhme.

I read Jacob Boehme and am caught in his shining web.

Here are Desire and Will that should be (he says) as two arms at one task; in my life they are less cooperative.

Will keeps sliding away down the hill to play when work is called for and Desire piously wants to labor when the best season of merriment is around me.

Troublemakers both of them them.

And another writer I admire and enjoy is Elizabeth Gilbert.

Elizabeth wrote about Jakob Böhme in her book, The Signature of All Things. The title of her book is from something that Jakob Böhme had written. 

Jacob Boehme was a sixteenth-century cobbler from Germany who had mystical visions about plants.

Many people considered him an early botanist. Alma's mother, on the other hand, had considered him a cesspool of residual medieval superstition. So there was considerable conflict of opinion surrounding Jacob Boehme.

The old cobbler had believed in something he called the signature of all things"- namely, that God had hidden clues for humanity's betterment inside the design of every flower, leaf, fruit, and tree on earth.

All the natural world was a divine code, Boehme claimed, containing proof of our Creator's love.

1766 Robert Bailey Thomas, founder, editor, and publisher of The Old Farmer's Almanac, is born.

Robert made his first edition - his very first copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac -back in 1792. 

1889 Paul George Russell, American botanist, is born.

Paul George Russell was born in Liverpool, New York. He worked as a botanist for the United States government for over five decades.

Paul George Russell went on collecting trips in Northern Mexico. He's remembered in the names of several different plants, including the Verbena russellii, a woody flowering plant that is very pretty.

And he's also remembered in the naming of the Opuntia russellii, which is a type of prickly pear cactus.

Now during his career, Paul George Russell could identify plants based on what their seeds looked like. One of the ways that he developed this skill is he compiled a seed bank of over 40,000 different types of sources.

Today Paul George is most remembered for his work with cherry trees. He was a vital part of the team that was created to install the living architecture of Japanese cherry trees around the Washington Tidal Basin. Paul George Russell put together a little bulletin, a little USDA circular called Oriental Flowering Cherries, in March 1934. It was his most impressive work. His guide provided all kinds of facts and detailed information about the trees just when it was needed most. People were curious about the cherry trees and fell utterly in love with them once they saw them blooming in springtime.

Paul George Russell passed away at the age of 73 after having a heart attack. On a poignant note, he was supposed to see his beloved cherry trees in bloom with his daughter. They had planned a trip to go to the tidal basin together. But unfortunately, that last visit never happened.

So this year, when you see the cherry trees bloom, raise a trowel to Paul, George Russell, and remember him and his fine work. And if you can get your hands on a copy of that 72-page circular he created in 1934, that's a find. It's all still good information.

1841 Charles Sprague Sargent, American botanist, is born.

He was the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum. 

Charles was known for being a little curmudgeonly. He was pretty stoic.

One of my favorite stories about Charles was the day he went on an exploration of mountains. The botanist accompanying him could hardly contain himself when they stopped at a spot of singular beauty. The botanist was jumping around and shouting for joy, and he looked over at Charles Sprague Sargent and said something to the effect of

"How can you stand there and say and do nothing amidst this incredible beauty?"

That's one of my favorite stories and a glimpse into the personality of Charles Sprague Sargent.

1914 James M. Bates observed a deep violet patch of blooming flowers in an alfalfa field in Arcadia Valley County in Nebraska.

James wrote about the experience in a publication called The American Botanist.

The plant that James was writing about was Chorispora tenella, which is in the mustard family. It is known by several common names, including purple mustard, Musk mustard, or the cross flower - because

it's a crucifer meaning the flowers are in a cross shape.

Now the name Musk flower has to do with the fragrance, the smell;, on a website for Colorado wildflowers, the author wrote,

I think they smell of Crayola crayons, warmed and melting in the sun. And so I called this plant, the crayon plant.

So purple mustard or Muskflower, however, you call it, is edible, in case you were wondering.

The backyard forger writes that

You can snip the top four to six inches off of each plant. Including the flowers, which are not only edible, but pretty, now you might be asking yourself, how could I use purple mustard And feast magazine says this purple mustard can be used much the same way as you would. Other mustards Spread some on your next arugala sandwich. Serve it alongside pickles and crusty bread with charcuterie. Whisk a teaspoon into your vinaigrettes instead of Dijon.

So there are some uses for your purple mustard.

1916 Today Vassar College honored Shakespeare on the 300th anniversary of his death by planting pansies.

Students from Winifred Smith's Shakespeare class and Emmeline Moore's botany class planted the pansies in a garden on the school grounds. And, of course, Shakespeare referred to pansies as the flower for thoughts.

A flower that can withstand the cold, pansies have a chemical, essentially nature's antifreeze, that allows it to fight those cold temperatures.

The Canadian naturalist Charles Joseph Sariol once said that pansies should be grown from seed.

Beatrix Potter liked Pansies.

And the happy poet Edgar Albert Guest wrote about pansies in verse from his poem To Plant a Garden. 

If you'd get away from boredom,

And find new delights to look for,

Learn the joy of budding pansies,

Which you've kept a special nook for.

Pansies are a happy flower and a great way to honor Shakespeare.

1919 Ernest H. Wilson worked at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and received a shipment of Kurume azaleas from Japan.

Ernest wrote,

"104 azaleas were unpacked at the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard, and all were found alive. Considering the length of their journey. They were in good condition."

Ernest also alludes to the fact that he had to work on nurturing his relationship with his growers and gardeners. The Kurume azaleas were grown by a Japanese gardener who had "a reluctance to part with them".

And so the fact that these azaleas made it to America was in no small measure due to the relationship building and people skills of Ernest Henry Wilson - something that doesn't often get enough attention when we think about plant explorers.

Tiny and Wild by Graham Laird Gardner

Graham has the perfect last name for a garden author - Gardner. I mean, how'd that happen?

In any case, this is a beautiful book. It's one of the prettiest books for gardeners this year. And the subtitle is Build a Small-Scale Meadow Anywhere.

So, of course, we're talking about creating tiny Meadows on your property.

The cover of this book had to be appealing; there are a lot of attractive purple flowers in the meadows, of course.

The cover illustrates how you can integrate wildflowers - flowers you will find in Meadows that you can use in your outdoor living spaces and garden designs- and how those flowers play an essential role in our ecosystems.

Now Graham kicks things off in this book by asking, "Why a mini meadow?"

(I will share my thoughts on why a mini meadow might be just the ticket for your garden after Graham's appeal.)

Graham writes,

You've heard the calling for a more resilient biodiverse garden, full of flowers and movement that's inspired by natural plant communities and the wild spaces around you.

Perhaps you feel a sense of nostalgia for the wilderness of your childhood?

Or need to invite wild places home.

Do you have a balcony or an underperforming section of yard?

Maybe you have an area of lawn you'd like to convert or a section of your veggie plot you'd like to devote to attracting more pollinators and other beneficial insects; however, you're not quite sure where to begin.

And so, of course, many Meadows might be the solution that you've been looking for.

Now, when I think about answering the question, "Why mini-meadows?" I think the timing is correct in terms of design trends and acceptance. We've all been exposed to Piet Oudolf's gardens, and he's been incorporating plants like grasses and wildflowers for so long. He's been painting our public spaces with his version of Meadows - beautiful, beautiful Meadows - that are handpicked and planted to maximize beauty.

So I think gardeners are ready for this book.

The other day, I talked to my neighbor across the street, and she shares a common pond area with other neighbors. And for most of the year, it can be rather unsightly, especially if we're going through a drought. And so she was wondering what they could do, what they should be planting, and I think the answer is found in this book with many of the plants that would go in a meadow. Think of all kinds of grasses, wildflowers, and of course, incorporating lots of native plants - embracing the wildness that you find along so many of our waterways, whether it's a river, a brook, or a pond, for instance.

Now the chapters in this book are as follows:

First, find inspiration in your parks and the plant communities that are around you.

The second chapter talks about the importance of site selection. Don't underestimate this because, as the saying goes for real estate and houses when you're going to home your plants, you need to think about location, location, location.

Then the third chapter talks about design tips for your mini meadow -how to combine the beauty and the function of a field in your garden.

The next couple of chapters get into the nitty-gritty of installing a meadow, which isn't as complicated as it sounds, but it's great to have a detailed guide like this to help you remember all the little details.

Chapter Six talks about how to maintain your meadow, which is Probably the most crucial chapter in the book, and it's where the bulk of your annual laborers will come into play.

And then, chapter seven is the fun chapter - What to Plant. Here Graham shares a bunch of different plant lists and charts so that you can pick the perfect plants for your tiny metal. I love that.

So in the past couple of years, you've heard me talk about planting mini orchards, Reforesting with mini forests - and now we are here, building Tiny and wild Meadows In our gardens.

You can get a copy of Tiny and Wild by Graham Laird Gardner and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $17.

1916 On this day, a small garden known as Foundation Stone was installed at Farm Leigh house in Phoenix Park.

A man named Patrick Pearse helped christen the garden with a commemorative speech.

This unique garden was a reflection of the solar system on that very day. So the planets and their alignment were perfectly represented by nine lichen-covered boulders positioned to orbit a granite bowl, representing the sun. This simple garden with nine boulders and a granite bowl also incorporated circular ripples of grass around the boulders, accentuating their perfect placement in the garden, which mirrored the night sky.

To me, this garden perfectly illustrates that there is no end to the amount of creativity we can use when it comes to garden design.

And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1597 On this day, The Herbal, by the English herbalist John Gerard, was first published. Today the book is considered a plagiarization of Rembert Dodoens's herbal published over forty years earlier. In his book, John shared over 800 species of plants and gorgeous woodcut illustrations. His descriptions were simple and informative. For instance, in his description of Self-heal or Brownwort (Prunella Vulgaris), he wrote, There is not a better wound herb to be found.   In other instances, his descriptions gave us a glimpse into life in the 17th century. Regarding Borage blossoms, which he called Boragewort, he wrote, Those of our time use the flowers in salads to exhilerate and make the mind glad.   During his life, John was allowed to garden on land at Somerset House, and for a time, he served as the herbalist to King James. In 1578, John was the first person to record and describe the Snakeshead fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris "mel-ee-aye-gris") thought to be native to parts of Britain but not Scotland.  Today John is remembered in the botanical genus Gerardia. Today, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust sells Christmas cards featuring John Gerard's woodcuts of Holly, Pears, and Mistletoe. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust cares for Shakespeare's family homes and shares the love of Shakespeare from his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. Anyway, if you'd like to support a great organization and enjoy the John Gerard Christmas cards and gift wrap, head on over to https://shop.shakespeare.org.uk/.   1826 Birth of Sereno Watson, American botanist & curator of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University in Boston. He's remembered for succeeding Asa Gray at the herbarium and continuing much of his work from 1873 until his death. A great master of botany in the American west, he also wrote Botany of California. Modern botany students easily identify Sereno for his extremely impressive beard. Sereno was admired and respected by his peers for his great attention to detail. For instance, in 1871, Sereno named a new plant genus Hesperochiron for two little wildflowers only found in the western part of the United States. Hespero means west, and Chiron is a nod to the Centaur and the first herbalist who taught humanity about the healing powers of plants. When Sereno named this genus, he rejected the classification of these plants as members of the snapdragon family. But, after dissecting them, Sereno was convinced they belonged with the gentians. This type of due diligence and careful study made Sereno Watson a great botanist. Today, Sereno is remembered with a very cool plant: the saw palmetto or the Serenoa repens palm. This small palm which only grows to 8-10 feet tall, is the only species in the genus Serenoa.   1833 Birth of Ellsworth Jerome Hill, Presbyterian minister, writer, and American botanist. When Ellsworth was only 20 years old, one of his knees stopped working. A doctor attempted to help him figure out a way to make a living and suggested he study botany. Ellsworth pursued the suggestion and crawled from his house to the orchard, where he would pick a few flowers and then crawl back to the house to identify them. The following year, Ellsworth was using canes to walk, and he moved to Mississippi, where the climate was warmer. After Ellsworth met and married a young woman named Milancy Leach, she became his daily helpmate. When Ellsworth felt especially lame or lacked strength, Milancy would step in and finish the work for him. When Ellsworth was 40, he somehow put his lameness behind him. In the back half of his life, he seemed to be better able to manage his physical challenges and cope with the symptoms. In a touching tribute to Ellsworth after his death, the great botanist and grass expert Agnes Chase wrote: Most of these collections were made while Ellsworth walked on crutches or with two canes. Ellsworth told me that he carried his vasculum over his shoulder and a camp stool with his crutch or cane in one hand. To secure a plant, he would drop the camp stool, which opened of itself, then he would lower himself to the stool and dig the plant.  Ellsworth recovered from his lameness but often suffered acute pain from cold or wetness or overexertion. But this did not deter him from making botanical trips that would have taxed a more robust man. In the Dunes, I have seen him tire out more than one able-bodied man.   Ellsworth recognized the value in revisiting places that had been previously botanized. It was Ellsworth Jerome Hill who said, In studying the flora of a restricted region, no matter how carefully it seems to have been explored, one is frequently surprised by new things... No region can be regarded as thoroughly explored until every acre of its wild areas at least has been examined. Some plants are SO rare or local or grow under such peculiar conditions that a few square rods or even feet may comprise their range.   1945 Birth of Bette Midler, American singer, songwriter, actress, comedian, and film producer. She was born in Honolulu. In 1979, Bette starred in her first movie called The Rose. She didn't win an academy award for her Rose performance; that award went to Sally Field for Norma Rae. But forty years later, in 2019, Bette was honored by the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) with a rose named in honor of her stage persona: The Divine Miss M. On June 19th, 2019, the NYBG introduced Bette's white-yellow rose with a fragrance of mint and lime at the New York Restoration Project Spring Picnic at the Botanical Garden in New York City. After receiving the honor, Bette commented, I didn't win the Oscar for The Rose. Of course, I never think about it. But I do want to say right now, and there's no Norma Rae rose.   In 1995, Bette started the New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit that renovates and restores neglected NYC parks to ensure green space for all New Yorkers. By the end of the event, Bette led the crowd in a rose song sing-a-long: Lyn Anderson's "Rose Garden," Bette's "The Rose," and "Everything's Coming Up Roses."   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Punk Ikebana by Louesa Roebuck This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is Reimagining the Art of Floral Design. The great American naturalist, writer, and illustrator, Obi Kaufmann wrote the forward and he clearly is a huge fan of this book. He wrote, I will gush. When asked by Louesa to write the foreword to this dangerous and monumentally beautiful book, I howled a perfectly contradictory mix of terror and delight. I've been bewitched by the magic that is Louesa and her art for years. I identified her long ago as the very best kind of revolutionary, and I signed up. As an intrepid peace punk, Louesa presents a world to her audience that heals as it wounds. In her writing, in her ikebana, and through her punk ethos, she reverses the polarity of so many expectations, and the effect is effortless, aesthetic alchemy in which the silent is transformed into the loud, the ugly is made to be beautiful, and the empty is found to be surprisingly full.   Ikebana is simply the art of Japanese flower arrangement. Louesa's take on Ikebana is unique and extraordinary - and people have described her work as punk for over a decade. Louesa wrote in the introduction, When I'm asked what punk ikebana means to me, my gut response is I'm not completely sure yet. I do recall friends and colleagues casually referring to my work as "punk ikebana" as far back as 2008. They perhaps saw something new and iconoclastic in my work before I did.   Now you may be wondering, "What is punk ikebana?"  Louesa shares her musings on some key precepts like silence, minimalism, harmonious forms and lines, names, humanity, and composing in situ. She writes, Silence: In ikebana, this particularly refers to a quiet appreciation of nature, free of noise or idle talk. Minimalism: Here's where my punk aesthetic comes in. I'm a bit of a rebel and a maximalist more often than not. I do strive for harmony and balance in my compositions always, but I also love the glam, the sexy, the louche, even.  Harmonious form and line: When you gather and glean seasonal and local flora and compose naturally, you will find that harmony comes effortlessly. The longer, deeper, more studied, or more expansive your search becomes, the more treasures you find just outside your doors. Mother Earth contains all of the multitudes where they need to be; there's no need to fly flora in from anywhere else. Names: One traditional precept of ikebana is to know the names of the flora you use, as naming is a form of respect. For me, this is complicated. I absolutely acknowledge the power of naming something, the inherent respect of saying, "T see you; I know your name and some of who you are." However, naming is also charged and complex.  I often speak of flora in inconsistent terms, because that's how I've come to know them. Sometimes the common name rolls more easily off the tongue. This is art and, in the way of art, often an inexact science. Sometimes it's as simple as, say, preferring the word Nepenthes to describe any one of this genus of over 170 species. Which one should you use in your arrangement? With most choices I lean toward a less literal interpretation. I could prescribe you use only Nepenthes rafflesiana, the Malaysian pitcher plant, but why? Instead, I offer you thoughts on my flora friends under the names by which I have come to love them and encourage you to call them what makes sense to you, always with respect. Composed in situ: When we bring our newfound or long-loved flora friends into our homes or otherwise carry these gifts inside, the dialogue with place continues. It evolves each time I arrange scented geraniums with the recently discovered wild peonies on our land; or datura and passionflower with an outlier of, say, cactus flower. Each time I compose, I am in dialogue with the room (or any other space): the color story; the textiles; the vessel; the totems; books; art; furniture, even. The arrangement does not exist in a vacuum; it lives, breathes, and communicates with the space as a whole. This is in keeping with the idea of animism: each object, stone, feather, and vessel has a life force. Energy is porous, interconnected, animated, and never static. When we begin to see, feel, and live this way, time and space expand.   Louesa sees her beautiful work and this incredible book as a source of inspiration for you in your work with arranging flowers. She does not want her readers to approach her work rigidly. She writes, Punk rejects human hierarchies, so reject the mantle of "expert" or "sensei." Adhering to "the heart of the novice" as a guiding principle requires it. We are all learning, and learning is most fruitful when we do it together. I would add that in our increasingly beleaguered world, my learning doesn't solely come from other humans but from our nonhuman relatives and ancestors. Every time I engage in this medium of floral arranging or let us say, punk ikebana I hope to learn, not to teach or instruct. Teaching is only a byproduct of learning; they are one and the same, are they not? This book is 256 pages of the way of flowers and the rules you need to master in order to bend them and make your own punk ikebana wonders and enjoy them in your home. You can get a copy of Punk Ikebana by Louesa Roebuck and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $40.   Botanic Spark 1955 On this day, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after a bus driver ordered her to give up her bus seat to another passenger and she refused.  That Thursday had started pretty uneventfully for Rosa. She was a seamstress for a department store, and in her bag was a yellow floral Sunday dress that she was sewing for her mom. Rosa had learned to sew from the women in her family. Both her mother and grandmother sewed. Her grandmother made quilts. Rosa had attended the Montgomery Industrial School for Girls. She subsidized her income as a tailor's assistant and seamstress, with sewing work for private clients, friends, and family members. Rosa's yellow dress was a wrap dress with a small shawl collar and a v-neck made of fabric featuring brown and yellow flowers and leaves. The flared skirt had six gores, three pleats, and full-length sleeves. The dress also had a fabric belt.  Today that floral dress is on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1791 On this day, Martha Ballard recorded her work as an herbalist and midwife. For 27 years, Martha kept a journal of her work as the town healer and midwife for Hallowell, Maine. In all, Martha assisted with 816 births. Today, Martha's marvelous journal gives us a glimpse into the plants she regularly used and how she applied them medicinally. As for how Martha sourced her plants, she raised them in her garden or foraged them in the wild. As the village apothecary, Martha found her ingredients and personally made all of her herbal remedies. Two hundred twenty-nine years ago today, Martha recorded her work to help her sick daughter. She wrote, My daughter Hannah is very unwell this evening. I gave her some Chamomile & Camphor.   Today we know that Chamomile has a calming effect, and Camphor can help treat skin conditions, improve respiratory function, and relieve pain.   1835 Birth of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (known by his pen name Mark Twain), American writer and humorist. Samuel used the garden and garden imagery to convey his wit and satire. In 1874, Samuel's sister, Susan, and her husband built a shed for him to write in. They surprised him with it when Samuel visited their farm in upstate New York. The garden shed was ideally situated on a hilltop overlooking the Chemung ("Sha-mung") River Valley. Like Roald Dahl, Samuel smoked as he wrote, and his sister despised his incessant pipe smoking. In this little octagonal garden/writing shed, Samuel wrote significant sections of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, A Tramp Abroad, and many other short works. And in 1952, Samuel's octagonal shed was relocated to Elmira College ("EI-MEER-ah") campus in Elmira, New York. Today, people can visit the garden shed with student guides daily throughout the summer and by appointment in the off-season. Here are some garden-related thoughts by Mark Twain. Climate is what we expect; the weather is what we get. It was a soft, reposeful summer landscape, as lovely as a dream and as lonesome as Sunday. To get the full value of joy You must have someone to divide it with. After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the garden with her than inside it without her.   1874 Birth of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian writer and author of the Anne of Green Gables series. Lucy was born on Prince Edward Island and was almost two years old when her mother died. Like her character in Ann of Green Gables, Lucy had an unconventional upbringing when her father left her to be raised by her grandparents. Despite being a Canadian literary icon and loved worldwide, Lucy's personal life was marred by loneliness, death, and depression. Historians now believe she may have ended her own life. Yet we know that flowers and gardening were a balm to Lucy. She grew lettuce, peas, carrots, radish, and herbs in her kitchen garden. And Lucy had a habit of going to the garden after finishing her writing and chores about the house. Today in Norval, a place Lucy lived in her adult life, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Sensory Garden is next to the public school. The Landscape Architect, Eileen Foley, created the garden, which features an analemmatic (horizontal sundial), a butterfly and bird garden, a children's vegetable garden, a log bridge, and a woodland trail. It was Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote, I love my garden, and I love working in it. To potter with green growing things, watching each day to see the dear, new sprouts come up, is like taking a hand in creation, I think. Just now, my garden is like faith, the substance of things hoped for.   1875 Birth of Frank Nicholas Meyer, Dutch-American plant explorer. Frank worked as an intrepid explorer for the USDA, and he traveled to Asia to find and collect new plant specimens. His work netted 2,500 new plants, including the beautiful Korean Lilac, Soybeans, Asparagus, Chinese Horse Chestnut, Water Chestnut, Oats, Wild Pears, Ginkgo Biloba, and Persimmons, to name a few. Today, Frank is most remembered for a bit of fruit named in his honor - the Meyer Lemon. Frank found it growing in the doorway to a family home in Peking. The Lemon is suspected to be a hybrid of a standard lemon and mandarin orange. Early on in his career, Frank was known as a rambler and a bit of a loner.  Frank once confessed in an October 11, 1901, letter to a friend, I am pessimistic by nature and have not found a road which leads to relaxation. I withdraw from humanity and try to find relaxation with plants.   Frank was indeed more enthusiastic about plants than his fellow humans. He even named his plants and talked to them. Once he arrived in China, Frank was overwhelmed by the flora. A believer in reincarnation, Frank wrote to David Fairchild in May 1907: [One] short life will never be long enough to find out all about this mighty land. When I think about all these unexplored areas, I get fairly dazzled... I will have to roam around in my next life.   While China offered a dazzling landscape of new plant discoveries, the risks and realities of exploration were hazardous. Edward B. Clark spoke of Frank's difficulties in Technical World in July 1911. He said, Frank has frozen and melted alternately as the altitudes have changed. He has encountered wild beasts and men nearly as wild. He has scaled glaciers and crossed chasms of dizzying depths. He has been the subject of the always-alert suspicions of government officials and strange peoples - jealous of intrusions into their land, but he has found what he was sent for.   Frank improved the diversity and quality of American crops with his exceptional ability to source plants that would grow in the various growing regions of the United States. He was known for his incredible stamina. Unlike many of his peers who were carried in sedan chairs, Frank walked on his own accord for tens of miles daily. And his ability to walk for long distances allowed him to access many of the most treacherous and inaccessible parts of interior Asia - including China, Korea, Manchuria, and Russia. Frank died on his trip home to America. He had boarded a steamer and sailed down the Yangtze River. His body was found days later floating in the river. To this day, his death remains a mystery. But his final letters home expressed loneliness, sadness, and exhaustion. He wrote that his responsibilities seemed "heavier and heavier." The life of a Plant Explorer was anything but easy.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel  This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is The Life and Times of Cockshutt Wood. John Lewis-Stempel is a farmer and a countryside writer - he prefers that title to 'nature writer.' The Times calls him Britain's finest living nature writer. Country Life calls him "one of the best nature writers of his generation.' His books include the Sunday Times bestsellers The Running Hare and The Wood. He is the only person to have won the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing twice, with Meadowland and Where Poppies Blow. In 2016 he was Magazine Columnist of the Year for his column in Country Life. He lives in Herefordshire ("heh-ruh-frd-shr") with his wife and two children. And The Wood was a BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'  The Wood is written in diary format, making the whole reading experience more intimate and lyrical. John shares his take on all four seasons in the English woodlands, along with lots of wonderful nuggets culled from history and experience. And I might add that John is a kindred spirit in his love of poetry and folklore. John spent four years managing Cockshutt wood - three and a half acres of mixed woodland in southwest Herefordshire. The job entailed pruning trees and raising livestock (pigs and cows roam free in the woods).  John wrote of the peace and privacy afforded him by his time in the woods. Cockshutt was a sanctuary for me too; a place of ceaseless seasonal wonder where I withdrew into tranquility. No one comes looking for you in wood.   The Woods covers John's last year as the manager of Cockshutt. The publisher writes,  [By then], he had come to know it from the bottom of its beech roots to the tip of its oaks, and to know all the animals that lived there the fox, the pheasants, the wood mice, the tawny owl - and where the best bluebells grew.  For many fauna and flora, woods like Cockshutt are the last refuge. It proves a sanctuary for John too. To read The Wood is to be amongst its trees as the seasons change, following an easy path until, suddenly the view is broken by a screen of leaves, or your foot catches on a root, or bird startles overhead. This is a wood you will never want to leave.   The Wood starts in December - making it the perfect holiday gift or winter gift. John writes about the bare trees and the gently falling snow. The landscape becomes still and silent.  John writes, Oddly aware, walking through the wood this afternoon, that it is dormant rather than dead. How the seeds. the trees and hibernating animals....are locked in a safe sleep against the coldand wet.   By January, the Wood stirs to life with the arrival of snowdrops. If snowdrops are appearing, then the earth must be wakening. Of all our wildflowers the white hells are the purest, the most ethereal. the most chaste... Whatever: the snowdrop says that winter is not forever.   As The Wood takes you through an entire year, the book ends as another winter approaches. The trees are losing their leaves. Animals are preparing for their long sleep. John is preparing to leave the woods for his next chapter as well. Looking back, he writes,  I thought the trees and the birds belonged to me. But now I  realize that I belonged to them.   This book is 304 pages of a joyful, poetic, and soul-stirring time in the woods with the elegantly articulate John Lewis-Stempel as your guide - he's part forest sprite with a dash of delightful nature-soaked tidbits. You can get a copy of The Wood by John Lewis-Stempel and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $6.   Botanic Spark 1936 On this day, the Crystal Palace in London was destroyed by fire. The spectacular blaze was seen from miles away.  Joseph Paxton, the English gardener, architect, and Member of Parliament designed the Crystal Palace, aka the People's Palace, for the first World's Fair - the Great Exhibition of 1851. Joseph had built four elaborate glass greenhouses for the Duke of Devonshire in Chatsworth, which provided valuable experience for creating the Crystal Palace.  The Joseph Paxton biographer Kate Colquhoun wrote about the immensity of the Palace: "[Paxton's] design, initially doodled on a piece of blotting paper, was the architectural triumph of its time. Two thousand men worked for eight months to complete it. It was six times the size of St Paul's Cathedral, enclosed 18 acres, and entertained six million visitors."   The Crystal Place was an extraordinary and revolutionary building. Joseph found extra inspiration for the Palace in the natural architecture of the giant water lily. Instead of creating just a large empty warehouse for the exhibits, Joseph essentially built a massive greenhouse over the existing Hyde Park. The high central arch of the Palace - the grand barrel vault you see in all the old postcards and images of the Crystal Palace - accommodated full-sized trees that Joseph built around. Another innovative aspect of the Crystal Palace was the large beautiful columns. Joseph designed them with a purpose: drainage. By all accounts, the Crystal Palace was an enormous success until the fire started around 7 pm on this day. The manager, Sir Henry Buckland, had brought his little daughter, ironically named Chrystal, with him on his rounds of the building when he spied a small fire on one end of the Palace. Newspaper reports say the flames fanned wind through the Handel organ as the Palace burned to the ground. A sorrowful song to accompany the end of an era in plant exhibition.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1627 Birth of John Ray, English naturalist and writer. In 1660, he published a catalog of Cambridge plants. John developed his own system for classifying plants based on their observed similarities and differences. So he was clearly thinking about ways to distinguish one plant from another. And in his book, History of Plants, John was the first scientist to use the terms petal and pollen. John also wrote a Collection of English Proverbs. In one for summer, John wrote: If the first of July be rainy weather, It will rain, more or less, for four weeks together.   1799 Birth of Amos Bronson Alcott, American teacher, writer, Transcendentalist and reformer. In most aspects of his life, Amos was ahead of his time. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights. He also advocated a plant-based diet.  Amos once wrote, Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures, plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. In 1830, Amos married pretty Abigail May, and together they had four daughters; the second-oldest was Louisa May, born on this day in 1832.   1832 Birth of Louisa May Alcott, American writer, and poet.  She grew up in the company of her parents' friends and fellow Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow In 1868, she wrote Little Women. In it, she wrote, Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally... Louisa could be witty. She once wrote, Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes.   1978 Death of Edward C. Hummel, American plantsman and hybridizer. Edward and his wife Minnie ran Hummel's Exotic Gardens of southern California for 43 years. They specialized in cacti, succulents, bromeliads ("brow·mee·lee·ads"), and orchids.  In 1935, Edward and Minnie were featured in a Quaker State Motor Oil advertisement. The young Hummel family is in their home cactus garden. Edward is examining a cactus specimen while his daughter Marquetta and son Edward gather around. Mother Minnie is standing behind them, looking on. The ad garnered plenty of attention, and soon Edward was fielding requests from American gardeners for more information about his cactus garden. The letters gave Edward and Minnie the idea to start a mail-order business for their plants. In 1943, during WWII, Edward published Hummel's Victory Picture Book. The cover featured a photo of two 6-foot-tall Barrel cacti at the base, leaning away from each other at the top in a perfect V formation for victory. The book was a smash hit, and subsequent editions were quickly put together. In the first edition, Edward wrote a note to his customers in the forward. Perhaps you will wonder at receiving this free picture book which contains no prices of plants. If you enjoy a few minutes of interest and relaxation in looking it over, it will have fulfilled its obvious purpose. If your interest and curiosity are stirred to the point that you write us for further information, it will have fulfilled its hidden purpose. After the War, the fumes from LAX drove the Hummels to find a new home for their nursery. They settled in Carlsbad and purchased an existing nursery after the founder Dr. Robert W. Poindexter, died unexpectedly. The nursery was a perfect fit. Robert Poindexter shared the Hummel's passion for cacti and succulents. Robert's son John finalized the sale. Edward was especially interested in propagating and selling drought-resistant plants in his nursery. He won many awards for his plants and was primarily known for his work with Bromeliads ("brow·mee·lee·ads").   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Flower Flash by Lewis Miller This book came out in 2021, and Lewis Miller is a celebrated floral designer and "Flower Bandit." The publisher writes,  Before dawn one morning in October 2016, renowned New York-based floral designer Lewis Miller stealthily arranged hundreds of brightly colored dahlias, carnations, and mums into a psychedelic halo around the John Lennon memorial in Central Park. The spontaneous floral installation was Miller's gift to the city an effort to spark joy during a difficult time. Nearly five years and more than ninety Flower Flashes later, these elaborate flower bombs - bursts of jubilant blooms in trash cans, over bus canopies, on construction sites and traffic medians - have brought moments of delight and wonder to countless New Yorkers and flower lovers everywhere, and earned Miller a following of dedicated fans and the nickname the "Flower Bandit." After New York City entered lockdown, Miller doubled down, creating Flower Flashes outside hospitals to express gratitude to frontline health workers and throughout the city to raise spirits. This gorgeous and poignant visual diary traces the phenomenon from the first, spontaneous Flower Flash to the even more profound installations of the pandemic through a kaleidoscopic collage of photos documenting the Flower Flashes, behind-the-scenes snapshots, Miller's inspiration material, fan contributions, and more.   Lewis begins his story this way. When pressed to define my own vision, a few words come to mind: Abundance. Contrast. Joy. Folly. Energy. Flowers are a medium like no other. They exist to be beautiful, to attract butterflies and bees. It's a simple but astounding life's mission. Yet all too often this profound essence is suffocated under the weight of other meaning. We humans assign arbitrary significance to almost everything and in the process snuff out the true purpose of that thing; flowers are not spared this imposition. Gladiolas can be dismissed as ghastly, lilies as rancid, and carnations as tacky. Such horrible words to describe flowers, and it doesn't stop there. The cacophony of derogatory remarks is endless: cheap, garish, weedy, "too country," gaudy, pretentious ... It can make the most ambitious flower lover hesitant to create anything for fear of damnation from the Taste Gods. The Flower Flash is my antidote to all that! Flower Flashes celebrate all the good that flowers embody and have to offer us mortals. In a Flash, every flower benefits equally from a sort of floral democracy and like most democracies, the Flash's success is largely dependent on the hardworking, unsung flowers that support the more delicate and fashionable blooms. Precious sweet peas share company with unloved carnations, chrysanthemums make nice with English garden roses. And it makes sense that this is the recipe for a successful Flash, because New York City, the birthplace of these random acts of beauty, is built on the same principle. Like a true Flower Flash, Gotham City is a glorious mash-up of all kinds of people and personalities. Since the roads aren't lined with roses, the Flower Flashes will be.   This book is 240 pages of Flower Flash Flower Power with the Bandit himself - Lewis Miller - flower lover, flower advocate, and joyous bringer of random acts of beauty. You can get a copy of Flower Flash by Lewis Miller and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $16.   Botanic Spark 1843 Birth of Gertrude Jekyll ("Jee-kul"), British horticulturist, garden designer, photographer, writer, and artist. Gertrude Jekyll was one of the most influential garden designers of the early 20th century. She created a spectacular garden at her property called Munstead Wood in England. She also created over 400 gardens in  Europe and the United States. Today the Gertrude Jekyll pink rose is considered a gardener favorite, and the rose 'Munstead Wood' honors Gertrude's garden and is one of the most splendid wine red roses. In her book, On Gardening, Gertrude wrote, The Dahlia’s first duty in life is to flaunt and to swagger and to carry gorgeous blooms well above its leaves, and on no account to hang its head.   and   When I pick or crush in my hand a twig of Bay, or brush against a bush of Rosemary, or tread upon a tuft of Thyme… I feel that here is all that is best and purest and most refined, and nearest to poetry ...of the sense of smell.   Finally, Gertrude once wrote, The love of gardening is a seed that once sown never dies, but grows to the enduring happiness that the love of gardening gives.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1660 On this day, the first meeting occurred of what would become The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. The Royal Society's Latin motto, 'Nullius in verba,' translates to "Take nobody's word for it." The motto reminded the Society's members to verify information through experiments and not just based on authority.   1694 Death of Matsuo Basho ("Bash=oh"), Japanese poet. He is remembered as the most famous poet of the Edo period and the greatest master of haiku.  In one verse, Matsuo wrote, The temple bell stops But I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers.   And in another poem from his book on traveling, he wrote, Many things of the past Are brought to my mind, As I stand in the garden Staring at a cherry tree.   1854 Birth of Gottlieb Haberlandt, Austrian botanist. His father was a pioneer in 'soybean' work, and his physiologist son is now regarded as the grandfather of the birth control pill. As for Gottlieb, he grew plant cells in tissue culture and was the first scientist to point out the possibility of the culture of Isolated & Plant Tissues. In 1902 he shared his original idea called totipotentiality ("to-'ti-pe-tent-chee-al-it-tee"), which Gottlieb defined as "the theory that all plant cells can give rise to a complete plant." Today we remember Gottlieb as the father of plant tissue culture. During the 1950s scientists proved Gottlieb's totipotentiality. Indeed, any part of a plant grown in nutrient media under sterile conditions can create a whole new plant. Today, the technique of tissue culture is a very efficient tool for propagating improved plants for food, hardiness, and beauty.    1881 Birth of Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer. During the 1920s and 1930s, at the peak of his career, Stefan was one of the most widely translated writers in the world.  In The Post-Office Girl, Stefan wrote, For this quiet, unprepossessing, passive man who has no garden in front of his subsidised flat, books are like flowers. He loves to line them up on the shelf in multicoloured rows: he watches over each of them with an old-fashioned gardener's delight, holds them like fragile objects in his thin, bloodless hands.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation English Cottage by Andrew Sankey  This book came out in 2022, and it is a master guide to cottage-style gardening. The chapters in this book cover: The History of the Cottage Garden, Creating the "Cottage Garden Style, Cottage Planting Style, Cottage Flowers, Companion Planting, Green Structure, and Traditional Features. In the Preface, Andrew shares a bit about his background and how he came to master English Cottage Gardening. My first introduction to the style of the English cottage garden came when I was given a copy of Margery Fish's book, We Made a Garden. Having been enthralled with the book, I then traveled down to Somerset to see her wonderful cottage garden at East Lambrook Manor. Shortly after this, Geoff Hamilton started to construct his cottage gardens for the BBC Gardeners' World programs and it soon became apparent that this was the style of gardening I myself wished to adopt. Not long after this I moved to Lincolnshire and started my own garden design/landscaping business, and I soon realized it was difficult to obtain the more unusual plants required for number of my garden designs, in particular plants for dry shade positions. This encouraged me to look for a larger garden with the potential to run a small specialist nursery. This resulted in purchasing Grade II listed cottage (built in 1852) with a good-sized old cottage garden. Although the original garden (like many in Lincolnshire) had once been an extremely long strip stretching back to the village pond, the plot that came with the cottage was much reduced. Nevertheless, at almost half an acre it was more than enough for me to manage. Luckily the garden was pretty much a blank canvas, having a couple of large old fruit trees, a vegetable patch, various outbuildings and a chicken hut; and this afforded me the opportunity to make something special of the garden. It was here that my love for cottage gardens blossomed. Over time I re-designed the garden, I created different rooms/areas, spring and summer borders, and began experimenting with colour schemes and companion planting. I joined the Cottage Garden Society and then helped form the Lincolnshire branch, eventually becoming chairman. Within a few years I opened the garden under the National Gardens Scheme; I then started writing articles and lecturing on different aspects of the cottage garden. This book is the culmination of my years working on my own cottage gardens, designing and creating cottage gardens for clients, experimenting with companion planting and lecturing widely on the subject. I very much hope you enjoy it. This book is 192 pages of cottage garden style in all its glory, with many lovely and inspiring photographs.  You can get a copy of English Cottage by Andrew Sankey and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $25.   Botanic Spark 1757 Birth of William Blake, English poet. During his lifetime, William wrote in relative obscurity. Today, he is an essential poet of the Romantic Age. He wrote, In seed-time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.   In his poem, Auguries of Innocence, he wrote, To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour.   In his poem, A Poison Tree, William wrote about anger as a tree that grows as it gets tended. I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my wrath did grow. And I water'd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles And with soft deceitful wiles. And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright; And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine, And into my garden stole, When the night had veiled the pole: In the morning glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1714 Birth of William Shenstone, English poet, and landscape gardener. In the early 1740s, Shenstone inherited his family's dairy farm, which he transformed into the Leasowes (pronounced 'lezzoes'). The transfer of ownership lit a fire under Shenstone, and he immediately started changing the land into a wild landscape - something he referred to as an ornamented farm. Shenstone wisely bucked the trend of his time, which called for formal garden design (he didn't have the money to do that anyway.) Yet, what Shenstone accomplished was quite extraordinary. His picturesque natural landscape included water features like cascades and pools and structures like temples and ruins. What I love most about Shenstone is that he was a consummate host. He considered the garden's comfort and perspective from his visitors' standpoint. When he created a walk around his estate, Shenstone wanted to control the experience. So, Shenstone added seating every so often along the path to cause folks to stop and admire the views that Shenstone found it most appealing. Then, he incorporated signage with beautiful classical verses and poems, even adding some of his own - which elevated the Leasowes experience for his guests. After his death, his garden, the Leasowes, became a popular destination - attracting the likes of William Pitt, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. It was William Shenstone who said, Grandeur and beauty are so very opposite, that you often diminish the one as you increase the other. Variety is most akin to the latter, simplicity to the former.   1806 Birth of Charles Leo Lesquereux, Swiss botanist. Leo was born with a naturalist's heart. A self-described dreamer, Leo loved going out into the forest, collecting all kinds of flowers and specimens for his mother. Sadly, when Leo was seven years old, he fell off the top of a mountain. He was carried back to his home completely unconscious, with multiple injuries to his body and head trauma. He remained motionless and unconscious for two weeks. His survival was a miracle, yet the fall resulted in hearing loss that would eventually leave Leo utterly deaf by the time he was a young man. Despite the fall, nature still ruled Leo's heart. As Leo matured, he tried to provide for his family as a watchmaker. But, he found himself returning again and again to the outdoors. Eventually, Leo began to focus his efforts on peat bogs, and his early work protecting peat bogs attracted the attention of Louis Agassiz of Harvard, who invited Leo to bring his family to America. When he arrived, Leo classified the plants that Agassiz had discovered on his expedition to Lake Superior. Then, on Christmas Eve, 1848, Asa Gray summoned Leo to help William Starling Sullivant. Asa  predicted the collaboration would be successful, and he wrote to his friend and fellow botanist John Torrey: They will do up bryology at a great rate. Lesquereux says that the collection and library of Sullivant in muscology are magnifique, superbe,and the best he ever saw. So, Leo packed up his family, traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and settled near the bryologist, William Starling Sullivant. Bryology is the study of mosses. The root, bryos, is a Greek verb meaning to swell and is the etymology of the word embryo. Bryology will be easier to remember if you think of the ability of moss to expand as it takes on water. Mosses suited Leo and Sullivant's strengths. They require patience and close observation, scrupulous accuracy, and discrimination. Together, Leo and Sullivant wrote the book on American mosses. Sullivant funded the endeavor and generously allowed Leo to share in the proceeds. In 1873, Sullivant contracted pneumonia - ironically, an illness where your lungs fill or swell with fluid - and died on April 30, 1873. Leo lived for another 16 years before dying at the age of 83. It was Leo Lesquereux who said, My deafness cut me off from everything that lay outside of science. I have lived with Nature, the rocks, the trees, the flowers. They know me. I know them.   1810 Birth of Asa Gray, American botanist.   As a professor of botany at Harvard University, Asa interacted with the top scientific minds of his time, including Charles Darwin. In 1857, Asa Gray received a confidential letter from Charles Darwin. In the letter, Darwin confided: I will enclose the briefest abstract of my notions on the means by which nature makes her species....[but] I ask you not to mention my doctrine.   Darwin revealed his concept of natural selection two years later in his book,  On the Origin of Species. Asa and Darwin mutually admired each other. Although Asa's masterwork, Darwiniana, deviated from Darwin's because Asa purported that religion and science were not mutually exclusive. Asa was a prolific writer. His most famous work was his Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States, from New England to Wisconsin and South to Ohio and Pennsylvania Inclusive, known today simply as Gray's Manual.  During his long tenure at Harvard, Gray established the science of botany and guided American botany into the international arena. He also co-authored 'Flora of North America' with John Torrey. When the botanist Joseph Trimble Rothrock arrived at Harvard, he worked every day in the private herbarium of Asa Gray. And, of Dr. Gray, Rothrock said, [He] was kindness personified, though a strict disciplinarian and a most merciless critic of a student's work. I owe more to him than to any other man, and I never think of him without veneration.   1939 Birth of Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. In Bluebeard's Egg (1986), Margaret wrote, Gardening is not a rational act. What matters is the immersion of the hands in the earth, that ancient ceremony of which the Pope kissing the tarmac is merely pallid vestigial remnant. In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich This book came out in 1942 (a 2007 reprint), and the subtitle is Simple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces. Louise Dickinson Rich (14 June 1903 - 9 April 1991) was a writer known for fiction and nonfiction works about the New England region of the United States, particularly Massachusetts and Maine. This autobiographical book was her first and is regarded as her most famous and well-known work. Louise once wrote,  I feel displaced in towns and cities; although have never found myself in an uninhabited place where I did not at once feel perfectly at home.   We Took to the Woods is set in the 1930s when she and her husband Ralph, and her friend and hired help Gerrish, lived in a remote cabin near Umbagog Lake. It was described as "a witty account of Thoreau-like existence in a wilderness home." In a 1942 review of the book in The Boston Globe, the story of how Louise met her husband Ralph came to light. [Louise] taught school. She went on a holiday canoe trip to Maine and saw a man cutting wood. He saw her, too, for he asked the girls to stay and eat. Wasn't it lucky the wood lasted that long, for that is how Miss Dickinson met Mr. Rich. Back in Massachusetts, she couldn't bear the distance between them. Neither could he, and pretty soon she was married and setting up housekeeping in a neighborhood of deer and bear and wildcats, a clearing on the Rapid River, a carry between two lakes. The nearest community is Middle Dam, five miles away.   A 1987 review of We Took to the Woods shared the daily life of Louise and her younger sister Alice, When other girls were spending cold winter afternoons stewing in the house, we were down at the pond skating, or out in the woods tracking rabbits ...or on hot summer afternoons, we were in the sun-drenched fields or shadowy woods, looking, listening, tasting, smelling. [To be part of the natural world is] a thousand times more thrilling and beautiful than watching the most elaborate man-made spectacle on the biggest stage in the world.   A 1942 review in the Hattiesburg American revealed [Louise] (who speaks of herself as an "obscure Dickinson' because she is distantly related to the late and famous Emily) has found content in the Maine woods. She describes herself, her family and her contentment in 'We Took to the Woods." ...she is so deep in the Maine woods that strangers practically never reach her house. And she likes it.  The cabin is in the Rangeley Lake Section. There were two cabins when Mrs. Rich wrote her book-- one for summer, and one for winter. The winter cabin looks like some- thing out of a fairy tale, imbedded as it is in snow too deep and too fluffy to be anything but a stage setting. There are animals all about deer and wildcats and foxes and skunks. Once she befriended a little skunk, and found it made perfect pet, gradually growing a bit wilder, however. Finally it took to the woods. But when by chance it saw Mrs. Rich it always trotted up to her to be fondled and talked to a bit. Mrs. Rich's first baby was born in the deep woods with only the father as attendant-the doctor couldn't get to the house on time.    A more poetic review was featured in The Harding Field Echelon: [Louise once] received a letter from a friend exclaiming, "Isn't it wonderful that you're at last doing what you always wanted."  [At that moment, Louise realized with a start that she was living her... dream. There is nothing at all on the hills but forest, and nobody lives there but deer and bear and wildcats. The lakes come down from the north like a gigantic staircase to the sea. Thisis the background for Mrs. Rich's unique and enchanting story. Her friends are always asking her questions, the kind of questions anyone would put to a woman who lives in a remote wilderness out of choice:  How do you make a living? Do you really live there all year round?  Isn't housekeeping difficult?  Aren't the children a problem?  Don't you get terribly bored? Here the whole panorama of life in the wilderness unfolds: the drama of the spring drive when the logs are brought down the river from the upper lake; the fun of wood-cutting and ice-cutting; the zest of hunting and fishing when one is dependent of the results for food. There are amusing sidelights on everyday events - [like] the time Mrs. Rich felt she was being watched and in spite of her husband's amusement, went to the door and saw a wildcat eyeing her, no more than three feet from where she had been knitting. We Took to the Woods is more than an adventure story, more than a simple nature study; it is a shining, refreshing picture of an entirely new way of life. Written with warmth and enthusiasm and great charm, it is a book to stir the imagination of every reader and kindle his heart with envy.    This book is 368 pages of Louis Dickenson's precious life in the Maine woods. You can get a copy of We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickinson Rich and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $2.   Botanic Spark 2000 On this day, The Indianapolis Star shared an editorial called November Garden Work Inspires by Jean L. McGroarty. Jean lives in Battle Ground with her husband and three teenagers. She is the director of education at the Tippecanoe Humane Society She wrote, I can't remember a Thanksgiving when I haven't been able to go to my garden and dig carrots or pull scallions for my after-holiday turkey soup. My garden, SO often neglected in July and August, still gives what can in November.  I am not a good gardener, but I enjoy doing what little I do. My favorite chore is digging my little plot, a pleasure I have twice a year, once in March and once in November. I have a tiller but never use it. I prefer to use a garden fork, with wide, flat tines, a short stem, and a bright red handle.  Digging my small garden is a lesson in patience, in small and gradual accomplishment. It gives me time to stop and reflect. It's a thinkless job. There IS no mental work involved, just the rhythm of tapping soil with the tines to find the right spot, pushing the fork Into the soil, lifting it up, and turning it over again and again and again.  I can easily see my progress, for each fork full takes me closer to the garden put to bed for winter or ready for spring planting. I like this. I can't do it all at once and only work a little bit at a time, doing as much as I can, measuring my success, loving the feeling of inching my way to the goal. When I do this, I can turn my mind to other thoughts, listen to other sounds, see other things than the fork and the soil.  It's a time to reflect, on seasons and work and growth deferred but growth that will come again someday. I count the earthworms because they give me an inkling of how fertile my soil will be in the spring. I listen to squirrels rustling in the dry leaves, the neighbors calling the wayward dog, and the sound of the wind In the bare trees. During the summer, when the weather is hot and it's easier to stay indoors than work and sweat in the sun, the weeds grow foxtails, plantain, dandelions, and crabgrass.  In November, they're still in the garden, sand-colored and dry and spiky and full of seeds. I turn them into the soil and put them on my scraggly compost pile. Either way, there are thin stems sticking out of the soil or the top of the pile. I turn and turn, giving more to the worms, in the hope that more will come to wind their way through my garden so I can grow bigger and better tomatoes and foxtails next summer.  There are still green things. There are the carrots and the onions that I didn't harvest in the summer. There are chamomile plants, their new growth leaves creeping along the ground, unaware that snow and ice and below zero are coming. I let my lettuce go to seed last spring, and lo, there are some tiny pale green lettuce plants hoping to grow bigger before the snow comes. My snow peas are up and beautiful and blooming with a dozen colors of purple, but I know won't find any pea pods before Christmas. There's still a little bit of parsley left and will pick sprigs of it until it's covered with snow. Most of these green things are turned under, to feed the worms, to feed the soil, and green manure to make the garden better.  There are two stubborn trees that continue to live In my garden, despite my efforts: a mulberry and a hackberry. They are ruthless survivors and I've learned to leave them where they are. There's the aster that plunked in the middle of the beets, not knowing what else to do with it. If it returns in the spring, I'll decide then.  I turn one row at a time, moving from left to right, then back from right to left, tapping, plunging, turning, and thinking. About time. About the sadness of summer lost. About gray skies and cold weather. About the little miracles found in a November garden. I listen and sniff the air and feel the moisture of the dirt under my fork. In three afternoons of work, all the soil in the garden is turned, except for that holding the carrots, scallions, peapods, parsley, and one little lettuce plant. The carrots, scallions, and parsley are useful. The snow peas are beautiful. The lettuce gives me hope that spring will come again.  The garden is ready. Ready for sleep. Ready for snow. Ready to wake up in the spring and start again. I pull some of those carrots for vegetable soup, along with a small onion and a bit of parsley. My November garden keeps giving me gifts, and for that, I'm grateful.  Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1771 On this day, heavy rains caused the ancient raised peat bog known as the Solway Moss to burst over its earthen banks and flowed down into a valley covering four hundred acres of farmland. The next day, Solway Moss covered the surrounding land with 15 feet of thick feculent mud. Solway Moss was a one-by-two-mile-long moss land growing since the end of the last Ice Age. The raised bog was an estimated 50 feet higher than the surrounding farmland. The living surface of the Solway Moss was a unique mix of bog cotton, sphagnum, and heather. The porous soupy surface hosted a few shrubs and standing pools of water. But the rotting vegetation created a dangerous predicament that no man or cattle would dare traverse throughout the year. Over two hundred years before the Solway Moss burst, the English and the Scots fought over the land surrounding the bog in the Battle of Solway Moss. After the English victory, hundreds of Scots drowned in the bog as they tried to return home by crossing the moss hillside. Like a sponge, peat expands to absorb moisture when it gets wet. And, during wet months like November of 1771, the peat swells; in this case, the peat swelled until it bursts. The incredible event was recorded in a journal: A farmer who lived nearest the moss was alarmed with an unusual noise. The crust had at once given way, and the black deluge was rolling toward his house. He gave notice to his neighbors with all expedition; others received no other advice but... by its noise, many by its entrance into their houses.... some were surprised with it even in their beds. [while some] remaining totally ignorant…until the morning when their neighbors with difficulty got them out through the roof. The eruption burst… like a cataract of thick ink... intermixed with great fragments of peat... filling the whole valley... leaving... tremendous heaps of turf.   1785 Birth of Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American Lutheran Pastor and botanist. He was always referred to by his second name Heinrich. The Muhlenberg family was a founding family of the United States, and Heinrich came from a long line of pastors. His father, Pastor Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, was known as the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America. His brother was a major in the Revolutionary War, and his other brother was a Congressman. Muhlenberg's journals are a treasure trove of his thoughts on botanical self-improvement. He would write: How may I best advance myself in the knowledge of plants?   And Muhlenberg would set goals and reminders to challenge himself, writing: It is winter, and there is little to do . . . Toward spring I should go out and [put together] a chronology of the trees; how they come out, the flowers, how they appear,. . . . I should especially [take not of] the flowers and fruit. The grass Muhlenbergia was named for Heinrich Muhlenberg. Muhly grasses are beautiful native grasses with two critical strengths in their plant profile: drought tolerance and visual punch. In addition, Muhly grasses are easy-going, growing equally well in harsh conditions and perfectly manicured gardens. The Muhly cultivar 'White Cloud' offers gorgeous white plumes. When the coveted Pink Muhly blooms, people often stop and ask the name of the beautiful pink grass. Lindheimer's Muhly makes a fantastic screen, and Bamboo Muhly commands attention when it is featured in containers. All Muhly grasses like well-drained soil and full sun. If you plant them in the fall, be sure to get them situated and in the ground at least a month before the first frost. And here's an interesting side note: Muhlenberg also discovered the bog turtle. In 1801, the turtle was named Clemmys muhlenbergii in his honor.   1818 Death of England's Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III. Charlotte is remembered as the patroness of the arts, an amateur botanist, and a champion of Kew Gardens. In addition to the astounding fact that Charlotte gave birth to 15 children, she was a fascinating royal. Born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany, Charlotte was the first person in England to bring a Christmas tree indoors to celebrate the holiday season. Charlotte had gotten the idea from her home country of Germany. In December 1800, Charlotte selected a yew which was brought inside Windsor Castle and festively decorated. Charlotte and her husband, King George, both loved botany. After his mother died, George gained control of Kew and Charlotte set about expanding Kew Gardens. On the property, Charlotte had a little cottage installed along with a rustic cottage garden. Her daughter Elizabeth likely painted the attic room ceiling with nasturtium and morning glory. Charlotte was quite serious in her pursuit of botany. She collected plants and had a personal herbarium to help with her studies. The President of the Linnean Society, Sir James Edward Smith, personally tutored Charlotte in botany, along with her four daughters. And. George and Charlotte both became close friends with the botanical tissue paper artist Mary Delaney. At the end of Mary's life, George and Charlotte gave her a house at Windsor along with a pension. When plant hunters in South Africa discovered the Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) flower, it was sent to England and named for Charlotte's birthplace, Strelitz. The botanical name for the Bird of Paradise is Strelitzia reginae, "stray-LIT-zee-ah REJ-in-ee." The early part of Charlotte's reign occurred before the American Revolution, which is why so many American locations were named in Charlotte's honor. Eleven cities are named Charlotte, the most famous being Charlotte, North Carolina. It's no wonder that Charlotte, NC, has the nickname The Queen's City," and there's a 25-foot tall bronze statue of Charlotte outside the Charlotte airport. Mecklenburg County in North Carolina and Virginia are both named in honor of Charlotte's home in Germany. Charlotte died at 74 in the smallest English royal palace, Kew Palace, at Kew Gardens. She reigned for 57 years. Today, gardeners love the Japanese Anemone Queen Charlotte. It's the perfect plant for adding late color to the garden with light pink petals and golden-yellow centers.   1889 Birth of Ethel Zoe Bailey, American botanist. Ethel graduated from Smith College in 1911 after majoring in zoology. Ethel was the daughter of the American horticulturist Liberty Hyde Bailey. Her father instilled in her a love for botany, adventure, and archiving. Liberty brought Ethel along on his travels to Latin America and Asia in his quest for new plant discoveries. One of her obituaries shared a story from one of their more daring trips: One of the pair's most daring expeditions was to the wild jungle island of Barro Colorado in the Panama Canal Zone. Disregarding warnings about disease and boa constrictors, Miss Bailey her father, then 73, and a few other botanists trekked through hip-deep water of the Mohinja Swamp in search of a rare palm. They found it growing in the swamp, as Bailey had predicted, and photographed it in the pouring rain with the camera tripod almost submerged in water. In turn, Ethel became the curator of the Bailey herbarium above the Mann Library at Cornell University - a position she held for over two decades until 1957. For Ethel, maintaining the collection was her personal mission. She was essentially the steward of her father's work after he donated his private plant collection to Cornell University. For Ethel, Cornell was home. In fact, she was one of the few people to have the honor of being born on the Cornell campus on the spot where Phillips Hall now stands.   One biography of Ethel noted that  She continued to volunteer on a daily basis at the Hortorium, until her death in 1983. Still driving herself to and from work, Miss Bailey had reached the auspicious age of 93. Driving had always been an important part of Miss Bailey's life. She was the first woman in Ithaca to receive a chauffeur's (driver's) license. Ethel's remarkable ability to organize and catalog large amounts of information led to an impressive notecard filing system of every single plant that had been listed in most of the published plant catalogs during Ethel's lifetime. This massive indexing project on simple 3" x 5" cards helped Ethel's father with his research and became an invaluable resource to other researchers and plant experts worldwide. The catalog was later named the Ethel Z. Bailey Horticultural Catalogue in her honor. Ethel received much well-deserved recognition for her work during her lifetime, including the George Robert White Medal in 1967 from the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Smith College Medal in 1970.   1916 Birth of Shelby Foote, American writer, historian, and journalist.  He is remembered for his massive, three-volume, 3,000-page history of the Civil War - a project he completed in 1974. Shelby lived in Memphis and loved to spend days in his pajamas. He did most of his writing in his home study with a view of his small and tidy garden. Shelby was old-fashioned. He took to writing with hand-dipped pens, which slowed the pace of his writing - a practice he felt made him a better writer. One of his favorite books was The Black Flower by Howard Bahr, an acclaimed historical fiction book set during the Civil War.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Rosa by Peter Kukielski ("Kooh-KEL-ski") This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is The Story of the Rose. Peter is a world-renowned rosarian or rose expert. He has written many popular books on roses, including Roses Without Chemicals. He spent twelve years as the curator of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden at the New York Botanical Garden. During that time, he oversaw a $2.5 million redesign of a massive rose collection in a garden designed by Beatrix Farrand. He helped lead the launch of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Ontario. He also promotes disease-resistant roses as a leader on the National EarthKind team. A review in Maine Gardener by Tom Atwell raved that this book is a beauty with lavish illustrations and the long, fascinating history of the rose. In chapter one, Kukielski lists all the plants other than roses in the Rosacea family (surprising ones include mountain ash, apples, raspberries and strawberries.) He also shows, with pictures (the book has 256 color illustrations in total), the many different classes of roses. Modern roses, defined as those introduced since 1867, get their own section.   Tom Atwell's review also revealed the origin story of this book. Three or four times, editors and publishers at Yale University Press asked Portland resident and rose expert Peter E Kukielski to please write a history of the rose. Kukielski kept saying no. The last time they asked, he responded, "Perhaps you should ask why I am saying no." When they did, he told them he'd had read many rose histories, and they all said the same thing. The world didn't need another one, he said. What Kukielsk wanted to do was tell stories about roses. Yes, include some history, but also encompasses the rose's role in religion, literature, art, music and movies. He wanted to offer true plant geeks a bit about the rose's botany, too. In the end, that's the book he was able to write.   In Rosa, Peter takes us on a chronological journey through the history of the rose, including a close look at the fascinating topic of the rose water or rose oil industry. These rose-based products were an essential part of life in the middle east and Asia, with entire population centers springing up around the craft. In a 2007 article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Peter shared that, the only way to know a rose is to grow roses. [Peter] grew up watching his grandmother tend her rose garden in Stone Mountain, Ga. Little did she know that she was planting the seed for her grandson's future career.   And in a 2008 article featured in the Red Deer Advocate, Peter shared great insights into why roses reign supreme in the fall. It turns out, as many gardeners will attest, roses often save their best blooms for fall. All year long, roses store energy, which is ultimately released at the end of their season, resulting in gorgeous showy blossoms in autumn. Peter advised, "In my opinion, late September into October is a very close second to June as far as beauty. The days are nicer, the nights are cooler and the sunlight is better, coating everything with a golden glow." Summer is hard on roses, which require a lot of energy to flower.  "It's hot, humid and exhausting. Roses have their fabulous spring, shut down a bit in summer and then display another burst of glorious colour in the fall when they're less stressed."   And in a 2021 interview with Margaret Roach, Peter shared his tip regarding what rose to plant.  Talk to the local rose society, Kukielski suggests, and neighbours who garden: "If the person down the street is growing Queen Elizabeth and it looks great, take that as a cue.   And that passion and pragmatism made Peter Kukielski the perfect author for this book on roses. This book is 256 of the story of the rose, the Queen of flowers, and her long reign through human history. You can get a copy of Rosa by Peter Kukielski and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $7.   Botanic Spark 1861 Birth of Archibald Lampman, Canadian poet, and naturalist. Archibald loved camping and the countryside. The natural world inspired his verse, and he became known as "The Canadian Keats." As a result of contracting rheumatic fever in his childhood, Archibald's life was cut short, and he died at 37. Archibald's poem Knowledge compares our quest for wisdom to a garden. What is more large than knowledge and more sweet; Knowledge of thoughts and deeds, of rights and wrongs, Of passions and of beauties and of songs; Knowledge of life; to feel its great heart beat Through all the soul upon her crystal seat; To see, to feel, and evermore to know; To till the old world's wisdom till it grow A garden for the wandering of our feet. Oh for a life of leisure and broad hours, To think and dream, to put away small things, This world's perpetual leaguer of dull naughts; To wander like the bee among the flowers Till old age find us weary, feet and wings Grown heavy with the gold of many thoughts.   Archibald is buried at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, and a plaque near his grave is inscribed with his poem "In November," which ends with these words: The hills grow wintery white, and bleak winds moan About the naked uplands. I alone Am neither sad, nor shelterless, nor grey, Wrapped round with thought, content to watch and dream.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1643 Birth of Sir Jean Chardin, French jeweler and traveler. Jean is remembered for his ten-volume work, The Travels of Sir John Chardin, which is considered one of the most important early accounts of Persia and the Near East. In Travels, Jean wrote about the Persian love language of tulips. When a young man presents a tulip to his mistress he gives her to understand, by the general color of the flower that he is on fire with her beauty, and by the black base of it that his heart is burnt to a coal.   1845 Death of Elizabeth Fox, also known as Baroness Holland, English political hostess and flower lover. When she was 15, Elizabeth married Sir Godfrey Webster, who was twenty years her senior. After having five children in six years, Elizabeth began an affair with a Whig politician named Henry Fox, the 3rd Baron Holland. When she had his child, she divorced Godfrey and quickly married Mr. Fox. Together they had six more children. Elizabeth is remembered for her strong will and domineering nature. She was a zealous socialite and highly passionate about flowers. In garden history, Elizabeth is remembered for introducing the Dahlia to England. In 1804 during a visit to Madrid's Royal Botanic Gardens, Elizabeth received Dahlia pinnata seeds from the botanist Antonio José Cavanilles ("Cah-vah-nee-yes"). When she returned to England, the little seeds were successfully cultivated in her gardens at Holland House. Twenty years later, Elizabeth's beloved second husband, Henry Fox, was so proud of her effort to share the Dahlia with England that he wrote these words in a little love note: The dahlia you brought to our isle Your praises forever shall speak; 'Mid gardens as sweet as your smile, And in color as bright as your cheek.   1964 Death of Denys Zirngiebel, Swiss-born naturalist, florist, and plant breeder. After establishing a home in Needham, Massachusetts, Denys sent for his wife and little boy. Denys and Henrietta had four children. Their only daughter (also named Henriette) married Andrew Newell Wyeth, and their son was NC Wyeth, the Realistic Painter. During the 1860s, Denys worked for the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. He later bought a 35-acre tract of land along the Charles River in Needham and started his floral business. An excellent businessman, Denys expertly marketed his inventory. Denys shipped flowers to the White House and the State Department each week. In a nod to his Swiss heritage, Denys was the first person in America to cultivate the Giant Swiss Pansy successfully. Denys's Needham nursery grew so many Giant Swiss Pansies that the town adopted the flower as their floral emblem, and Denys became known as the "Pansy King."   2001 On this day, the French Film Amelie was released in the United States.  In the movie, Amélie steals her father's garden gnome to help him escape his depression after losing his wife. Amélie gives the gnome to an airline stewardess. Her father starts receiving photos of his garden buddy visiting iconic travel destinations like Monument Valley, The Empire State Building, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, The Blue Mosque in Instanbul, and The Sphinx in Cairo, Egypt. In the end, Amélie's plan works. In the last scene, her dad sets off on his own adventure inspired by a little garden gnome.   On a historical note, one of the earliest mentions of garden gnomes I could find was from July 9, 1928, in the Liverpool Echo.  The article announced: Quaint Garden Ornaments... a quaint littie tribe of people - garden gnomes, sixty in number - [were] sold by auction, in Liverpool. They were imported from the Continent.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Revolutionary Genius of Plants by Stefano Mancuso  This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior. The Wall Street Journal raved about this book in their review: In this thought-provoking, handsomely illustrated book, Italian neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso considers the fundamental differences between plants and animals and challenges our assumptions about which is the 'higher' form of life.   The editor wrote, ...world-renowned scientist Stefano Mancuso reveals the surprisingly sophisticated ability of plants to innovate, to remember, and to learn, offering us creative solutions to the most vexing technological and ecological problems that face us today. Despite not having brains or central nervous systems, plants perceive their surroundings with an even greater sensitivity than animals. They efficiently explore and react promptly to potentially damaging external events thanks to their cooperative, shared systems; without any central command centers, they are able to remember prior catastrophic events and to actively adapt to new ones.   Stefano introduced the controversial topic of plant memory this way, After years spent investigating the many aspects of plant intelligence, I have been consistently surprised and fascinated by plants' clear capacity for memory. Maybe that sounds strange, but think about it for a moment. It isn't too difficult to imagine that intelligence is not the product of one single organ but that it is inherent to life, whether there is a brain or not. Plants, from this point of view, are the most obvious demonstration of how the vertebrate brain is an "accident," evolved only in a very small number of living beings-animals-while in the vast majority of life, represented by plant organisms, intelligence-the ability to learn, understand, and react successfully to new or trying situations--has developed without a dedicated organ. All plants are capable of learning from experience and therefore have memorization mechanisms. If you submit a plant, for example an olive tree, to a stress such as drought or salinity, it will respond by implementing the necessary modifications to its anatomy and metabolism to ensure its survival. Nothing unusual in that, right? If, after a certain amount of time, we submit the same plant to the exact same stimulus, perhaps with an even stronger intensity, we notice something that is surprising only on the surface: this time, the plant responds more effectively to the stress than it did the first time. It has learned its lesson. Somewhere it has preserved traces of the solutions found and, when there was a need, has quickly recalled them in order to react more efficiently and accurately. In other words, it learned and stored the best answers in its memory, thereby increasing its chances of survival.   Stefano's clarity and conversation tone take these scientifically modern concepts and help us to see plants on a new plane of understanding. This book is 240 pages of the latest plant research and gorgeous botanical photographs to illustrate some wild ideas about the plant world. You can get a copy of The Revolutionary Genius of Plants by Stefano Mancuso and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $4.   Botanic Spark 1890 Death of Shirley Hibberd,  English journalist and garden writer. He is remembered as one of the most successful gardening writers of the Victorian era. Shirley edited three enormously popular gardening magazines, including Amateur Gardening, which is still published today. Shirley's life story was lost to time until the garden historian Anne Wilkinson wrote his biography after fifteen years of painstaking research. Anne shares a wonderful timeline of what she could piece together about Shirley's life. The result is a wonderful and poignant mix of gardening passion and personal tragedy, as evidenced by the events between 1877 and 1885. 1877 The Amateur's Kitchen Garden. 1878 Home Culture of the Watercress leads to Shirley Hibberd being awarded a gold medal by the RHS. 1879 'Water for Nothing Every House its own Water Supply'; Familiar Garden Flowers starts to be issued. 1880 Shirley Hibberd and Sarah move to Brownswood Park, Highbury.  Sarah dies of heart disease and is buried in Abney Park Cemetery. 1881 Feud between Shirley Hibberd and William Robinson generated by Shirley Hibberd's criticism of William Robinson's asparagus competition.  Shirley Hibberd invited to edit Amateur Gardening, a new cheap paper, published by Collingridges.  Marriage to Ellen Mantle, his cook. 1884 They move to Priory Road, Kew.  Shirley Hibberd works for the RHS on renovating their garden at Chiswick; is a member of the Floral Committee and the Garden Committee.  1885 Birth of Shirley Hibberd's daughter Ellen, and death of Ellen, his wife; she is buried in Abney Park.  The Golden Gate and Silver Steps. Shirley Hibberd organises a Pear Conference.   Shirley was a champion of amateur gardening during an era when it was thoroughly rebuked by horticultural high society. But Shirley's curiosity and passion for gardening and its ancillary interests overpowered any scorn. When it came to gardening, Shirley was a conscious competent, and he was eager to educate others about gardening, a topic of many of his books. Shirley's topics ranged from town gardening and aquariums to beekeeping and conservation. Shirley was ahead of his time. Shirley Hibberd once wrote, ...the social qualities of flowers [are so many] that it would be a difficult ... to enumerate them.  ... [Upon] entering a room, [we always feel welcome when] we find a display of flowers on the table.  Where there are flowers about, the hostess appears glad, the children pleased, the very dog and cat are grateful... the whole scene and [all souls seem] more hearty, homely, and beautiful, [in the presence of] the bewitching roses, and orchids and lilies and mignonette!   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

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1791 On this day, Australia's first thriving grapevine was planted.

The First Fleet's Captain Arthur Phillip brought grape cuttings from South America and South Africa and produced a small vineyard at Farm Cove. Today, Farm Cove is the location of the Sydney Botanical Gardens. When the plants did not bear, they were transplanted to Parramatta. 

Arthur Philip served as the first Governor of New South Wales when his Crimson Grapes flourished in the warm Australian fertile soil. Today Crimson Grapes can also be found in Victoria and southeastern Queensland. Australian Crimson Grapes enjoy a long harvest period from November to May.

1869 Birth of Charlotte Mary Mew, English poet.

In her poem, In Nunhead Cemetary, she wrote,

There is something horrible about a flower; This, broken in my hand, is one of those He threw it in just now; it will not live another hour; There are thousands more; you do not miss a rose.

And in The Sunlit House, she wrote,

The parched garden flowers Their scarlet petals from the beds unswept Like children unloved and ill-kept

But I, the stranger, knew that I must stay. Pace up the weed-grown paths and down Till one afternoon ... From an upper window a bird flew out And I went my way.

1887 Birth of Georgia O'Keeffe, American modernist artist. During her incredible career as a painter, Georgia created over 900 works of art. She is remembered for her iconic paintings of skulls and flowers.

In 1938 Georgia's career stalled. Yet she was approached by an advertising agency about creating two paintings for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole Food Company) to use in their advertising. Georgia was 51 years old when she took the nine weeks, all-expense-paid trip. Georgia never did paint a pineapple.

And gardeners will enjoy this obscure fact: Of all the floral paintings that O'Keeffe created in Hawaii, exactly NONE were native to the island. Instead, Georgia loved the exotic tropicals imported from South America: Bougainvillea, Plumeria, Heliconia, Calliandra, and the White Bird of Paradise.

It was Georgia 0'Keeffe who said all of these quotes about flowers - a subject for which she held strong opinions.

Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time ...like to have a friend takes time.

I hate flowers. I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move!

If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for a moment.

I decided that if I could paint that flower on a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.

1930 Birth of James Graham Ballard (pen name J.G. Ballard), English novelist.

James was part of the New Wave of science fiction in the 1960s. Yet, he is most remembered for his 1984 war novel, Empire of the Sun.

In The Unlimited Dream Company, James wrote,

"Miriam - I'll give you any flowers you want!'

Rhapsodising over the thousand scents of her body, I exclaimed: "I'Il grow orchids from your hands, roses from your breasts. You can have magnolias in your hair... In your womb I'll set a fly-trap!"

And in The Garden of Time, James wrote,

"Axel," his wife asked with sudden seriousness. "Before the garden dies ... may I pick the last flower?"

Understanding her request, he nodded slowly.

James once wrote,

I believe in madness, in the truth of the inexplicable, in the common sense of stones, in the lunacy of flowers.

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures.

This book has won all kinds of recognition: The Wainwright Prize, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, and the Guild of Food Writers Award • Shortlisted for the British Book Award Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize.

The publisher writes,

In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake's vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the "Wood Wide Web," to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision.

Entangled Life is a fascinating read. Merlin's passion for fungi (fun-ghee) knows no bounds. Fungi are often referred to as a neglected kingdom of life. Compared to other kingdoms like plants and animals, we know very little about fungi, and only six percent has thus far been described. And Fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants.

Today most plant life depends on relationships with mycorrhizal fungi or fungi that live in their roots. These fungi help plants acquire water and nutrients. They also protect the plants from disease. 

But its not just plants that need fungi. All Life on earth depends on fungi.

Most fungi are mycelium - the branching fusing networks of tubular cells that feed and transport substances around themselves. Fungi have a unique way of organizing themselves. Mycelium cover the earth in a chaotic, sprawling way. Mycelium can be stretched out end to end up to ten kilometers from a single teaspoon of soil.

This book is 368 pages of the mysterious and miraculous world of fungi. 

You can get a copy of Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $9.

1909 On this day, the orange blossom was designated as the official state flower of Florida.

This gesture inspired the poet William Livingston Larned to write a poem called Florida's State Flower.

The last little bit goes like this:

Whenever you see the spotless bud, You know tis Florida the fair.

And wafted to you comes the scent Of all the blissful regions there.

The rose may have its followers, The violet its standard, too; The fleur-de-lis and lily fair In tints of red and pink and blue; But just a scent, On pleasure bent, Of orange sweet, The nostrils greet, And from our dreams, the castles rise, Of groves and meadows 'neath calm skies.

And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1771 Birth of Xavier Bichat ("bee'shah"), French anatomist and pathologist. Remembered as the father of modern histology, or the study of tissues. In his work, Xavier did not use a microscope and still discovered 21 distinct types of tissues in the human body. His work accelerated and transformed the way doctors understood disease. Sadly, Xavier died accidentally in his early thirties in 1802 after falling down the steps of his hospital. Today, Xavier Bichat's name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower. A lover of nature, Xavier's work was grounded in observations from the natural world. Charles Darwin quoted Xavier in his book The Descent of Man. The great botanist Bichat long ago said, if everyone were cast in the same mould, there would be no such thing as beauty.  If all our women were to become as beautiful as the Venus de' Medici, we should for a time be charmed; but we should soon wish for variety; and as soon as we had obtained variety, we should wish to see certain characteristics in our women a little exaggerated beyond the then existing common standard.   The beauty of nature and the secret to that beauty is in nature's diversity and the ephemeral nature of all things - the seasons, flowers, the weather, etc., Xavier also wrote, Life is the sum of forces resisting death.   1776 Birth of Henri Dutrochet, French physician, botanist, and physiologist. After studying the movement of sap in plants in his home laboratory, Henri discovered and named osmosis. Henri shared his discovery with the Paris Academy of Sciences on October 30th, 1826. Like the cells in our human bodies, plants don't drink water; they absorb it through osmosis. Henri also figured out that a plant's green pigment, chlorophyll, is essential to how plants take up carbon dioxide. Hence, photosynthesis could not happen without chlorophyll. It turns out chlorophyll helps plants gather energy from light. And if you've ever asked yourself why plants are green, the answer is chlorophyll. Since it reflects green light, chlorophyll makes the plant appear green. As for Henri, he was a true pioneer in plant research. He was the first to examine plant respiration, light sensitivity, and geotropism (How the plant responds to gravity, i.e., roots grow down to the ground.) Geotropism can be confusing at first, but I think of it this way: The upward growth of plants - fighting against gravity - is called negative geotropism, and the downward growth of roots, growing with gravity, is called positive geotropism. And there's a tiny part of the plant at the very end of the root that responds to positive geotropism, and it's called the root cap. So, what makes the roots grow downward? The small but mighty root cap - responds to positive geotropism.   1907 Birth of Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. Astrid is remembered for several children's book series, including Pippi Longstocking. She wrote more than 30 books for children and has sold 165 million copies. In January 2017, Astrid's prolific work made her the fourth most translated children's author trailing Enid Blyton, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm. Astrid was a flower lover. In her book, Mio, My Son, Astrid wrote, He turned to the Master Rose Gardener and said something even more peculiar, "I enjoy the birds singing. I enjoy the music of the silver poplars." In her book, Most Beloved Sister, Astrid wrote, Then the flowers stopped singing and the trees stopped playing, and I could no longer hear the brook's melody.  "Most Beloved Sister," said YlvaLi. "When Salikon's roses wither, then I will be dead.'   And in Astrid's story Bullarbyn, the maid Agda tells a group of girls that if on Midsummer night, they climb over nine fences and pick nine different flowers in complete silence, without speaking a single word, and then return home to put the flowers under their pillow, they will dream of their future husband. On Social Media, there's a marvelous photograph of Astrid climbing a pine tree. In the photo, Astrid is 67 years old. She apparently climbed the tree in her front yard after being dared by her 80-year-old friend Elsa. Astrid later quipped, There's nothing in the Ten Commandments forbidding old ladies to climb trees, is there?   Astrid once wrote, In our unknown past we might have been creatures swinging from branch to branch, living in trees.  Perhaps in the deepest depths of our wandering souls we long to return there...  perhaps it is pure homesickness that makes us write poems and songs of the trees...   1908 Birth of Harrison Salisbury, American journalist. After World War II, Harrison became the first regular New York Times correspondent in Moscow. He went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his work.   Harrison once wrote, My favorite word is 'pumpkin.' You are a pumpkin. Or you are not. I am.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Heirloom Gardener by John Forti This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is Traditional Plants and Skills for the Modern World. "Part essay collection, part gardening guide, The Heirloom Gardener encourages readers to embrace heirloom seeds and traditions, serving as a well-needed reminder to slow down and reconnect with nature."  - Modern Farmer   The publisher writes: In The Heirloom Gardener, John Forti celebrates gardening as a craft and shares the lore and traditional practices that link us with our environment and with each other. Charmingly illustrated and brimming with wisdom, this guide will inspire you to slow down, recharge, and reconnect.   In the preface, John shares how he came to be a gardener. Of his early experience, he wrote: Work at a garden center in my teens further ignited my interest in horticulture; it also helped me save up enough money to travel to Japan as an exchange student, far from my river and deep pine woods. There I saw the Japanese veneration of the land made manifest in regional artisanal foods, historic preservation, and the Zen-like devotion to the craft of gardening, the art of placing a single stone in a garden wall or a budding branch in an ikebana arrangement. I witnessed firsthand how much we are all shaped by place. When I returned, I explored garden history and ethnobotany with deep interest.   John introduces the art and practice of heirloom gardening this way: Things like an old rhubarb patch, the remnants of an orchard, or a lichen-covered stone wall are talismans that help us read the landscapes we inherited. Through them, we catch a glimpse of how someone applied craftsmanship and the environmental arts to live in accord with nature. As heirloom gardeners in our shared backyard, we remember the work our hands were born to do, intuitively, like a bird follows its migratory path or a newly hatched turtle scrambles to the sea. I may be a romantic, but I do not romanticize the past. In my work as a garden historian and herbalist, I am not blind to the shortcomings, biases, and errors of earlier times, but I also see families connected to seeds and soil, people connected to place, and a deep value for living in concert with our environment. This book is an alphabetical collection of brief essays and artisanal images, each a seed, a way in to a different element of an heirloom gardening lifestyle; I see each entry as a point of connectivity-hand to hand, ancestor to descendant, seed to table. It's a love poem to the earth... a guidepost for gardeners... who want to cultivate common ground and craft new possibilities from local landscapes.   Here is a sample entry regarding Angelica; John writes, A majestic herb is Angelica archangelica, cultivated through the ages for its flavor, fragrance, and stately beauty.  In the garden, the hollow and resinous stems of this regal herb, covered in broad leaves, can easily tower three to five feet, and the enormous flower umbels rise up to seven feet toward the heavens - perhaps one of the reasons that the plant was dedicated to the archangels in Medieval times.  Early each spring in centuries past, Europeans and Colonial Americans would harvest the tender stalks and simmer them in a simple syrup; eventually the stalks would become the translucent light green of sea glass, and the syrup would take on the color and herbaceous balsam flavor so unique to angelica.  As lovers of spring have done long since, I repeat the process and candy the stalks until they become tender; I then either slice the stems lengthwise, into short segments, or braid the long strands together before rolling them in finely ground sugar...They are excellent served like membrillo or marmalade with cheese and dessert platters... Like an herbal equivalent to candied ginger, candied angelica was often served as digestive at the end of feasts. Throughout the growing season, but especially in spring and summer, I enjoy serving gin and tonics and other cocktails with straws made from thinner angelica stems. I also save the syrup that results from the candying process; it's an amazing herbal elixir to add into cocktails or serve atop vanilla ice cream.   John's book is 264 pages of marvelous garden essays and beautiful botanical art about traditional plants and skills for the modern gardener. You can get a copy of The Heirloom Gardener by John Forti and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $8.   Botanic Spark 1805 Birth of Robert Buist (botanist) is born. Robert Buist came to America from Edinburgh "Edinburgh," where his dad was a professional gardener. He had trained at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and immigrated to Philadelphia when he was 23. One of his first jobs was working for a wealthy Philadelphia businessman named Henry Pratt, who had a tremendous summer estate named Lemon Hill. At the time, Lemon Hill was regarded as having one of the most beautiful gardens in the United States. Eventually, Buist bought the history Bernard McMahon nursery - one of the oldest nurseries in the country and the nursery that supplied plants to President Thomas Jefferson. Today, on the spot where the nursery used to be, is a large old Sophora tree known as the Buist Sophora. The tree was brought to the United States from France, and its origin can be traced to China. In addition to the nursery, Buist grew his company to include a seed division and a greenhouse. In 1825, the plant explorer Joel Poinsett sent some specimens of a plant he discovered in Mexico home to Charleston. Buist heard about the plant, bought himself one, and began growing it. Buist named it Euphorbia poinsettia since the plant had a milky white sap like other Euphorbias. The red bracts of the plant were so unusual and surprising to Robert that he wrote that the Poinsettia was "truly the most magnificent of all the tropical plants we have ever seen." Of course, Robert gave his friend and fellow Scot, the botanist James McNab a poinsettia when he visited in 1834. McNab brought the plant back to Scotland and gave it to the head of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Robert Graham. Graham promptly changed the botanical name of the plant to Poinsettia pulcherrima - a move that greatly upset Robert Buist for the rest of his life. And here's a fun little side note about Robert Buist; his gardening books were very popular. When Stonewall Jackson discovered gardening in middle age, he relied heavily on Robert Buist's book The Family Kitchen Gardener: Containing Plain and Accurate Descriptions of All the Different Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables, which became Jackson's gardening bible, and he wrote little notes in the margins as he worked his way through the guide. Like most gardeners still do today, he'd write, "Plant this" or "Try this" in the margins next to the plants he wanted to try the following year.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1802 Birth of George Pope Morris was an American editor, poet, and songwriter. George co-founded the daily New York Evening Mirror with Nathaniel Parker Willis. George and Nathaniel also started Town and Country magazine. Nathaniel once wrote that George was "just what poets would be if they sang like birds without criticism." In 1837, George wrote his popular poem-turned-song Woodman, Spare that Tree! The verse resonated with conservationists. Woodman, woodman, spare that tree Touch not a single bough For years it has protected me And I'll protect it now Chop down an oak, a birch or pine But not this slipp'ry elm of mine It's the only tree that my wife can't climb So spare that tree   1825 On this day, the English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, Nature is a wary wily long-breathed old witch, tough-lived as a turtle and divisible as the polyp.   The polyp Coleridge refers to is the water plant discovered by Abraham Trembley in 1740. That year, Abe was walking along a pool of water and saw what he called a polyp or a hydra. Abe was astonished to see the organism's response to being chopped into pieces; it would simply regenerate into a new whole organism.   1895 Birth of Lin Yutang, Chinese inventor, writer, and translator. Yutang's English translations of Chinese classics became bestsellers in the West. Yutang once wrote, I like spring, but it is too young.  I like summer, but it is too proud.  So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content.   1900 Birth of Helen Hayes MacArthur, American actress. Remembered as the "First Lady of American Theatre," she was the first person to win the Triple Crown of Acting - an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In her spare time, Helen was also a gardener. Regarding wildflowers, she said, They won’t bow to one’s wishes.  They don’t want to be tamed.  That must be the reason these darling, lovely, little things won’t cooperate.   While most people credit Helen's success with her passion and inner drive, Helen found the time she spent in her garden as restorative. She wrote, All through the long winter I dream of my garden.  On the first warm day of spring I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar.     Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Garden as Art by Thaïsa Way ("Ty-EE-sah") This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is Beatrix Farrand at Dumbarton Oaks. If Thaïsa's name sounds familiar to you, it is because she is the director of garden and landscape studies at Dumbarton Oaks and her book is one of two new books this year as part of the centennial celebrations at Dumbarton. As this garden enters its second century, I see Thaïsa's book as a commemorative book, which features the beautiful garden photography of Sahar Coston-Hardy ("Sah-har Cost-in Hardy"). Along with the photography, there is a wonderful selection of essays that were handpicked to reveal the history of design in the garden and the significance of those gardens from a variety of different voices. So, this is an extraordinary book. If you're a fan of Dumbarton Oaks, then this book is an absolute must-have. And what I find especially wonderful about this book are the seasonal glimpses of Dumbarton Oaks that are offered by Sahar's photography and seeing the transformation at Dumbarton throughout the year is really quite special. If you're a fan of Beatrix and her work, then you know that Dunbarton is regarded as her crowning achievement and this book is definitely a testament to that. Harvard published this book, and they write that, The book invites the reader to contemplate the art of garden design and the remarkable beauty of the natural world. There are archival images of the garden that offer a chronicle of evolving design concepts. And the book also illustrates how gardens change over time as living works of art.   And so that brings us to the title Garden as Art. Garden as Art offers an inspiring view of a place that has been remarkably influential in both design and the art of landscape architecture.    This is a very special book and would make a wonderful Christmas present for yourself as a gardener or for a gardener in your life. This book is 312 pages of one of our country's most beautiful gardens with a beautiful story to tell featuring Beatrix Farrand and Dumbarton Oaks. You can get a copy of Garden as Art by Thaïsa Way and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $42.     Botanic Spark 1817 On this day, the garden of a Mr. Pringuer, a maker of pants or breeches in the lovely town of Canterbury, showed off his apple tree to members of the public after the tree blossomed out unexpectedly in the middle of autumn. Accounts say that the tree was lovely and full of blossoms.  The tree was a great curiosity to locals in the community and to all who visited. The papers noted that the garden thronged with people who traveled far and wide to see the tree.  Almost two hundred years later, our gardens still manage to surprise us. Take the favorite dependable plant that suddenly fails to perform and dies. Or the unlikely success of a plant that shouldn't have survived the winter. And what about the seeds that surpass the profile on the packet? Or the shrubs that spiral downward despite our ministrations? Or the flowers that defy the first snow. And to that list, I added Mr. Pringuer's apple tree in full bloom on October 10, 1817.  What were the surprises in your garden this year? My surprises were the lone apple that appeared on one of my newly planted apple trees in my mini orchard. The young tree seemed barely strong enough to support it. Another surprise was the death of all five hydrangeas in the front garden at Maple Grove. It was just too hot this summer. A new vigorous development was string algae in the water features. It was a worthy adversary and near impossible to eliminate. A final surprise was the hoped-for joy I experienced weeding the front garden at the cabin. After adding the sunken path, the garden is elevated, so there is no more stooping or digging for weeds between boulders. Now it is a joy to tend that large 40 x 12-foot bed.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events   1747 Birth of Antoine Nicolas Duchesne ("do-Shane"), French botanist, gardener, and professor at Versailles. A specialist in strawberries and gourds, Duchesne was a student of Bernard de Jussieu at the Royal Garden in Paris. A plant pioneer, Duchesne recognized that mutation was a natural occurrence and that plants could be altered through mutation at any time. And when he was a young botanist, Duchesne began experimenting with strawberries. Ever since the 1300s, wild strawberries have been incorporated into gardens. But, on July 6, 1764, Duchesne created the modern strawberry - the strawberry we know and love today. Strawberries are members of the rose family, and their seeds are on the outside of the fruit. Just how many seeds are on a single strawberry? Well, the average strawberry has around 200 seeds. Now, if you're wondering whether to cut your strawberry plants back for winter, you should cut your plants back about three inches after your final harvest.  As you tidy up your strawberry plants for winter, you can remove all dead leaves and trimmings. Right about now, strawberry growers are winterizing their plants, which is pretty straightforward. Simply cover your plants with 6-8 inches of mulch. Then when spring returns, remove the winterizing mulch as your strawberry plants wake up and start growing.    1817 On this day, James Madison, America's fourth President, was elected to serve as the President of his local Agricultural Society. James had just retired from his presidential duties and quickly resumed his passion for cultivating the land. James spent many hours every day working in his four-acre Montpelier garden. The horse-shoe-shaped bed was assumed to be an homage to the floor of the house of representatives.  The following May, James spoke to his fellow farmers and gardeners in the Agricultural Society about some of the latest discoveries in agriculture, such as the benefits of incorporating manure to leverage nitrogen and optimizing the water for plant uptake.  James Madison was one of America's earliest conservationists. He was primarily concerned with preserving the land and wise stewardship of natural resources.   1817 Birth of Joseph Stayman, Kansas horticulturist. His obituary announcement said, Dr. Stayman is dead at Leavenworth. He came to Kansas in 1859 and brought a half million fruit grafts with him, from which he started the fruit industry of the state. The doctor was well-named, and lived true to the name as his fruit trees were.   Joseph helped establish the Kansas State Horticultural Society in 1866. He dropped his medical practice to pursue horticulture and bred new varieties of apples, strawberries, and grapes at his orchards, which hosted over 3,000 trees. Joseph specifically worked to cultivate varieties best suited to the Kansas soil and climate.  Joseph was a renaissance man and developed skills across a spectrum of skills and science. He bred the famous Clyde strawberry and established himself as an outstanding botanical artist (many of his drawings are at the Smithsonian). And Joseph was one of the country's best checker players. Some games lasted months to a year since Joseph played many matches by correspondence.   1849 Birth of James Whitcomb Riley, American writer and poet. In his poem, The Ripest Peach, he wrote, The ripest peach is highest on the tree -- And so her love, beyond the reach of me, Is dearest in my sight. Sweet breezes, bow Her heart down to me where I worship now! She looms aloft where every eye may see The ripest peach is highest on the tree.   In the US, over thirty states grow peaches. The peach season varies by state, but it usually ends by early October.  Peaches are a member of the rose family and are rich in vitamins A and C.  Freestone peaches are the type of peaches that we buy whole and eat raw. The Clingstone peach is canned commercially. Clingstone peaches get their name because Cling peaches have stones that cling to the peach flesh. By extracting the stone, the fruit is damaged yet still tasty, so processing and canning are ways to redeem the damaged fruit. And although Georgia is known for its peaches, California produces more peaches every year.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Growing Joy by Maria Failla ("Fy-ELL-ah") This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants). And Maria says her book is full of planty practices to grow your way to a happier and more peaceful life. Well, this is another garden book that was conceived during the early days of the pandemic. And if you remember that time, so many of us were feeling disconnected and stressed and anxious - and we were looking for ways to feel more anchored, healthy, stronger, and positive. And this was definitely the case with Maria. In fact, she introduces her book this way: We've only just met, but I'm going to confess something to you. I wrote this book about joy in what seemed to be the least joyful period in my life. Funny how that happens. When I first envisioned this book, I had my list of ideas and practices all lined up and tied in a pretty bow for you. But then there was a little plot twist. And when the time came around for me to actually write this book, My life kind of imploded in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. lost my job. My wedding was postponed due to social distancing. And through a series of unexpected events, my partner and had to move three times in a year - with a six-month stint living with my parents. The ultimate romantic dream for any engaged couple.   So you can tell that Maria is doing a fantastic job setting the stage. And a lot of this sounds SO relatable for so many of us. But then Maria had an epiphany. And she writes, I looked around at my plant collection and I noticed that my plants also looked miserable. Limp leaves, thirsty, yearning for light, and seeing them so unhappy made me pause and realize how much I related to them. And in the midst of moving pivoting and mourning, I had let the beautiful practices and routines that I had developed lapse.   And then she writes, This realization hit me like a two-ton bag of potting mix.    (I love that Maria has plenty of little snippets of humor in her book that will surely bring a chuckle.) Maria continues. A deeper realization set in. let my plant care routine lapse, and I'd also let my therapy and workout appointments slip through the cracks. I stopped checking in with my friends and my screen time was at an all-time high; my plants and I both needed some serious nurturing.   Maria concludes: I don't claim to have all the answers, but I do know that if you're open to it, this stuff works. No matter what season of life you're in, whether you're simply looking for fun ways to enliven your days, suggestions for how to take the next step forward in plant parenthood, or maybe you're looking for something deeper. But wherever you are, I see you and I'm here for you. And let's grow some joy together, one leaf at a time.   As you can tell, Maria's book is perfectly titled, Growing Joy. This book is 272 pages of connecting with plants and ourselves and, in the process, gaining new insights and a more positive and healthier lifestyle. This book is a delightful mix of self-care through plant care, helping you to feel more joyous, grounded, and optimistic. I think it's the perfect book as we all come back into our homes and snuggle in, cozy in, and get ready for winter. You can get a copy of Growing Joy by Maria Failla and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $8.   Botanic Spark 2015 It was on this day that Thomas Rainer and Claudia West's Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes debuted. Eight years ago, it was through this book that Thomas introduced the notion of gardens as communities, which makes gardeners much more sensitive to concepts like density and diversity in our plantings. I love what they write at the beginning of their book because I think it sets the tone for what they are trying to accomplish: The way plants grow in the wild and the way they grow in our gardens is starkly different. In nature, plants thrive even in inhospitable environments; in our gardens, plants often lack the vigor of their wild counterparts, even when we lavish them with rich soils and frequent water. In nature, plants richly cover the ground; in too many of our gardens, plants are placed far apart and mulched heavily to keep out weeds. In nature, plants have an order, an individual harmony resulting from their adaptation to a site; our gardens are often arbitrary assortments from various habitats, related only by our personal preferences.... In fact, the very activities that define gardening weeding, watering, fertilizing, and mulching - all imply a dependency of plants on the gardener for survival. Gardeners are often frustrated when some plants spread beyond their predetermined location and are surprised while others struggle to get established... A further complication is the availability of plants from every corner of the globe... So how do we shift the paradigm, making desirable plantings that look and function sympathetically with how they evolve in nature? By observing and embracing the wisdom of natural plant communities.   A master of garden design and designing with native plants, Thomas wrote his vision of the Post-Wild World: The front lines of the battle for nature are not in the Amazon rainforest or the Alaskan wilderness; the front lines are our backyards, medians, parking lots, and elementary schools.   and The uncertainty of the future will provide an incredible gift: it will liberate planting from all those forces that try to tame it...   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events Today is Garlic Lovers Day Garlic, or stinking rose, is a member of the lily family. Onions, leeks, and shallots are also in the family. All alliums are reactive to the amount of daylight they receive, so a great way to think about the garlic life cycle is that it matures during the longest days in the summer.  This is why Autumn is garlic-planting time in most areas, and many gardeners wait until after the fall equinox in the back half of September. (This year's autumnal equinox is Thursday, September 22, 2022). By planting garlic in the fall, your garlic gets a headstart on the growing season, which means that when spring arrives, your little garlic shoots will be one of the first plants to greet you in the April rain. Garlic has antibiotic properties and helps reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. Herbalists recommend garlic as a remedy for colds. And Gilroy, California, is known as the World's Garlic Capital. Most of us know and love garlic as a culinary staple - a must-have ingredient for most savory dishes. Alice May Brock, American artist, author, and former restaurateur, once wrote, Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.   And Anthony Bourdain, in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, wrote: Garlic is divine. Few food items can taste so many distinct ways, handled correctly. Misuse of garlic is a crime...Please, treat your garlic with respect...Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screwtop jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic.   1794 Birth of Charles Wilkins Short, American botanist and doctor. A Kentuckian, Charles wrote a flora of Kentucky in 1833. He had one of the largest, most valued private herbariums with 15,000 plant samples, and his massive garden covered several acres. Charles was honored in the naming of many plants, including the Oconee bell named the Shortia galacifolia. The location of the plant became a mystery during the 1800s. In 1863, Charles Short died, and at the time, the Shortia plant still could not be found. But finally, in May of 1877, a North Carolina teenager named George Hyams sent an unknown specimen to Harvard's top plant expert, the knowledgeable Asa Gray, who could be heard crying 'Eureka' when he finally saw the Shortia specimen. Two years later, Asa and his wife, along with his dear friend, the botanist John Redfield, the director of the Arnold Arboretum Charles Sprague Sargent, and the botanist William Canby got to see the Shortia in the wild in the spot where George Hyams knew it was growing. The scientists all stood around the little patch of earth where the Shortia grew in oblivion, and the long search to find the Shortia, named for Charles Wilkins Short, was over.   1799 Death of the English botanist geologist, physician, and chemist William Withering. William was a doctor and the first person to study Digitalis - most commonly known as Foxglove. The story goes that one day, he noticed a person suffering from what was then called dropsy, an old word for a person suffering from congestive heart failure. William observed that the patient in question showed remarkable improvement after taking an herbal remedy that included Digitalis or Foxglove. Today William gets the credit for discovering the power of Digitalis because after he studied the various ingredients of this remedy, he determined that Digitalis was the key ingredient to addressing heart issues. In 1785, William published his famous work, An Account of the Foxglove and Some of its Medical Uses. Foxgloves are a beautiful plant often seen in ornamental or cottage gardens. Foxgloves produce beautiful tall flower spikes, and each spike can contain 20 to 80 purple to pink tubular blossoms that are whitish on the inside. Foxgloves are toxic, and eating any part of the plant can result in severe poisoning. And this is important to know because when Foxglove first emerges from the ground, it can be confused for Comfrey or Plantain. Since both of those plants are used as edible plants by many people - it's important to distinguish them and remember where you're planting Foxglove in your garden. Foxglove is actually in the Plantain family. Before flowering, Foxglove can also be confused with Great mullein (Verbascum thapsus). In addition to the Foxglove common name, Digitalis has many adorable common names, including Fairy Fingers, Fairy Thimbles, Rabbits Flower, and Scotch Mercury. And there are many delightful stories about the Foxglove. One foxglove origin story says that fairies gave blossoms to a Fox who needed to put the flowers on his toes to muffle the sound of his feet as he hunted for prey. This would account for the little markings inside the flowers. Another fun fact about the Foxglove is that it's a cousin to another beloved cottage garden flower: the Snapdragon or Antirrhinum majus ("ant-er-EYE-num MAY-jus"). The toxicity of the Foxglove is a common concern. But, the gardener and garden writer, Katharine S. White, still enjoyed them in her gardens. She wrote, At a very early age, I remember, I was to recognize what plants are to be avoided completely. At a very early age, I remember I was taught how to recognize and stay away from deadly nightshade, poison ivy, and poison sumac. (I was, just as early, taught the delights of chewing tender young checkerberry leaves and sassafras root.) To me, it would be ridiculous, though, not to grow monkshood, foxglove, hellebore, larkspur, autumn crocus, poppies, lilies of the valley, buttercups, and many other flowers now present in my borders just because they have some poison in them.   So Foxglove is in good company when it comes to toxic plants. And when the botanical illustrator Walter Crane painted the Foxglove, he did not draw it alone - he drew a Foxglove family. Walter loved personifying flowers, and of his Foxgloves, he wrote, The Foxgloves are a happy group, comprised of cousins and brothers and sisters.   Finally, the English author and poet Meta Orred wrote a sweet little verse called In Memoriam - a poem for a deceased friend - that included the Foxglove. Meta wrote, Her lips, like foxgloves pink and pale, Went sighing like an autumn gale; Yet, when the sunlight passèd by, They opened out with half a sigh.. Her eyelids fell, and not in vain- The stars had found their heav'n again; The days come round, the days go by- They see no more earth's agony. So lay her back to take her rest, ' Our darling,' for we loved her best Her small hands crossed upon her breast, Her quiet feet unto the west.   1858 Birth of Jean-André Soulié ("Jahn-Ahn-Dray Soo-lee-aye"), French Roman Catholic missionary herbalist, healer, and botanist. Like many of the first plant collectors, Jean-André was a Catholic missionary working for the Paris Foreign Missions - an organization that sent millions of plant and animal specimens back to the National Museum of Natural History in Paris for scientific study. Jean-André alone collected over seven thousand specimens of dried plants and seeds during his twenty years in Asia, where he had become so fluent in the different Chinese dialects that he could pass as a local. Plant collecting in China was a dangerous task. Collectors encountered not only tricky terrain but also political upheaval. The Opium Wars and the ongoing dispute with Tibet increased distrust and hostility toward foreigners. In 1905, in retaliation for an invasion of Tibet by a British explorer named Francis Younghusband, Jean-André was a victim of the "lama revolt" and was abducted by Tibetan monks. He was kidnapped in the field while packing his plant specimens. Jean-André was tortured for over two weeks before finally being shot dead by his captors. The church Jean-André helped to build was destroyed during the revolution. However, it was rebuilt in a new location and still stands today - in a community where Catholics and Tibetan Buddhists live peacefully. Jean-André Soulié is remembered for discovering the Rosa soulieana and the butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii). He also has a Rhododendron, a Lily, and Primula named in his honor.   1860 Birth of Rosamund Marriott Watson, English poet, nature writer, and critic. Known as Rose to her family and friends, Rosamund wrote under the pseudonyms Graham R. Tomson and Rushworth (or R.) Armytage. Rosamund was a prolific gardener and garden writer. Her writings were put together and published in The Heart of a Garden (1906) which began with this verse from one of her original poems: I dreamed the peach-trees blossomed once again, dreamed the birds were calling in the dew,  Sun-rays fell round me like a golden rain, And all was well with us and life was new.   The Heart of a Garden was organized by seasons. In the early fall chapter called The Breath of Autumn, Rosamund wrote, But one should not SO much as breathe the name of frost as yet; it is in a sense a tempting of Providence, and late summer has many good days in store for us still. The swallows skim, now low, now high, above the rose garden, the sun-dial has daily but a few less shining hours to number, bats flit busily in the dim blue dusk, and roses are in bloom. It is far too early even to dream of frost.     Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Creating a Garden Retreat by Virginia Johnson 0914 This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is An Artist's Guide to Planting an Outdoor Sanctuary. And I want you to key in on that word artist because Virginia is an artist, and here's what Workman, the publisher, wrote about Virginia's book: Through ethereal illustrations, textile designer and artist Virginia Johnson takes the reader on her own garden journey, from blank slate to dreamscape. Over the years, she has transformed a small, narrow city lot into a garden that is personal, carefree, wild, and welcoming. It all began with a fence to allow her children to play freely... [Virginia] explains her process with ease and clarity, bringing her ideas to life through words and illustrations so that readers can be encouraged and empowered to start their own garden journeys. This book is organized into clear chapters: trees and shrubs, vines, flowers, seasons, edibles, and more.   What I like best about this book is that it feels like I am reading Virginia's garden journal. It's so friendly. From the handwriting font to the beautiful sketches, this is truly an artist putting together a garden book. And so, the art in this book - the watercolors - is just gorgeous. They're breezy. They're casual. And they accompany every single page and they make this book such a joy to read. The other thing that I love about what Virginia did with this book is she personalizes everything. She doesn't just talk about a plant. She talks about the plant and her family, and her life. Let me give you an example. Here, she's talking about her trees and shrubs, and she has this little section on Magnolia with beautiful watercolors of Magnolia. I think these are the prettiest trees on the planet, but would they be too big for my garden?  The classic saucer magnolia grows to 30 feet high and wide, but the magnolias in the US National Arboretum's "girls" series grow only 15 feet high. It being mid-May, they were in flower and quite irresistible. I love the teacup shape of their blossoms. I love their architectural profile, too: multistemmed, with graceful, outreaching branches. chose the deep-magenta-blooming 'Ann' to remind me of my grandmother.   See what I mean? Virginia's talking about the Magnolia; she shares this great tip about the smaller, more compact Magnolias available. And then, she personalized the Magnolia by telling us which one she picked and her emotional connection to that plant. Another aspect that I  like about Virginia's book is that you can tell that she is cultured - that she has done some living. She's a traveler, a reader, and yes, she is a romantic. (You can tell by the flowers she picks for her garden). I wanted to share another little snippet, and this one is from a little section where she talks about vines. Vines have always had romantic associations for me. Trailing vines, climbing vines: the words themselves are lyrical and promise not just growth but a plant that wants to wriggle away like a child, to explore and attempt daring feats, scaling walls and structures and houses all while showing off.  Trail, trail went Mrs. Wilcox's dresses through the garden in E. M. Forster's novel Howards End. Trailing vines are their own kind of loveliness, less about exploring than falling gracefully over the side of an urn or doorframe. And they're so fun to paint; you have to get the feeling of them,get inside them, capture their abundance and movement.   Virginia is also practical and thrifty, and that's a beautiful counterpoint to her artistic and evocative side. Virginia shares: As a beginner gardener and a pragmatist, I spend my energy on perennial plants, not annuals. Who wants to plant a bunch of things that won't come up again next year? Of course, I do buy a few annuals, but only for pots. I know that they will look pretty and add color and that at the end of the year, they'll have completed their lives. But because I wanted a garden that would come up by itself, without my having to replant every spring, I researched mainly perennials.  I also wanted blooms staggered throughout the growing season, so I took into account what was already in place: pear blossoms and lilacs in May, climbing hydrangeas in July and August. The peonies and roses would flower in June, but at different times, while the hollyhocks would peak in July and August. It would all be a leap of faith. Well, leap, she did. Virginia is one of us. She is a gardener through and through. This book contains many wonderful relatable moments and delightful little snippets that make you laugh, smile, and nod in agreement. I want to share one final little excerpt. And this is where she's talking about dining Alfresco. And I thought this was great because, hopefully, we will have a few more opportunities to eat outside with family and friends before fall gives away winter. Here's Virginia Johnson on dining Alfresco. On a vacation in Greece, during a long drive through the mountains, our kids were ravenous, but the nearest village was closed for afternoon siesta. Where to eat? My husband approached a taverna, explaining our situation in halting Greek. The cook fired up the stove and soon emerged with a steaming frittata, which my picky kids gobbled up. Ever since then, the frittata has become a family staple. Eggs, potatoes, salt, and a sprinkling of rosemary from our garden: that's it. We re-create the memorable meal and enjoy it in our own backyard, wearing our straw hats and imagining we're back in that Greek village.   Well, this book is 192 pages of beautiful memories like that, and it's all built around the garden and being a gardener. You can get a copy of Creating a Garden Retreat by Virginia Johnson and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $14.   Botanic Spark 1943 Birth of Gilles Clément ("Jeel Clee-mon"), French gardener, agronomist, garden designer, botanist, entomologist, and writer. Gilles started experimenting in his garden at La Vallée ("La Val-lay"). There Gilles lives in a simple hut home that he built using native materials sourced on the property. During his long career, Gilles devised many landscaping concepts, including the garden movement (Jardin en Mouvement), the global garden (Jardin planétaire), and the third landscape (tiers paysage). To Gilles, the term garden movement was inspired by the physical movement of plants in the garden. For example, in the garden, a gardener must decide whether to allow the plants to spread or to control them. The global garden reflects that gardens are inextricably part of life on the planet, and they are confined by the limits of their environment. Today, garden environments are experiencing radical changes as the earth confronts climate change. As the earth goes, so go our gardens. While many gardeners still think of gardens as enclosed spaces - often fenced off from their surroundings, Gilles says that, The "planetary garden" is a means of considering ecology as the integration of humanity - the gardeners - into its smallest spaces. Ecology itself destroys the notion of the 'enclosed' garden. Birds, ants, and mushrooms recognize no boundaries between territory that is policed and space that is wild. Ecology's primary concern is nature in its entirety, and not the garden in particular. The enclosure was always an illusion; a garden is bound to be a planetary index.   Finally, Gilles's concept of a third landscape borrows its name from an Abbé Sieyès term - the "third estate," - a term coined during the French Revolution to identify people who weren't part of nobility or clergy. To Gilles, the third landscape represents the low places, the ordinary places - everyday places that are forgotten, derided, ignored, or abandoned by man. These misfits or orphaned areas lie outside agroforestry or land management. Third Landscapes are made up of edges and odd-shaped parcels. They can be abandoned sites or neglected spaces along the margins of daily life - think of highway shoulders, riverbanks, fallow areas, wastelands, etc. Gilles sees the third landscape as unembraced treasure - offering unique biological riches and limitless potential for reinvention.  As for the garden, Gilles once wrote, [A garden] is territory where everything is intermingled: flowers, fruit, vegetables. I define the garden as the only territory where man and nature meet, in which dreaming is allowed. It is in this space that man can be in a utopia that is the happiness of his dreams.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1852 On this day, Henry David Thoreau writes in his journal. The maples are reddening, and birches yellowing.  The mouse-ear in the shade in the middle of the day... looks as if the frost still lay on it.  Bumblebees are on the Aster... and gnats are dancing in the air.   The Mouse Ears that Thoreau mentions in this excerpt is actually a species of forget-me-not (Myosotis laxa) known as the tufted forget-me-not, bay forget-me-not, or just the small-flower forget-me-not. Mouse Ears like to grow in wet areas, so I can believe there was still frost on this forget-me-not when Thoreau looked at it - especially since it was probably in a low-lying or damp area. Now Thoreau himself went into a little more detail about the Mouse Ears forget-me-not. He wrote. It is one of the most interesting minute flowers.  It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest.   Thoreau underscores this point of agreement that I have with longtime gardeners: the longer we garden, we come to appreciate some of the more subtle, more minor details in a much bigger way than we did when we were first starting out. We mature in our perspective on our garden - or on different plants or species of plants in our gardens. Our thinking evolves and changes - and what we love about our garden grows as we mature as gardeners.   1921 Death of Mary Hiester Reid (books about this person), American-born Canadian painter, and teacher. A painter of floral still lifes, Mary was a tonalist - passionate, poetic, and subtle - and her works have been called "devastatingly expressive." In her career, Mary was both an impressionist and a realist. Mary produced over 300 oil paintings. In her prime in 1890, Mary was regarded as the most critical flower painter in Canada.  Mary often painted trios - so her paintings would feature three flowers or three trees, for example. The author, Molly Peacock, offers additional insight into Mary's work with trios and triangulation as a reflection of what was going on in her own life. Molly points out that, Mary and her husband lived in a loose menage with a talented younger artist named Mary Evelyn Wrinch...   Mary Evelyn Wrinch was both Mary Hiester Reid's friend and rival and 24 years her junior. When Mary died, in her will, she specified that her husband should be given to Mary Evelyn Wrinch. Mary's death so moved the Canadian newspaperman Duncan Sutherland Macorquodale that he felt compelled to write a memorial poem in her honor. The verse refers to Mary's Wychwood home. (Wychwood was an artist's enclave of sixty homes tucked in the rolling wooded hills of the Davenport Ridge in Toronto.) Here's an excerpt of Duncan's tribute to Mary. Free from the thrall called life,  Palette and brush laid down;  Off with achievement’s strife,  Donned the immortal’s crown;  Yet hovers she near ’neath the Wychwoodtree,  This, the roses she painted, tell to me.   In September of last year, Molly Peacock's fabulous book on Mary Hiester Reid was published. It's called Flower Diary: In Which Mary Hiester Reid Paints, Travels, Marries & Opens a Door.   1926 On this day, the Dahlia was officially designated as San Francisco's city flower. The Dahlia Society of California had been founded almost a decade earlier, and the club was responsible for getting the city to embrace the beautiful Dahlia as its own. A newspaper account of their efforts to persuade city leaders was shared in a local newspaper: The... desks in the headquarters of the Board of Supervisors burst into bloom yesterday when the Dahlia Society of California ... presented a petition asking for the dahlia's "appointment" as the official flower of San Francisco. The petition...pointed out that... nowhere else in the world is such favorable soil for the Dahlia found.  As the city's official flower, [the Dahlia] will win worldwide notice for San Francisco in the same manner [that the rose has for] Portland. [As the petition was read, women], armed with great bouquets of giant dahlias, distributed the colorful blossoms among the listening Supervisors. Supervisor James B. McSheehy, presiding over the meeting, was surrounded by a bower of enormous blooms.    So that is how the Dahlia became San Francisco's official flower. Since 1926, Dahlias are generally in peak bloom at the Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park in early August - a month known as the foggiest, grayest month of the year in San Francisco. The Dahlia Dell just inside Golden Gate Park. To get to the Dahlia Dell, head east past the Conservatory of Flowers.  Volunteers from the Dahlia Society of California still maintain the garden - and hold an annual Dahlia & Tuber Sale and an annual two-day Dahlia show. As for the beautiful Dahlia, it's the official flower of Seattle, the city of destiny and goodwill. And it may surprise you to learn that the Dahlia was initially grown as a food. Both the tubers and the roots are edible and taste a little like other root vegetables: the potato and the carrot. The Dahlia was named to honor the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl. Dahlias are in the same family as Common Daisies and Sunflowers. Dahlia blossoms come in all shapes and sizes; some are as large as dinner plates. This time of year, gardeners are preparing for cold weather. Once you've had your first frost, that's the signal to gardeners to dig up their dahlia and canna tubers and get them stored for next spring. Once your Dahlia tubers are out of the ground, brush them off, removing any extra soil, and then put them in a basket or a container with plenty of perlite and keep them on a cool, dark shelf in the basement storage room. The perlite keeps the tubers dry and allows them to breathe. The Empress of Dirt, Melissa Will, advises that, Every enthusiastic dahlia grower will tell you their storage method works like a charm. And - they are right - for their specific conditions. The point is, it's the health of the tuber and the overall environment that counts. The optimum storage temperature is 40-45°F (4-7°C). We run into problems when the heating systems in our homes make the humidity level too low for the tubers. Consider using the plastic food wrap method where each tuber is wrapped individually to keep moisture in. Growers who use this method report a higher number of viable tubers each spring. Exposure to some cold is necessary for their development each year so we wait until early frosts have blackened the foliage before digging up the tubers and storing them for the winter. Come spring, a handy rule is, if it's the right time to plant tomatoes, it's the right time to plant dahlias. On a brighter note, while not entirely deer-proof, dahlias are not their first food choice when other plants are available.   Now, if you're looking for a good book on Dahlias, consider Dahlias by Naomi Slade. This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Beautiful Varieties for Home & Garden. Naomi Slade is a biologist by training, Naomi is a naturalist by inclination, and she has a lifelong love of plants. Georgianna Lane took the photos for the book. And she is a leading garden photographer and is one of my favorites. This book is 240 pages of delicious dahlias - a gorgeous gift from Naomi and Georgianna. You can get a copy of Dahlias by Naomi Slade and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $10   2020 The rarest Fern in Europe is discovered in Ireland. The little Fern was found in Killarney and was only known to grow in the Caribbean. So they were accustomed to seeing this neotropical Fern in the cloud forest of Jamaica in Cuba. And the Dominican Republic, but scientists could not figure out how this particular little tiny Fern could be growing in Ireland. Named the Kerry Mousetail Fern (what an adorable little name!), scientists now believe that the tiny spores of this Fern were carried on the wind thanks to a Caribbean hurricane and ended up in Ireland. Isn't that something? It's hard to believe those tiny little spores could travel that far. They say the spores traveled something like 6,000 kilometers. And coincidentally, speaking of tiny little Fern spores, there is a fun little piece of Irish folklore that says that if you're able to collect Fern seeds (spores), then you would be able to have the power of invisibility.    Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Amish Friends 4 Seasons Cookbook by Wanda Brunstetter  This book came out in April of this year. I remember looking through Amazon at the latest cookbook releases and stumbling on Wanda's sweet little cookbook. Here's how Wanda introduces her cookbook: Do you strive to eat what is local, fresh, and in season?  Then this is the cookbook for you.  Organized by the winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons, there are a bounty of recipes for various ways to use up seasonal fruits and vegetables. Sprinkled with tips for growing and harvesting, too, the well-organized book boasts contributions from Amish and Mennonites from across the United States who are fans of author of Amish fiction.   So very intriguing. And Wanda is a gardener! It's worth noting that she writes that she and her husband have a mid-sized garden - so she's got some gardening chops - but she also recommends leveraging your local farmer's market or farm stands, especially if you're unable to grow all of your own produce (and many of us fall into that category, even as gardeners.) Wanda's cookbook is one that I feel would get passed down in my family. This is precisely the kind of cookbook that would be put together for a family reunion, and then all of us would pitch in twenty bucks and get a copy of it. Wanda also includes all of these sweet little images and Bible verses. And the recipes are clearly family-friendly; they're family favorites - so it's hard not to fall in love with them. I thought I'd read this little snippet from Midwest Book Review to give you an idea of what's in this cookbook. James writes, Very highly recommended for personal and community library cookbook collections, and published in a lay-flat spiral binding with recipes that range from Coconut Peach Dessert; Green Tomato Relish; Chicken Dumplings; and Fruit Parfait; to Peanut Butter Popcorn; BBQ Meatballs; Buttery Onion Soup; and Home Made Tater Tots.  Wanda E. Brunstetter's Amish Friends 4 Seasons Cookbook" is a palate-pleasing and appetite-satisfying delight to plan menus for anyone who gardens, participates in a CSA, or enjoys farmers' markets.   Sounds fantastic. Doesn't it? I also think that this cookbook would be the perfect hostess gift for the holidays. You could bring it to your Thanksgiving celebration or use it as a Christmas gift. This book is 224 pages of over 200 recipes for eating with the seasons. Sweet little cookbook. You can get a copy of Amish Friends 4 Seasons Cookbook by Wanda Brunstetter and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $13.   Botanic Spark 1858 Birth of Dorothy Frances Blomfield Gurney, English hymn-writer and poet. Many gardeners have forgotten that she wrote this charming garden verse: The kiss of the sun for pardon,  The song of the birds for mirth,  One is nearer God’s heart in a garden  Than anywhere else on earth.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day Look at the Leaves Day   1877 Birth of Otto Emery Jennings, former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and devoted scientist. In 1904, Jennings started as the custodian at the Carnegie Museum, where, over the next 41 years, he held almost every position before becoming the director of the Museum in 1945. Today, the Jennings Nature Reserve near Butler, Pennsylvania, is named for Otto Jennings. Otto worked to protect the 20-acre area because it was a natural habitat for the native Blazing Star (Liatris spicata "Ly-at-truss Spah-cah-tah"). The Jennings Reserve was expressly established to ensure that the Blazing Star could spread and multiply. The Blazing Star is native to North America and is known by other common names, including the Gayfeather or Prairie Star. The Blazing Star is a late-bloomer and features majestic plumes in purple or white. Blazing Star is a gardener favorite, easy to grow and propagate, it's low maintenance, makes excellent cut flowers, and pollinators love them (Monarchs go crazy for Blazing Star). The Blazing Star grows up to 16 in tall, but if you want something more elevated, its cousin, the Prairie Blazing Star, can grow five feet tall.   1891 Birth of Lewis Stiles Gannett, American journalist, and author.  Lewis wrote The Living One, Magazine Beach, The Siege, and two Millennium novels: Gehenna and Force Majeure. In Cream Hill: Discoveries of a Weekend Countryman (1949), Lewis wrote: But each spring . . . a gardening instinct, sore as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground.   Lewis also wrote, Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it.  When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed.   1895 Birth of Sergei Yesenin (books about this person), Russian lyric poet.  One current biographical account of Sergei's life said, "his poems [became] the people's songs." Today, the Yesenin Monument graces the Tauride Garden in the center of Saint Petersburg. The likeness of Sergei Yesenin, seated in a thoughtful pose, is made of solid white marble. There are words that are difficult to translate ie Russian because there is no English equivalent. For instance, there is a word that translates to "mushroom rain." A mushroom rain is a gentle, fragrant rain that wets the forest floor in a steady, lazy fashion. It's the kind of rain that is perfect for mushroom cultivation. In terms of his use of language, Sergei Yesenin was not averse to adding new words to the Russian lexicon. He once created a Russian word to describe how sand ripples across the surface when blown by the wind - something Sergei would have seen daily growing up along the banks of the Oka river near the birch forests in his hometown. Sergei's first poem Beryoza (The Birch Tree), was published in a children's magazine in January of 1914. Today Sergei's Birch tree poem is still taught in Russian schools. Birch trees are a powerful symbol in Russia, where folklore held that planting birches around a village had the power to ward off cholera. A beloved tree in Russia, Birch trees can be found growing across the breadth and depth of the country. In addition to the birch, Sergei wrote about the maple, willow, fir, lime tree, poplar, and bird cherry.  Here's an excerpt from The Birch Tree: Under my own window White is birch's hue • Snowy blanket-shadow, Silver patterned too. On its fluffy branches With a snowy hem Tassels' blossom blanches Fringe's icy gem. Standing, birch is yearning, Silent, sleepy spire, Falling snow is burning In its golden fire. Lazy dawn in wrinkles, Circling all around, Now its branches sprinkle Newly silver-crowned.   Sergei once wrote, In this world you can search for everything, except Love and death. They find you when the time comes. All will pass like the smoke of white apple trees Seized by the gold of autumn. I will no longer be young.   1900 Birth of Thomas Wolfe (books by this author), American novelist. Thomas once wrote, All things on earth point home in old October:  sailors to sea, travelers to walls and fences,  hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds,  the lover to the love he has forsaken. He also wrote, And the flowers grew in rioting glory...   Garden and Gun magazine once shared this quote about Thomas Wolfe: Thomas Wolfe may have said 'You can't go home again,' but I can.  Just give me some vinegar and red pepper and I'm there.   Today, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Garden in Chapel Hill is a living memorial to Thomas.  Thomas attended the University of North Carolina and remained one of their most famous alumni. And there is, at Chapell Hill, a wonderful sculpture of an angel in the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Garden. The poignant words from Thomas's novel Look Homeward, Angel is inscribed above the piece and read: O lost, and by the wind grieved, ghost, come back again   Thomas once wrote, ...bewildered again before the unsearchable riddle - out of death, life, out of the coarse rank earth, a flower.     Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Successfully Grow & Garden Citrus Fruit Trees Using Pots and Containers by Madison Pierce  This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Simple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces. This book gets very high ratings on Amazon. It came out a year a, go in May of 2021. And the subtitle is A Beginner's Guide to Selecting the Right Tree, Pots, and Containers for indoors and outdoors - and also covers Pests, Diseases, and Transplanting - so tons of information, all about growing citrus. Now I have many friends up here in Minnesota who would never even dream of growing citrus indoors. And so I think they would be absolutely floored to learn that it is possible - if you know what you're doing and take the proper precautions. This is something that Madison acknowledges herself. She writes, Many avid gardeners discover that growing fruit trees directly in the ground presents various difficult to overcome complexities. For this reason, this entire book focuses on how to effectively (and most successfully) grow strong, sturdy citrus fruit trees in pots and containers which produce fruit bountifully.  If you're going to go to the trouble of trying to grow fruit trees, you might as well amp up your chances of success by following the guidance in Madison's book. Well, by now, you might be wondering who Madison Pierce is. She writes, I am a devoted wife and mother, and to say that I am a fruit tree enthusiast would be an understatement. - live and breathe gardening, and one of my main focus areas is fruit trees. Whenever someone sees and samples the fruit from my garden, they marvel at just how much effort must have gone into nurturing and growing them. While I admit that a considerable amount of heart and soul has gone into my garden, it was a process to get the basics down to a fine art. Ever since I equipped myself with practical gardening knowledge, the process has been more straightforward than expected and immensely rewarding. I share my wealth of citrus fruit tree gardening knowledge and experience with other passionate gardeners because I want like-minded people to derive the same joy I have from the process. There are several crucial elements to growing and nurturing exceptional citrus trees. First and foremost, it's about getting to know what citrus trees like and dislike. Just like you and me, trees have their lifestyle preferences, so it stands to reason that if you give your trees what they want and need most, they will reward you with an abundance of fruit. It's important to note that you will reap the rewards of the time, effort, and care you put in. At this point, educating yourself is of the utmost importance. And, so with that, you are off to the races with Madison Pearce as your guide. Consider this book a masterclass on growing citrus and fruit trees in pots and containers. Growing citrus could be a fun little activity for you, especially if you're moving your gardening indoors over the winter. It could be a fun little project for you and the kids to work on together. Something worth considering... You can get a copy of Successfully Grow & Garden Citrus Fruit Trees Using Pots and Containers by Madison Pierce and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $18.   Botanic Spark 1920/2010 Birth of Philippa Foot (books by this author), philosopher. She also died on this day. Philippa's mother was Esther Cleveland, the daughter of Grover Cleveland, and she was the first presidential child to be born in the White House.  She understood that philosophy could be confusing. She once mused, You ask a philosopher a question and after he or she has talked for a bit, you don't understand your question anymore.   Philippa always sought to keep her work simple. She found inspiration in nature and kept her main points short and sweet. She advised, In moral philosophy, it is useful, I believe, to think about plants.   In an interview with Philosophy Now's Rick Lewis, Philippa explained that, due to her work studying goodness, she believed that human vices are merely a natural defect. And just as flaws exist in nature, they also exist in humanity. Philippa believed that morality was rooted in nature.   In 2012, it was revealed that Philippa was romantically involved with Iris Murdoch (books by this author) in the 1960s. The women had met at Oxford, and though their friendship faltered at times, the two remained lifelong friends.  On July 8, 1968, Iris wrote to Philippa. She was staying at a friend's home in Inverness in Scotland. Iris wrote, I had forgotten the beauty of this place. The highlands are a vast rock garden - hundreds of kinds of tiny things flower and the variety of the woodland - it has no horrible Schwarzwald ' look. Much walking has been done and a little swimming but it's damn cold. Not a soul in many days of walking have met no one, and seen no one over those vast hillsides. Do you suffer from chronic anxiety? I think not. It is a vice, a form of deep fear. I'd like to talk to you about this sometime. Write to me. [.. •] Much love I   Almost two decades later, in 1985, Iris would write to Philippa again, I imagine you now in the sun, surrounded by those magic trees, in a garden of flowers, looking out upon the glittering dolphin-crowded sea. Dear old Europe, poor old Europe. (Dear old planet, poor old planet.)   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1757 On this day, Horace Walpole wrote a letter to his friend John Chute Esquire about the heat wave coursing through Europe. July of 1757 set many records for heat. At the time, it was the hottest month ever recorded in Paris history and for the country of England. The English physician John Huxham, a provincial doctor remembered for his study of fevers, noted that the heat caused many health issues for people. Horace's letter from his home at Strawberry Hill ended with these words, I say nothing of the heat of this magnificent weather, with the glass yesterday up to three quarters of sultry. In all English probability this will not be a hinderance long; though at present... I have made the tour of my own garden but once these three days before eight at night, and then I thought I should have died of it.  For how many years we shall have to talk of the summer of fifty-seven!   1817 Birth of Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. National Simplicity Day is observed on July 12th in his honor. Thoreau advocated for living a life of simplicity, and he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings.  A leading Transcendentalist, his essay, Civil Disobedience, was an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau said all of these things: The bluebird carries the sky on his back. God made ferns to show what he could do with leaves There are moments when all anxiety and toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature. I know because I read...Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating. Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders. Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of each. We can make liquor to sweeten our lips Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips. I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.   1895 Birth of Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in the musical theater. Oscar Hammerstein II was born into a show business family who lived in New York. His father and uncle, Willie and Arthur Hammerstein were successful theater managers, and his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was a famous opera impresario. Oscar's career spanned almost four decades, during which time he won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. For Carousel, Oscar famously wrote his most famous lyric, June is bustin' out all over.   The last song Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together before his death in August of 1960 was Edelweiss, Captain von Trapp's poignant farewell to his beloved homeland. Oscar used the flower to symbolize Captain von Trapp's loyalty to Austria.  Nine months after The Sound of Music opened on Broadway, Oscar Hammerstein II died from stomach cancer.   1895 Birth of Richard Buckminster Fuller, American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. Richard styled his name R. Buckminster Fuller for his writing. He wrote over thirty books and coined or popularized terms such as "Spaceship Earth," "ephemeralization," and "synergetics." In 1960, he also popularized the geodesic dome, and he installed one called the "Climatron" in the Missouri Botanical Garden. Richard predicted it would last for a while but was not a permanent structure. The word Climatron is a blend of the Greek words for climate and machine. The magnificent dome was also the world's first fully air-conditioned greenhouse. The Climatron ranges from 64°F at night to a high of 85°F — the perfect temperature range for keeping the rainforest plants happy and healthy. Today, some sixty years after its debut, the Climatron is still standing and is home to nearly 3,000 plants covering almost 200 different plant species, including one that produces the largest tree-born fruit in the world: the Jackfruit. The Climatron also hosts at least three varieties of coffee plants. And every January, the Climatron closes for tree trimming of the tallest trees as they reach the edges of the geodesic dome. Trimming allows the trees to continue actively growing and lets sunlight filter in to reach ground-level plants. Richard wrote, Nature does have manure and she does have roots as well as blossoms, and you can’t hate the manure and blame the roots for not being blossoms. There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly!!!   He also wrote, Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us. We are not the only experiment.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Manual of Plant Grafting by Peter MacDonald  This book came out in 2014, and the subtitle is Practical Techniques for Ornamentals, Vegetables, and Fruit. This is such a handy book to keep in your garden tote or potting bench. As Peter points out, grafting is simply the process of uniting one plant with another so that they become a single plant. If you have been gardening for a while, it's only natural to grow more curious about grafting as you grow your garden.  Peter's book is an excellent grafting resource, and he's quick to remind us that, There is no single correct way to graft a plant. There are, however, different ways of successfully grafting. These are not necessarily preferred or better-just different. Therefore, it is not possible to provide one technique for the grafting of each species, there are simply too many options available. Peter wrote, One of the main aims of this book is to discuss in detail the principle techniques being used by growers. I have been fortunate to go on study tours to the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, and Australia. ...For the majority of the information on practical grafting, however, I have had the assistance of many propagators working on nurseries in England that specialize in grafting. Their location in England should be borne in mind when considering the timings and specific details of the grafting techniques, especially the aftercare.  The other principle source of information...has been the journal of The Combined Proceedings of the International Plant Propagators' Society. Any professional horticulturist involved in producing plants should be a member of this society. The journal goes back over 50 years and holds a wealth of knowledge on all aspects of propagating and growing plants. More importantly, with the motto "Seek and Share,' its members freely exchange knowledge, making it a very friendly and supportive society with which to get involved. If you are new to grafting, I hope this book will give you the confidence to have a go. If you already graft, I hope you will find a few pointers to help you improve your success rate or quality of final plant. If you just have an interest in gardening, - hope you will be inspired to find out more about some of the characters who have contributed to the development of grafting over the years. Chapters in Peter's book include one on the History of Grafting.  Here's an example of Peter's straightforward tone. He wrote, BETWEEN THREE AND FIVE THOUSAND years ago, a farmer took a shoot (or scion) from a plant and attached it to another plant (or rootstock) growing nearby in such a way that they formed a union and the shoot began to grow. The first graft had been successfully carried out. To achieve this, however, the two plants had to be related closely enough to be compatible and form at least a temporary union. A cut would need to have been made on both plants and put together so that vascular cambium cells were close enough to form a connection across the callus bridge. The callus bridge would only form if the two plants were held together and prevented from drying out. The vascular cambium would only form if the tie were tight enough to apply some pressure to the cuts. Finally, the entire pro- cess would only be successful if done at the right time of year when cells were actively dividing in the rootstock and the scion buds were dormant. How many times might this have been tried before a successful union was achieved?  How often would someone persevere in trying to achieve a union if the first attempt was unsuccessful?    Other chapters focus on the Uses of Grafting, Formation of Graft Union, Production of Rootstock and Scion Material, and Bench Grafting. The chapter on bench grafting is divided into cold and hot callus grafting, which is used depending on the time of year and whether artificial heat is applied to the graft.  Peter also has a chapter on Field Grafting, which is the other primary method of grafting used by growers. Peter also covers Vegetable Grafting - something that may appeal if you are interested in grafting tomatoes and other vegetable salad crops. Vegetable grafting is something that the Japanese have popularized. And Peter also talks about another specialty area in a chapter on Grafting Cactus. After forecasting the Future of Grafting, Peter shares some other helpful resources, including three charts of woody plants, both ornamental and fruit, that can be grafted. Other charts suggest grafting options for various plants and suitable rootstocks. This book is 232 pages on how to grow your grafting skills to improve the performance of your ornamental and productive plants - what a great skill to have! You can get a copy of The Manual of Plant Grafting by Peter MacDonald and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $ 18.   Botanic Spark 2012 On this day, Hugh Johnson, author of Trees, The Principles of Gardening, and many writings on wine, wrote in Trad's Diary, which started as an editorial column of the RHS Journal: ‘You garden with a light touch’ said a knowing visitor the other day – appreciatively, I hope. Could she have been referring to the complementary campanulas ("kam·pan·you·luhs"), the aleatory alliums, the volunteer violas and random ranunculus that meet your eye wherever you turn? ‘You leave things in; so much nicer than taking them out.’ I do take them out. I’ve been barrowing opium poppies to the compost for weeks now. The idea is to let them show a first flower or two, decide whether it is a good colour or not, is fully frilly or otherwise desirable, and pull up the ones that have no special quality, in the hope of improving the stock. After years of doing this I admit we aren’t getting very far, but I enjoy the process. The thing to remember is what comes out easily, like the poppies, and what leaves roots in the ground. You can enjoy an allium, even into its seed head phase, and still get rid of it. Not so an invasive campanula. And violas are the devil to do away with. It’s lucky I enjoy weeding so much.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1788 On this day, Horace Walpole wrote about the powerful impact of rain on the garden. He wrote, My verdure begins to recover its bloom.. in this country, nobody pays his debts like rain. It may destroy your flowers, but you cannot complain of want of fruit; cherries, apples, walnuts, are more exuberant than their leaves.   1893 Birth of Dorothy Thompson, American journalist and radio broadcaster. She is remembered as the First Lady of American Journalism. In 1934, Dorothy was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany. In her final book, The Courage to Be Happy (1957), she wrote: I am inclined to think that the flowers we must love are those we knew when we were very young, when our senses were most acute to color into smell, and our natures most lyrical.   1933 Birth of Oliver Sacks, British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. I once watched a video featuring Dr. Oliver Sacks, who practiced medicine in NYC across from the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). In the video, Oliver reflected on the garden and its meaning. I've cobbled together a few of his inspiring thoughts. Here's what he said: I think of this garden as a treasure. First, it's a haven. In a noisy, crowded New York, we need a haven; we wander around, and time doesn't matter too much. When I worked at the hospital opposite the garden, I used to come in every day. Specifically, I would come in after seeing my patients but before writing up my notes. And, I would walk around the garden and put everything out of consciousness except the plants and the air. But, by the time I got back, the patient's story would have crystallized in my mind [and then] I could then write it straight away. But I needed this sort of incubation in the garden, and to go for a walk in the garden; that sort of thing is an essential thing for me in writing. I think nature has a healing effect; the garden the closest one can come to nature. The garden has affected me and does affect me in various ways; it's not just the pleasure of walking around but [also] the very special virtues of the library and the museum and the fact that, in some ways, this is a university as well as a garden. I just feel very comfortable in the garden, and whenever people come to New York from out of town or out of the country, I say let's go to the garden. I would like to quote a couple of lines from a TS Eliot poem: Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit.   In his book, The River of Consciousness, Oliver wrote, While most of the flowers in the garden had rich scents and colors, we also had two magnolia trees, with huge but pale and scentless flowers. The magnolia flowers, when ripe, would be crawling with tiny insects, little beetles. Magnolias, my mother explained, were among the most ancient of flowering plants and had appeared nearly a hundred million years ago, at a time when “modern” insects like bees had not yet evolved, so they had to rely on a more ancient insect, a beetle, for pollination. Bees and butterflies, flowers with colors and scents, were not preordained, waiting in the wings—and they might never have appeared. They would develop together, in infinitesimal stages, over millions of years. The idea of a world without bees or butterflies, without scent or color, affected me with a sense of awe.   2021 On this day, India's first cryptogamic garden, with nearly fifty different species, is opened.  Cryptogams are non-seed-bearing plants. These primitive plants do not reproduce through seeds, for example, algae, bryophytes (moss, liverworts), lichens, ferns, fungi, etc. The garden is located in the Deoban area of Dehradun in Uttarakhand and is situated at 9000 feet and spread over three acres.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet ("Sim-blit") This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is An Inspirational Guide to Drawing Plants. In this book, Sarah Simblet takes you on an inspirational journey of creativity and botanical art as she demonstrates how to draw virtually every type of plant. As Sarah writes in the forward, This book was inspired by my love of gardening, a desire to know more about the structures, forms, and lives of plants, and an opportunity to spend a whole year exploring wild landscapes and the fabulous collections of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Oxford University Herbaria. These collections generously gave or lent me hundreds of pieces of plants to draw or have photographed for this book. Botany for the Artist features around 550 species, chosen to represent almost every kind of plant and habitat on Earth. Gorgeous, unfamiliar exotics are celebrated alongside more common plants, to show the beauty and wonder of the bird-of-paradise flower and the pavement milk thistle, tropical forest fruits and the orchard apple, giant pine cones, and tufts of city moss. Fungi, and some species of algae, are not scientifically classified as plants, but are featured here because they are fabulous to draw and fascinating in themselves.   Then Sarah points out the exponential understanding of a plant that occurs when you draw it. She wrote, Drawing is a... direct and universal language, as old as humankind.  If you spend just one hour drawing a plant, you will understand it far better than if you spent the same hour only looking at it. There is something in the physical act of drawing, the coordination of the hand and eye, and the translation of sensory experience into marks and lines that reveals an entirely new way of seeing.  Artists know this, but it is something we can all experience if we draw. And time spent drawing is a revelation, regardless of the results.   Finally, Sarah's book is written in a very friendly tone. She encourages artists to just get started and to use live specimens. She wrote, Books of advice, classes, and looking at the works of other artists will help you greatly, but you can also learn how to draw simply by doing it. The first step is to simply have a go. I always draw from real plants-never photographs -- because plants are three dimensional and were once alive, even if they are no longer. They are physically present, and can move, change, and challenge the person drawing them. An artist's relationship with their subject is always innately expressed in their work... Throughout this book, Sam Scott-Hunter's photographs reveal subtle insights that could not be captured in drawing. They also magnify many details so we can look very closely Into them. I have drawn most plants life-size, for comparison, and also to convey the excitement of giant-sized objects. This diversity is just one characteristic of the vast kingdom of plants that surrounds us all, and it is always there, just outside our door, waiting to be explored.   This book is 256 pages of botanical drawings - from exotics to mosses to towering trees. Join Sarah on an illustrated tour of the plant kingdom and deepen your powers of botanical observation, understanding, and appreciation.  You can get a copy of Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $18.   Botanic Spark 1824 Mary Russell Mitford writes to Benjamin Robert Haydon to describe her garden: My little garden is a perfect rosary - the greenest and most blossomy nook that ever the sun shone upon. It is almost shut in by buildings; one a long open shed, very pretty, a sort of rural arcade where we sit. All and every part is untrimmed, antique, weatherstained, and homely as can be imagined - gratifying the eye by its exceeding picturesqueness, and the mind by the certainty that no pictorial effect was intended - that it owes all its charms to "rare accident."   The previous day, Mary wrote to her dear friend, Emily Jephson (July 10, 1824), and shared her thoughts on the garden as a form of power and fulfillment for women. She wrote,  I am so glad you have a little demesne (dih-MAYN) of your own too;  It is a pretty thing to be queen over roses and lilies, is it not?   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1726 Birth of John Berkenhout, English physician, naturalist, and writer. While studying at Edinburgh, John published a botanical lexicon reference. In it, he wrote, Those who wish to remain ignorant of the Latin language have no business with the study of Botany.   1822 On this day, Caroline Herschel wrote in her diary about her brother, William Herschel, the German-English astronomer and composer. Caroline Herschel assisted her brother in his astronomical work, and she became an accomplished astronomer and comet discoverer in her own right. She's remembered as a comet hunter. Two centuries ago, on this day, Caroline wrote, I had a dawn of hope that my brother might regain once more a little strength; for I have a [note] in my almanac of his walking with a firmer step than usual -- above three or four times the distance from the... house to his library in his garden, for the purpose [of gathering and eating] Raspberries with me; but I never saw the like again.   William Herschel died about six weeks later, at the age of eighty-four. This year is the 200th anniversary of his death. Forty-one years earlier, on the night of 13 March 1781, William, with his homemade 6.2-inch reflecting telescope, discovered a new planet: Uranus. He initially thought it was "either a Nebulous star or perhaps a comet," and he named it George - Georgium Sidus (the Georgian Planet) - in honor of his patron, King George III. But surprisingly, the name did not stick, and George was renamed Uranus after the Greek god of the sky. Uranus is the first and only planet (thus far) discovered from a backyard garden. Today William and Caroline's Georgian townhouse and garden at 19 New King Street in Bath is the home of the lovely Herschel Museum. You can stand in the beautiful garden where William and Caroline spent so much time together gazing at the stars. William's son, John, became an accomplished astronomer and a polymath. He was involved in many other sciences, including botany.    1912 On this day, Mrs. F. E. Griggs of Raymond, Nebraska, began selling her surplus tomatoes. She shared the story of her garden with nurseryman Henry Field for publication in his book, The Book of a Thousand Gardens. Mrs. Griggs, who sold over $50 worth of tomatoes from 135 plants, wrote,  I had worked very hard for four months, and my garden was a very nice one and I couldn't see it die, so I started in to carry water (a long distance up a 30-foot creek bank). But it did not rain until fall. ...[and] the fall rains washed the fertilier down and they again set the largest crop I ever saw.  I pruned my vines severely and also pinched off all tomatoes that would be gnarled or poor shape, as soon as could see them, and it paid well in the nice crop of smooth ones I got.  The first were ripe July 4th, and on July 8th we were already oversupplied and began selling the surplus to people who had no gardens at all this year. They were 15c per lb. at first, and people said, "Too dear to eat", so my first ones went at 3c.  Later, as they acquired a taste for them, I got 5c, then 7½c and 10c [per pound], but always 3c to 5c under the town retail price, although I had to deliver them. On Aug. 26th they dropped to 5c, as people were just getting a few scattered ones of their own, and up to that date I had sold $50.00 worth. They were then coming so fast that I had to go on the jump almost to dispose of them, and in my haste one foot slipped from the buggy step and I fell, breaking and badly crushing [my leg] just above the ankle.  So that ended my garden. Not entirely [though], for my heart was [in the garden] and the following week with this fractured limb in plaster cast, I crawled down to [the garden] and gathered [tomatoes] ... I am still unable to walk much.  I then had to give the patch away, and there have been fully 40 bushels eaten, given away and wasted besides my $50.00 worth sold; and the frost has just caught the vines uncovered with an enormous crop of ripe ones and green ones in all stages, just bushels of them.  I hope some day to see just what an acre of these Field's Early June tomatoes will do.   1955 Birth of Monty Don, English horticulturist and writer. He once wrote, I always see gardening as escape, as peace really. If you are angry or troubled, nothing provides the same solace as nurturing the soil.     Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Peonies by Jane Eastoe This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Beautiful Varieties for Home & Garden. And I should mention that the magnificent romantic photographs are by Georgianna Lane. The publisher wrote this about Jane's book. From Shawnee Chief to Top Brass, this guide to over 60 varieties of peonies presents an eclectic selection of specimens—from those with the best visual appearance and the most fragrant perfume, to those that are easiest to grow and produce the best cutting flowers. With commentary on each bloom, easy-to-follow growing advice, and glorious photography, Peonies will appeal to anyone who appreciates the romance of the majestic peony.   As a garden plant, peonies are so long-lived. As a result, they are often heirloom flowers. They are a favorite bridal flower. Their color, fragrance, and large blossoms elevate the peony as a worthy rival of the queen of flowers - the rose. Jane begins with a solid peony introduction. She wrote, To aid identification, the American Peony Society has classified Six types of flowers: the single, the Japanese, the anemone, the semi-double, the double, and the bomb. Rather than providing wordy descriptions, these are illustrated opposite, where it is easy to see how one type of bloom differs from the other. Jane covers the history of the peony and then divides peonies into categories: pure, dramatic, romantic, and fragrant. Then she wraps up her book with tips on peony growing and care. Jane wrote, This book is designed to inspire you to grow your own peonies. There are thousands of varieties to choose from, with more being released every year. Here we present a selection of personal favorites, a mix of the old, the new, and the cutting edge. As these stunning pictures by photographer Georgianna Lane illustrate, there are peony varieties to suit every taste and every garden color scheme. Garden centers tend to offer just a few limited varieties, so if you want a particular specimen it is best to seek out a specialist peony nursery on the Internet. One plant will give you, and generations to come great pleasure. In our fast-paced world, there is nothing more therapeutic than a little peony gazing.   I love that Jane points out that you may need to reach out to specialty growers if you want a particular variety. There's no way a garden center could offer every kind of peony.  You can get a copy of Peonies by Jane Eastoe and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $13.   Botanic Spark 1953 Birth of Anna Quindlen, American author,  journalist, and gardener. In October 1988, Anna wrote an article I love called, Pardon the Garden, Pass the Pumpkin. Here's an excerpt: I planted a vegetable garden. It seemed like a good idea at the time. The time was early May, and I hadn't had a really good vegetable in months. I got carried away. Vegetables look pathetic when they are small, just like children. Four tomato plants, one pumpkin vine, single spray of zucchini or basil just don't seem like enough. Then they grow. (This is why some people have several children. When they are small they don't seem like so many. Then they grow, and pretty soon they are six feet tall and snacking on four fried eggs and a loaf of toast just before bed, and you know you overestimated the demand.) One morning you go into the garden and the zucchini are the size of clubs. There's nothing you can do with zucchini like that except keep them next to the bed in case you hear noises downstairs in the middle of the night. You can creep down the steps with one of those things and the right sort of burglar, the kind who knows his greens, will take one look at it, yell, "No! Not the zucchini!" and take off. This was my first year with pumpkins. I thought it would be fun to have a few in October, when the zucchini plants would be yellowed, the tomatoes past their prime. I never really thought about how large they would become, and how dumb a person would look bringing one to a dinner party in lieu of a chardonnay, while friends peeked from behind the blinds and whispered, "They've brought pumpkins again, Judith." Of course the denouement was predictable. Everything ripened at the same time. In one week, 1,212 tomatoes turned red, all the pumpkins turned orange and the zucchini disappeared. Oh, they didn't die; left them in mailboxes up and down the road. Naturally, I tried to give away some of the tomatoes, too, but it didn't work; everyone else has the same problem. At the end of one driveway is a sign that says "Don't even THINK of leaving produce here." It occurs to me that as a child I was lied to when all the grown-ups told that grand story about how the Pilgrims invented Thanksgiving to share the largesse of their harvest with the Indians. The Pilgrims invented Thanksgiving to give away pumpkins, and probably green tomatoes and enormous zucchini, too.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1713 Death of Henry Compton, Bishop of London from 1675 to 1713. Although Henry played an important role in English political and religious circles, his main passion was plants — especially scarce and exotic plants. It was said that Henry relished staying on the fringes of Charles II's court because it gave him more time to devote to his plants and gardens. One of his closest friends was one of the earliest English parson-naturalists, John Ray, who published the first account of North American flora in his Historia Plantarum (1688). Since Henry's role overseeing the Church extended to the American Colonies, Henry was able to get his hands on all the new plant discoveries from the new world. Henry even personally sent a man named John Banister to collect plants for him in Virginia. John is most remembered for sending Henry the Magnolia virginiana and Dodecatheon media. Tragically, John died at 38 after falling from a cliff while exploring the area above James River.  Between his involvement with the top plant explorers and nurseries of his day and his special relationship with the Tradescant family, Henry was able to fully stock his garden at Fulham Palace. This Tudor country house was home to England's clergy for over a millennium. When he was alive, Henry's garden was reputed to have a greater variety of plants than any other garden in England. It featured over 1,000 exotic plants and tropicals, making it one of his time's most popular, envied, and essential gardens. Henry's kitchen garden always grew a great crop of his favorite vegetable: kidney beans. In 1686, even William Penn's Pennsylvania gardener was keen to swap seeds and plants with Henry Compton. History records that Henry felt guilt about the amount of church money he had invested in plants. His collection of trees was also particularly exciting. Henry grew the first Liriodendron tulipifera (the tulip tree), Liquidambar (American Sweetgum) used as a veneer or satinwood in furniture, Acacia, Mahogany, and Maple trees in England. The garden designer Capability Brown found a special inspiration after touring Fulham, and it was there that he first saw the cluster-pin, the ash-maple, the cork oak, the black Virginian walnut, and the honey locust. Henry also grew the first American azalea grown in England, Rhododendron viscosum. Henry even managed to grow the first coffee tree in England with the help of his heated "stove.". In 1698, the Governor of Virginia personally sent Henry a Magnolia virginiana for "his paradise at Fulham." Three hundred years after Henry planted the first Magnolia virginiana grown in Europe at St. Anne's Church, a new tree was planted in the exact same spot to honor the botanical work of Bishop Henry Compton. The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard propagated the Magnolia sapling, and it was hand-delivered by Vi Lort Phillips, a member of the International Dendrology Society. The tree was planted on the 19th of May in 1992 and is already forty years old this year (2022).  St. Anne's Church was special to Henry. He consecrated the grounds in honor of Queen Anne because he had tutored both Princesses Mary and Anne when they were young.   1893 Birth of Miroslav Krleža, Yugoslav and Croatian writer, poet, and cultural influencer. Miroslav's nickname was Fritz, and he is often credited as the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. Miroslav believed that Serbs and Croats were one people suffering from two national consciences, which inevitably pitted them against each other. Today three hours west of his hometown of Zagreb, a celebrated statue of Miroslav stands in Opatija above the city's famous Slatina Beach. During WWI, Miroslav wrote in his diary at the Croatian Botanical Garden in Zagreb. The relaxing gardens edge the city railroad tracks before blending into the native grass and forestlands that feather the countryside. Although Miroslav found the garden suitable for writing, he dismissed its beauty and criticized it as a "boring second-rate cemetery."  Miroslav served in the same regiment as Yugoslavian communist dictator Tito during the war, but the two men didn't become lifelong friends until 1937. Tito protected Krleža from pressures in his party. Tito once told him, I know you're an old liberal and that you disagree with me on many things, but I wouldn't want to lose you.   In 1938, Miroslav wrote On the Edge of Reason - an instant classic about human nature, hypocrisy, conformism, and stupidity. Miroslav once wrote, There is no justice even among flowers.   1908 Birth of Herbert Rappaport, Austrian-Soviet screenwriter, and film director. Born in Vienna, Herbert first studied law before finding work in the movie business. In 1936, he was invited to help internationalize Soviet Cinema, and he spent the next four decades working as a filmmaker in Russia. Herbert once wrote, I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some.   1944 Birth of Manny Steward, American boxer, trainer, and commentator for HBO Boxing. He was known as The Godfather of Detroit Boxing and trained 41 world champion fighters during his long career, including Thomas Hearns, Lennox Lewis, and Wladimir Klitschko. He once wrote, My favorite hobby is being alone. I like to be alone. I also like dancing, fishing, playing poker sometimes and vegetable gardening – corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, I have a big garden every year.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Gardener's Palette by Jo Thompson This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is Creating Colour Harmony in the garden. Jo Thompson is one of Britain's leading garden designers, and this is her second book, which was written in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society. Well, the title of this book says it all - palettes - masterfully proven gorgeous color combinations for your garden. I've found that the most challenging job about palettes is not picking them but sticking to them. And it's usually when we get into times of color droughts in our garden or hit an excellent garden sale that we break with our palette, and then the garden can slowly devolve into something a little wild and wooly.  That said, if you feel you're ready to make a change and take a more disciplined approach to what you plant in your flower garden, then Jo's book will be a fantastic resource. Jo is a color master - a purveyor of color palettes. She serves up 100 palette options and then identifies the plants you should be scouting to make your palette a reality. The photos in this book are incredibly inspiring and beautifully illustrate why the colors work so well together in a garden. Garden's Illustrated recently shared Jo's top five favorite color combos. Her picks included the following: Tutti Fruitti is bright magentas, and fizzing oranges delight as they catch the eye. Sherberts offers mouthwatering sherbet colors work softly with each other to create a feel that at the same time both look backward and forwards, bringing with their soft tones both familiarity and excitement. Wine, peach, and coral is a combination of colors that work together and create surprising harmony due to the surprising tones that they share deep within their petals. Pink is a garden classic. This shade resonates in the memory. Soft and pretty, elegant, a color that stops us in our tracks. Green & White: Green and white is the freshness of morning light, the elegance of midday light, and the serenity of the light in the evening. A gentle palette that is timeless in its appeal.   This book is 388-pages of 100 different palette options for your garden, along with beautifully inspiring images, plant selections, and Jo's personal design preferences and tips. You can get a copy of The Gardener's Palette by Jo Thompson and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $40.   Botanic Spark 1907 Birth of Robert Heinlein, American science-fiction writer. Robert is remembered for his classic book, Stranger in a Strange Land (1961). Robert wrote many wonderful euphemisms, like this humorous quote, Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.   But Robert also appreciated the power and beauty of nature. In Time Enough for Love (1979), Robert wrote, Money is a powerful aphrodisiac. But flowers work almost as well.   In The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1988), Robert wrote, “Butterflies are not insects," Captain John Sterling said soberly. "They are self-propelled flowers."   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

  Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events   1686  Birth of Antoine de Jussieu ("Ann-twan do Jyou-sue"), French naturalist, botanist, and physician. Born in Lyon, Antoine was the son of an apothecary.  After touring Spain, Portugal, and southern France with his brother Bernard, he went to Paris and ultimately succeeded Joseph Pitton de Tournefort as director of the royal gardens.  In 1713, Antoine shared the first scientific reference to coffee with the Royal Academy of Sciences of France. He called it Jasminum arabicanum, but Carl Linneaus gave the official botanical classification forty years later in 1753. Antoine once wrote about finding plant fossils in a quarry. I observed on most collected stones the imprints of innumerable plant fragments which were so different from those which are growing in the Lyonnais, in the nearby provinces, and even in the rest of France, that I felt like collecting plants in a new world...  The number of these leaves, the way they separated easily, and the great variety of plants whose imprints I saw, appeared to me... as many volumes of botany... [in] the oldest library of the world.   1865 On this day, members of the John Wesley Powell expedition raided a garden on an island in the Green just above the mouth of the White River. The expedition had just thrown out more spoiled food, and the group faced the constant fear of hunger. In Powell of the Colorado (2015), William Culp Darrah wrote, Fresh fruit had been mighty scarce and the temptation to steal some greens was irresistible. The Major, Andy, and Bill Dunn filled their arms with young beets, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. The men rowed a few miles down the river and paused to enjoy the stolen fruit. Of course the season was not advanced enough to yield sizable vegetables, so Andy cooked up the whole mess as greens. It was a not-quite-unpleasant stew. After eating their fill and disposing of the remainder, the men resumed the journey. They had not gone a mile before all hands except Bradley and Howland were violently nauseated. Bradley explained that the potato tops were so bitter he had not eaten any. The Major said their illness was caused by a narcotic in the potato leaves, but Hall swore that it was all his fault; in their haste he had only half-cooked the stuff. Sumner wrote in his diary, "We all learned one lesson--never to rob gardens."   1887 Birth of Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal)(books about this person), Russian-French artist of Belarus. He was an early modernist and created in various formats, including paintings, drawings, stained glass, ceramics, and tapestries, among many others. The art critic Robert Hughes called Chagall "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."  And Pablo Picasso once said, When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is.   It was Marc Chagall himself who once wrote, Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers – and never succeeding.   1907 Birth of Frida Kahlo (books about this person), Mexican painter. Frida is remembered for her portraits, self-portraits, and work inspired by Mexican nature and artifacts. She once wrote, I paint flowers so they will not die.   She also wrote, I wish I could do whatever I liked behind the curtain of “madness”.  Then I’d arrange flowers, all day long.  I’d paint pain, love and tenderness.  I would laugh as much as I feel like at the stupidity of others, and they would all say: “Poor thing, she’s crazy!   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Guide by Jenny Rose Carey  This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Simple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces. In this book, Jenny Rose Carey is essentially teaching a master class on ornamental gardening. If you are looking for ways to add interest, color combinations that are guaranteed to work instead of clash, and how to incorporate favorite blossoms or aspects of flowers, you'll find everything you're looking for in this very inspiring and jam-packed book on all kinds of beautiful flowers. Most flower experts teach color first. Jenny brings new dimensions into play - namely shape and texture. But Jenny's focus on texture and shape works surprisingly well - especially if you are someone who struggles with color in the garden. Shape and texture are two often overlooked floral elements, but they are equally important as color in garden design. Without shape and texture, gardens would lack that sense of excitement, mystery, and magnetism that exist in our most beloved gardens. Jenny also does a great job of keeping today's gardener in mind. She selected the annuals and perennials that she recommends in her book based on their ease of care, appeal to pollinators, and wildlife friendliness.  This book is 364 pages of beautiful flower gardening all season long - no matter how big or small your space - giving you the confidence you need to make flowers the focus of your dream garden. You can get a copy of The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Guide by Jenny Rose Carey and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $27.   Botanic Spark 1932 Death of Kenneth Grahame, Edwardian British writer, and conservationist. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Kenneth is most famous for The Wind in the Willows (1908), one of the classics of children's literature. The book celebrates nature, friendship, loyalty, and adventure among four anthropomorphizing animals: Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger. Kenneth had a lifelong appreciation of nature and landscapes.  Throughout Kenneth's life, the beauty of nature was a balm to his many sorrows, including the death of his mom and alcoholic father. When he was five, after his mom died, Kenneth and his siblings went to live with their grandmother, who lived in an old, dilapidated house with a huge attic to explore and an entire garden to play in. The garden backed up to willows that framed the shores of the Thames river and would later serve as the inspiration for the setting of The Wind in the Willows. During his miserable married life, Kenneth once confided in his wife that he felt a better understanding of nature and wildlife than of his own species, writing, I like most of my friends among the animals more than I like most of my friends among mankind. As a father, Kenneth began telling the story of The Wind in the Willows in installments at bedtime and in letters to his only son, Alastair, who Kenneth nicknamed "Mouse."    In the story, Kenneth wrote of 'the pageant of the river bank,' referring to the array of wildflowers in bloom: purple- and white-flowered comfrey, willow-herb, purple loosestrife, dog roses, and meadowsweet. Throughout his life, Kenneth's favorite indulgence was reading books in his garden. Sadly, Mouse's life story was tragic. He grew up battling chronic illness and blindness in one eye. He had challenging behaviors and was bullied in school. After his struggles grew worse in college, Alastair committed suicide at 19. At his funeral, Kenneth scattered lilies of the valley over his coffin. For twelve long years, Kenneth lived out the rest of his days with his wife. Kenneth never got over the loss of his darling Mouse, and he stopped writing altogether. Aside from lengthy trips to Italy to avoid friends and family,  Kenneth and his wife lived reclusively in their house along a riverbank until Kenneth's death from a stroke on this day in 1932. At Kenneth's funeral, the church was decorated with gifts of willow branches and flowers from children across England. Kenneth was buried next to his beloved Mouse in the cemetery at St. Cross Church.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1848 Birth of Paul Gauguin (books about this person), one of the leading French painters of the Postimpression- ist period. Born in Paris, Paul Gauguin was a self-taught painter. He was also a rugged individualist, and his incredible talent helped introduce Primitivism to the art world. His best primitive work was created on his 1895 trip to Tahiti - a place he would spend the rest of his life. Flora and fauna of the landscape feature prominently in most of his Tahitian art. Paul was obsessed with art, and he once wrote, Color! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.   After Van Gogh rented a yellow house in Arles, he invited Gauguin to visit. In preparation for his stay, Van Gogh painted 'Poet's Garden' in the bedroom Gauguin was to stay in. The painting depicts the public garden across from the Yellow House.  Van Gogh filled the rest of the house with paintings of sunflowers. When Gauguin arrived, he painted his friend, Van Gogh, painting sunflowers.  For nine weeks, the two men painted, and when they weren't painting, they fought. In fact, during one of their final arguments, Gauguin was supposedly sliced off Van Gogh's ear with a sword. Paul was more diverse in terms of his subjects. He didn't exclusively paint florals. Once when he was in a creative lull, he wrote, When I am able to paint again, if I have no imagination, I shall do some studies of flowers . . . . It is a great pleasure for me.   1878 On this day, Fisk Bangs wrote about his blooming White Mustard in the American Bee Journal Volume 14. It began to bloom about June 7th and lasted nearly eight months. The bees commenced work on the 11th. On the 19th, the bees were so thick that their hum sounded something like Prof. Cook's buzz-saw, lacking the screech. This is one of the best honey plants, and I think its bloom call be easily regulated... to have it come after Basswood.   1935 Death of Ivan Michurin (books about this person), Russian botanist and plant breeder. A Russian horticulturist and a Master of selection, Ivan was an Honorable Member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Throughout his life, Ivan created all sorts of fruit plants. He introduced over 300 new varieties and was often called the Russian Luther Burbank.  Ivan started out working on the railroad. His job riding the rails allowed him to visit many famous gardens and nurseries across Russia. His informal nursery tour inspired Ivan to start a fruit tree nursery in 1888. Ivan was maniacally focused on improving fruit, and by doing so, he selected the best examples and used them to improve the next generation. And although Russian would not support his work, they made sure that Ivan could never leave the country. The last thing Russia wanted was for Ivan to bring his work to the United States, where many scientists recognized the value of Ivan's work early on. Although the 1917 October Revolution hurt many land owners and farmers forced to give up their land to Mother Russia, Lenin liked Ivan. With Nikolai Vavilov's encouragement, Ivan's work was protected as intellectual property of the Russian government. Today, Ivan's most famous creation is the Antonovka or 'The People's Apple.' It was Ivan Michurin who said, We cannot wait for gifts from Nature. To take them from her – that is our task. (Translation my own.)   2013 On this day, Jane Green planted zucchini in her garden. Then, she wrote about her zucchini in a lovely little article called Conquering the Zucchini Beast.  Here's an excerpt: Something's always happening in a garden Upon entering the garden {on the morning of the 4th of July], [my dog] Tootie and I found that our four zucchini plants were in full bloom, and lo and behold, one plant had already popped out a nice-sized fruit. What a stupendous treat! And to think that had planted my garden on the 7th of June, and that I already had a zucchini fruit to enjoy on the 4th of July. What a cause for a celebration! Of course, 1 did cheat just a teensy little bit because I planted zucchini plants and not zucchini seeds this year. But, hey, it was still an awesome experience for me. With the glorious discovery of a zucchini fruit just waiting to be harvested, my saliva juices kicked into full capacity mode and my brain cells started conjuring up all sorts of yummy zucchini dishes to prepare. For instance: making zucchini bread or zucchini relish or zucchini cake or zucchini brownies or preparing a wonderful zucchini hot dish! Yum! I call this zucchini mania time because there are so many foods you can make with zucchini that you don't know which one to make first.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker by Susan Wittig Albert This book is a brand new release today, June 7th, 2022, and this is a fiction book. Here's what the publisher wrote about Susan's book: It’s Labor Day weekend, 1935, and members of the Darling Dahlias―the garden club in little Darling, Alabama―are trying to keep their cool at the end of a sizzling summer. This isn’t easy, though, since there’s a firebug on the loose in Darling. He―or she!―strikes without apparent rhyme or reason, and things have gotten to the point where nobody feels safe. What’s more, a dangerous hurricane is poised to hurl itself in Darling’s direction, while a hurricane of a different sort is making a whirlwind campaign stop: the much-loved-much-hated senator from Louisiana, Huey P. Long, whom President Roosevelt calls the “most dangerous man in America.” Add Ophelia Snow’s secret heartthrob, Liz Lacy’s Yankee lover, and the Magnolia Ladies’ garden of red hot pokers, fire-red salvia, and hot pink cosmos, and you have a volatile mix that might just burst into flames at any moment. Author Susan Wittig Albert has brought us another delightful assortment of richly human characters who face the challenges of the Great Depression with courage and grace. Her books remind us that friends offer the best of themselves to each other, community is what holds us together, and even when life seems too hot to handle, there’s always hope. This book is 280 pages of some fun Southern garden fiction, And it's the perfect book to read after a long day in the garden. P.S. I have to point out that one of my favorite books is by Susan, and it's called the China Bayles' Book of Daysbecause it's a day-by-day book and has tons of garden information in it. My copy is positively dogeared, almost every single page. So, Susan, I'm a huge fan. You can get a copy of The Darling Dahlias and the Red Hot Poker by Susan Wittig Albert and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $18.   Botanic Spark 1954 Birth of Louise Erdich (books about this person), American author and gardener. A Minnesota-born native American, Louise has written many wonderful books that generally include a snippet or two about the garden.  From The Beet Queen: I love plants. For the longest time I thought that they died without pain. But of course after I had argued with Mary she showed me clippings on how plants went into shock when pulled up by their roots, and even uttered something indescribable, like panic, a drawn-out vowel only registered on special instruments. Still, I love their habit of constant return. I don't like cut flowers. Only the ones that grow in the ground. From Makoons: The family took all the seeds from the garden and then they buried Nokomis there, deeply, wrapped in her blanket with gifts and tobacco for the spirit world. They buried her simply. There was no stone, no grave house, nothing to mark where she lay except the exuberant and drying growth of her garden. Nokomis had said: I do not need a marker of my passage, for my creator knows where I am. I do not want anyone to cry. I lived a good life, my hair turned to snow, I saw my great-grandchildren, I grew my garden. That is all.   From The Blue Jay's Dance: Full of the usual blights, mistakes, ruinous beetles and parasites, glorious for one week, bedraggled the next, my actual garden is always a mixed bag. As usual, it will fall far short of the imagined perfection. It is a chore. Hard work. I'll by turns aggressively weed and ignore it. The ground I tend sustains me in early summer, but the garden of the spirit is the place I go when the wind howls. This lush and fragrant expectation has a longer growing season than the plot of earth I'll hoe for the rest of the year. Raised in the mind's eye, nurtured by the faithful composting of orange rinds and tea leaves and ideas, it is finally the wintergarden that produces the true flowering, the saving vision.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1648 On this day, Elias Ashmole (books about this person), the English antiquary, politician, astrologer, and alchemist, wrote in his diary, Having entered upon a study this day about three o'clock was the first time I went a simpling; Dr: Carter of Reding and Mr. Watling an Apothecary there, accompanying me. To go "a simpling" was an early term for botanizing. People would gather "simples" or medicinal plants, so Elias went out with a Dr. Carter and an Apothecary. They were no doubt looking for herbal remedies.   1816 During June, in New England, six inches of snow fell. The entire year of 1816 was freezing. Every month of the year 1816 had a hard frost. Temperatures dropped to 40 degrees in July and August as far south as Connecticut. This is known as 'The Year Without a Summer' in New England. The weather anomalies originated from the volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora the previous year. The enormous volcanic explosion in recorded history spewed small particles that were light enough to spread over the atmosphere the following year. The impact on the world's climate was profound. The earth's temperature dropped an average of three degrees Celsius across the globe. On the bright side, the terrible summer of 1816 served as an inspiration to many writers. In Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein while on vacation with her husband, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and the poet Lord Byron. Thanks to nonstop rain and gray skies, the three writers had been stuck inside for days. On the same trip, Lord Byron wrote Darkness, his poem that begins, I had a dream, which was not all a dream.  The bright sun was extinguished.   1864 On this day, the famous American writer and political reporter, John Beauchamp Jones ("Bo-shamp"), wrote in his journal: Clear and hot, but with a fine breeze-southwest. Yesterday, I learn, both sides buried the dead...  What a war, and for what?   And then, after giving some updates from the battlefield, John wrote: Small heads of early York cabbage sold in market to-day at $3, or $5 for two. At that rate, I got about $10 worth out of my garden.  Mine are excellent, and so far abundant, as well as the lettuce, which we have every day.  My snap beans and beets will soon come on.  The little garden is a little treasure.   John Beauchamp Jones was born in Maryland and served as a Confederate soldier during the Civil War.   2022 National Garden Exercise Day Gardening is a workout. Gardening is therapeutic on so many levels. The physical aspect of gardening is quite demanding and is an excellent way to build muscle and burn calories. And for many garden podcast listeners, the brain is engaged as well - learning about new plants, techniques, or general garden info. Today and every day in your garden, make sure to stay hydrated and make a point of gardening that promotes good health - take breaks, stretch, use garden chairs, add elevated beds, etc. Be careful living heavy items and tuck some bandaids, bee sting relief (like an epi-pen or Benedryl), and betadine in your garden tote. You never know when you might need a little first aid in the garden. Happy gardening!! It's National Garden Exercise day!   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley  This book came out in 2009, but this is one of the best when it comes to tree-reference books. This book has over 500 five-star reviews on Amazon, and it's easy to see why — this book is laid out in such an accessible way. It's effortless to use. I keep one tucked in my garden bench in the garage because I love keeping this guide handy. And I should mention that the reason it's called the Sibley Guide to Trees is that it's written by David Alan Sibley. If that name's familiar, it's because he is the bird guide, author, and illustrator. So you have those side-by-side skills of bird identification and tree identification — and they just go together. David Sibley applies the same approach that he used with birds for the equally complex subject of tree identification. And if trees are a challenge for you, you will definitely appreciate the over 4,000 illustrations in this guide. And I had to chuckle just a little bit after reading an Amazon Q&A with David Alan Sibley about this book. They asked him, Were there significant differences in writing this book vs. the Guide to Birds? I got a kick out of David's answer: The obvious difference is that trees are much easier to find. When I needed to study a particular species of tree I could just walk right up to it and spend as much time investigating it as I needed. Birds are more elusive. I had to spend years in the field in order to build up enough observation time to draw them well.   I thought David's response was such a clue to the rest of us regarding tree identification because David spends time with trees. I can't tell you how many people I've helped identify a tree over the years after they spent a mere one or two seconds looking at a single leaf. Trees can offer us many more clues than just their leaf for identification. And this leads to another question that Amazon asked David: What would you say to someone who is a beginner at tree identification?  David said, The first thing I suggest is to spend some time with the guide. Try to become familiar with the characteristics of certain trees. Then go through the book and mark all the species that occur in your area. This will help you become familiar with the range of species that could be present so when you see an odd leaf shape, fruit, flower, bark pattern, etc.--even if you can’t remember the name--you can remember seeing it in the guide. Since trees are so easy to approach, you can simply take a photo of the key parts of any tree, or pick up a leaf or other part that has fallen on the ground, and identify it at your leisure. They key identifiers will always be the shape, color and size of leaves; the color and shape of twigs; the color and texture of bark; and the tree’s overall size and shape as well as habitat, any fruit or flowers, and the timing of seasonal changes. For example, in late May in the northeast, if you see a pale-barked tree with small silvery leaves just emerging (while other trees have well-developed green leaves) you can be virtually certain that is a Bigtooth Aspen. A multi-trunked, spreading tree in wetter soils, with clusters of straw-colored fruit hanging from the twigs all winter, is almost certainly a female Boxelder.   So a couple of great examples from David on tree identification and some great tips to keep in mind. Tree ID is often way more than just looking at a single leaf. Take your time. Look at all the different aspects of the tree and take tons of pictures. And now, with the iPhone, you can take a picture of any plant or any part of a plant, any leaf, and then press a little info icon, and then it will ask you right there if you want help with plant identification. That particular part of the photos app for me has been beneficial — and, I have to say, surprisingly accurate. So be sure to give that a try if you haven't yet. This book is 426 pages of tree identification highlighting over 600 tree species. And it's one of my favorite guides. You can get a copy of The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $17.   Botanic Spark 1925 Birth of Maxine Kumin ("Cue-men") (books by this author), America Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, novelist, children's author, and gardener. Maxine often incorporated garden themes into her work. She once wrote these words in her poems History Lesson,  That a man may be free of his ghosts he must return to them like a garden. He must put his hands in the sweet rot uprooting the turnips, washing them tying them into bundles and shouldering the whole load to market.   Any gardener who has battled a woodchuck will appreciate Maxine's poem, Woodchucks. This poem was written after Maxine had to battle a family of woodchucks that had invaded her vegetable garden. In the poem, Maxine examines how everyday people can find themselves in a murderous mindset. Gassing the woodchucks didn't turn out right. The knockout bomb from the Feed and Grain Exchange was featured as merciful, quick at the bone and the case we had against them was airtight, both exits shoehorned shut with puddingstone, but they had a sub-sub-basement out of range. Next morning they turned up again, no worse for the cyanide than we for our cigarettes and state-store Scotch, all of us up to scratch. They brought down the marigolds as a matter of course and then took over the vegetable patch nipping the broccoli shoots, beheading the carrots. The food from our mouths, I said, righteously thrilling to the feel of the .22, the bullets' neat noses. I, a lapsed pacifist fallen from grace puffed with Darwinian pieties for killing, now drew a bead on the little woodchuck's face. He died down in the everbearing roses.   In July 1998, Maxine was gravely injured when her horse bolted at a carriage-driving clinic. To the surprise of her doctors, Maxine managed to survive the ordeal and wrote a book about the time she spent "inside the halo," which kept her head immobilized as she endured weeks of recovery and rehab. In her 2001 book called, Inside the Halo and Beyond: The Anatomy of a Recovery, Maxine wrote, Keeping the garden going becomes for the family a way of keeping me going.  Every morning Judith climbs the hill above the farmhouse to where my fenced garden is situated, just below the pond. Everything here is grown organically. The plants thrive in a soil heavily amended with rotted horse manure and are mulched with spoiled hay. The walkways are papered with old grain bags and then covered with pine needles. It has taken years to achieve this orderly oasis, which somehow compensates for my disorderly desk drawers and the chaos of my closet. In my suburban past, I had only a few self-seeding petunias and cosmos to deal with. The yard was shady; dandelions dotted the grass. To my indifferent eye, it looked adequately tidy. But when we acquired the farm, I gradually began to see another landscape entirely. Wild asparagus appeared, waving their ferny fronds in unexpected places. In a small sunny clearing, rhubarb emerged. Garlic chives sent up little white blossoms along the house foundation and great unkillable clumps of chives with fat purple blooms ran rampant around them. Clusters of what resembled sunflowers proved to be edible Jerusalem artichokes. The first time Victor mowed the area we were slowly restoring to lawn, the wonderful pungency of fresh thyme arose from the nubbly "grass." This season, it is Judith who daily inspects my seven thirty-foot-long raised beds for insect depredation.  Whatever needs picking - broccoli, cauliflower, early green beans, lettuce, radishes, the last of the peas - she takes down to the house to be dealt with. The surplus is blanched and frozen for the winter ahead. The tomatoes are not quite ready; the corn, cucumbers, and summer squashes are still ripening, but soon there will be that gratifying mountain of veggies, the benevolent tyranny I always strive to stay abreast of, pickling, canning, and freezing. A poem of mine in praise of gardens ends [with these words]: O children, my wayward jungly dears you are all to be celebrated plucked, transplanted, tilled under, resurrected here even the lowly despised purslane, chickweed, burdock, poke, wild poppies. For all of you, whether eaten or extirpated I plan to spend the rest of my life on my knees.   Maxine died in February of 2014 at the age of 88.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1731 Birth of Martha Washington (books about this person), the inaugural first lady of the United States. At Mount Vernon, Martha was in charge of the kitchen garden. As mistress of the plantation, she was in charge of entertaining guests and planning the evening meal. This meant that a robust kitchen garden was an absolute necessity. Thus, the kitchen garden is the oldest garden at Mount Vernon. It was installed in 1760, and the grounds have produced edibles now for over 250 years. So while other areas of Mount Vernon have gone through some changes, the kitchen garden or the lower garden remains primarily unchanged from how it was initially used back when the Washingtons lived there. Now George and Martha spent a great deal of time away from the estate. And whenever George Washington would send letters back to Mount Vernon, the last paragraph was reserved for instructions from Martha to the gardener about the kitchen garden. Martha would ask about different crops and suggest planting or collecting seeds. Martha really was a knowledgeable plantswoman, and when it came to the kitchen garden, she was not afraid to make suggestions or changes. Martha knew that the kitchen garden was a reflection of her As George's wife and as the president's wife. And when George and Martha were at Mount Vernon, they hosted an average of 600 guests every single year. And most of those people enjoyed supper at the plantation, and the meal No Doubt featured produce from the kitchen garden. William Spence was the gardener at Mount Vernon. He continued working at Mount Vernon after George Washington's death. In addition, William was s a witness to Martha Washington's will, which he signed on September 22, 1800.   1874 On this day, Ann Pamela Cunningham, founder of the MVLA, gave her farewell address MVLA stands for the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which was founded in 1853. In 1858, less than five years later, this group of indomitable women purchased Mount Vernon from the George Washington family. By so doing, they saved George Washington's eighteenth-century plantation home from development or destruction. Together with encouragement from tourists, the MVLA worked to restore the home and grounds to their full glory.  Ann spoke of the need for continued work in her address: Ladies, the home of Washington is in your charge see to it that you keep It the home of Washington!  Let no irreverent hand change it; let no vandal hands desecrate it with the fingers of "progress"!  Let one spot, in this grand country of ours, be saved from change. Upon you rests this duty.   Today we can say definitively that Ann's advice was followed. Washington's home is in top condition along with the outbuildings and the grounds. The greenhouse, which was in a fire in 1835, was fully restored in 1952. To preserve Washington's view of the Potomac, the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association purchased nearly 500 acres on the other side of the Potomac River, thanks to Mrs. Frances Payne Bolton. The latter ended up organizing one of the country's earliest land trusts. When it came to Mount Vernon, George Washington always dreamed of a fine landscape and beautiful gardens. Many enslaved people and trained gardeners made his dream a reality. George hired his first gardener in 1762. A decade later, he posted an ad that said, "a good Kitchen Gardener is what I want." After seeing the one that Margaret Tilghman Carroll installed at her home, Mount Clare, near Baltimore, George added a greenhouse. In turn, Margaret sent the plans and some plants to help the Washingtons christen their greenhouse. In 1799, one guest at Mount Vernon wrote, "[There] I saw ...English grapes, oranges, limes, and lemons... as well as a great variety of plants and flowers... exquisite in their perfume and delightful to the eye..."   1893 On this day, a witty, thoughtful, and upright citizen of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, Stephen Sears wrote in his journal about his garden.  Stephen kept a journal for posterity, and nature entries are sprinkled throughout his writings in between notes on work, worship, and family.  Stephen was a Sunday School teacher, and he wrote that he thought it was "the best thing I can do for the coming generation." On this day in 1893, Stephen was 71 years old. He built a cage around a tree and burned caterpillars. He must have thought them destructive (maybe tent caterpillars?) That spring, he had "plowed [the] garden and planted peas."   On June 6, he noted that "summer is here, hot and dry," and then he "transplanted [his] tomato vines and hoed [his] watermelons." Almost every day, Stephen worked in his garden. He watered daily and occasionally added seaweed as a fertilizer. On June 17, after three weeks of no rain, Stephen wrote, "The ground is wet again, and vegetation smiles."  At the end of the month, he was clearly frustrated with one particular garden pest: potato bugs. Stephen wrote,  If I were to offer [a] sacrifice to the Devil it [w]ould be potato bugs in Lager Beer. .   2003 On this day, an Iraqi scientist named Mahdi Obeidi led US officials, including David Kay, out to his rose garden.  Over a decade earlier, in February of 1992, Uday Hussein had told Mahdi Obeidi to hide all the evidence of Iraq's efforts to pursue a nuclear program. So Mahdi gathered up his documents and prototypes and packed them in a fifty-gallon drum. Then Mahdi buried the drum beneath a lotus tree in his backyard. The entire stash remained there undisturbed until America declared war on Iraq. Mahdi's story became a book called, The Bomb in My Garden and tells how Saddam Hussein pursued nukes only to be thwarted by his invasion of Kuwait and honorable people in his own government. After the fall of Baghdad, Dr. Obeidi felt it was finally safe to reveal the secret he had buried in his garden, under a lotustree, no less. Lotus trees have a long history and are known scientifically as the Ziziphus lotus.  In Greek mythology, in the Odyssey, the Lotus tree fruit was eaten by the Lotus-Eaters to make them sleepy and to create a false sense of peace and apathy.  It was said Romulus planted a sacred Lotus near the temple of Vulcan and that it was still standing seven centuries later, in the time of Pliny the Elder. The English explorer Richard Francis Burton saw a lotus on his travels through the middle east. The Lotus leaves were used to wash the bodies of the dead, and the fruit was sold as a cash crop to travelers. Today the Lotus tree is used as fodder and for hedges. The thorny branches create an effective barrier. The flowers are a favorite of pollinators of all kinds.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Where We Bloom by Debra Prinzing This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is Thirty-Seven Intimate, Inventive and Artistic Studio Spaces Where Floral Passions Find a Place to Blossom. The publisher writes, Step inside the places where flowers come to life. Slow Flowers Society founder Debra Prinzing's new book showcases the beautiful plant- and flower-filled settings of Slow Flowers designers, farmer-florists, and growers. Each environment reflects the personality and aesthetic style of its owner, offering great ideas to inspire the design, organization, and functionality of your creative studio. Visit their spaces and read about their floral passions.   Debra profiles thirty-seven studio spaces for floral aficionados of all kinds in this book. Here's how she introduces Lori Poliski's Woodinville, Washington, modern homestead - a former horse barn converted into a studio with function and beauty in mind: Lori Poliski was a gardener long before she formed Flori, her design studio based in a suburb of Seattle.  She has made posies and arrangements since she was five, drawing from roots that began on a family farm in New Jersey where her mother grew lilacs, peonies, and roses.  Lori worked for a flower shop in the Bay Area after college and later, during a technology career, she continued to design flowers for family and friends' weddings. In 2017, she formalized a business, naming the studio "Flori" ...and rhymes with her name.  Lori said, "My husband designed my first business card and it read: "Garden-style Bowers for small weddings and events." The frustration of producing wedding flowers in a garage filled with sports equipment and bicycles inspired dreams of having a dedicated design space. Lori's solution? A 12-by-24-foot covered storage area at one end of the horse barn where three animals also are stabled. The space now has two sets of white French dooms and windows, which look charming against the blue-gray shingle siding, complete with striped awning, I can only imagine how fun it was for Debra to roam the country scouting these 37 flower-filled locations for her book. All the stories and the people behind these magical spaces are a true joy to discover. If you are thinking about creating or redoing a floral space of your own - a simple she shed or a little corner in the garage or attic, well, then you'll find plenty of inspiration in the spaces profiled in Debra's book. This book is 127 pages of pure eye candy and dreams made real for modern floral artists and creatives. You can get a copy of Where We Bloom by Debra Prinzing and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $9.   Botanic Spark 1962 Death of Vita Sackville-West (books by this author) English author, and garden designer.  In 1960, Vita wrote of her marriage and death: ..now in our advancing age, we love each other more deeply than ever, and also more agonizingly, since we see the inevitable end. It is not nice to know that one of us must die before the other.   Vita died first. Three weeks later, Harold wrote, Oh Vita, I have wept buckets for you.   Vita Sackville-West was a talented and complex woman. An excellent writer, Vita found success as a poet, writer, and broadcaster. After she and Harold purchased Sissinghurst, Vita became one of the most influential gardeners of her time. For over twenty years, they worked together to create a garden where none ever grew before. And for over a decade, she wrote a weekly column about her life as a gardener at Sissinghurst for the Observer. Vita was at once relatable, admirable, witty, and removed.  Vita knew love and loss in her personal life and had relationships with both women and men, but through it, all Harold remained the true north of her heart.  Today the fruit of their labor and their shared dream, Sissinghurst, is beloved worldwide, and Vita's garden wisdom still holds sway.  In her book called The Garden, Vita wrote, I tried to hold the courage of my ways In that which might endure, Daring to find a world in a lost world, A little world, a little perfect world… And in her Poems of West & East, Vita wrote a loving tribute to their efforts at Sissinghurst in a poem called The Garden. We owned a garden on a hill, We planted rose and daffodil, Flowers that English poets sing, And hoped for glory in the Spring. We planted yellow hollyhocks, And humble sweetly-smelling stocks, And columbine for carnival, And dreamt of Summer's festival. And Autumn not to be outdone As heiress of the summer sun, Should doubly wreathe her tawny head With poppies and with creepers red. We waited then for all to grow, We planted wallflowers in a row. And lavender and borage blue, - Alas! we waited, I and you, But love was all that ever grew.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1785 It was on this day that Noah Webster (books about this person) (of Webster's dictionary fame) boarded a little ship named George in Baltimore. When the ship stopped in Norfolk, Virginia, Noah ate some cherries for the very first time. He must have liked them because he later added cherry trees to his orchard. Noah Webster was a fierce gardener. He enjoyed his time in the garden, and he planted all kinds of vegetables, like parsnips, carrots, cucumbers, beets, and potatoes. In fact, in his dictionary, Noah Webster defined potatoes as, one of the cheapest and most nourishing vegetables. And then he got a little spiritual about the potato. Noah wrote, In the British dominions and in the United States, the potato has proved to be one of the greatest blessings bestowed on man by the Creator.   Noah Webster was also a fan of farming. He called farming, the most necessary, the most healthy, the most innocent, and the most agreeable employment of men.   Noah Webster had a property in Amhurst, and over the years, he gradually acquired the land around his property until he had around ten acres. On this land. Noah built a barn. He had a chaise house, and he also planted a magnificent garden. Everyone in Amhurst knew that Noah Webster's orchard was the best in the town. Noah grew pears. He had apple trees and peach trees - and even grew sweet white grapes,   1859 From The Diary of Calvin Fletcher, American attorney who became a prominent banker, farmer, and state senator in Indianapolis, Indiana This a beautiful day.  My early corn one foot high.  Early potatoes set for blossom.  Early tomatoes six and eight inches high.  Grapes in full blossom. Strawberrys Ditto.  Two messes of green peas.  The grass in the yard cut one week ago.  Raspberrys nearly full grown. Currants ditto former good size latter small.     1888 Birth of Henry Beston (books by this author), American writer and naturalist. Last week I discovered Henry Beston when I researched his wife, the writer, and poet, Elizabeth Coatsworth (books by this author). I have to say it was a thrill getting to know both of them. Henry is best remembered for his book The Outermost House (1928). Henry wrote the book during the year spent on the Great Beach of Cape Cod. He isolated himself in a house on the beach and devoted himself to writing about life along the shore. Henry wrote his book in longhand at a kitchen table. During this year, when Henry was sequestered in this house, he actually met his future wife, Elizabeth, at a garden party. Later on, when he proposed marriage to Elizabeth, She told him, "No book. No marriage". So that was an extra incentive for Henry to finish his book. Now Henry and Elizabeth went on to have two little girls.  Their daughter, Kate Barnes (books by this author), became a respected author and poet in her own right. Here's a little excerpt from her poem called Old Roses, which is about how her parents met. Kate wrote, When my father met my mother at a dinner party in a garden of very old roses on Beacon Hill one hot evening in early June, he said to his friend, F. Morton Smith, that night, "Morton, I have met the girl I'm going to marry!" (We have Uncle Morton's testimony for that, the certified word of a Boston lawyer.) My mother said my father had looked handsome, yes, and talked delightfully, but what she remembered were the mosquitoes. "If you stopped slapping at them, even for a second, you were eaten up alive."   Henry wrote many different books. Of course, most of them are about nature, but there was one garden book that caught my attention, and it's called Herbs and the Earth. And in this book, Henry wrote. A garden of herbs, is a garden of things loved for themselves in their wholeness and integrity. It is not a garden of flowers, but a garden of plants which are sometimes very lovely flowers and are always more than flowers.   Isn't that a great quote about herbs? The more I read about Henry Beston, the more it became apparent that Henry was a profound thinker and thought about gardening on a much deeper level.  I think it's because Henry was so grounded in the tenants of nature.  Listen to how Henry describes watering plants. This is a perspective that I have not heard before. Henry wrote. If gardeners will forget a little the phrase, "watering the plants" and think of watering as a matter of "watering the earth" under the plants, keeping up its moisture content and gauging. its need, the garden will get on very well.    And isn't that the truth?  Here's a delightful little quote by Henry. It's about. Fall: The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.   1968 Death of Helen Keller (books about this person), American author, disability rights advocate, and lecture.  Helen lost both her sight and hearing when she was a little toddler at the age of 19 months. In the years before she met her excellent teacher, she would turn to nature whenever she was frustrated. She was like her father in that way; they both enjoyed being outdoors. And the Keller family garden was a place where Helen could go to find solace. Helen once wrote. People often have no idea how fair the flour is to the touch. Nor do they appreciate its fragrance, which is the soul of the flower.   And Helen also wrote, I feel the delightful velvety texture of a flower and discover its remarkable convolutions and something of the miracle of nature is revealed to me. Helen's favorite flower was the peony. If you think about holding a peony and the fragrance of the peony, it's no wonder why that flower had a special appeal to Helen. Helen once said, Since my childhood, I have adored them and have been glad each spring. When the miracle of their bloom.has been wrought again.   In 1961, Helen Keller retired from public life, and she spent the last seven years of her life walking in her garden and reading books. After Helen died of a heart attack on June 1st, 1968, her ashes were placed beside her dear friend and teacher, Annie Sullivan, at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. Helen was once asked if she believed. In heaven. She replied, Most certainly.  It is no more than passing from one room into another.  But there's a difference for me.  Because in the other room, I will be able to see.      Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Pig by Robin Hutson This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is Tales and Recipes from the Kitchen Garden and Beyond. Tom Parker Bowles raved, The Pig revolutionised the country house hotel, creating a true rooms home away from hame. No pomp or pretence, just beautiful and magnificent food with produce from their own kitchen gardens. Where The Pig goes, the others follow. From the publisher: A stylish, practical guide to living the good life. Among the pages of The Pig, you will find an idiosyncratic, seasonal approach to the good life, with delicious recipes, how-to guides, lists, panels, and stories. Chapters include one called Out in the Garden - The benefits of growing 12 types of mint- An essay on "the sweetness of carrots"- How to make your own sack garden- Recipe for the Gardener's sandwich   Here's how Robin introduces his restaurant, The Pig, and the journey he's been on these past dozen years. We opened The Pig back in July 2011, although in some respects it feels like a whole lot longer ago than that.  One thing's for sure - we've learnt a lot along the way in those few years. For a start, we've become experts in growing our own and making the most of what we produce. We know how to seek out small artisan producers and work with them to bring some amazing ingredients to the table. We've discovered how to keep bees and make delicious honey. A nd we've even perfected the art of building smokehouses - now we smoke everything in sight, from salmon and salt to beetroot and beef. Beyond the kitchen and garden, we've worked out how to infuse just about anything into gin and vodka and have become past masters at upcycling junk-shop treasures.  The purpose of this book is to share with you some of these discoveries.   If you have visions of a working kitchen garden on a grand scale, listen as Robin tells us what it takes to make it all work at The Pig. We'd heard horrible stories of kitchen gardens at other hotels where the garden produce was left to perish in the soil because there was no shared vision between the chef and the gardener, so we knew this relationship was key. Happily, we've seen no such sorry sights in our gardens. In fact, the bond between garden and kitchen - headed up by Ollie (senior kitchen gardener) and James (chef director) is so strong, there now exists an almost obsessional culture for all things home-grown, homemade and local. Certainly on day one of The Pig, back in the summer of 2011, we didn't envisage the garden team we have today with around 20 kitchen gardeners working across several acres of productive gardens, and our own plant nursery for seedlings. The gardens didn't just play a major part in influencing the food style and the menus but many other aspects of the overall operation, too.   And here's just a random sampling of recipe titles from the index under the letter H: hazelnuts: - nettle salsa verde 143 - salt-baked celeriac salad 84-5 hens 128, 174-5 herbs: garden herb oil 98-9 - growing 114-15 - winter savory $1 herbal healing 255-6 - infusions 208-11, 260 - planters for 241 - in pots 229 - see also basil; lemon verbena; mint; rosemary herby popcorn 205 honey 130-1 - honey clotted cream 123 horseradish: cylindra beetroot & - horseradish toasts 68-9 - making horseradish sauce 68   Here's a glimpse of one of my favorite recipes from this book, Judy's Tomatoes on Toast. Robin writes,  You might think you know what tomatoes on toast tastes like... but believe me, once you've tried this version you'll never have it any other way - it's one of our all-time favourites at home. The tomatoes are so juicy and buttery, and the sourdough toast has just the right combination of crispness and chewiness. Of course the big thing here is the quality of the tomatoes, which can be a bit of a challenge in the UK, especially in the winter. I love Isle of Wight tomatoes, when I can get them. They come in different varieties from some of the best growers in the UK and are fairly local to us as well, which is a bonus. 2 big knobs of salted butter, plus extra for the toast 1kg (2lb 4oz) of the ripest, sweetest, medium-sized tomatoes you can get, roughly chopped A splash of Worcestershire sauce (optional: it's not part of Judy's version but I sometimes add some If I'm feeling a bit wild - woohoo!) 4 large slices of very holey sourdough bread salt and pepper Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and add the tomatoes (and a splash of Worcestershire sauce, if you like).  Cook them gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don't boil them, just let them simmer, and then season to your taste. Meanwhile, toast the bread to a nice dark color and spread with a little more butter. By this time the mixture should be halfway between solid and soup, so pour it onto the toast and away you go.   This book is 304 pages of Robin Hutson's The Pig. You can get a copy of The Pig by Robin Hutson and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $8.   Botanic Spark 1917 On this day, a garden accident occurred in West Scranton, Pennsylvania. The story was reported in the 11th volume of the Coal Age magazine. Here's what it said. While Mrs. Theodore Barton was pulling weeds in her garden on June 1st, the ground suddenly gave way under her, and she landed in an old abandoned mine gangway that was 18 feet below. A mine gangway is the highway of the mind, and it's a permanent and often fortified part of the mine. It's heavily timbered on the sides and the roof. And so this event of Mrs. Barton falling through a gangway was actually quite unusual, although I'm sure it was terribly frightening. The article says that several neighbors heard Mrs. Barton screaming for help, and they ended up rescuing her after considerable effort. So all's well, that ends well. But I tell you what: the garden can still be a place where dangerous things can happen. Last fall, I had a terrible fall in my garden. I ended up face planting right into the hard ground. It was early November. And I remember lying there thinking, am I still alive? I'm not kidding. It was such an abrupt fall. I didn't even have time to brace myself. But it underscored something that I always tell my student gardeners and gardeners in general. And that is that it's always a good idea to have your phone on you. Not only for taking pictures of all the beautiful plants and flowers that you're working with but also for your personal safety when you're in the garden.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1819 Birth of Walt Whitman, American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, Walt is remembered as the father of free verse. When Whitman was 54 years old, he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed. He spent the next two years immersed in nature, and he believed that nature had helped to heal him. He wrote, How it all nourishes, lulls me, in the way most needed; the open air, the rye-fields, the apple orchards.   Walt also appreciated flowers. He wrote, A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.   In 1892, Walt wrote one of his most celebrated prose about Wild Flowers in a piece called Specimen Days. This has been and is yet a great season for wild flowers; oceans of them line the roads through the woods, border the edges of the water-runlets, grow all along the old fences, and are scatter'd in profusion over the fields.  An eight-petal'd blossom of gold-yellow clear and bright, with a brown tuft in the middle, nearly as large as a silver half-dollar, is very common; yesterday on a long drive I noticed it thickly lining the borders of the brooks everywhere.  Then there is a beautiful weed cover'd with blue flowers, (the blue of the old Chinese teacups treasur'd by our grand-aunts,) I am continually stopping to admire [it] - [it's] a little larger than a dime, and very plentiful.  White, however, is the prevailing color. The wild carrot I have spoken of; also the fragrant life-everlasting. But there are all hues and beauties, especially on the frequent tracts of half-open scrub-oak and dwarf-cedar hereabout - wild asters of all colors.  Notwithstanding the frost-touch the hardy little chaps maintain themselves in all their bloom.    1840 Birth of Charles McIlvaine, American author, and mycologist. Charles was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He served as a captain in the Pennsylvania Infantry. After the Civil War, he always went by "Captain." When he was 40, Charles moved to West Virginia, where he wrote articles for magazines like Century and Harpers. After the war, food was scarce, and Charles started hunting and eating mushrooms. Charles ate virtually every specimen he encountered and even dabbled in mushrooms said to be poisonous. If he suffered no ill effects, Charles deemed a specimen edible. Before Charles's work, the USDA issued a report in 1885 that claimed there were only twelve edible species of mushrooms in the United States.  Today Charles is best known for his 1896 book called 1,000 American Fungi. Charles was passionate about mycology, and he included his experiences with eating almost every species mentioned in his book. He wrote, I take no man's word for the qualities of a toadstool. I go for it myself. Charles claimed to have eaten over 1,000 mushrooms and toadstools, and he said he enjoyed the flavor of most of them.  His daring ingestion of so many species earned Charles the nickname Old Iron Guts. Charles lived to be 69 and defied the old saying,  There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters. Charles was indeed an old, bold mycologist. Charles's experimentation is all the more impressive given the challenging nature of mushroom identification. If you find plant identification challenging, mushroom identification is much more involved and often requires chemical reagents and microscopic evaluation. In our modern times, DNA sequencing can also definitively establish species. Thanks to his excellent writing skills, Charles wrote about mushrooms in a friendly and conversational manner. Here's what Charles wrote about the Oyster Mushroom: The camel is gratefully called the ship of the desert. The oyster mushroom is the shellfish of the forest. When the tender parts are dipped in egg, rolled in bread crumbs, and fried as an oyster, they're not excelled buy any vegetable and are worth of place on the daintiest menu.   Here's how Charles described the Vomiting Russella: Most are sweet and nutty to the taste. Some are as hot as the fiercest cayenne, but this they lose upon cooking. Their caps make the most palatable dishes when stewed, baked, roasted or escalloped.   Finally, here's a little-known poem that Charles wrote called Our Church Fight. I'm that nigh near disgusted with the fight in our old church, Where one halfs 'g'in the t'other, an' the Lord's left in the lurch, That I went an' told the parson if he'd jine me in a prayer, We'd slip out 'mong the daisies and' put one up from there.   Charles is remembered in the name of the journal of the North American Mycological Association (NAMA), McIlvainea ("Mick-ill-vay-nee-ah").   1893 Birth of Elizabeth Coatsworth, American writer of fiction and poetry for children and adults. In 1931, She won the Newbery Medal for her children's book, The Cat Who Went to Heaven. Elizabeth's poems invoke sentiment and thoughts of home. Her poem November begins, November comes  And November goes,  With the last red berries  And the first white snows.   Her poem Nosegay is about a small bunch of flowers. Nosegays were typically sweet-scented and worn at the waist or bodice. Violets, daffodils, roses and thorn were all in the garden before you were born. Daffodils, violets, red and white roses your grandchildren's children will hold to their noses.   1920 On this day, a 37-year-old Virginia Woolf gardened with her husband, Leonard, at the new home they had bought the previous year. The garden covered three-quarters of a hectare and came with mature apple, plum, cherry, and pear trees. Of the two, Leonard was more the gardener, but Virginia was happy to assist whenever she got the chance. In her diary on this day, she wrote, The first pure joy of the garden… weeding all day to finish the beds in a queer sort of enthusiasm which made me say this is happiness.  Gladioli standing in troops; the mock orange out.  We were out till nine at night, though the evening was cold.  Both stiff and scratched all over today, with chocolate earth in our nails.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Pickled Pantry by Andrea Chesman This book came out in 2012. It's an oldie, but goodie. And the subtitle is From Apples to Zucchini, 150 Recipes for Pickles, Relishes, Chutneys & More. Well, this is one of my favorite books. I use this every single summer. And I love what the publisher says here about Andrea's book. They write Blending your grandmother’s pickling know-how with today’s Internet resources, Andrea Chesman shows you how easy it is to fill your pantry with tasty homemade sauerkraut, Salt-Cured Dilly Beans, and Rosemary Onion Confit. Explaining classic techniques in simple language, guiding you to helpful websites, and making you laugh with humorous stories, Chesman provides inspiration and encouragement for both first-time picklers and dedicated home canners. With tips on pickling everything from apples to zucchini, you’ll enjoy exploring the stunning variety of flavors that can fill a Mason jar.   And I can tell you from experience that when the pandemic hit, and we had that first year of everybody rushing to garden, Andrea's book was a go-to resource for so many people as they were dealing with their first garden harvest. Now I thought what I would do is walk you through the table of contents because that helps you understand Andrea's book's structure. This is really a book about pickling. There are other items and other recipes covered here, but this is primarily a pickle resource. So, what is covered here is: 1 All About Pickling page 10 2 Fermented Pickles page 34 3 Single Jar Pickles page 72 4 Big-Harvest Fresh-Pack Pickles page 122 5 Salsas, Relishes, Chutneys page 148 (This is one of my most dog-eared sections in this book.) 6 Refrigerator & Freezer Pickles page 202 7 Recipes for Enjoying Homemade Pickles page 236   I also wanted to share just a little bit about what Andrea wrote in the introduction to this book because you'll get a little glimpse of her marvelous sense of humor. She wrote this in the introduction. Naturally I wanted to pack all that freshly harvested goodness into jars to preserve it for the coming winter. I asked my grand- mother how she made her pickles. My grandmother was not a woman enthralled by the domestic arts, nor was she overly chatty. She told me to put cucumbers and dill in a crock, cover them with water, then add enough salt so "it's just before you gag.   Well, that sounds like my mom. That's exactly how my mom tells me about how to make our family recipes. So this one made me smile. Now the other story that I wanted to share with you is this fantastic idea that Andrea came up with for sharing your pickle bounty. If you're part of a garden club or a group of gardeners in your neighborhood, maybe you can pool your resources when it comes to canning time. I had the opportunity to collect pickle recipes and gather them together for a book. It began with a "pickle barter party." Because so many traditional recipes yielded seven or nine jars of pickles (a boiling-water-bath canner load), I thought it would be a great idea to swap jars of home-canned pickles the same way people swap cookies at Christmastime. My friends were all fellow back-to-the-landers, and preserving food by canning, pickling, and freezing was part of the lifestyle. Today's urban food swaps accomplish much the same thing.   Great idea. Isn't that? And such a fun thing to do this summer. You can do it outside. And not have to worry about catching COVID. And here's what Andrea says about pickle preferences - and this is so true - especially if you have kids. What I learned as I tasted my way through batch after batch of pickles is that preferences vary widely. For some people, no pickle is too sweet; others hate garlic. But inevitably, there is perfect pickle for every taste. It just requires collecting and inventing many, many recipes. Over the years, I've watched many trends and pickle making And in the 1970s, just like today, many people rediscovered, pickle making as they moved back to the land. And so what's old is new again. Well, I tell you what, you could do a lot worse than having Andrea Chessman be your guide for pickling. This is a hefty book. It is 304 pages of pickling everything - from cucumbers (so that you can make your dills, your half-sours, your bread-and-butters) to other vegetables (everything from carrots to rhubarb cabbage, to even pineapple.) The bottom line here is you can pickle it - and that's Andrea's favorite saying. Now, luckily Andrea's book is ubiquitous because this book has been around for a decade. You can get a copy of The Pickled Pantry by Andrea Chesman and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $8. And by the way, if you have a family reunion to go to, or you just want to have a little family picnic, this would be a lovely little hostess gift. It's so sweet and that cover is adorable.   Botanic Spark 1905 The Flower Garden Day by Day by Louisa Yeomans King MAY 31. Take a part of this month if possible, and visit the Arnold Arboretum, Boston, for lilacs, Asiatic cherries, crabs, and general beauty; and Highland Park, Rochester, N. Y., for the great lilac collection. The notebooks should go, too; and while it is difficult to leave one's own garden at SO interesting a time, a great enlarging of the gardening horizon is the result of such travels.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1669 Birth of Sébastien Vaillant ("Vy-yaw"), French botanist. Appointed to the King's garden in Paris, Sebastien loved organizing and cataloging plants. Biographical accounts say Sebastian showed a passion for plants from the age of five. His masterpiece, forty years in the making, Botanicon Parisienne, was a book about the flora of Paris. It wasn't published until five years after his death. Sebastian's work on plant sexuality inspired generations of botanists and set the stage for Linneaus to develop his sexual system of plant classification. Linnaeus used the male stamens to determine the class and the female pistils to determine the order. And like Sebastion, Linnaeus often compared plant sexuality to that of humans. Linnaeus wrote, Love even seizes... plants... both [males and females], even the hermaphrodites, hold their nuptials, which is what I now intend to discuss. Sebastian caused a sensation at the Royal Garden in Paris on June 10, 1717. On that day, he presented a lecture titled, Lecture on the Structure of the Flowers: Their Differences and the Use of Their Parts. He began by reinforcing the idea that the flower is the most essential part of a plant - essential to reproduction - and then he began to lead his scientific colleagues into a deep dive on plant sexuality - at six in the morning, no less. Before Sebastian's lecture, the topic of sex in the plant world had only been touched on lightly, allowing flowers and blossoms to maintain their reputation as pure, sweet, and innocent. Today, we can imagine the reaction of his 600-person audience as he began using fairly explicit language and the lens of human sexuality to describe the sex lives of plants. A 2002 translation of Sebastian's speech was presented in the Huntia - a Journal of Botanical History. Sebastian started his lecture with these words, Perhaps the language I am going to use for this purpose will seem a little novel for botany, but since it will be filled with terminology that is perfectly proper for the use of the parts ... I intend to expose, I believe it will be more comprehensible than the old fashioned terminology, which — being crammed with incorrect and ambiguous terms [is] better suited for confusing the subject than for shedding light on it. Sebastian's discussion of the plant embryos was rather poetic: Who can imagine that a prism with four faces becomes a Pansy;  a narrow roll, the Borage;  a kidney, the Daffodil;  that a cross can metamorphose into a maple;  two crystal balls intimately glued to each other, [Comfrey], etc.?  These are nevertheless the shapes favored in these diverse plants by their lowly little embryos.   1742 On this day, Horace Walpole wrote to Horace Mann, in part describing his visit to Ranelagh ("Ron-ah-lay") Gardens in Chelsea. Ranelagh had opened just two days prior, and it was one of several pleasure gardens opened around this time. Horace wrote,  Today calls itself May the 26th, as you perceive by the date; but I am writing to you by the fireside, instead of going to Vauxhall. If we have one warm day in seven, "we bless our stars, and think it luxury."  And yet we have as much waterworks and fresco diversions, as if we lay ten degrees nearer warmth.  Two nights ago Ranelagh-gardens were opened at Chelsea; the Prince, Princess, Duke, much nobility, and much mob besides, were there. There is a vast amphitheatre, finely gilt, painted, and illuminated, into which everybody that loves eating, drinking, staring, or crowding, is admitted for twelvepence.  The building and... gardens cost sixteen thousand pounds.  Twice a-week there are to be ridottos... [entertainment] for which you are to have a supper and music. I was there last night, but did not find the joy of it. Vauxhall is a little better; the garden is pleasanter, and [you arrive] by water...   Horace must have come to prefer Ranelagh. He later wrote, It has totally beat Vauxhall... You can't set your foot without treading on a Prince, or Duke of Cumberland.   Finally, it was Horace Walpole who wrote, When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.   1811 On this day, Thomas Jefferson wrote to his granddaughter, Anne, who was visiting her in-laws: Nothing new has happened in our neighborhood since you left us.  The houses and trees stand where they did.  The flowers come forth like the belles of the day, have their short reign of beauty and splendor, and retire like them to the more interesting office of reproducing their like.  The hyacinths and tulips are off the stage, the irises are giving place to the belladonnas, as this will to the tuberoses etc.    Thomas was not able to garden much during the summer of 1811. His arthritis had flared, and he found himself almost entirely bedridden.    1921 On this day, Kate Lancaster Brewster resigned as editor of the bulletin she funded and started for The Garden Club of America for its first six years. At the time of her resignation, Kate reported, Cost of Publishing the Bulletin (including postage) between July, 1920 and May, 1921 totaled $4038. Number of paid subscribers... 55 Number of lapsed subscribers... 21 2 Paid subscribers have become Members-at-Large. I Paid subscriber has become a member of the GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA.   As for Kate Lancaster Brewster, she had a beautiful Italianate garden in Lake Forest, Illinois. She was friends with most of the prominent gardeners and garden writers of her time, including Mrs. Francis King (Louisa Yeomans King). When Louisa published The Little Garden Series, Kate wrote one of the books called The Little Garden for Little Money. Kate and her husband Walter were ardent art collectors and loved to travel. The couple helped establish the Chicago Art Institute. During WWI, Kate left her service work in Chicago, California, and New York to go to France. There, she assisted her friend, the indefatigable Mabel Boardman of the American Red Cross, with hospital work.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Thoughtful Gardener by Jinny Blom This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is An Intelligent Approach to Garden Design. Well, Piet Oudolf has high praise for Jinny Blom. He writes, The most romantic, creative person in garden design I know.   So that's high praise right there from one of our top modern garden designers. Like Piet Oudolf, Jinny Blom is a force all her own. She's designed well over 200 gardens, and they represent a diverse range of garden styles - proving that Jinny Blom really is The Thoughtful Gardener. Now, one of Jinny's superpowers is to take a look at the current landscape, look at the setting, look at the surrounding ecosystems and communities, and then determine what vision best fits that landscape. And, of course, she has to throw in client desires and other challenges that might come up in the creation of that garden. And whether it's topography challenges or resource constraints, Jinny has indeed seen it all. Through her myriad experiences, she's come up with six different steps to help you become a thoughtful gardener too. Now I think one of the things that Jinny does almost unconsciously at this stage in her career is that she really thinks through what she's trying to accomplish in any given landscape. And I don't care what you're trying to accomplish; you will definitely do a better job of reaching your anticipated goals if you take the time to do your homework and truly think things through. The six different sections in Jinny's book are understanding, structuring, harmonizing, rooting, and liberating. Jinny also has another superpower that I think really helps her when it comes to her garden design skills, and that is that she can see gardens as they will look when they are mature, and that's a particular skill for garden designers. I remember the first time I interviewed the Renegade Gardener, and he said the same thing to me. He said that he was a successful garden designer because he could imagine what a plant would look like at maturity or in any particular setting in the future. And so he knew what to plant where - and how it would look when it was all grown up. And so his goal as a designer was not to make sure that the garden would look good immediately - although that was a temporary concern and a nice to have - he was more concerned with his ultimate goal, which was to be able to drive by these properties that he had designed, especially early in his career and see their mature beauty in the fullness of time. Jinny also has that ability. Now Paula Deitz, Editor of The Hudson Review, wrote the forward to Jinny's book. And here's what she wrote, Rare is the garden book, like this one, that makes the reader feel personally included as a friend in a long conversation with the writer.  Like Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, whom she lauds for his estate management in the 18th century, Blom is herself a cultural geographer who scopes out the historical features of paths, gates and antiquated farm buildings on a given property prior to drawing up a plan that proceeds almost instantaneously, a process fascinating to follow. Whether in town or country, with either single or multiple garden areas, Blom establishes architectural enclosures, like Cotswold drystone walls, prior to the overlay of her signature, beautifying horticulture, thus creating what she calls environments for intimate experiences'. And that is the quintessentialJinny Blom landscape. Now, this is how Jinny herself describes this book. She writes, So this book is about how I've developed my way of working over the last twenty years in progression from apprentice to journeyman to master craftsman.  It takes a long time and I've learned at the elbow of countless masters, not in a schoolroom.  I choose plants with compatibility in mind, appropriate materials arise from their locale, and I consider the people who will live in the garden, the wildlife, the weather. I'd like to share some of what I think about when designing, in the hope that it kindles the fires of excitement in others. I've climbed a big mountain to get to this point and hope there's a view worth sharing.   From the reviews of this book, the Amazon ratings, and the commentary by her peers, I can tell you that Jinny Blom definitely has a view worth sharing. She's hit it out of the park - out of the garden - with this beautiful book called The Thoughtful Gardener. You'll get to see images from so many of Jinny's gardens. You'll see her thoughtfulness and creativity in action certainly. But most of all, you'll get to know Jinny. She is funny and intelligent, and she thinks about plants and gardens and landscapes on a level that very few garden designers do. It feels like she's always one step ahead, and I think that's because Jinny does such a thorough job of researching and thinking about her garden designs - so that by the time you see the final product, it just seems so effortless. But I suppose that is Jinny's method behind the madness at the end of the day. This book is 256 pages of learning garden design with one of our modern masters, Jinny Blom. You can get a copy of The Thoughtful Gardener by Jinny Blom and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $16.   Botanic Spark 1847 Birth of Edgar Fawcett, American poet. Edgar wrote some famous garden verses. He wrote, [A]ll life budding like a rose and sparkling like its dew. And Come rambling awhile through this exquisite weather Of days that are fleet to pass, When the stem of the willow shoots out a green feather, And buttercups burn in the grass!   Edgar's poems often remind us of the value of all green living things. We say of the oak "How grand of girth!" Of the willow we say, "How slender!" And yet to the soft grass clothing the earth How slight is the praise we render.   My favorite Edgar Fawcett verses feature trees. Here's one about lovers speaking to each other using the language of birds: Hark, love, while...we walk, Beneath melodious trees… You'd speak to me in Redbreast;  I would answer you in Wren!   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

• To have cut flowers for the house at all times.
• To have a mass of roses in the backyard.
• To have [flowers] in the garden all season.

Our lot is the average city size, fifty by one hundred feet. The house is twenty feet from the street line, where there are two large elm trees that shade the lawn and beds in front. While these trees are beautiful and we would not part with them, yet they are great deal of trouble, They require spraying each spring, and their roots fill ... the drainpipes, causing much annoyance and expense. I should never plant elm trees near flowerbeds or drain pipes.  The backyard is surrounded by a five-foot board fence on the north and east and picket fence on the south. Climbing nasturtiums cover the picket fence, and [we want] to have climbers hide the board fence, which is covered with wire netting hung on hooks In case the fence is to be painted, the vines and netting can easily be laid down. A woodbine trumpet-vine and Clematis paniculeta are already established,  The single tuberous begonias are the best bedding plants I know; they bloom all summer.  Last year's hollyhocks were affected with blight; we have overcome that disease by spraying with ... One ounce of carbonate of copper made into a paste with one• half pint of water; slowly add one-half pint of strong ammonia water (twenty-six degrees}; water, nine gallons. Our spraying outfit consists of a wooden pail and whisk broom. The broom is far ahead of the ordinary syringe, as it is not so wasteful. The sweet-pea bed, or No. 5, is twelve feet long and three and one-half feet wide. Last year, by planting the peas four inches deep in the middle of October and giving them heavy covering during the winter, we had flowers on May 24th. Early in the fall the sweet peas and nasturtiums were removed to make way for the homemade cold- frame, with a second-hand sash that cost us one dollar. In this frame six by three feet are two hundred small plants of oriental poppies, foxgloves, cardinal flowers, and pansies, also three hundred cuttings of phlox, wisteria, hibiscus, snow-ball, althea, and roses. We have seventy-five rose bushes, mostly vigorous hybrid perpetuals. Last winter we carried over a number of hybrid tea roses by covering them with nail kegs filled with leaves, the kegs having one stave removed for ventilation. When the ground freezes, the rose beds receive a three-inch coating of fresh cow manure, part of which is forked in in the spring. Our greatest difficulty in gardening has been to keep the roses free from aphids. We have tried almost everything advertised but fall back on spraying with the hose. The roses receive weekly applications of liquid manure, two quarts to a plant, from the time the buds appear until they show color. It is usually applied after a rain or when the ground is wet, to prevent burning the roots. We have two piazza boxes. Last fall one was filled with snowdrops, scillas, chionodoxas and crocuses; the other with hyacinths and tulips; they were buried in a vacant lot near by, As soon as the ground thawed in the spring they were placed in position. The bulbs were succeeded by tuberous begonias.  We have raised hundreds of hardy plants like cardinal flowers, foxgloves, Boston ivies, and Oriental poppies in small candy and cigar bases placed on the walk in the rear of the house. Tin marshmallow boxes are excellent for this purpose, as they hold moisture longer than wooden boxes. Our chief error in growing seedlings has been in giving them too much sun. WHY WE HAVE A GOOD LAWN We take great delight in the back lawn because we have overcome SO much in getting it into its present condition.  The weeds are removed from the lawn at least twice a year. The grass is cut once in ten days and the clippings are not raked up.    Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Cultivated by Christin Geall This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is The Elements of Floral Style.  This book is so highly rated on Amazon. There are almost 400 reviews, and this is a five-star book. I like to think of this book as a masterclass In floral design. The arrangement on the cover of this book is stunning. An excellent floral design book is so essential. It's a good thing to brush up on those skills - especially this time of year as we're wrapping up spring. We've got beautiful blossoms, like lilacs and peonies, and the roses are just starting to bud. And then, as we get into early summer, there is just an entire buffet of beautiful blossoms that you may want to cut and bring indoors. Just because you're a good gardener doesn't mean that you're a good floral designer or arranger. Like gardening, floral art is a skill that you can learn and get better at. Now I thought I would just give you a quick overview of how Christin has this book laid out. Because very quickly - you'll be able to deduce that Christin is truly a pro. She is a conscious-competent and when it comes to working with flowers. And that's precisely the kind of expert that you want. So Christin begins by talking about finding the flowers and the plants you want to work with. Now you can source many of these things right from your backyard or your patio as a gardener, or you can even supplement some of those with items that you forage or purchase when you're out and about. Then next, Christin has a section that she calls Gearing Up. Here, what she walks you through is everything from, Where are you going to work? (Do you have a potting bench or a room or part of your kitchen that you'll use when you're creating with cut flowers.) What are the vessels or the containers that you're planning on using? What are the tools you plan to use? (What Christin calls the mechanics). And then she has an entire section Where she talks about color. When I think about color, I think about both the art and the science of color. So if you're not good with picking colors, if you struggle with what color to paint a room or what colors to accessorize with, that struggle can translate into your work with flowers. Conversely, if you have a knack for choosing color or working with color, this section will be a slam dunk. But there is a science to it for those of us who struggle with color. And just like with gardening, you can get better and more confident in your work with color. Now two things I want to call out here that Christin talks about in her book that I think are especially helpful is she spends some time talking about two colors, in particular, which can be a true challenge for your work putting together floral designs. One is the color red. Red is such a bold color. And then the other color is green. While you might be thinking about green: how can green be a problem or a challenge? It's because there are different tones and shades of green, and believe it or not; there are times when the green you might be working with can conflict, get dragged down, or just be a little bit off with the rest of your floral work. So you do have to pay attention to the greens you're using. Now the following four sections that are covered in Christin's book, to me, are really where her expertise is. This is Christin in her wheelhouse. She talks about shape and shaping your work. There are so many ways to mold and take control of the form of your floral design. So I loved this section. And then she has one that's called learning from the past. And here is where she looks at garden history, and she looks at some of the best garden artists that have ever lived and how they composed with flowers. So she takes a look at, in particular at the Baroque style, what the Dutch masters were doing with their flowers and their flower paintings, the Rococo style, and SO on. Next, she features a little section on design, creativity and style, restraint, and constraint. And then, finally, she brings it all together by talking about how you can deepen your work: How you can know your why when it comes to creating with flowers. She spends a little bit of time talking about how to photograph flowers - a topic near and dear to my heart. Now I wanted to take one second here. And just share a little bit from what Christin writes in the introduction to this book. Christin is a gardener. She is a writer. She's a garden writer. And at one point, she found herself serving as a florist in residence on an estate in Scotland. And she had absolutely no experience as a florist. So, here's what she wrote. If you'd asked me at the time what I was doing in that shed in Scotland, the professor in me would have had an answer, but I myself might not have believed it: I was serving as a florist in residence on the estate. What does such a person do? I didn't know entirely, even after I pitched the idea to the owners and head gardener. They just let me get on with it, assuming I knew what "it" was.  So I roamed around with a borrowed bucket and wheelbarrow looking for flowers to pick in the dark days of October. I begged vessels and an old folding card table from the house manager. I tried to put together color palettes. I sought out places to photograph my arrangements. And I silently questioned my every move. One thing in my favor: I knew plants. I'd spent thirty years learning about them, growing them, selling them, and loving them.  So I made a deal with myself to do at least one arrangement a day, no matter what, and photograph it as best I could. I had no tripod, SO most of my pictures were blurry, and because of the latitude and time of year, there was very little light. I had no idea where my designs might take me from one day to the next, but no matter what, I got started. And that starting, that instinct to begin without a doubt, is what matters most. That's predominantly what this book is about-discovering how to see flowers. My magpie tendencies have thankfully suited me well; in this book you'll find color theory and discussions of fashion, form, and style but also ruminations on gardening and seasonality that I feel are fundamental to an appreciation of the art.    This book is rated a best-of-DIY book on Amazon. It is 224 pages of a fresh and thoughtful guide to flower arranging for gardeners. You can get a copy of Cultivated by Christin Geall and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $14.   Botanic Spark 1884 On this day, the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ("chai-kaaf-skee") threw out his work on Suite No. 3 in G major, Op. 55 - and began all over again. Weeks earlier, he had written in his journal that he had gone out to his garden and found inspiration for the melody. He wrote, In the forest and indoors I have been trying to lay the foundation of a new symphony but - am not at all satisfied.... Walked in the garden and found the germ, not of a symphony, but of a future Suite. Prone to self-doubt and angst, Tchaikovsky was tender-hearted and easily wounded by critics of his work. Tchaikovsky's most popular music was often written for ballets like Swan Lake (1877), The Sleeping Beauty (1889), and The Nutcracker(1892), featuring a favorite melody on many gardener's playlists, The Waltz of the Flowers.  Tchaikovsky was a nature lover and a gardener. He loved flowers and spent much of his free time cultivating his flowers. He wrote in a letter on June 1 (13th), 1888. Just now I am busy with flowers and flower-growing. I should like to have as many flowers as possible in my garden, but I have very little knowledge or experience. am not lacking in zeal, and have indeed taken cold from pottering about in the damp. Now, thank goodness, it is warmer weather; I am glad of it, for you, for myself, and for my dear flowers, for I have sown a quantity, and the cold nights made me anxious for them....'   Later that same summer, on July 25 (August 6), 1888, Tchaikovsky wrote his patron once more, The real summer weather has not lasted long, but how I enjoyed it! My flowers, which I feared would die, have nearly all recovered, and some have blossomed luxuriantly. I cannot tell you what a pleasure it has been to watch them grow and to see daily- even hourly-new blossoms coming out. Now I have as many as - want.  When I am quite old, and past composing, I shall devote myself to growing flowers.   Today, the Tchaikovsky House and Museum still stands at his final country home in Klin ("Kuh-lin"), 85 kilometers northwest of Moscow. Tchaikovsky loved his place in Kiln. He once wrote, It is impossible to suggest a better a more suitable way of living than in the countryside. After each new trip to Moscow I come to realize more and more how city life ruins me. Each time I return here I'm completely ill, but I immediately recover in my quiet corner. and Never before have I reveled so much in the beauty of spring, the awakening vegetation, birds returning home – in short, everything which is brought by the Russian spring, actually the most beautiful and jovial spring on earth.   Tchaikovsky's garden was essentially an idealized forest garden - a little wild and wooly - with a winding path and a gazebo. Tchaikovsky loved wildflowers and woodland flowers. One of his favorite flowers was the lily of the valley. He even wrote a poem about it, telling his brother Modest that, like his musical compositions, he was  "terribly proud of this poem." There he is!  I pluck the wondrous gift of the enchantress Spring. O lily of the valley, why do you so please the eye? Where lies the secret of your charms?  ...Your balmy fragrance, Like flowing wine, warms and intoxicates me, Like music, it takes my breath away, ...I am happy while you bloom.   Fittingly, after Tchaikovsky's death at 53, his brother Modest planted lilies of the valley all around the garden at Kiln. Modest also grew other favorites enjoyed by his brother, like violets, forget-me-nots, and bluebells. Today, the garden also boasts roses, begonias, gillyflowers, phloxes, sweet tobacco, and a large statue of Tchaikovsky sitting on the end of a garden bench. You can get your picture taken beside him among the flowers.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1707 Birth of Carl Linnaeus (books about this person), Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician. Carl was a fan of flowers early on in his life. As a young child, his mother gave him flowers to soothe him whenever he was upset. On May 1st, 1753, the publication of his masterpiece Species Plantarum changed plant taxonomy forever. The work gave Linnaeus the moniker Father of Taxonomy; his naming system is called binomial nomenclature. Binomial means "two names," which in the naming game includes the plant's genus (which is capitalized or could be abbreviated by its first letter) and species or specific epithet (which is all lowercase and can be shortened sp.) If you have trouble remembering taxonomy, I like to think of it as a person's given name and surname, but in reverse order. Linnaeus's names live on unchanged and are distinguished by an "L." after their name. And it was Linnaeus himself who said: God created, Linnaeus ordered.   There are many stories about Linnaeus, but I thought I'd share a few more-obscure stories about him and his work. First, Linnaeus' friend Anders Celsius created the Centigrade thermometer in 1742, with water boiling at 0 degrees and freezing at 100. Three years later, Linnaeus reversed the scale - sharing it in an article with the Botanical Garden at Uppsala University. Second, there is a memorable story about Linnaeus and the genus Commelina, the genus of the Asiatic Dayflower. Linnaeus named the genus after the three Commelin brothers, two of whom achieved much in botany and one who died young before amounting to anything. Linnaeus wrote: Commelina has three petals, two of which are showy — where the third is not conspicuous. Next time you see the Commelina communis or Asiatic Dayflower (with two large blue petals and one tiny white petal), you can remember the Commelins and Linnaeus' kind commemoration of the three brothers. Another fun story about Linnaeus involved a trip he took to Lapland when Linnaeus was 25 years old.  Carl spent nearly six months there, and he came back with stories of an obscure part of Scandinavia few people knew existed. The expedition was trying, and Linneaus suffered from hunger, mosquitoes, freezing temperatures, near death from a rockslide and a gunshot wound. Through it all, Linnaeus fell in love with the Lapland. He even brought home a traditional costume complete with a magical drum as a souvenir from his adventure. Five years later, an obscure German painter named Martin Hoffman painted Linnaeus' portrait. And, guess what did Linnaeus choose to wear for the sitting? His Lapland costume (Of course!). In Hoffman's Linnaeus, a 30-year-old Linnaeus is seen wearing boots made of reindeer skin. He's also wearing an early version of a toolbelt. Suspended from the belt is a magical drum from a shaman, a needle to make nets, a snuffbox, a cartridge box, and a knife. Linnaeus is also wearing traditional Laplander gloves, and in his right hand, he holds his favorite plant: the Twinflower, Linnaea borealis.   1799 Birth of Thomas Hood was an English poet, author, and humorist. Thomas is remembered for his poems "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt." Here's an excerpt from his poem Song. 'Tis like the birthday of the world, When earth was born in bloom; The light is made of many dyes, The air is all perfume: There's crimson buds, and white and blue, The very rainbow showers Have turned to blossoms where they fell, And sown the earth with flowers.   And here's my all-time favorite Thomas Hood poem, and it's called No. No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member - No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds - November!   1843 Birth of Georgiana Molloy (books about this person), English-Australian pioneer and one of the first botanical collectors in Western Australia. Georgiana's life in the 1830s in Western Australia was one of extreme hardship. Her first child died shortly after it was born, and her only son ended up drowning in a well. After these events, Georgiana naturally struggled to find joy in her life. But in 1836, at the end of the year, Georgiana received a letter from a man named James Mangles. James was an officer in the Royal Navy and a naturalist, horticulturist, and writer. He wrote to ask Georgiana for help, and his request for botanical specimens gave her life new meaning. James had made arrangements for several people to collect for him in Australia. He was very strategic in that regard. But it also meant that James was uniquely qualified to review the work done by collectors in Western Australia before 1850. The result was that James was a huge fan of Georgiana's work. He once wrote. [Georgiana's collections] were full of pressed plants that were mounted and set out with delicacy and precision and carefully numbered showing great evidence of care and cleanliness in the sorting.   Georgiana would have been delighted to know that many of the seeds she collected were sent to botanists and horticulturists worldwide, and they were found to be especially viable. Sadly Georgiana's life was cut short at the age of 37. After giving birth to her seventh child, she suffered for four months from December 1842 until her death on April 8th, the following spring. And when the English naturalist George Wailes learned of the death of Georgiana Malloy, he reached out to the man who inspired her love for botany, James Mangles.  George wrote. Not one in 10,000 who go out to distant lands has done what she did for the gardens of her native country.     1905 On this day, Louisa Yeomans King (books about this person) recorded an entry in her garden diary, which became her book, The Flower Garden Day By Day. MAY 23. Sow seed now of the beautiful pale yellow oenothera ("ee-nah-THAIR-ah”) (Evening-primrose), Afterglow, at the back of the border near Physostegia ("fy-sah-STEE-jee-ah ver-jin-ee-AYE-nah")(Obedient plant). A group of these two with Artemesia lactiflora (White Mugwort) and the little annual sunflower known as Primrose Stella, will make August well worth waiting for.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Less is More Garden by Susan Morrison This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Big Ideas for Designing Your Small Yard. You should definitely check out Susan's book if you have a small garden. Right off the bat, when I saw the cover, I knew that I would love Susan's book, and you know, most people are small-space gardeners. Susan writes. In my practice as a landscape designer, most of the backyards that I design measure less than 2,500 square feet and layouts are rarely more than 40 by 60 feet. I no longer think of that as small, it has become standard. Interestingly while active gardeners are often concerned with fitting in everything, into a space that's generally smaller than the backyards that they grew up in. I am just as likely to hear from homeowners, more interested in creating a space that will be as simple as possible to maintain... no one wants another to-do list item, but most of us want backyard that's a refuge... [and] the shift in how we live, work, and play is what led me to develop the less is more approach to garden design and outdoor living.   And here's how Susan defines as her less is more garden approach. She writes: At its heart, this approach to garden design means: Less space, more enjoyment Less effort, more beauty Less maintenance, more relaxation, and finally Less gardening-by-the-numbers, more YOU.   This book is 225 pages of small-garden design with the less is more approach. You'll find practical and helpful advice, inspirational photography, and many creative and unexpected tricks to help you get the small space garden of your dreams. You can get a copy of The Less is More Garden by Susan Morrison and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $18.   Botanic Spark 2021 Death of Eric Carle (books by this person), American illustrator and writer. Eric had a wide-ranging knowledge and love of nature. His early books include Nature Thoughts, Flower Thoughts, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Tiny Seed. Here's a quote from Eric's most memorable work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar:  On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon. That night he had a stomach ache.   And it was Eric Carle who said, Whatever our eyes touch should be beautiful.   In 2007, Eric Carle gave a commencement address at Bates College in 2007. He concluded with these words:  Love your partner and tend your garden.  Simplify, slow down, be kind.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

  Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events National Pick Strawberries Day Here are a few fun facts about this beloved sweet fruit: The etymology of the name strawberry (books about this topic) is likely a corruption of the phrase "strewn berry." This would reference the way the plant produced thanks prolifically to runners, resulting in berries strewn about the ground. Fragariaphobia is a little-known word and is the fear of strawberries. In terms of their uniqueness, strawberries are the only fruit that wears its seeds on the outside, and the average strawberry has 200 seeds. Strawberries are perennial and are members of the rose family. The strawberry flower averages five to seven petals. In terms of harvesting, strawberry plants are hand-picked about every three days. A single acre of land can grow almost 50,000 pounds of strawberries. California produces a billion pounds of strawberries every year which means that 75% of the American strawberry crop is grown in California - with Florida and North Carolina in the 2nd and 3rd place. As for strawberry quotes, the author Tsugumi Ohba, Death Note Box Set, wrote, If you keep my secret, this strawberry is yours.   1846 On this day, the Prussian botanist Ludwig Leichhardt (books about this person) wrote a letter to a fellow botanist about his impressive and arduous collecting efforts in Australia. For his part, Ludwig loved Australia. He wrote, I would find it hard to remain in Germany, or even in Europe, now. I [prefer] the clear, sunny skies of Australia. On this day, 1846, Leichhardt wrote a letter to his botanist contact and friend, the Italian Gaetano Durando, living in Paris. Ludwig's message conveys the extreme difficulties and dangers faced by the early plant explorers. He wrote, My dear friend, You have, no doubt, noticed and regretted my long silence... But you must bear this in mind, my good friend, ...  it was not my lot to travel all at my ease...  Gladly would I have made drawings of my plants, and noted fully all particulars of the different species which I saw; and how valuable would such memoranda have been... [as] four of my pack-horses having been drowned.  Botanical and geological specimens thus abandoned — how disappointing! From four to five thousand plants were thus sacrificed... In the spring of 1848, Ludwig Leichhardt and a small group of explorers began what was to be a two- to three-year expedition across Australia. Shortly after starting the trek, the entire party vanished with barely a trace. Still known as the 'Prince of Explorers,' Leichhardt was 35 when he was lost to time.    1858 On this day, in The Flower Garden, Or Breck's Book of Flowers, Tulips at their peak per Joseph Breck A bed of late tulips is generally in its highest perfection about the 20th of May and may be kept in fine condition a fortnight longer, taking the trouble to erect an awning over them.  I take up my Tulips about the 20th of June, and dry them undercover in an airy place, and, when dry, take off the offsets and plant them out, while the flowering roots are each wrapped in a piece of waste paper, and put away, in a box or drawer, in a dry place, until wanted to plant.  One hundred different varieties, with their names and colors, reputed to be the very best, mabe obtained from Holland, at the cost of about $25; but I have found, by experience, that some of the rarer and most expensive sorts are not included. Very good border Tulips, including finedouble sorts, early and late, single, parrots, etc, may be obtained from 50 cents to $1 per dozen, and some of the common sorts at much less price.   So there is some tulip pricing for you courtesy of Joseph Breck back in 1858. And just for comparison, I went out to brecks.com and priced some of their deluxe tulips. They sell eight tulips for $15.   1922 On this day, the sorority of Pi Beta Phi at West Virginia University held a party to celebrate the arrival of spring. In a report of their activities to the 1922 edition of The Arrow, the chapter wrote, The spring party comes on May 20. It will be a Japanese party, with lanterns, spring blossoms, and wooden programs.   Present Day On or around this day in Blackville, South Carolina, that Cuke Season gets underway.  The Encyclopedia of South Carolina (2000) says this about Blackville:  Named for Alexander Black, an early railroad executive who shipped cantaloupes, watermelons, and cucumbers in large quantities by rail.  During the "cuke" season, beginning about May 20, the town council employs an auctioneer to conduct daily sales, generally starting at 10 in the morning and frequently lasting until 6. At the auction, growers may accept or refuse the offered prices. Buyers are usually local produce merchants, though there are often purchasers from markets out of state.    Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Garden Maker by Christie Purifoy  This book came out in January of 2022, and the subtitle is Growing a Life of Beauty and Wonder with Flowers. This is Christie's third book, and her books have to do with beauty and placemaking, sustainability, and love. Her first book is Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons. This book is about purchasing her beautiful property called Maplehearst in Pennsylvania. Her second book was released in 2019 and is called Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace, and this is about creating a garden home for yourself. I view her latest book Garden Maker as part of this garden trilogy. In this very spiritual and inspirational book, Christie walks us through how to grow a beautiful garden and create your own little slice of heaven here on earth. Now, in addition to teaching you how to make a garden. Christie is a cut flower expert, and she's a master at creating beautiful bouquets and other arrangements. In this book, Christie teaches you some of her tried and true techniques and her easiest bouquet recipes. In addition to sharing her list of favorite shrubs - she calls these superhero shrubs. She also shares her favorite flowers - she calls these flowers of importance. And then last but not least, her favorite self-sowers in a section she calls self-sowing salvation.   Now Christie is a lyrical writer. Her tone is super friendly and personable. When I read one of her books, I always feel like I'm reading something that a garden friend wrote for me. But best of all, and I think more important than any of her credentials, is her passion for plants and the garden because that comes through loud and clear in every word she writes in this book. I wanted to end this review today with a little excerpt from what Christie wrote in the introduction to Garden Maker. She writes, I grow flowers because cannot help myself.  I grow flowers as if some magician at the center of the universe has cast his spell on me, and I will never want my old unenchanted life back again. In my flower garden, I am the weaver of stories. In my flower garden, am the composer of seasonal songs. Or maybe I am more conductor than composer.  This garden of mine is certainly singing a song, but the song delights me, moves me, and surprises me. I cannot recommend flower gardening for the sober-minded.  I cannot recommend it for those afraid of mysterious rabbit holes, who prefer to keep their two feet fixed firmly to a clean and solid, and entirely predictable floor.  I cannot, in good conscience, recommend intoxicating moonflowers or romantic roses to anyone who values utility and efficiency and productivity above all.  But for those who read fairy tales or cry at arias, for those who suspect that heaven lies just behind the veil of this everyday world, well, to those I say: Welcome to the garden.  Welcome to this holy work.  I understand if you are afraid.  The thorns are knife-sharp, and the weeds are always waging their quiet wars.  But here is the promise that has been made to each one of us:  "Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy" (Psalm 126:5).  Every garden is singing a song for the One who made us, and we are invited to sing along.   Beautiful verse. And by the way, can you tell that Christie has a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Chicago? Yes, you can. She's a beautiful writer. This book is 208 pages of a love letter to flowers, plants, gardens, and garden making. You can get a copy of Garden Maker by Christie Purifoy and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $16.   Botanic Spark 1804 On this day, Lady Holland sent home a parcel of seeds from Spain,  and they were Dahlia seeds. The story was shared in The Complete Dictionary of Practical Gardening (1807): In the spring of 1805 all the parcels of seed were sewn, including four varieties of Dahlia. The Dahlia Rosea was the most handsome and produced plenty of seeds. And all the plants of 1805, except one, were taken up before Christmas and planted in pots or large pans.  They were kept in a very cold greenhouse, and they began to push new shoots in the middle of April [the following year].   The genus Dahlia (books about this flower) got its name in the 18th century. Swedish botanist Andreas Dahl. Surprisingly after Lady Holland introduced Dahlias to Europe, many top gardeners thought the Dahlia was just too flamboyant to use in their gardens. But in modern gardens, Dahlias are beloved. Both the roots and the Dahlia flowers are used medicinally. The Dahlia is also the official flower of both Seattle and San Francisco. And if you're planning a wedding, Dahlias are the perfect flower for the bridal bouquet. In floriography or the language of flowers, the beautiful Dahlia represents commitment and everlasting love.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events   1780 It was on this day that much of New England was shrouded in darkness. In fact, many feared that Judgment Day had arrived And so this day became known as The Dark Day. During this day, the sun rose as per usual. But around 10 o'clock in the morning, the sky grew dark. So dark that there were reports of candle-lit lunches, and people stopped what they were doing to pray. The blackout spread from Portland, Maine, to New Jersey. Boston newspapers reported that chickens returned to their roosts after the darkness began, and animals returned to their places in the barn - even they knew that something odd was going on. Even General George Washington wrote about the dark day in his diary. The nature poet John Greenleaf Whittier (books about this person) wrote about the event in a poem. Twas on a May-day of the far-old years Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring, Over the fresh earth, and the heaven of noon, A horror of great darkness.' "Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter The black sky.   Instead of Judgment Day, it's now generally believed that the darkness stemmed from a fire out west. And the following night, on May 19th in 1780, New England was treated to a full moon that was said to be as red as blood set against the night sky - a spring to remember.   1864 Death of Nathaniel Hawthorne (books about this person), American novelist, and short-story writer. In May 1866, Nathaniel's sister Sophia was writing about The Wayside landscape in a letter to her friend, Annie Fields. She wrote: There is a beauty in May which there is not in July. After these latter rains, the glory of tender and deep greens surpasses all words . . . the walks — the paths look so nice, and there is no knowing what enormity of sauciness the weeds will arrive at by July.   In 1843, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote a crazy short story that not many people know about today. The story was about a mad scientist who becomes obsessed about removing his wife Georgiana's birthmark. And so the scientist, concocts a remedy for the blemish and creates a solution using the leaves of geraniums. As his wife drinks this potion, her birthmark does fade away, but in the process, the mixture also kills her. Thus, she dies a perfect unblemished woman. And that's the end of this little known and very bizarre short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne.   1906 On this day, Country Life gave an update on the season of tulips. They wrote, The writer regards the season of Tulips as one of the brightest and happiest of the year. Daffodils still flutter in the wind, the first of the Roses are bursting their buds, and the whole air is filled with the scent of wayside of garden flowers. But it is the Tulip that gives the colour, splashes of crimson,scarlet, yellow, rose, white, and even black.  A black Tulip is a reality, and is known as The Sultan. It belongs to the race called Darwin, but we prefer the homely name of the May or Cottage Tulip. Dusky as the firm, short segments are, they have weird, strange beauty, which is as fascinating as the clear crimson of the greatest of all Tulips, Tulipa gesneriana major, which opens its big goblets to the sun and discloses a pool of inky blue at the base. A few years ago the May Tulips were seldom seen, but persistent reference to them has brought about a revolution: so much so, that one greets the Tulip with much the same affection as the Daffodil which precedes it. We believe it was in the Royal Gardens, Kew, that the Gesner and other Tulips were first planted in large beds, and the effect of their glorious colour we shall ever remember, it was a novel sight...   So there you go—an update on tulip season from 1906. And isn't it interesting to think about how tulips were perceived compared to the daffodil a little over a hundred years ago?   1934 Birth of Ruskin Bond (books about this person), Indian author of British descent. Ruskin's novels, The Room on the Roof and Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra, received critical acclaim and he's written hundreds of short stories, essays, and books for children. In The Room on the Roof, Ruskin wrote, I don't want to rot like mangoes at the end of the season, or burnout like the sun at the and of the day.  I cannot live like the gardener, the cook and water-carrier, doing the same task everyday of my life...  I want to be either somebody or nobody.  I don't want to be anybody. From Rain in the Mountains: Notes from the Himalayas, Ruskin wrote, Yes, I'd love to have a garden of my own--spacious, and full of everything that is fragrant and flowering. But if I don't succeed, never mind--I've still got the dream.   Finally, in his book, A Book of Simple Living: Brief Notes from the Hills, Ruskin wrote, Botanists have done their best to intimidate and confuse the nature lover. But we should not allow ourselves to be discouraged; we have as much right to the enjoyment of wild flowers as they. So I will disregard the botanist and I will go looking for the pretty flower that I have named Merry Heart. It is always nodding and dancing in the breeze. It is a happy flower, deserving of a happy, light name.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Modern Cottage Garden by Greg Loades This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is A Fresh Approach to a Classic Style. This book is practical and inspirational - and if you are a fan of cottage gardens, then this is a book that you will want to have in your garden library. I love Greg's approach here because what he has done is come up with a blend between the New Perennial Movement and Classic Cottage Style - and he's integrated both of those concepts Into the looks that you see in real life gardens in this book. And so, as the reader, what you'll come away with are images of beautiful color in the garden, the use of grasses and native plants - in addition to Greg's thoughtful approach. Greg wants these gardens to be low maintenance and to offer many seasons of interest, which is the sweet spot for gardens nowadays. I will walk you through the table of contents, and then I'll give you a little excerpt from Greg's book. Greg starts with what he calls the roots of his book, which are both the traditional Cottage Garden and the New Perennial Garden. Greg takes you into a deep dive into both approaches. Then in the next section of his book, he talks about how to create a Modern Cottage Gardenn which, as I just mentioned, is a blend of both Classic Cottage Gardening and the New Perennial Garden Movement. So with Greg's help, you'll understand how to put together a gardener's garden - that's what he calls it - and how to maximize small spaces and incorporate Modern Cottage Gardening into your containers, which I think is such a hot topic this year. Now the back half of Greg's book is devoted to the seasons - so he walks you through Modern Cottage Gardening season by season. At the end of the book, there are fifty plant profiles, and these are Greg's go-to plants when it comes to garden design. But, right at the beginning of Greg's book, he introduces you to the Modern Cottage Garden. He writes, It is difficult to stick to one style in the garden, isn't it? Maybe this is because plants are alive, and as they grow, we get attached to them.  So we can't let go of the plant that has survived three house moves.  Or the large shrub that started life from a cutting taken from a friend's garden.   This sounds so familiar. Doesn't it? He writes, Plants are memories.  Plants can make us feel proud.  Plants tell stories.  And who can resist choosing new plants for the garden when they see them in flower in a nursery, even if they don't know where they will go or whether they are in keeping with what is there?    I just experienced this exact scenario this morning.   And then Greg writes, Let's be honest, who has a scale map of their garden, showing all the gaps, each time they find themselves looking at plants for sale?  Then as we introduce unlikely plant partners to the border, we push the boundaries of traditional garden styles, whether by accident or design.    And here is where Greg helps us get on track. He writes, This is, in fact, a good thing. The mixing together of plants from older garden styles is creating something special indeed: a new style that combines the best of the Traditional Cottage Garden and of the gardens of the New Perennial Garden Movement.  For argument's sake, let's call it the Modern Cottage Garden. This is a gardener's garden.  Its generous style is for gardeners who can't resist plants.   Can I get an Amen? The spoke is 288 pages of the Modern Cottage Garden — encouraging you to grow plants that are new to you, try new combinations or new communities of plants, and enjoy the process of experimenting in your garden. You can get a copy of The Modern Cottage Garden by Greg Loades and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $9.   Botanic Spark 1899 On this day, Lou Andreas Salomé (books about this person), the first female psychoanalyst and writer, and Rainer Maria Rilke (books about this person), the Austrian poet and writer, visited Leo Tolstoy (books about this person) in Russia. Now this entire trip was Lou's idea. She hoped that Tolstoy would be a mentor to her friend and lover, Rainer ("Rye-nur") Maria Rilke. Lou Andreas Salomé was a bit of a muse to Rainer Maria Rilke. Early in their friendship, Lou was the one who encouraged him to change his first name from René to Rainer. She also encouraged him to learn Russian and to read Tolstoy. And so that sets the stage for their meeting with Leo Tolstoy in his garden on this day, May 19th in, 1899. One account of the meeting goes like this: We no longer looked about us, but at him absorbing this landscape.  Bending down from time to time to pluck, forget me nots with a quick motion of his cup tanned as if to snatch up the odor from the stem.  He would then hold them close to his face and breathe them.  Intensely consume them as it were.  And then let them fall to the ground.   Well, it seems Leo was more interested in his garden than in becoming a mentor to Rainer Maria Rilke. But the story doesn't end there. Rainer Maria Rilke fell in love with Russia - and for a brief period with Lou Andreas Salomé. And it was during his time in Russia, Rainer wrote one of his masterpieces: a trilogy of timeless poetry called The Book of Hours.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1735 On this day, a French expedition made the first attempt to transport cinchona trees to Europe. The scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine was the first man to describe the Cinchona tree, the scientist Charles Marie de La Condamine, was on the expedition along with the botanist Joseph de Jussieu. Their mission was to add the trees to a Paris collection, but sadly the trees were lost when they were washed overboard. Once Europe learned of the power of the Cinchona tree, they were eager to get their hands on the bark. Cinchona's name was in honor of a Spanish Countess named Ana, and her second marriage was to the Count of Chinchon. After the Count was given the job of serving as the viceroy of Peru, a station that oversaw the entire continent of South America, except for Brazil, the couple arrived in Lima in 1629.   The following year, the Countess grew gravely ill with tertian ague. She suffered a fever that occurred every other day, the Governor of Loxa, Don Francisco Lopez de Canizares, sent over a life-saving parcel of cinchona bark. With the cinchona powder, the Countess made a rapid recovery. Eleven years later, when the Count and Countess began their return trip to Spain, they brought along a precious supply of the curative Quina bark for use with their people. They also hoped to introduce cinchona medicine to the rest of Europe.   Sadly, Ana died during the long voyage home in Cartegena in December 1639. But Ana's legacy lives on in the medicine we know today as quinine. After her husband, the Count returned to Spain, the medicinal Quina bark powder became known as Pulvis Comitissa in honor of the Countess. And over 100 years later, Linneaus named the genus Cinchona in honor of the Countess of Chinchon in 1742. Linneaus should have called it Chinchona, but he forgot the "h."   1809 On this day, the herbalist and midwife Martha Ballard worked in the raised beds in her garden and recorded her annual spring gardening efforts. For 27 years, Martha kept a journal of her work as a gardener, town healer, and midwife for Hallowell, Maine.  Today, Martha’s great journal gives us a glimpse into the plants she regularly used and how she applied them medicinally. As for how Martha sourced her plants, she raised them in her garden or foraged them in the wild. As the village apothecary, Martha found her own ingredients and made all of her herbal remedies personally. As a midwife, Martha assisted with 816 births. In May of 1809, Martha worked in the gardens surrounding her house. She sowed, set, planted, and transplanted.  On May 15, she planted squash, cucumbers, muskmelons, and watermelons. And on this day, May 16, she sowed string peas at the end of her garden. In Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's work, The Life of Martha Ballard, she writes, Martha's was an ordinary garden, a factory for food and medicine that incidentally provided nourishment to the soul.  "I have workt in my gardin," she wrote on May 17, the possessive pronoun the only hint of the sense of ownership she felt in her work. The garden was hers, though her husband or son or the Hallowell and Augusta Bank owned the land.  "I have squash and Cucumbers come up in the bed [on the] east side the house," she wrote on May 22.  The garden was hers because she turned the soil, dropped the seeds, and each year recorded in her diary, as though it had never happened before, the recurring miracle of spring.   1861 On this day, Union Captain Jacob Ritner wrote back to his wife, Emeline. Jacob and Emeline exchanged marvelous letters throughout the Civil War that depicted their heroic lives on both the battlefield and homefront. While Jacob wrote with the tragic news of war, Emeline kept him apprised of their four small children and the challenges of maintaining the family farm. Emeline's news from home kept Jacob sane and anchored to the happier reality that awaited him after the war. Emeline often wrote about the garden and the landscape, proving that even news of a faraway garden can be anchoring and grounding amid hardship. And so, on this day back in 1861, Jacob wrote in his letter, Now Emeline dear, you must write me a great long letter next Sunday.  Tell me all the news, how the trees grow, the garden and grass, what everybody says...   1918 On this day, the rose season began at Munstead Wood, the Arts and Crafts style home and surrounding gardens in Surrey, England, created by garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Munstead Wood became famous thanks to Gertrude's books and articles in magazines like Country Life. Gertrude lived at Munstead Wood from 1897 to 1932. Volume 82 of The Garden celebrated the first rose to open at Munstead Wood on this day by reporting, The rose season begins. The opening the first Rose is always a source of delight. The first we have seen in the open this year was the pink Rosa rugosa at Munstead Wood on May 16. This is one of the oldest garden roses and is said to have been cultivated since 1100 A.D. in China, where the ladies of the Court prepared a kind of potpourri from its petals, gathered on a fine day, and mixed with Camphor and Musk.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Secret Garden Cookbook, Newly Revised Edition by Amy Cotler This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Inspiring Recipes from the Magical World of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden. If you've been listening to the show, I've been on a little bit of a cookbook kick lately, and cookbooks tied to literature. So this is continuing in that same vein with this great book called The Secret Garden Cookbook by Amy Kotler. Amy is a professional chef, caterer, and cooking-school teacher - and if you're a cookbook lover, you will truly appreciate her background in the kitchen. When this book came out, people were going crazy for the Toffee Pudding recipe that you can find on page 32. So that's just a little heads up. If you're a gardener, I'll point out that right at the beginning of the book is a beautiful picture of the Francis Hodgson Burnett Memorial Fountain. It's both a statue and a tranquil fountain filled with lily pads that depicts Mary and Dickon from The Secret Garden. It's located in Central Park in New York City, and it's just a gorgeous photo of this Memorial. Here's how Amy introduces us to The Secret Garden and the magic of food: She writes, Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden is about the magic of making things come alive. Mary, Colin, and Dickon all help the forgotten secret garden to grow again. ButMary and Colin come alive, too, through hard work, friendship, and good, nourishing food.  When Mary Lennox first arrives atMisselthwaite Manor from India, she is thin,sallow, and unhealthy looking. But as she goes outside, skips rope, and works in the garden, her appetite grows. Colin, too, is sickly until he learns the secret of the garden. By the end of the novel, he is enjoying food as much as Mary. Pails of fresh milk, dough cakes with brown sugar, hearty porridge, fire-roasted potatoes-Mary, and Colin can't get enough of them! The children of The Secret Garden grew up during the reign of Queen Victoria... commonly known as the Victorian era. In those days, food took a long time to cook and serve.  Even Mrs. Sowerby, Dickon's mother, though she must feed fourteen people, manages to find a little extra food for Mary and Colin when they experience the joys of eating.   And that's what this book is all about; a hardy appreciation of good food. This book is 112 pages of fifty recipes inspired by The Secret Garden, and they're all updated for the modern kitchen and appeal to today's tastes. You can get a copy of The Secret Garden Cookbook, Newly Revised Edition by Amy Cotler, and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $10.   Botanic Spark 1905 Birth of Herbert Ernest Bates (pen name H. E. Bates) English author. He once wrote, The true gardener, like an artist, is never satisfied.   H.E. is remembered for his books, Love for Lydia (1952), The Darling Buds of May (1958), and My Uncle Silas (1939). The Darling Buds of May inspired a TV series in the 1990s. In his book, A Love of Flowers (1971), H.E. wrote, It is wonderful to think that one of the few unbroken links between the civilization of ancient Egypt and the civilization of today is the garden. And he also wrote, Gardens… should be like lovely, well-shaped girls: all curves, secret corners, unexpected deviations, seductive surprises, and then still more curves.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1735 Birth of Charles-Joseph Lamoral, French Field Marshal, writer, and member of the princely family of Ligne ("Leen-ya"). Charles once wrote, I should like to inflame the whole world with my taste for gardening.  There is no virtue that I would not attribute to the man who lives to project and execute gardens.   1812 Birth of Edward Lear, English artist, musician, and writer.  Edward is remembered for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose. He once wrote, As for myself, I am sitting up today for the first time - partly dressed - [something] the cucumber said when oil and vinegar were poured over him, salt & pepper being omitted.   Edward also popularized the limerick.   Here's an Edward Lear limerick for gardeners. There was an old person so silly, He poked his head into a lily; But six bees who lived there, filled him full of despair, For they stung that old person so silly.   1820 Birth of Florence Nightingale (books about this person), English social reformer, statistician, and founder of modern nursing. Florence earned the moniker "The Lady with the Lamp" during the Crimean War because she would make her rounds to visit wounded soldiers with a lamp during the night. The American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the term in his poem Santa Filomena, which he wrote in honor of Florence's work in Scutari Hospital. Florence was named after Florence, Italy - the city where she was born. As a young girl, she and her sister had their garden to plant and tend. When Florence was 13, she collected flowers with a 77-year-old botanist named Margaret Stovin. Together they gathered and pressed over 100 different species of plants. This charming story was featured in a 2008 book by Richard Mendelsohn. Today, Florence and Margaret's flowers are housed at the Natural History Museum in London. As an adult, Florence wrote, Poetry and imagination begin life. A child will fall on its knees on the gravel walk at the sight of a pink hawthorn in full flower, when it is by itself, to praise God for it. As a nurse, Florence believed flowers helped with the morale and recovery of her patients. And personally, the foxglove was her favorite flower. And Florence received a lovely bouquet every week from William Rathbone, the man who founded the Queen Victoria Jubilee Institute for Nurses. In 2020, one of the anticipated gardens was dedicated to Florence during the pandemic. The year 2020 marked the 200th Anniversary of her birth, and the garden was to be called The Florence Nightingale Garden - A Celebration of Modern Day Nursing. Instead, the garden debuted at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2021. The garden featured “Images from Florence Nightingale's pressed flower collection and echoes of her handwriting … on… the timber walls.” Today Florence is remembered in the Florence Nightingale Museum in London, which celebrates the life and work of the best-known figure in nursing history. She is also honored with the Florence Nightingale rose — a pretty pale pink fragrant rose.   1856 Birth of Andreas Franz Wilhelm Schimper, German botanist and phytogeographer Andreas was a significant player in the early days of plant ecology. In 1901, his work was cut short due to his untimely death at 45 after contracting Malaria in  Cameroon.  Andreas coined the terms tropical rainforest and sclerophyll and is honored in many species names.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation  P. Allen Smith's Garden Home by P. Allen Smith This book came out in 2003, and the subtitle is Creating a Garden for Everyday Living. Well, to me, this book is a garden classic. You get to know a little bit about P. Allen Smith's biography. His family's love of gardens, his experience working in the nursery business - plus all of the great relationships that he made working in some of England's top gardens. (He could write a book on that alone.) Fascinating stories. But in all seriousness, this book is so foundational to gardening. It's a great book to give new gardeners. And it's also an excellent book for gardeners who are considering a redesign or, after a long winter, feel like they need to brush up on their skills. The bulk of this book is dedicated to Allen's twelve garden design principles. He'll talk about aspects like framing a view, having texture in the garden, rhythm, pattern, color, etc. Now I thought I'd share this little excerpt from Allen's introduction. And here he's talking about how he created the garden rooms on his own property. He writes, I began working out the various outdoor rooms to see how they related to the house itself. The shape to one another and to the of the house and the lot created a series of rectangular spaces.  I recognized an opportunity to design strong unbroken lines of sight or axes from one garden room into the next. Like an open door, these visual sight lines would allow visitors to stand in one room and see directly into the next. After positioning these openings through portals or entries further divided the rectangles into nine garden rooms and began to imagine how each space could have its own personality yet remain a part of a cohesive whole.    And then I love what he says next. Because he's talking about paths, and I always feel like paths are so underrated; they're almost an afterthought for so many gardeners. So Allen says, As I laid out this plan on paper, I added an entire circuit or path that looped around the house, connecting one garden room to the next. From here, I imagined hedges and fences that would serve as "walls" for each room, with arbors and gates as "doorways."   And then, he goes on to talk about more ways that he created these garden rooms. And so, in this book, Allen not only goes through his 12 principles of design, but he also takes you on tour. Through each of his garden rooms because they help illustrate each of those principles. It's a fabulous book. It's a garden basic - and it's so affordable now that it's been on the market so long. This book is 224 pages of P. Allen Smith's expertise, his twelve principles of garden design, and his fantastic personal garden. You can get a copy of P. Allen Smith's Garden Home by P. Allen Smith and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $3.     Botanic Spark 1943 On this day, the Belvidere Daily Republican posted an article entitled Gardeners Get Nine-Point Plan On Care Of Hose. If mindful of the rubber shortage, you're wondering how to coddle your garden hose through its important Victory-garden job this year, an expert here has a "nine-point program" for hose care that may mean the difference between a backyard farmer's success or failure. W. S. Richardson, manager of the industrial products division of B. F. Goodrich, outlines his nine points as follows:  1. Never drive a car over your hose.  2. Don't leave it lying in the sun  3. Coil it neatly and hang it up.  4. But not on a spike or sharp-edged stick.  5. Be sure it's drained first, for water left in the hose will damage the fabric reinforcement. 6. Don't turn off the water at the nozzle.  7. Don't try to stop the flow by doubling the hose back on itself for either way may give you a 'blow-out.' 8. Don't drag a hose over sharp stones in a rock garden. 9. Don't pick an oily spot on the driveway or floor of your garage as the place to coil it. He concludes, "[Oil] destroys most rubber, and you might end up with a leaky hose and a once-promising Victory garden 'burned up' by drought.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events   1725 Birth of John Hope, botanist, professor, and founder of the Royal Garden in Edinburgh. John produced considerable work on plant classification and physiology. He was appointed the King's botanist for Scotland and superintendent of the Royal Garden in Edinburgh. At the time, Edinburgh was the place to study medicine, and all medical students had to take botany courses. John created a school for botanists after spinning off the school's materia medica (pharmacy) department, which allowed him to specialize exclusively in botany. John was a captivating instructor. He was one of the first two people to teach the Linnean system. He also taught the natural system. John was one of the first professors to use big teaching diagrams or visual aids to teach his lectures. John led over 1,700 students during his tenure. His students traveled from all over Europe, America, and India. John Hope Alumni include the likes of James Edward Smith, founder and first President of the Linnaean Society, Charles Drayton, and Benjamin Rush. A field botanist, John encouraged his students to go out and investigate the Flora of Scotland. He awarded a medal every year to the student who collected the best herbarium.   1818 Birth of Arthur Cleveland Coxe, American theologian and composer. Arthur served as the second Episcopal bishop of Western New York. He once wrote, Flowers are words, which even a baby can understand.   1891 Death of Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli, Swiss botanist. Although he studied cell division and pollination, Carl's claim to fame is being the guy who discouraged Gregor Mendel from pursuing his work on genetics. Gregor regarded Carl as a botanical expert and his professional hero. When Gregor sent Carl an overview of his work with pea plants in a letter, Carl dismissed the results out of hand, labeling them "only empirical, and impossible to prove rationally." Carl poo-pooed natural selection. Instead, he believed in orthogenesis, a now-defunct theory that living organisms have an internal driving force - a desire to perfect themselves- and evolve toward this goal. Over a seven-year period in the mid-1800s, Gregor Mendel grew nearly 30,000 pea plants - taking note of their height and shape and color - in his garden at the Augustinian monastery he lived in at Brno (pronounced "burr-no") in the Czech Republic. His work resulted in what we now know as the Laws of Heredity. Gregor came up with the genetic terms and terminology that we still use today, like dominant and recessive genes. Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli's dismissal prompted Gregor to give up his work with genetics. After his promotion to the abbot of the monastery, Gregor focused on his general duties and teaching. In 1884, Gregor died without ever knowing the impact his work would have on modern science. Fifteen years later, in 1899,  a friend sent the Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries a copy of Gregor’s work - calling it a paper on hybridization - not heredity. At the same time, Gregor’s paper was uncovered by a student of Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli's - a man named Carl E. F. J. Correns. Hugo de Vries rushed to publish his first paper on genetics without mentioning Gregor Mendel. But he did have the nerve to use some of Gregor’s data and terminology in his paper. Carl Correns threatened to expose De Vries, who then quickly drafted a new version of his paper, which gave proper credit to Gregor Mendel. Through his work with the humble pea plant, Gregor came up with many of the genetic terms still used today, like dominant and recessive genes.    1907 It was on this day that Francis Younghusband, British Army officer, explorer, and spiritual writer, documented the progression of spring in the Residency Garden in Kashmir. Francis shared his observations in a book called Kashmir(1909). The Residency Garden was an English country house that was built specifically for guests by the Maharajah, and so naturally, Francis loved staying there. Here's what Francis wrote in May of 1907 about the Residency Garden, which was just coming into full flower. Francis observed,  By May 1st ...The May trees were in full blossom. The bank on the south side of the garden was a mass of dark purple and white irises, and [the] evening [sun] caused each flower to [become] a blaze of glory. Stock was in full bloom. Pansies were out in masses. Both the English and Kashmir lilacs were in blossom, and the columbines were in perfection.  The first horse chestnuts came into blossom on May 10th, and on that date, the single pink rose, sinica anemone, on the trellis at the end of the garden, was in full bloom and of wondrous beauty; a summer-house covered with Fortune's yellow was a dream of golden loveliness;  I picked the first bloom of some English roses that a kind friend had sent out... and we had our first plateful of strawberries. A light mauve iris, a native of Kashmir, [is now in] bloom; ...and some lovely varieties of Shirley poppy... from Mr. Luther Burbank, the famous plant-breeder of California, began to blossom; and roses of every variety came [on] rapidly till the garden became a blaze of color.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Lemon, Love & Olive Oil by Mina Stone This book came out in September of 2021. Now, if you're a cookbook lover, you know that Mina's debut cookbook called Cooking For Artists was a smash hit. It was also self-published. And in fact, right now, if you go on Amazon and you try to get a copy of that first cookbook, you'll pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $150. To me, Mina's story is fascinating. She actually went to school to be a designer, and then, on the side, she started cooking for families. And then she started cooking for special events. And then eventually, she started cooking for a gallery, and that's where she started cooking for artists. Thus, the name of her first book. The story behind the second book, Lemon Love and Olive Oil, stems from the fact that whenever people would ask MIna for ingredients to make something taste great, her answer was always lemon juice, olive oil, and a little bit of salt. So, those are her go-to ingredients. Mina contends that you can make anything taste good with a little bit of her favorite three ingredients: lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. So that became the name for the cookbook, except salt was replaced with love. When this cookbook was released, it met with rave reviews. In fact, the New York times rated it a best cookbook of the year, writing, Author of the cult-favorite Cooking for Artists, Mina Stone, returns with a collection of 80 new recipes inspired by her traditional Greek heritage and her years cooking for some of New York’s most innovative artists.   I've watched a couple of interviews with Mina, and one thing she says over and over again was that when she was creating this cookbook is, she was constantly thinking about the love aspect of these recipes. By that, Mina was focusing on the comfort level and the coziness factor of the food. So that's what she was trying to capture with these 80 recipes. I found that so poignant, especially in light of the fact that she was putting this together during the pandemic while she's in lockdown in 2020. Mina is not the kind of person that comes up with a cookbook and then has to go out and create a bunch of recipes. That's not how Mina works. Instead, Mina pays attention to the recipes that she starts making again and again. So these are recipes that have staying power. They are the recipes that pass the Mina Test, and they rise to the top of her favorites because they are just naturally so good. Also, if you are a lover of reading cookbooks, you are going to really enjoy Mina's book. Before each section, there are essays from Mina that share stories about her family - and her grandmother, who is kind of the original Greek cook in Mina's life.  Mina has great insight, not only on these recipes and ingredients but also from her sheer personal experience.  I couldn't help, but think as I was reading this cookbook that Mina could write a memoir because her stories are so intriguing. In addition to the essays for each section of the book, every recipe gets a little personal introduction as well. For an excerpt, I selected a few little snippets from a section that Mina calls My Kitchen. This is a chapter about the key ingredients that Mina uses on repeat. She writes, I've always found pantry lists in cookbooks to be intimidating. Asa self-trained home cook, I never sought out hard-to-find ingredients. It never crossed my mind as an option. The ingredients in my recipes and the food found in my pantry reflect my surroundings touched with a dose of Greekness. (It can't be helped.) Here are some thoughts on how I approach cooking in my kitchen, what I like to keep in my cupboards, what I run out to the store for, and some clarification on how I wrote the recipes.   Salt Sea salt is more salty and kosher salt is less salty. Because kosher salt is less salty it gives you more control over the seasoning. For example, it is great for seasoning meat because you can use more and achieve a lovely salt crust as well as the right amount of seasoning without oversalting. It is the salt up using the most.   Extra-Virgin Olive Oil I like to use olive oil sparingly during cooking (this makes thedish lighter) and add the bulk of it at the end, once cooking is completed. use much more olive oil in the recipes than people are accustomed to using. suggest adding more than you would think when you're cooking from this book. That's a great little tidbit, especially if you're using olive oil for cooking with your garden harvest. There is so much that comes out of our garden that goes into the pan with a ton of olive oil. But now, maybe you can dial that back a little bit with this tip from Mina.   Lemons They add floral buoyancy but, above all, a fresh form of acid that I usually prefer to vinegar. When using lemons for zest, try to always use organic ones.    I've never thought about lemons that way, but I love how she describes that floral buoyancy. And, you know, she's exactly right. Personally, I also think that there's something just a little less harsh about lemon juice as compared to vinegar. So if you have a sensitive tummy, consider incorporating lemon juice instead of vinegar.   Green Herbs: Parsley, Mint, Cilantro, and Basil I like fresh herbs in abundance and can often find a place to incorporate them with relative ease. In the recipes, herbs are usually measured by the handful: 1 handful equals about 1/4 cup. It doesn't need to be exact, but that is a good place to start if you need it.

This advice is helpful as well because if you're planning your kitchen garden, you need to think about how many plants you need to plant so that you can have an abundant harvest.

Just to give you an idea of how much Basil I use in the summertime, I usually end up buying about four to five flats of Basil.   Dried Oregano Oregano is my number one dried herb. Greek oregano has a pronounced savory and earthy flavor to it, and it is my preference to use in more traditional Greek dishes. Better-quality dried oregano, which is milder in flavor, is great to use as a general seasoning for salad, fish, and meats.   This book is 272 pages of more than eighty Mediterranean-style dishes and the stories that inspired them. These recipes are uncomplicated, and they're Mina's go-to recipes. And, of course, they can always be enhanced with lemon, olive oil, and salt.

You can get a copy of Lemon, Love & Olive Oil by Mina Stone and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $15.   Botanic Spark 2017 Death of Polly Park, American-Australian amateur gardener, speaker, and writer.

Remembered as the designer of Boxford, a Canberra garden, Polly and her husband Peter created classic garden styles using their own creativity and gumption. On their half-acre suburban property, Boxford attracted visitors from across the world and featured six unique gardens: a modern garden inspired by Roberto Burle Marx, an English knot garden, a parterre garden with an Italien statue from Florence, a Chinese garden inspired by the Suzhou ("sue-joe") garden, an Indian garden, and a Japanese garden.

Polly and Peter made a great garden team. Polly came up with the design ideas, and Peter was the muscle. Polly created the stone courtyard for the Indian garden and a mosaic inspired by the great 20th-century Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer ("Nee-myer") for the modern garden. Peter built the pond and meditation house for the Japanese garden. In 1988, Polly wrote a biography of their gardens in the book The World in My Garden.

Although Boxford was identified as a National heritage site - after Peter and Polly sold the property in 2006 - the garden was destroyed. In 2011, Peter died. Polly followed him home six years later on this day at the age of 96. You can get a used copy of The World in My Garden by Polly Park and support the show for around $17.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

John Hope, Arthur Cleveland Coxe, Carl Wilhelm von Nägeli, Francis Younghusband, Lemon, Love & Olive Oil by Mina Stone, Polly Park

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events National Public Gardens Week  This week marks the beginning of National Public Gardens Week (May 6-15). This celebration started in 2009 as part of the effort to bring attention to the country's public gardens. Go Public Gardens is an ongoing, evergreen Association initiative to drive the public to visit, value, and volunteer at public gardens in their area and when they travel. You can be part of the celebration by visiting a public garden this week. You can find gardens near you on the interactive Garden Map.   1781 Birth of Henri Cassini, French botanist and naturalist. Henri's second great grandfather was the famous Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini; he discovered Jupiter's Great Red Spot and the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. Henri took a decidedly different path than his ancestors. He was the fifth generation of a family of star scholars, so Henri is often referred to as Cassini V. Henri became a lawyer, and like many professionals, botany was a hobby for Henri. His heart belonged to the sunflower family, and it is fitting that the genus Cassinia(the sunflower genus) was named in his honor by the botanist Robert Brown. Henri's work had staying power. Many of his sunflower descriptions and observations are still valid over two centuries later. Henri married his cousin and had no children. He died of cholera at 50, and he was the last of the Cassini name - and a punctuation mark on the wonderful Cassini legacy.   1807 On this day in 1807, Lewis and Clark returned a book they had borrowed from Benjamin Smith Barton. Before starting their incredible expedition, Meriwether Lewis visited Barton at his home. Meriwether left with Barton's copy of The History of Louisiana by Antoine le Page. Meriwether memorialized the gesture in the flyleaf of the book, writing: Dr. Benjamin Smith Barton was so obliging as to lend me this copy of Mons. Le Page's History of Louisiana in June 1803. It has been since conveyed by me to the Pacific ocean through the interior of North America on my late tour thither and is now returned to its proprietor by his friends and obedient servant, Meriwether Lewis. Philadelphia, May 9, 1807.   1860 Birth of James Matthew Barrie (books by this author), Scottish novelist, and playwright. James is best remembered as the creator and author of Peter Pan, and he drew inspiration from the real world's Kensington Gardens. In 1912, James commissioned Sir George Frampton to build a statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. It's been a favorite of visitors to the park ever since. Gardens and flowers were other sources of inspiration for James. The following are just a few samples of his garden inspired prose: There is almost nothing that has such a keen sense of fun as a fallen leaf. The unhappy Hook was as impotent as he was damp, and he fell forward like a cut flower. All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old, she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, ‘Oh, why can’t you remain like this forever!’ This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.   James also wrote, God gave us memories that we may have roses in December.   1921 Birth of Sophia Magdalena Scholl (books about this person), German student, and anti-Nazi activist. Sophia was part of the White Rose non-violent resistance group started by her brother Hans. The two were arrested and convicted of high treason after distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich. Sophia was executed by guillotine. Her last words were, “long live freedom.” Since the 1970s, Sophia has been praised and remembered for her anti-Nazi resistance work. In 2021, Sophia was commemorated on a special sterling silver collector's coin issued on her 100th birthday. It was Sophie Scholl, leader of the White Rose Movement, who said, Who would have thought it possible that a tiny little flower could preoccupy a person so completely that there simply wasn’t room for any other thought.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Patina Living by Steve Giannetti and Brooke Giannetti This book came out in 2019, and this is The heartwarming story of how the Giannetties live and entertain in the well-designed and lushly planted gardens of their farm in Ojai, California. If you're a longtime listener of the show, you know that I recommended Steve and Brooke's second book Patina Farmjust a few weeks ago. But this is actually their third book, and it's called Patina Living, and it came out in 2019. And as the publisher says, The heartwarming story of how the Giannetties live and entertain in the well-designed and lushly planted gardens of their farm in Ojai, California. So this book is truly dedicated to the gardens there on the property. Now, I thought I'd give you a complete overview of all the Giannetti books; I think they're all fantastic. Their first book came out in 2011 and was called Patina Style. Now that book was all about their interior design. The second book, the book that I just profiled a few weeks ago, is called Patina Farm. And that's talking about basically the entire property inside and out, including the gardens. And now, this third book, Patina Living, is all about the gardens. And then, of course, there's one called Patina Homes after this one. But this book, in particular, is the one that we're talking about today, and it is Patina Living, and they don't call it Patina Gardens, essentially, because there is so much life in these gardens. There are outdoor rooms. There are kitchen gardens. There are animals. There's just so much going on outdoors for the family, which is why they chose to call it Patina Living. Now I thought it would be fun to review this power couple of Brooke Giannetti and Steve Giannetti. Brooke is a California-based interior designer. She's got her shop, and she's a blogger. And so everything that she's putting together is just so artfully done. She's a natural stylist. And then you have Steve Giannetti. He's an architect, and he works on all kinds of projects. So there's the two of them together, and they work so well together. In the introduction to Patina Living, Brooke and Steve share this incredibly heart-wrenching story of when they had to leave Patina Farm back in 2017 - five years ago when one of the California wildfires was threatening their property. And so they had to load everything up quickly, and they were prepared to say goodbye to all of it. And so here is this little excerpt from what Brooke wrote. She said, As we hurried through the now-mature grounds of Patina Farm, we were reminded of the time we had installed the new plantings that would become our outdoor rooms.  Now, five years later, the gardens looked lush and lovely, softened by the pale pink haze of the fire; but they were also quiet and lifeless. Our donkeys, Buttercup, Daisy, Blossom, and Huckleberry, were not grazing the lower fields or sleeping under the pepper trees as they normally did. The protected garden and animal barn next to my office - where our miniature pygmy goats, sisters Thelma and Louise and their best friend, Dot, and our sheep, Linen, Paisley, and Cashmere, normally lounged and played - were silent and deserted. As we headed out to our packed cars, Steve asked me if there was anything else that I wanted to take with us. - looked around at the house -a house we had spent years thoughtfully designing-and realized that all I really needed to take, the soul of our house, was already securely resting in our cars.   Isn't that touching? Later on, in the introduction, Brooke sets out her goals for this book, Patina Living. And she writes As we've shared our journey to Patina Farm, many of our readers have shared their desire to move toward an organic, nature-centered life. Some of you just want to add more gardens to your property or figure out how to have a few chickens in your side yard, while others dream of creating your version of Patina Farm, with farmanimals and a potager to grow your own food. We are writing this book for all of you, to share why we decided to embrace this lifestyle and whatwe have learned along the way. We will also introduce you to some of the wonderful people in our life who have helped us navigate the winding road of farm life. One of the important nuggets of wisdom we have learned is that there is not just one way to live. The idea of this book is to explain what works (and hasn't worked) for us and why. By sharing our journey, we hope to demystify the homestead farm lifestyle. If we city folk can do it, SO can you!   What I love about Brooke and Steve - and what they've done here - is how authentic they are and how creative they are because they approach everything from the Giannetti angle on design and functionality. Again, it's got to work for them because this is a working farm. This is a homestead property. And so, while they want things to look beautiful, they're also pragmatists. I love that mix. Now, granted, up here in Minnesota, I'm never going to have the type of climate that they enjoy in Ojai, California. I'm never going to be able to grow rosemary and lavender year-round outdoors in my garden. But again, there is so much of what Steve and Brooke do here that can be translated into new solutions no matter where you live. So if you're looking for best practices, I think you cannot go wrong with any book by Steve and Brooke Gianetti. This book is 208 pages of gardens, gardens, gardens, outdoor living, all kinds of outbuildings, and spaces for animals -  and a gorgeous potager to boot - on a high-end homestead. You can get a copy of Patina Living by Steve Giannetti and Brooke Giannetti and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $8.   Botanic Spark 1938 Birth of Charles Simic (books by this author), Serbian American poet and former co-poetry editor of the Paris Review. He taught English and creative writing for over three decades at the University of New Hampshire.  In 1990, Charles received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. In 2007 he was appointed the fifteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Charles is one of the most compelling modern poets writing today. He once wrote, Even when I’m stretched out in my coffin, they may find me tinkering with some poem.   Here's an excerpt from his poem called In The Traffic. What if I were to ditch my car And walk away without a glance back? While drivers honk their horns As I march toward the woods, Determined, once and for all, To swap this breed of lunatics For a more benign kind who dwell In trees, long-haired and naked. I’ll let the sun be my guide As I roam the countryside, stopping to chat With a flower or a butterfly, Subsisting on edible plants, I find, Glad to share my meal with deer, Or find a bear licking my face As I wake up, asking where am I? Stuck in the traffic, Mister!   And here's his very brief poem called Watermelons: Green Buddhas On the fruit stand We eat the smile And spit out the teeth.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

 Henri Cassini, Meriwether Lewis, James Matthew Barrie, Sophie Scholl, Patina Living, Steve Giannetti, Brooke Giannetti, Charles Simic, Benjamin Smith Barton

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events Compost Awareness Week   1742 Birth of Jean Senebier, a Swiss pastor and botanist. Where would we be without Senebier? We'd still be breathing, but we'd lack the knowledge that carbon dioxide is consumed by plants and, in turn, that plants produce oxygen as part of the process of photosynthesis. In a nutshell, Senebier’s work is crucial because he had learned the function of leaves: capturing carbon for food. Before Senebier, the purpose of leaves and what they did for plants and people was unknown. It was Jean Senebier who said, Observation and experiment are two sisters who help each other.   1754 Birth of Joseph Joubert, French moralist and essayist. Remembered mainly for his Pensées ("Pon-see") or (Thoughts), which were published posthumously, he once wrote, All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so.   1856 Birth of Sigmund Freud (books about this person), Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis. Freud once offered this humorous insight: Common sense is a rare flower and does not grow in everyone's garden.   Freud offered up a few dispassionate observations regarding the natural world.  He once wrote,  Beauty has no obvious use, nor is there any clear cultural necessity for it. Yet civilization could not do without it.   And he also wrote, Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.   Online there are many photos of Freud and his family in the garden of their home in London. The Freuds left their home in Austria to escape the Nazis with the help of Princess Marie Bonaparte (books about this person), known as Princess George of Greece and Denmark. In 1938, there was a photo of Sigmund with his daughter Anna and Martha in the garden of Marie Bonaparte's house in Paris after arriving on the Orient Express from Vienna. Anna looks happy, Martha looks at a flower, and Sigmund has a little snooze in his garden bed. The Freud home in London was much larger and nicer, and there was a large backyard with a garden.  The property still boasts Freud's rose garden and is now the Freud Museum at 20 Maresfield Gardens in Hampstead, London NW3, England. In 2008, the French botanist and biologist Francis Hallé wrote, Everyone knows that going to the garden does not solve the problems of everyday life, yet it relativizes them and makes them more bearable.  Sigmund Freud had this late regret: 'I lost my time; the only important thing in life is gardening.'   1925 On this day, at the age of 29, the great twentieth-century reformer of Japanese gardens, Mirei Shigemori (books about this person), changed his name from Kazuo ("Kah-zoh") to Mirei (“me-RAY”).  The name change was a tribute to the 19th-century French painter of pastoral landscapes and daily life, Jean Francois Millet (books about this person), who once said, It is the treating of the commonplace with the feeling of the sublime that gives to art its true power.   In 1932, Mirei founded the Kyoto Garden Society. Mirei practiced the art of tea - Chado ("Cha-doe") and the art of flower arranging - Ikebana ("ick-aye-bah-na").  Mirei once advised, People who try to do research on the garden have to very seriously study the way of tea.   Mirei wrote eighty-one books, including the Illustrated Book on the History of the Japanese Garden in 26-volumes, released in 1938. Mother Nature played an important role in shaping Mirei's life when the Muroto Typhoon destroyed much of Kyoto in 1934. Many sacred temples, shrines, and gardens were wiped out in the life-altering storm. In response, Mirei took action.  He used his own money and became one of the first designers to survey every garden in Japan - creating records for restoration if they were ever damaged or destroyed. The tour provided a valuable service to his country and was also a means for Mirei to learn garden design - with a particular focus on incorporating rocks and stone. As a garden designer, Mirei was entirely self-taught. Throughout his fifty-year career, Mirei designed over two hundred gardens, including the checkerboard North Garden/Moss Garden at Tofukuji ("Tofu-kah-gee") Temple, Kyoto (1939), the dry landscape at Zuiho-in ("zwee-ho een" (1961), and the garden at the oldest shrine in Kyoto City, the Matsuo Taisha ("maht-sue-oh Ty-sha"(1975). The shrine is dedicated to the gods of water in western Kyoto and was an important place for sake-brewing families to worship over the centuries. In 2020, the second edition of landscape architect Christian Tschumi's book, Mirei Shigemori - Rebel in the Garden, was released.  In it, Christian breaks down the profound influences and meanings behind Mirei's most iconic gardens. Christian once wrote, Shigemori's body of work is a compelling manifesto for continuous cultural renewal.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Layered Garden by David Culp This book came out in 2012, and the subtitle is Design Lessons for Year-Round Beauty from Brandywine Cottage. Well, I'm a huge David Culp fan, and I feel like I'm telling you about this book just in time for summer because this book can help you set the stage for how you want your garden to look all year long. And since the summer lays entirely before us, this book is just in time for you. If you're planning a new garden or a garden redesign, you could do a lot worse than having David Culp be your guide. Laura Springer Ogden wrote a review that's right on the cover of the book, And it says, Garden-making in its finest form is a celebration of life and love - and David and this book epitomize this. I couldn't agree more. And by the way, you'll probably recognize the photographer's name for David's book as well -  it's Rob Cardillo. Rob always does such a fantastic job photographing gardens, so this book's photos are top-notch. Now David kicks things off in this book with a quote from Francis Bacon, it's from Of Gardens (1625) - and it's one of my favorite garden quotes: There ought to be gardens for all the months in the year, in which severally things of beauty may be then in season.   Of course, this sets the stage for what David is trying to teach us: how to have a garden that looks good all year long. Now I thought I would share this quick little sweet story that David shares at the beginning of his book. It gives all of us some great ideas - especially if you have young gardeners in your life. David wrote One fall, when I was about nine years old, my grandmother Thorpe gave me a bag of bulbs and said, "you go out and plant them." I felt more than a little trepidation. I had never planted anything without her supervision. But she reassured me. "You can do it. You won't go wrong." Her generosity could have been ruinous to her flower border. But I got the bulbs planted with no mishaps. The next spring, when they bloomed, I almost burst with pride. When she told all her friends, "David did that."  And from that moment, I knew I was a gardener.  And after all these years, it remains the core of how I define myself.   I love that story for a couple of different reasons. Number one, it really does tee up what David is talking about here in The Layered Garden because as a gardener, if you dismiss specific categories of plants out of hand, like the flowers that you get with spring bulbs, then you'll likely miss one of the layers that can help make your garden beautiful all through the year. Now the other reason I like this story is for practical purposes. I hear all the time from new gardeners who are so anxious about planting bulbs, And now I'm going to say, "Hey, if David Culp - as a nine-year-old - can do it, you can too. And then last but not least, I hope this plants a tiny seed with all of us that if we are interacting with kids in the garden, we definitely need to introduce them to planting spring-flowering bulbs because the result in the spring is just so impressive and unique. It also instills that sense of pride that you can get when your garden work goes to plan, and you experience that first flush of color. It's so wonderful. Throughout David's book, he reinforces this concept of the layered garden, but I will give you just a little snippet of how he introduces it here. He goes into much more detail and offers many more tips - wonderful little nuggets and tiny ideas - for making this look work for you. Here's how he introduces the concept in his book. Garden layers are made up of a variety of plants- some with complimentary or contrasting colors, others with interesting shapes or textures. Layers are more than just perennials or annuals or bulbs or ground covers. They're more than just the ground layer of plants. That's the sole focus of many gardens. Beautiful combinations are certainly possible, even in the tiniest scale. Think of dwarf Solomon's Seal underplanted with moss - that makes a precious six-inch-high picture. But to get the most interest from any garden, all the layers need to be considered from the ground level to the middle level of shrubs and small trees up to the canopy trees. Growing plants on vertical surfaces, walls, fences, trellises, arbors, and other supports even climbing up trees, when we can be sure that they will do no harm, adds to the picture by bringing flowers and foliage to eye level and above.   So there you go. An introduction to what David is talking about when he says The Layered Garden. You might be intuitively doing some layering already in your garden as you look for more ways to garden - looking for different plants - or finding and curating other ideas that you can put in your garden. But I think what David adds is his mastery because he knows how to make all of this work in a very cohesive way that's pleasing to the eye. David's book talks about how to do a layered garden and design it - which is probably the key for most of us because we often don't think about that. If we layer the garden, it can just happen organically. But then, sometimes, we can end up with a little bit of a confused look. Next, David talks about maintaining the layered garden, which is very important. Now there are two other aspects of this book that I want to share with you. So the first chapter talks about the layered garden, and it walks you all through that. But The second chapter introduces you to his garden at Brandywine Cottage. This is important because you get a garden tour here, and David shows you how he's put this layered garden technique to work right on his property. By the way, this is not David's first at-bat gardening; he's designed many gardens. So, all of his work is coming together, culminating at Brandywine. And then the last chapter, I think, is one of the most important chapters of the book. Here David shares his signature plants that he advises we consider incorporating into our gardens throughout the seasons. So, this is a great list. This is a list of plants from a garden designer - a garden lover - and someone who works in gardens every day. So right there, that's an invaluable part of this book. This book is 312 pages of layered gardening, the beauty of the garden at Brandywine, and then some of David's most treasured garden design secrets and favorite plants. You can get a copy of The Layered Garden by David Culp and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $18.   Botanic Spark 1682 On this day, Louis XIV (books about this person) of France moved his court to the Palace of Versailles. Originally, Versailles was built as a country house. Nine miles from Paris, Versailles was ideally situated near neighboring forests for hunting. Today Versailles is known for its opulence - the Hall of Mirrors, stunning art, and lush gardens. The massive gardens at Versailles are the most famous in the world. The garden is home to over 1,000 statues, and in the Facebook group for the show, I shared a stunning photo of the garden sculptures at Versailles surrounded by sandbags for protection during WWII. In 2006, Ian Thompson wrote a fantastic book called, The Sun King's Garden: Louis XIV, Andre le Notre and the Creation of the Gardens of Versailles. Ian believes that Louis XIV may also have been history's most passionate gardener. Louis, the absolute monarch, was known as the “Sun King,”  specifically designed the central axis to be east-west to track the sun's path across the garden. Louis worked closely for forty years with the low-born gardener André Le Nôtre to devise the original design and geometrical layout. Temperament-wise, André and Louis could not have been more different. Louis was driven and merciless. André was funny, thoughtful, insightful, and easy-going. In 1979, Versailles, including the garden, was declared a World Heritage Site. And in 2014, Alain Baraton wrote Gardener of Versailles: My Life in the World's Grandest Garden. As the gardener-in-chief, Alain lives on the grounds at Versailles. Alain has worked in the gardens, orchards, and fields for four decades. This memoir reveals Alain's connection to the grandest garden in the world. And in case you're wondering, Alain believes fall is the best time to visit. Alain oversaw the recovery from the worst natural disaster ever to hit Versailles. On Christmas night through the 26th of December in 1999, a monster winter storm with winds of up to 105 mph struck the grounds of Versaille. Alain watched in horror as century trees let go of the earth in response. In a little over an hour, the storm felled 10,000 trees at Versailles, including two tulip trees planted by Marie-Antoinette in 1783 in Trianon and a Corsican pine planted for Napoleon in 1810. Alain said, It was like the apocalypse. In one hour, 200 years of trees were destroyed.   But, miraculously, all of the statues survived unharmed. Although, there was one account that I read of a tree falling on one of the great statues. And as it hit the ground, the branches parted as if to spare that statue. It gave me chills just reading that. It was quite the story.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events   1830 Birth of Thomas Edward Brown, late-Victorian scholar, schoolmaster, poet, and theologian from the Isle of Man. Thomas was published under T.E. Brown, and here's a little excerpt from his poem called My Garden.  A GARDEN is a lovesome thing, God wot! Rose plot, Fringed pool, Fern'd grot— The veriest school Of peace; and yet the fool Contends that God is not— Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool? Nay, but I have a sign; 'Tis very sure God walks in mine.   1833 Birth of Richard Watson Dixon, English poet, and clergyman. Richard was the son of the clergyman, Dr. James Dixon. He's most remembered for that lyrical poem that begins. The feathers of the willow Are half of them grown yellow Above the swelling stream; And ragged are the bushes, And rusty now the rushes, And wild the clouded gleam.   But today, I thought I would share an excerpt from his little-known poem called The Judgement Of The May. Come to the judgement, golden threads upon golden hair in rich array; Many a chestnut shakes its heads, Many a lupine at this day, Many a white rose in our beds Waits the judgement of the May.   1890 Birth of Christopher Morley, American journalist, novelist, essayist, and poet. Christopher also produced plays and gave college lectures. And in addition to all of that, He wrote little sayings, like The trouble with wedlock is that there's not enough wed and too much lock.   And he also wrote Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water.   And then finally, here's a Christopher Marley quote on spring. April prepares her green traffic light, and the world thinks: Go.   1921 Birth of Mavis Lilian Batey, English Codebreaker and garden historian. Mavis served as an English Codebreaker during World War II, and her unique skillset broke the German enigma code, which allowed the allied forces to stage their D-Day invasion. Mavis became a champion for forgotten, yet historically significant, English gardens. She also helped establish garden history as an academic specialty. In 1955, Mavis and her Codebreaker husband, Keith, settled on a farm in Surrey. It was this property that sparked Mavis's passion for landscape history. After moving to Oxford, Mavis and her family lived in a fantastic park designed by Capability Brown. The park was also home to a garden designed by William Mason in 1775. Mavis recalled, We lived in the agent's house right in the middle of Capability Brown Park. But it was William Mason's garden that really got me. We had to cut our way into it. It was all overgrown and garden ornaments were buried in the grass. I knew at once it wasn't just an ordinary derelict garden. Someone had tried to say something there.   Mavis Batey used her wit and determination to become a force in numerous conservation organizations and missions. In 1985, Mavis was honored with the RHS Veitch Memorial Medal for her invaluable work, preserving gardens that would otherwise have been lost to time.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Magical World of Moss Gardening by Annie Martin  This book came out in 2015, and Pacific Northwest magazine said this about Annie's book: Instead of eradicating this deer-resistant, pest-resistant, rootless, stemless, wonder of a plant, Annni Martin tells us how to encourage and cultivate it.   Well, mosses are near and dear to many gardeners' hearts, and there have been many gardeners who try to grow and cultivate moss to no avail. And that's because moss has some special requirements. Annie writes, In my own garden, I feel angst when mosses is dry out and I obsessively respond to my compelling desire to give them a rejuvenating drink.  And as they begin the saturation process, I regain my own glowing state. As I watch leaves swiftly unfold and colors, magically intensify.   In addition to being mesmerizing, there are many reasons to pursue moss gardening. There are also many environmental benefits. Moss can be a lawn substitute - depending on where you live and your garden set up. If you have a shady property, you should definitely look into mosses as an option.  Mosses are super carbon sequesters. They're great at erosion control and flood mitigation - and they have a built-in filtration system, which means that moss can help reclaim land in locations where cleanup is needed. Now, if Annie's name sounds familiar, it's because she is a moss expert. Her nickname is Mossin' Annie, and she's the proud owner of Mountain Moss Enterprises. I appreciate books like this because you have a true subject matter expert acting as your guide. Annie will help you identify dozens of Moss species, and she'll teach you how to propagate moss successfully. (This is something most gardeners want to know how to do).  Finally, Annie is a master when designing and installing moss gardens. This book is 240 pages of down-to-earth advice on mosses in the garden. Whether you're an experienced gardener or a newbie, you will feel extra confident about utilizing moss - the tremendous green ground cover - with Annie as your guide.   You can get a copy of The Magical World of Moss Gardening by Annie Martin and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $13.   Botanic Spark 1821 Death of Napoleon Bonaparte, French military and political leader who ended up ruling over much of continental Europe Last year was the 200th anniversary of his death. One account of Napoleon's final moments reported that,  [He died during a terrible thunderstorm that] shook the house to its foundations and would have alarmed everyone but for the all-absorbing tragedy of Napolean's departure.   In 1815 after his stunning defeat in the battle of Waterloo, Napoleon was forced into exile in the south Atlantic on a little island called St. Helena. A few years before his death, Napoleon became convinced that he was dying of stomach cancer. His doctor Francoise Antommarchi ("Ahn-toe-MAR-she"), the man that would take his death mask, prescribed, among other pursuits, gardening - specifically digging in the garden. And so, on the island of St. Helena, Napoleon briefly took up gardening — and he loved it. Naturally, Napoleon wanted everyone around him - except the ladies - to join him in the garden at Longwood. There, he grew every type of vegetable that thrived on the island. Napoleon installed grottoes, alleys, and paths. And he transplanted trees and improved the soil with manure. When he worked in the garden, history tells us that Napoleon wore a loose-fitting dress and a straw hat. And at one point, Napoleon actually shot Count Bertrand's goat because it was eating his plants. In 2021, the historian Ruth Scurr wrote a short but delightful biography of Napoleon told through the lens of his interest in gardening and naturalism, and it's called Napoleon: A Life Told in Gardens and Shadows. Ruth believes that gardens were important to Napoleon all through his life. But at St. Helena in particular, he was especially motivated to garden after his doctor pointed out that he could create sunken paths to avoid the watchful gaze of his guards: British soldiers. Naturally, it was mostly Napoleon's people who did most of the digging. And although Napoleon's experiment with gardening was fleeting, Longwood House still grows a variety of plants planted by the emperor himself. Now in her book, Ruth also tells a touching story about Napoleon's brief return to Malmaison after his defeat at Waterloo. Malmaison was soothing to the emperor, and it was a place full of memories of his beloved Josephine. Her gardens were filled with fragrant roses and colorful blossoms like Dahlia's long after her death. The painter Pierre Joseph Redouté was a favorite of Josephine Bonaparte and Marie Antoinette. Still, Redouté's paintings of Josephine's flowers at Malmaison are among his most beautiful works. In Ruth Scurr's garden biography of Napoleon, she wrote: The 26th of June [1815] was a very hot day. Napoleon spent it at Malmaison reminiscing about the past. He walked up and down with his hands behind his back in what had once been his personal garden, just outside the library. He also lingers among exotic trees that Josephine has always insisted on planting herself. There were honey locusts, cedars of Lebanon, apple trees, and tulip trees. He visited Josephine’s grand greenhouse and remembered there how she checked her tropical flowers every day. It was indeed a grand greenhouse.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events Today is Bird Day!   1556 Death of Luca Ghini ("Gee-nee"), Italian physician and botanist.  Luca is remembered for creating the first recorded herbarium and the first botanical garden in Pisa, Italy. Historical accounts indicate he was an outstanding and beloved botany teacher at the university in Bologna. By 1527, Luca was giving lectures on medicinal plants and essentially teaching what is considered the first official university-level classes on botany. Luca was also the first to press flowers to create a plant collection. The English botanist William Withering wrote about flower pressing in the 1770s. Luca used his pressed and dried plants the same way future botanists would - he used them to study when fresh or live specimens were not available. In this way, he could teach his students, and they could use the dried specimens to continue their studies all year long. Luca mentored his students - taking them on field trips and encouraging them to learn all about plants. And if Luca Ghini seems an obscure character in botanical history, it's because he didn't publish anything. He was too busy interacting with his botanist peers and teaching his students - through whom he left a lasting legacy.   1749 Birth of Charlotte Turner Smith, English novelist, and Romantic poet. She revived the English sonnet, was an early Gothic fiction writer and helped establish the genre. She also wrote about sensibility in her political novels. Charlotte's novels, Emmeline (1788) and Desmond (1792), reflect womanly hope and disenfranchisement with eighteenth-century Common Law. Charlotte once wrote, Oh, Hope! thou soother sweet of human woes! How shall I lure thee to my haunts forlorn! For me wilt thou renew the withered rose, And clear my painful path of pointed thorn?   And here is an excerpt of Charlotte's poem called Written at the Close of Spring. The garlands fade that Spring so lately wove, Each simple flow’r, which she had nurs’d in dew, Anemones that spangled every grove, The primrose wan, and harebell, mildly blue. No more shall violets linger in the dell, Or purple orchis variegate the plain, Till Spring again shall call forth every bell, And dress with humid hands her wreaths again. Ah, poor Humanity! so frail, so fair, Are the fond visions of thy early day, Another May new buds and flow’rs shall bring; Ah! Why has Happiness—no second Spring?   1858 Birth of Sophie Emma Magdalene Grieve (pen name Mrs. Grieve), English writer and herbalist. Her friends called her Maud.  In addition to her writing, Maud founded an Herb School and Farm in England. She was a Fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society, President of the British Guild of Herb Growers, and a Fellow of the British Science Guild. Today, Maud is best remembered for her book, A Modern Herbal (1931). Maud's Herbal is still regarded as one of the best herbals ever written. She provided detailed information about each herb she profiled, including "Medicinal Actions and Uses." Here's a sampling of her information. Purple Loosestrife: As an eyewash this invasive herb is superior to Eyebright for preserving the sight and curing sore eyes. Chives: Useful for cutting up and mixing with the food of newly-hatched turkeys. Borage: May be regarded as a garden escape. (A delicate way of saying it is invasive.) Valerian: A powerful nervine, stimulant, carminative, and anti-spasmodic. The drug allays pain and promotes sleep. It is of especial use and benefit to those suffering from nervous overstrain…During the recent War (WWI), when air-raids were a serious strain on the nerves of civilian men and women, valerian…proved wonderfully efficacious, preventing or minimizing serious results. Garlic: There is a Mohammedan legend that when Satan stepped out from the Garden of Eden after the fall of man, Garlick sprang up from the spot where he placed his left foot and Onion from that where his right foot touched. Moneywort: We are told by old writers that this herb was not only used by man, but that if serpents hurt or wounded themselves, they turned to this plant for healing, and so it was sometimes called 'Serpentaria'. Agrimony or Church-Steeple: the small root is sweet-scented, especially in spring. Lemon: It is probable that the lemon is the most valuable of all fruit for preserving health. English Summers: ‘It has been said, with some truth, that our English summer is not here until the Elder is fully in flower, and that it ends when the berries are ripe."   1894 Birth of Margaret Leland Goldsmith, American journalist, historical novelist, and translator. In June of 1936, in “The Perils of Gardening” for Scribner’s Magazine, she wrote: For years I have avoided magenta with feverish zest.  I do not like it.  It kills my henna reds.  It fights with the cedar brown of my cottage.  Yet every year something of that hue intrudes.  If it isn’t Sweet William reverting to type, it is a red phlox gone decadent.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Little Library Year by Kate Young This book came out in 2020, the perfect time because it was right at the start of the pandemic.  The subtitle is Recipes and Reading to Suit Each Season. Oh, I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting to share this book. It is such a treat. The publisher does a great job of succinctly telling you about Kate's book. The Little Library Year takes you through a full 12 months in award-winning food writer Kate Young's kitchen. Here are frugal, January meals enjoyed alone with a classic comfort read. As well as summer feasts to be eaten outdoors with the perfect beach read in hand. Beautifully photographed throughout. The Little Library Year is full of delicious seasonal recipes,  menus And reading recommendations - (which is one of the reasons why I absolutely squealed when I first found out about Kate's book.)   Now you'll be happy to know that the cover is beautiful. It truly is a cover for a gardener because she's got a little desk with a little coffee mug, and then she's got potted herbs stacked on top of books. Then, there's a little blue journal with a pen resting on top. The herbs include Pineapple Sage, Thyme, and of course, Rosemary.  It is just perfect. Now Diana Henry's review of this book is right on the cover. She writes Recipes you long to cook. Suggestions for books. You want to read a sense of place and season and takes of life lived thoughtfully and well. This is a very special book written with great generosity She is so right. Now I wanted to share this little excerpt from Kate about how she broke down the seasons for her book. She writes, I have broken the year into six parts. Those long winter nights in January and February, the first signs of spring in March and April, the green months of may and June when spring is in abundance, the height of summer in July and August, the weeks when the leaves start to turn in September and October. And then the final months of the year, as the days grow short.   And then she writes, I have written The Little Library Year. as a literary and culinary almanac -a celebration of each and every season and a way to capture the year in books and food.   And isn't that fantastic? Well, you really should treat yourself to this book, and then if you fall in love with Kate Young, check out her author page because she has many, many delightful books. She's a great writer - one of my favorites. This book is 336 pages of garden-fresh recipes, life stories, and of course, books, books, books. You can get a copy of The Little Library Year by Kate young and support the shell using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $20, but you'll need to hurry because those used copies at that price will go quickly. You can get a copy of The Little Library Year by Kate Young and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $21.   Botanic Spark 1976 Birth of Gail Carriger (Gail "Care-ah-gurr") (the pen name of Tofa Borregaard), American New York Times bestselling author of steampunk fiction and an archaeologist. In her book, Poison or Protect, the first in the Delightfully Deadly series, a sexy assassin, a Scotsman, and two lobsters attend a Victorian house party in a charming story of love and espionage. Gail introduces us to her main character this way: The assassin is Lady Preshea Villentia ("Preh-sha Vill-in-sha"), who has four dead husbands and a nasty reputation. Fortunately, she looks fabulous in black. What society doesn’t know is that all her husbands were marked for death by Preshea’s employer. And Preshea has one final assignment. In the book, Lady Violet says, "We do not suit. You have no genuine interest in botany!” Lady Violet practically yelled her final conclusion. This was the biggest sin of them all.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events Happy National Garden Meditation Day! 1580 Thomas Tusser (English poet and farmer) died. In 1573, Thomas wrote his Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, where he advised: In January, the housewife should be busy planting peas and beans and setting young rose roots.  During March and April, she will work 'from morning to night, sowing and setting her garden or plot,' to produce the crops of parsnip, beans, and melons which will 'winnest the heart of a laboring man for her later in the year.  Her strawberry plants will be obtained from the best roots which she has gathered from the woods, and these are to be set in a plot in the garden.  Berries from these plants will be harvested later the same year, perhaps a useful back-up if the parsnips have failed to win the man of her dreams.   1941 During this week, Martha Crone, American botanist and horticulturist, wrote some entries in her Minneapolis diary that reflect the wild swings in temperatures that can be so frustrating to gardeners in the shoulder seasons. At the start of May: [The weather is] still very warm (81 hi 59 lo) and flowers coming out everywhere, everything at least 2 weeks in advance, like midsummer, many insects and flies out. Violets - never so beautiful - as well as Trillium and other flowers. On the 3rd of May: Bitter cold all day [49-41] stove going continuously... but no mosquitoes. On the 8th: Heat unbearable [88-60]  On the 19th: Hottest so far...   1942 On this day, Charles Kikuchi wrote in his Japanese Tanforan Internment camp journal: These industrious Japanese!  They just don't seem to know how to take it easy. They've worked so hard all their lives that they just can't stand idleness or waste . Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were mandated to relocate to one of the ten relocation camps in the “exclusion zone” of Oregon, California, western Washington, and southern Arizona by order of the president.  Ken Helphand's fantastic 2006 book, Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime, tells the story of the gardens that were created in the camps. The gardens were part of the effort to make the camps more bearable. In addition to gardens, there were orchards, parks, baseball diamonds, playgrounds, and farms. In Defiant Gardens, Ken wrote, Entry gardens were part of the Japanese tradition of dooryard gardens, linking household to community, and functioning as entry and marker, displaying the craft and skill of the resident and embellishing both the barracks and the community space....Many persons inscribed their names in cement at the doorstep.  Barracks gardens displayed great variety, using gathered cacti and rocks, transplanted plants, and plants propagated in the camp nursery.  While people waited daily for the communally served meals, they enjoyed the elaborate displays of great artistry and effort that characterized the mess-hall gardens. Created with rocks and water as well as plants, these gardens were most closely identified with the Japanese American garden tradition.  All these gardens brought beauty to the camps and reinforced the internees’ sense of cultural identity…   1946 On this day, Frida Kahlo (books about this person) gave a painting called Weeping Coconuts to her friends Lina and Arcady Boitler as a wedding gift. Frida used two weeping coconuts to represent her pain and deteriorating health in the painting.  Frida was mixing prescription painkillers and alcohol by this point in her life. The coconuts were one of fifty-five self-portraits. Her best-known self-portrait is ‘Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird.’ Kahlo said, I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best.   Four years later, Frida's pain became unmanageable. In 1953, her right foot - and later right leg - were amputated.  Frida died shortly after her 47th birthday in the summer of 1954. Before she died, she wrote in her journal: I hope the exit is joyful — and I hope never to return — Frida.   Coconuts are an ancient plant that initially hailed from the South Pacific, and because of their buoyancy, coconuts can travel the world on the ocean's waves. Plant Explorers found the coconut growingng throughout the Pacific, the Indian Ocean regions, and Africa. Like mangoes, cashews, and cherries, the coconut is actually a drupe and not a nut. The drupe is an item that has a fleshy outer around a pit. Coconuts are anti-viral, fungal, bacterial, and anti-parasite. There are more than twenty billion coconuts produced each year. The coconut palm is actually the national tree of The Maldives. Before the dominance of soybean oil in the 1960s, Coconut oil was the world's leading vegetable oil. May 8th is National Coconut Creme Pie Day. Falling coconuts kill 150 people every year – 10 times the number of people killed by sharks.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Understanding Orchids by William Cullina This book came out in 2004, and the subtitle is An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World's Most Exotic Plants. Well, I myself have become an orchid lover and an orchid fan. They're my favorite plant to send to a family member for a birthday or an anniversary because they last so long, and now because orchids cost as much as the bouquet. I often opt to send an orchid instead of a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers. As a little bonus for me, some of my family members will actually bring me the orchid after it's bloomed. And then I get the honor of taking care of repotting it and getting it healthy and ready to go again so that it will bloom again - hopefully on their next birthday or anniversary. And so that's what I love to do - take care of orchids after they've bloomed. But you know, orchids are a little bit of a mystery to many, many gardeners. So if you haven't gone down the orchid path yet, but you're on the edge, and you want to become more skilled in the area of orchids will, then William Cullina's book is the perfect guide for you. William knows what it's like to be in your shoes. He writes at the end of his introduction, I still get that spine-tingling toe-tickling feeling of, wow that hooked me at the beginning. And if you're just starting out with orchids, you are in for quite an adventure. Learning to grow orchids and understand their idiosyncrasies is a true journey. The sheer number of orchid species estimates range between 25 and 40,000, including hybrids means that there will always be something new to learn something new to explore.   And then he writes this incredible fact. You could start acquiring an orchid a day when you were 20 years old and still not have grown them all when you turned 80 and there is no other family of plants that offers such incredible diversity.   Before I close out this review, I'll just say that the first part of William's book covers all the basics of orchids. Next, William gives an excellent overview of an area that people often struggle with:  how to care for orchids. How do they like to be watered? What should you do about fertilization? How should you pot them? If you're going to Mount them? How does that happen? Then William talks about what to do if you have a pest or disease issue with your orchid. Then, if you are getting into next-level orchid growing, William will be your guy to introduce you to reproduction. He'll tell you how to hand-pollinate and propagate and hybridize orchids. And there will be no mystery to any of this. William is very clear through every page of his book. Finally, William wraps things up with a look at over a hundred of the most popular orchids to get you on your way and to get you thinking about what you want on your orchid wishlist. This book is 272 pages of orchids by an orchid lover - for orchid lovers - or for people thinking about becoming orchid lovers. You can get a copy of Understanding Orchids by William Cullina and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $20.   Botanic Spark 1912 Birth of May Sarton (books by this author), Belgian-American writer and poet.  In Nelson, New Hampshire, May's tiny home was her happy place. She had a garden that she loved and cared for many houseplants. She once wrote these relatable garden witticisms: I am not a greedy person except about flowers and plants, and then I become fanatically greedy.   In her seventies, May reflected, A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself.   Still, May could not help striving for the glory of success when it came to her garden. Living a mostly simple life, May’s garden was the one place she dreamed big. What a relief it was to me when I read that Vita Sackville-West kept a pile of metal labels in a shack at Sissinghurst as proof of all the experiments that had failed!   Finally, some of May's thoughts on gardening are prayerlike: Help us to be ever faithful gardeners of the spirit, who know that without darkness nothing comes to birth, and without light nothing flowers. and Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help.  Gardening is an instrument of grace.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1772 Birth of Friedrich von Hardenberg (pen name Novalis ("NO-vol-liss")), the German romantic poet-philosopher. Friedrich's pen name, Novalis, was a nod to his 12th-century farming ancestors who called themselves the Novali, which translates to "people who cultivate new land," - and his first work under his pen name was Blüthenstaub (Pollen). In the book, Novalis advised his artistic friends to be prolific in their work, writing, Friends, the soil is poor, we must scatter seed abundantly for even a moderate harvest.   Novalis is most remembered for his unfinished work Henry von Ofterdingen: A Romance. This work resulted in a nickname for Novalis as the poet of the blue flower. Henry von Ofterdingen was a fabled poet from the 13th century. In Novalis's story, his romantic yearning is symbolized by his love for a blue flower, which Novalis later revealed was inspired by a heliotrope. For centuries, Novalis has been seen primarily as a love-struck poet who mourned the death of his first love, Sophie, only to be reunited with her in heaven after he, too, succumbed to the white plague or tuberculosis.  Today, blue flowers remain a symbol of desire and a striving for the unreachable. They also represent humanity's connection with nature - a rare and fragile relationship. Today, blue flowers remain among gardeners' most coveted color of blossoms - as in the Himalayan blue poppy, the delphinium, the cornflower, and the forget-me-not. In Henry von Offerdingen, Novalis wrote, I care not for wealth and riches. But that blue flower I do long to see; it haunts me and I can think and dream of nothing else...   1853 Frederick Arther Walton, English nurseryman, cactus collector, and jeweler. Born in Birmingham, Frederick owned one of the largest private cactus collections in England, and he started a cactus nursery called The Friary.  He also created and edited The Cactus Journal - a monthly journal devoted exclusively to cacti and other succulent plants, which ran for 24 issues. Frederick also founded the first cactus society in England.  In 1899, he traveled to America and Mexico to collect cactus, and he wrote, Possessing one of the largest collections in England, I decided to go to the native home of the cactus – California, Arizona, and Mexico. so on January 7th, 1899, I left Liverpool Fort New York; then I went to the great city of St Louis where there is a cactus a society and a very good collection of cacti in the Botanical Gardens. After spending a few pleasant days at St Louis I took the train to Kansas City… then through New Mexico and arrived at San Bernardino California where I met Andrew Halstead Alverson a very enthusiastic Cactus collector. He took me out into the desert, and for the first time in my life, I was in the midst of wild cacti.   The trip was the adventure of a lifetime for Frederick. He battled snakes, scorpions, pumas, centipedes, and the harsh desert sun in an exploration of cactus country covering over 20,000 miles in the western hemisphere. In January 1900, for unknown reasons, Frederick's cactus journal and the cactus society abruptly ended. There was a mention in the final issues of The Cactus Journal that he was exploring the creation of a daffodil journal - but it was never printed. At the turn of the century, European gardeners outside of Germany had no real interest in cactus or succulents - that interest wouldn't be rekindled until the 1930s. And so, in 1905, Frederick's health was waning, and he sold his nursery. Frederick died in 1922.   1858 On this day, the poet, teacher, abolitionist, and writer Charlotte Forten started writing her poem called, To a Beloved Friend. Charlotte was friends with Sarah Cassey Smith and had lived with the Smith family while attending school. In 1856, Charlotte became Salem State's first African American graduate. Sarah and Charlotte shared a love for all flowers. The young women made and received May baskets in the springtime, and they both enjoyed spring nosegays or little bouquets. Once when Charlotte's teacher gave her a little bouquet, Charlotte wrote in her diary. Your voiceless lips, dear flowers, are living preachers.   The day before this day, in 1858 (May 1st), Charlotte found herself homesick for Salem. She disliked the noisy city life in Philadelphia, and she also confronted more significant restrictions on her activities as an African American in the City of Brotherly Love. She had noted in her diary that she had been "refused at two ice cream salons." And so, when Sarah's bouquet arrived on May 1st, Charlotte quickly interpreted the meaning of each flower according to floriography or the language of flowers - a common way for people to communicate in the 1800s. Sarah's handpicked Mayflowers symbolized welcome. The little Violets represented constant friendship, and the delicate Columbine was a reference to separation. The message of friendship and love across the miles of separation was received loud and clear. From her diary, we know the bouquet lifted Charlotte's mood and inspired Charlotte's poem called To a Beloved Friend.   1923 On this day,  Robert Frost's poem "Our Singing Strength" was first published in the New Republic. The poem begins, It snowed in spring on earth so dry and warm The flakes could find no landing place to form. Hordes spent themselves to make it wet and cold, And still they failed of any lasting hold. They made no white impression on the black. They disappeared as if earth sent them back.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Land Gardeners by Bridget Elworth and Henrietta Courtauld This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Cut Flowers. Let me begin by setting the table for you - because that's precisely the cover of this book. There's a table with a beautiful tablecloth and then a variety of porcelain vases on the table, all of different sizes and shapes. Behind that is a gallery of botanical art. Resting on the table are cut tulips, all kinds of tulips. And, then in two of the vases are different arrangements of these beautiful, fresh-picked tulips. It's just an absolutely stunning cover. The Land Gardeners is a five-star book on Amazon as well. Together, Bridget and Henrietta are English gardeners, and they established a firm that they call Land Gardeners. So, the book references their work - as well as their shared passion - which is, of course, flowers. In the real world, The Land Gardeners is a cut flower operation. The book, The Land Gardeners, provides everything you need to know to set up your own cut flower garden - and then everything that comes after, including gathering the flowers, even arranging. Vogue was a fan of this book, saying, A peak into their blossom-filled world. The book reads like a meander through their tumbling English gardens.   The Sunday Times wrote, One of the Best Gardening Books of the Year.   And The Oregonian said, Packed with ideas and inspiration, passion and beauty... This large-size, hardcover book is filled with stellar photographs that will also inspire you to display a vase filled with flowers you grew and arranged yourself.   This book is a big one. It's almost five pounds, 391 pages of cut flowers from the garden to the vase. You can get a copy of The Land Gardeners by Bridget Elworthy and Henrietta Courtauld and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $23.   Botanic Spark 1893 Birth of Norman Bor, Irish botanist and explorer. He was awarded the Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society in 1962 and served as an Assistant Director of Kew.  His wife, Eleanor, accompanied him to Assam and Tibet and then wrote a fabulous book about the adventure called The Adventures of a Botanist's Wife - a book I own multiple copies of - it's a favorite of mine. In 1952, a newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, featured Eleanor's book in an article called "On Top of the World." Here's an excerpt: Mrs. Bor had expected to share exciting plant discoveries and, at least, to give her name to a rare orchid. Instead, she found her husband was a specialist in grasses, and it was a new species of grass - extremely rare - but, to her, looking no more than a "mangy bit of fur" that finally bore her name. Once [ on a mountain] stepping from mist and snow, they saw below them... a blaze of rhododendrons and magnolias, and In their camp that night burned rhododendron logs. Their mountain trips were often dangerous... The Rupa bridge was especially terrifying, with only strands of cane for a foothold and tall hoops set a yard apart for the hands to grip. More menacing than cane bridges and cliff tracks were the insects. Wild animals were not alarming, but the hornets, centipedes, horse flies, dam dims, and above all, the leeches made camping in the jungle foothills a nightmare.   One reviewer wrote: Here is a story told with the charm and simplicity of a life spent in the foothills of the Himalayas where Eleanor Bor and her botanist husband tramp through jungled terrain establishing friendly relations with hill tribes and villagers, discovering the enchantments of mysterious undergrowth and carrying with them the domestic problems of household pets and family happenings. Their years in the jungle...are those of a true traveler.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Podchaser Leave a Review   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events St. Robert's Day Saint Robert of Molesme ("mo-LESS-mah") was an 11th-century herbalist, abbot, and founder of the Cistercian ("sis-TUR-shin") order - a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines. They are also known as Bernardines ("BUR-nah-deen"), after the highly influential Bernard of Clairvaux, or as White Monks - a reference to the color of the cowl worn over their habits as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines. They are commonly called Trappists. Many common wildflowers are named in honor of St. Robert. Some believe that Herb Robert, or Bird's Eye, the little Wild Geranium, was named in honor of St. Robert.  Another theory is that Herb Robert is named for Robin Goodfellow, a pseudonym for the forest sprite known as Puck.   1852 On this day, Henri Frederic Amiel, Swiss philosopher and poet, wrote in his journal:  I went out into the garden to see what progress the spring was making. I strolled from the irises to the lilacs, round the flowerbeds, and in the shrubberies. Delightful surprise! At the corner of the walk, half-hidden under a thick clump of shrubs, a small-leaved corchorus had flowered during the night... the little shrub glittered before me... Mother of marvels, mysterious and tender Nature, why do we not live more in thee?   1869 Birth of Agnes Chase, American botanist. Agnes was an agrostologist—a studier of grass. She was a petite, fearless, indefatigable person and entirely self-taught as a botanist. Her first position was as an illustrator at the USDA’s Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington, D.C., working for the botanist Albert Spear Hitchcock. When Hitchcock applied for funding to go on expeditions, higher-ups approved the travel for Hitchcock, but not for Agnes - saying the job should belong to "real research men." Undeterred, Agnes raised her own funding to go on the expeditions. She cleverly partnered with missionaries in Latin America to arrange for accommodations with host families. She shrewdly observed, The missionaries travel everywhere, and like botanists do it on as little money as possible. They gave me information that saved me much time and trouble. During a climb of one of Brazil's highest mountains, Agnes reportedly returned to camp with a "skirt filled with plant specimens." One of her major works, the "First Book of Grasses," was translated into Spanish and Portuguese. It taught generations of Latin American botanists who recognized Agnes's contributions long before their American counterparts. When Hitchcock retired, Agnes was his backfill. When Agnes reached retirement age, she ignored the rite of passage altogether and refused to be put out to pasture. She kept going to work - six days a week - overseeing the largest collection of grasses in the world in her office under the red towers at her beloved Smithsonian Institution. When Agnes was 89, she became the eighth person to become an honorary fellow of the Smithsonian. A reporter covering the event said, Dr. Chase looked impatient as if she were muttering to herself, "This may be well and good, but it isn't getting any grass classified, sonny." While researching Agnes Chase, I came across this little article in The St. Louis Star and Times. Agnes gave one of her books on grass a biblical title, The Meek That Inherit the Earth. The story pointed out that, Mrs. Chase began her study of grass by reading about it in the Bible. In the very first chapter of Genesis, ...the first living thing the Creator made was grass. ... for grass is fundamental to life. [Agnes] said, "Grass is what holds the earth together. Grass made it possible for the human race to abandon... cave life and follow herds. Civilization was based on grass [and] this significance... still holds."   1954 Birth of Jerry Seinfeld, American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom Seinfeld, which he created and wrote with Larry David. He once joked, Why do people give each other flowers to celebrate various important occasions?  They’re killing living creatures?  Why restrict it to plants?  "Sweetheart, let’s make up. Have this deceased squirrel."   2017 On this day in 2017, The New York Times tweeted that, The Brooklyn Botanic Garden cherry blossom festival is set for today and tomorrow, regardless of when nature [decided] to push play.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Language of Butterflies by Wendy Williams This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, and Other Obsessives Unlocked the Secrets of the World's Favorite Insect. If you're a fan of blue morpho butterflies, you're going to love the cover of Wendy's book because it is covered with a kaleidoscope of blue morpho butterflies. So it's impossibly beautiful. And Wendy's book is a five-star book on Amazon. Now Wendy is an author who loves spending time outdoors. She loves skiing. She loves horseback riding. (In fact, her first bestselling book was called The Horse. And Wendy has traveled the world. She's spent a lot of time in Africa, Europe, and North American mountain chains and prairies. But when it comes to just regular daily life, Wendy lives in Cape Cod in Massachusetts with her husband and her Border Collie, Taff. Now I love the way that Wendy writes because she's very conversational. And I also like how she organized this book into three main sections: the past, the present, and the future. And then, to show you how friendly her writing is, her chapters have very intriguing titles. In the section on the past, there's The Gateway Drug, The Number One Butterfly, and then How Butterflies Saved Charles Darwin's Bacon. (Great chapter.) And then, in the present, chapters include A Parasol of Monarchs, The Honeymoon Hotel, and On The Rain Dance Ranch. Great story there. And then, in the future section, Wendy's chapters include The Social Butterfly, The Paroxysms of Ecstasy, and The Butterfly Highway. And Wendy is right; butterflies are the world's most beloved insects. They've been called flying flowers, and gardeners are passionate about butterflies. And many gardeners today are working to help save the Monarch from extinction. Now The Washington Post said this about Wendy's book, Williams takes us on a humorous and beautifully crafted journey that explores both the nature of these curious and highly intelligent insects. And the eccentric individuals who coveted them. And, of course, most of those folks were scientists and or botanists. So I love this book, and I love all of those stories. This book is 256 pages Of butterflies. It's eye-opening and tender. It's an incredibly profound look at butterflies - it's a butterfly biography. And it examines the vital role that butterflies play in our world. You can get a copy of The Language of Butterflies by Wendy Williams and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $2.   Botanic Spark Here's an excerpt from Karel Ćapek's chapter on The Gardener's April from his book The Gardener's Year (1984).

Gardeners have certainly arisen by culture and not by natural selection. If they had developed naturally, they would look differently. They would have legs like beetles, so that they need not sit on their heels. And they would have wings - in the first place for their beauty and secondly, so that they might float over the beds. Those who have no experience can not imagine how one's legs are in the way when there's nothing to stand on. How stupidly long they are... Or how impossibly short they are if one has to reach to the other side of the bed without treading on a clump of pyrethrum (that's chrysanthemum) or on the shoots of Columbine. If only one could hang in a belt and swim over the beds. Or have at least four hands with only a head and a cap and nothing else. But because the gardener is outwardly constructed as imperfectly as other people, all he can do is to show us of what he is capable. To balance on tiptoe on one foot, to float in the air like a Russian dancer, to straddle four yards wide, to step as lightly as a butterfly or a wagtail, to reach everywhere and avoid everything, and still try to keep some sort of respectability so that people will not laugh at him.  Of course, at a passing glance, from a distance, you don't see anything of the gardener but his romp. Everything else like the head, arms, and legs is hidden underneath.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Podchaser Leave a Review   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events Floralia April 28th marks the beginning of a six-day festival called Floralia in the Roman calendar. And it's held in honor of the goddess of flowering crops and plants, and she was known as Flora. Now the goal of this weeklong festival was a satisfying appeal to Flora for a great growing season, a bountiful harvest, safety for workers, and probably a solid grape harvest for good wine.   1834 Birth of Harry Bolus, South African botanist, artist, businessman, and philanthropist.  If you've ever heard of the Bolus Herbarium in South Africa, it was named in honor of Harry. Harry founded the Herbarium, and he bequeathed his extensive library and part of his fortune to establish the South African College, now known as the University of Cape Town. Harry Bolus was not originally from South Africa. He was actually born in Nottingham, England. And the school that he attended, Castle Gate School, had a headmaster who corresponded with a plant collector named William Kensit. When Kensit required an assistant, Harry Bolus was the student who was selected for the job. Harry moved to South Africa and promptly fell in love with William's sister Sophia. The two were married, and they had three sons and a daughter. In 1864, when their oldest son died at six years old, a friend and fellow botanist named Francis Guthrie suggested that Harry take up botany to help heal his broken heart. Well, the rest, as they say, is history. Harry started his great botanical collection in 1865, and he soon struck up a correspondence with the most famous botanists of his day. And there's one other story about Harry Bolus that I thought you would enjoy. In 1876, Harry and Francis Guthrie traveled together to the world's Mecca for botany - Kew gardens in England - along with a large collection of plants. Even though their ship hit a reef on their return voyage and their collection was lost, Harry always referred to that trip as "Forty happy days."   1852 On this day, Henri Frederic Amiel, Swiss philosopher and poet, wrote in his journal:  Once more, I feel the spring languor creeping over me, the spring air about me. This morning the poetry of the scene, the song of the birds, the tranquil sunlight, the breeze blowing over the fresh green fields — all rose into and filled my heart.   1947 Birth of Bonnie Marranca, New York City-based critic, publisher, and writer. In her book, American Garden Writing (1988), Bonnie wrote, I judge a garden by the gardener who cares for it, the one who invests space with daydreams. How well I know the downward gaze into the face of the earth, the feeling of a luxurious body and good, dark soil that slips through the fingers in the rush to return to its dirty delirium. Each gardener creates an ideal world of miniature thoughts that drift languidly into each other like flowers on a dry afternoon. Hear silence has the rhythm of wishes.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Perfect Specimen by Durlynn Anema This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is The 20th Century Renowned Botanist: Ynes Mexia. This book is a wonderful biography of Ynes Mexia - the Mexican American botanist born in 1870 and who discovered the Sierra Club at age 50. And that led her to her life's calling and her legacy as a botanist. And so I love what Durlynn wrote and the dedication of this book because she wrote, This book is dedicated to those people who gained confidence in their abilities later in life.   And that is certainly the case with Ynes Mexia. She loved her experience with the Sierra Club so much that she decided to enroll in botany classes at Berkeley. In fact, over a 16-year period, she just kept taking botany classes on and off; She never had the goal of graduating. She just wanted to keep learning - so that's quite a paradigm shift. And as the mom of four young adults who are either in college or about to go to college, I love that perspective of being a lifelong learner - which is undoubtedly something that Ynes achieved. Now, I don't want to give the impression that Ynes was all about coursework and classrooms because that's really only a very small portion of Ynes's story. She was actually very drawn to fieldwork. She took countless trips through the Southwestern part of the United States into New Mexico and even into South America. She was very drawn to unique plants. She loved sunflowers, and she was a voracious collector. Many scholars argue that Ynes was one of the most accomplished collectors of her time. On her very first collecting trip, she collected over 500 specimens, which is essentially the same amount Darwin collected on his first expedition on The Beagle. Over her lifetime, Ynes collected over 150,000 specimens -500 of which were brand new plant species that had never been identified before. Ynes's story sadly came to an end in 1938 due to lung cancer. She was actually in Mexico on a plant collecting trip when she just could not go on any longer. So she cut her trip short, returned to the United States, and then died at Berkeley that summer on June 12th. And aside from her staggering amount of work, Ynes left a legacy when part of her estate was donated to the Redwood Preserve in California (which I think of as kind of a full-circle moment - harkening back to her work with the Sierra Club.) And so, forty acres of the Mexia estate were donated to the preserve, and one of the very tallest trees was named in honor of Ynes - a woman who is definitely worthy of a biography. I also wanted to share just a bit of what Durlynn wrote in the author's note at the beginning of this book because I think it does a beautiful job of outlining the extraordinary nature of Ynes's story. Durlynn writes, Most successful people, no matter their endeavor or occupation, find inspiration through either a parent, an important or inspirational person or an event. This is not the case with Ynes Mexia. A shy, quiet girl. She seemed to fade into the background with both her parents. She led a lonely life, which ironically aided her in her later endeavors. Mexia's is a story of retreat into self in the early years, and then blossoming to reach her highest potential after 50 years old. It is also the story of a doctor, who during the infancy of psychiatry and psychology, mentored this woman to her potential and became the father figure she never had. Read Marvel. And enjoy. Ynes Mexia's story.   It's a good one. This book is 174 pages about the life of the renowned botanist Ynes Mexia. You can get a copy of The Perfect Specimen by Durlynn Anema and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $14.   Botanic Spark 1701 Birth of Madeleine Françoise Basseporte ("Mad-ah-lin Frahn-swahz Bass-ah-port"), French botanical artist, miniature painter, interior decorator, and teacher. Madeleine was a student of Claude Aubriet, the man honored with the naming of the Aubrieta ("Aubreesha") genus. The only reason Madeleine was able to study with Aubriet was that her talent was undeniable.  Despite his lack of credentials, Claude himself had risen through the ranks to become the Royal Painter of France. In 1741, Madeleine succeeded Claude as the Official Painter of the Royal Garden - an unprecedented appointment as Madeleine became the first woman to hold the position.  It was a role she would carry out for over four decades. Madeleine was 40 years old when she took on this assignment. She never married or had children. Instead, she dedicated herself to her work. At a minimum, she was required to produce twelve botanical paintings for the King every year. On top of that, King Louis XV also gave her the responsibility of teaching all the princesses how to draw and paint flowers. Madeleine also taught botanical art to many other artists and scientific illustrators throughout her career. She also became the godmother to several children from academic families she knew well. Madeleine also had the honor of working as an artist and designer for the King’s official mistress, Madame de Pompadour. Pompadour was a major patron of creatives in architecture, porcelain, and decorative arts. Madeleine had an instant rapport with Pompadour. After Madeleine captured the beauty of the flowers around Madame Pompadour's chateau, Madame Pompadour insisted that the King give Madeleine a pay raise. And he did. Now it's important to know that as the first female Official painter of The Royal Garden, Madeleine did not work in a bubble. She exchanged letters with the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc and the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau who appreciated her work so much that he wrote, “nature gives plants their existence, but Mademoiselle Basseporte preserves them for us forever.” (Translation my own). Madeleine was also a contemporary of Carl Linneaus. On January 30, 1749, Bernard Jussieu wrote a letter to Linnaeus teasing that Madeleine was "very proud of the title you give her, of your second wife.”   Despite her work alongside the top scientific minds of her time, her beautiful, botanically accurate art, and her groundbreaking appointment, Madeleine (unlike her predecessor Claude Aubriete) was never honored with the naming of any flower. But that doesn't mean she wasn't deserving of it. Today scholars hold Madeleine's work in esteem as scientific art - designed to show the structure and physiology of her plant subjects.  To me, Madeleine's art has a delicate, sensitive quality. Her expression of leaves, in particular, shows her depth of understanding regarding her plant subjects.  In 2021, Nina Gelbart wrote a book called Minerva's French Sisters by @yalepress. The book explores the biographies of six forgotten female scientists from 18th century France - including Madeleine Françoise Basseporte.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Podchaser Leave a Review   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden Meeting in Athens, Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1814 Birth of Charles MacKay, Scottish poet, writer, and songwriter. In The Collected Songs of Charles Mackay, Charles wrote a song about the Meadow Sweet: Rose! We love thee for thy splendor, Lily! For thy queenly grace! Violet! For thy lowly merit, Peeping from thy shady place! But mine airy, woodland fairy, Scattering odors at thy feet, No one knows thy modest beauty, No one loves thee, Meadow-Sweet!   1851 Birth of Alice Morse Earle (books by this author), American historian and author. Alice wrote two garden books: Old Time Gardens (1901) and Sun Dials and Roses of Yesterday (1902). Alice wrote, Farm children have little love for nature and are surprisingly ignorant about wildflowers save a few varieties. The child who is garden bred has a happier start in life, a greater love and knowledge of nature. On the peony, Alice wrote: [She] always looks like a well-dressed, well-shod, well-gloved girl of birth, breeding, and of equal good taste and good health; a girl who can swim, and skate, and ride, and play golf.   1902 Birth of Thomas “Tommy” Dolliver Church (books by this author), California landscape architect. Tommy pioneered the modern California Style design style. In 1955, Tommy wrote, When your garden is finished I hope it will be more beautiful than you anticipated, require less care than you expected, and have cost only a little more than you had planned. Unlike people, gardens never strive for perpetual youth—they want to look old from the day they were born. Their greatest glory comes with maturity.   1904 Birth of Cecil Day-Lewis (books by this author), Irish-born British poet. He used the pen name Nicholas Black for his mystery stories. Cecil was the Poet Laureate for four years before his death in 1972. He was also the father of actor Sir Daniel Day-Lewis. In Cecil's Overtures to Death and Other Poems (1938), In June we picked the clover, And sea-shells in July: There was no silence at the door, No word from the sky. A hand came out of August And flicked his life away: We had not time to bargain, mope, Moralize, or pray.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Food Forest Handbook by Darrell Frey and Michelle Czolba This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is Design and Manage a Home-Scale Perennial Polyculture Garden. Before I even get started with my review, I have to say that this book gets high praise on Amazon; it's a five-star book. The authors are passionate about growing food year-round - without fossil fuels - and increasing biodiversity on the land and wild market gardening. In the introduction to their book, Darryl and Michelle point out that the food forest is one of the oldest ways to garden. It's the edges of the forest that were the most fruitful places for both hunting and gathering. And today, food forests are making a comeback. Now you might be asking yourself, what is a food forest? Well, a food forest is simply a food-producing garden that's built around trees and perennials. I've been a passionate fan of orchards and mini orchards for the past couple of years. I'm installing one up at my cabin, planting even more trees this spring. Darryl and Michelle point out that, A well-managed food forest is an integrated system and it includes all kinds of plants, fruits, vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants, and plantings that promote beneficial insects and balanced nutrients. And in case you're starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Don't be. Because these food forests can be simple and include only a few species, or they can contain a myriad of plants. The bottom line here is that Darryl and Michelle will help you feel confident and inspired to create your own food forest, whether on a small or grand scale in your backyard, front yard, patio, or allotment. This book is 256 pages of planning, designing, and managing your very own food forest. You can get a copy of The Food Forest Handbook by Darrell Frey and Michelle Czolba and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $20.   Botanic Spark 1920 Birth of Edwin George Morgan (books by this author), Scottish poet and translator associated with the Scottish Renaissance. He is remembered as one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century. In 1999, Edwin became the first Glasgow Poet Laureate.  In 1968, Edwin wrote, Yes, it is too cold in Scotland for flower people; in any case who would be handed a thistle?   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Podchaser Leave a Review   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1684 Death of Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Dutch ornate still-life painter. He is remembered as the most influential flower painter of his day. Jan's flowers were known for their vibrancy and realism. But gardeners would catch that Jan's bouquets were just a beautiful fantasy since the individual flowers bloom at different seasons of the year.   1785 Birth of John James Audubon, American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. He once wrote, A true conservationist…knows the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children.   The Ottowa Daily Republic published a charming story about his burial. John J. Audobon, the naturalist, and bird lover, is buried in Trinity, cemetery. There has been erected over his grave an Iona cross; the arms of which are connected by a circular band of stone, making apertures of the four corners at the intersection. In one of these, (apertures) robins built a nest last month. This fell under the eye of a caretaker, who got a pole and dislodged the nest. The birds flew about disconsolately for a time, then went away. So far as anyone knows, Audubon did not turn over in his grave, and neither did any of the carved birds on the [cross] cry out.   1798 Birth of Eugene Delacroix, French Romantic artist. He is remembered as the leader of the French Romantic school and one of the last great historical painters. Eugene received his artistic training in Paris. His striking piece called A Vase of Flowers (1833) shows a crystal vase filled mostly with dahlias. It is Eugene Delacroix's earliest-surviving flower painting.   1822 Birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. Regarded as the father of landscape architecture, Frederick is remembered for designing many popular urban parks with his partner Calvert Vaux. Their first project was Central Park, followed quickly by Prospect Park in Brooklyn and Cadwalader Park in Trenton. Frederick wrote, The root of all my good work is early respect for, regard, and enjoyment of scenery.   Frederick's firm was passed onto his sons who expanded the business under the name Olmsted Brothers. Aside from his legacy as a landscape architect, Frederick dedicated his entire life to social reform. In many ways, his designs for public spaces played an important role in his social work. His vision for Central Park was an ordered oasis for all of the city’s social classes, where everyone could come together and enjoy nature. It was Frederick Law Olmsted who said, The enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it; tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Crinum by Augustus Jenkins Farmer Augustus is better known as the plantsman Jenks Farmer. This book came out in 2021 - right at the very end of December - and the subtitle is Unearthing the History and the Cultivation of the World's Biggest Bulb. Well, Crinums are a passion for Jenks. What he's done in this book is he has collected every possible story and nugget of information about the Crinum species and hybrids that flourish in our gardens. Crinums are classic plants. They're also heirlooms and pass-down plants - and because of that sentimental quality, there are an endless number of stories about Crinums. Now I have to share what Jenks wrote about Crinums in the introduction to this book. He wrote, Plants that hunker down below ground reveal only a small part of themselves to people. Called geophytes or earth lovers, the below-ground bulbs are the heart of the being. Down there, a Medusa's tangle of bony, basel plates, armlong roots, and crisp bud tips explode from mother bulbs. Once you see the underground being, you understand why in some cultures Crinums represent connections to the underworld and the dead. You also understand why people carry them continent to continent and share them friend to friend. If you've ever had a sourdough starter or overplanted zucchini, then you understand the urge to share a passion, to give parts away. I'm compelled to give Crinums away. I give little bulbs to farm visitors, take them as house gifts, pass them on at conferences, offer them to strangers, or plant them guerrilla-style in parking lots. Based on my experience, growing and planting hundreds of thousands of Crinum, this book becomes comprehensive with the advice of generous Crinum professionals and enthusiasts. You'll fall for the hidden stories, the hidden plant parts in a few years you'll share too. Then you'll leave a happy trail of Crinum lilies marking your travels, telling your stories, and sharing your passion too. This book is 100 pages of a passion for Crinums by one of our modern plantsmen. You can get a copy of Crinum by Augustus Jenkins Farmer and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $25.   Botanic Spark 1951 On this day, the American physicist Charles Townes sat on a park bench and came up with a theory that would lead to the development of the laser. He recalled, I woke up early in the morning and sat in the park. It was a beautiful day and the flowers were blooming.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1619 Birth of Jan van Riebeeck, Dutch navigator and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. In 1660, Jan planted a hedge, now known as Van Riebeeck's Hedge, to mark the border of the Dutch East India Company settlement in Cape Town, South Africa. The hedge was made up of native wild almond trees (Brabejum stellatifolium). Today, parts of the hedge still live in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and Bishopscourt. The Van Riebeeck Hedge is not considered a National Monument in South Africa.   1752 Birth of Humphry Repton (no ‘e’ in Humphry!), English landscape designer. Humphry was trained and molded by the great Capability Brown. Yet as he matured, Humphry began to forge his own path in his approach to design and led a transformation of English gardens that was all his own. He designed over 400 gardens, and his picturesque landscapes are known for their gently rolling vistas, attractive clumps of trees, terraces, and homes nestled in amongst shrubs and foliage. Humphry wanted landscapes to bring out “the natural beauty” and minimize “the natural defects.”  Like many successful modern landscape designers, Humphry put a great deal of energy into planning his designs. He painstakingly created these gorgeous red leather portfolios for his clients.  His red books, as he called them, showcased his design ideas. Humphry’s clients could see his pastoral watercolors depicting the current state of their property. Then they would lift a flap of paper and see what their property would look like after Humphry improved it. It was a kind of popup book for their property. Today Humphry’s red books are regarded as impressive works of art - and many have been preserved in public and private collections.  Humphry Repton coined the term landscape gardener.  He had the term carved into his pinebark business cards. In 1818, Humphry died, and per his request, he was buried in a rose garden. Humphry used these words for his epitaph: Unmixed with others shall my dust remain; But moldering, blended, melting into earth, Mine shall give form and color to the rose. And while its vivid blossoms cheer mankind, Its perfumed odor shall ascend to Heaven.   1816 Birth of Charlotte Brontë, English novelist, and poet. Charlotte was the oldest of the three Brontë sisters (Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë) who survived into adulthood. Their novels became classics of English literature. The sisters published their first collaborative work called Poems under the pseudonym of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.  They wanted to hide their gender to help sales, so the sisters kept the first letter of their first names: Charlotte was Currer, Emily was Ellis, and Anne was Acton. Still, only two copies of Poems were sold. Emma Emmerson wrote a piece called The Brontë Garden. In it, she revealed: The Brontës were not ardent gardeners, although… Emily and Anne treasured their currant bushes as ‘their own bit of fruit garden’. While they may not have been avid gardeners, they knew enough about growing flowers for Charlotte to write: Emily wishes to know if the Sicilian Pea (Pisum sativum)and the Crimson cornflower are hardy flowers, or if they are delicate and should be sown in warm and sheltered situations. In her writing, Charlotte could be a little glum about flowers. In Villette (1853), Charlotte wrote, I like to see flowers growing, but when they are gathered, they cease to please. I look on them as things rootless and perishable; their likeness to life makes me sad. I never offer flowers to those I love; I never wish to receive them from hands dear to me. In The Professor (1857), Charlotte wrote, In sunshine, in prosperity, the flowers are very well; but how many wet days are there in life—November seasons of disaster, when a man's hearth and home would be cold indeed, without the clear, cheering gleam of intellect.   1838 Birth of John Muir, Scottish-American naturalist, conservationist, and author. John Muir was known by many names: "John of the Mountains,” “Father of Yosemite,” and "Father of the National Parks.” John’s work to preserve Yosemite resulted in a famous picture of himself posing with President Teddy Roosevelt on Overhanging Rock at the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite in 1903. There's a fun little story about John and Charles Sprague Sargent, the director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard, that was featured in a 1915 article. The two men had gone on a fall trip to hike the mountains in North Carolina. John found the scenery so inspiring that when they got to the top of Grandfather Mountain, he began to sing and dance and jump around, while Charles just stood there.  This must have been a common trait among the botanists and academics John knew because he once wrote, In drying plants, botanists often dry themselves. Dry words and dry facts will not fire hearts. John is remembered with these words. The mountains are calling, and I must go. Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Royal Gardens of the World by Mark Lane  This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is 21 Celebrated Gardens from the Alhambra to Highgrove and Beyond, and the illustrated cover is spectacular. This book is a celebration of Royal Gardens, and Mark does a brilliant job of sharing the history, the plantings, and the evolution of each garden. And in addition to all of that, he highlights some of the key plant or signature plants of these spaces and then shares all the behind-the-scenes details about how these gardens were designed and laid out. Now the gardens that are profiled are located primarily in Europe and Asia. But as Mark points out in his introduction, Many more Royal Gardens are waiting to be visited and researched, and each tells its own story.   Mark says, I am simply the interpreter and the messenger. Sometimes the story focuses on restoration, others follow the lives of the main protagonists and other still simply chart the course of history. It's also worth noting that history is not isolated. These gardens are a response to events occurring throughout Europe, Russia, the Far East, and elsewhere And Marriages between members of Royal households in turn introduced different ideas and creative passions which were reflected in their gardens.   Now, as you can imagine, entire books have been written about each of these gardens individually, but Mark's intention here is to celebrate the art of gardening through some of the finest garden jewels that have ever been created. This book is 240 pages of a five-star book on Amazon about Royal Gardens, their history, their fantastic designs, and their signature plants. You can get a copy of Royal Gardens of the World by Mark Lane and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $25.   Botanic Spark Today, April 21, is the National Day of Sa'di ("SAH-dee"), the Master of Persian prose and poetry who was born in 1210. Sa'di lived in Shiraz ("SHE-raz"). In his lifetime, and through the 19th century, Shiraz was a center for growing grapes and great wines. (Shiraz wine is from Shiraz.)  Shiraz was also a center for learning, literature, gardens, and poetry. The poet, Hafez, was also from Shiraz. Now, although he was born and raised in Shiraz, Sa’di spent much of his life traveling. And over three decades, he met and interacted with people from different places, with different customs, traditions, and languages. And his constant traveling led Sa’di to a place of acceptance and love for all humanity. Sa’di once wrote these poignant words of understanding: Sa'di once wrote these poignant words of understanding,  I bemoaned the fact I had no shoes Until I saw the man who had no feet.   And there was a common Persian saying that goes, Each word of Sa’di has 72 meanings.   Today, Persian scholars believe that Sa’di is Shakespeare-like in terms of his understanding of the human condition, and in various literary ways, he shared his insights. Now you might be surprised to learn that Ralph Waldo Emerson was a Sa’di fan. Emerson felt that study's work was biblical in terms of the wisdom that he was trying to impart. In fact, Emerson wrote about Sa’di, and one of his verses went like this. The forest waves, the morning breaks, The pastures sleep, ripple the lakes, Leaves twinkle, flowers like persons be, And life pulsates in rock or tree. Saadi! so far thy words shall reach; Suns rise and set in Saadi's speech.   In terms of a legacy, Sa’di's best-known works are Bustan ("Boo-ston") (The Orchard) and Gulistan ("Goo-luh-ston") (The Rose Garden). Now there's a very old copy of the Gulistan that features a beautiful painting of Sa’di in a rose garden, and I shared it inthe Facebook Group for the show.  Now I wanted to end the show today with a little something from The Rose Garden or The Gulistan because, in that book, Sa’di is led to a garden by a friend on this day, April 21st, back in 1258. And that's why today is National Sa’di Day. It's the day he was brought to a garden. And so there is a verse that is a favorite among gardeners from The Gulistan or The Rose Garden, and it goes like this. If... thou art bereft, And ...Two loaves alone to thee are left, Sell one, and with the dole Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1492 Birth of Pietro Aretino (“Pee-et-tro Air-ah-TEE-no”), Italian writer, poet,  and blackmailer. He was critical of the powerful and sympathetic to religious reformers. He once wrote, Let us love winter, for it is the spring of genius.    1646 Birth of Charles Plumier, French priest and botanist. He was born in Marseille and was regarded as one of the most important botanical explorers of his time. Charles served as a botanist to King Louis XIV of France. He traveled to the New World many times, documenting plant and animal species. During his third expedition to the Greater Antilles, Charles discovered the Fuchsia triphylla on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Charles named the fuchsia plant after the 16th-century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. And because he named the Fuschia, Charles is sometimes referred to as the Father of the Fuchsia. The Fuchsia has colorful upside-down blossoms that hang from the stems, and this is how Fuchsias get the common name Lady's Eardrops. The drooping habit is also reflected in the Irish word for Fuchsia - Deora Dé - which translates to “God's Tears.” And it’s worth noting that the fruit of all the species of Fuchsia is edible. However, many Fuschia fruits are bland and have a terrible aftertaste. But the Fuschia variety Splendens has flavorful fruit and can be used to make jam. In addition to the Fuchsia, Charles discovered and named both the Begonia and the Magnolia. Charles named the Begonia after Michel Begon, who was the governor of the French Antilles for three years, from 1682 to 1685. It was Begon who recommended Charles for the position of plant collector in the Caribbean to King Louis XIV. So this naming of the Begonia was a little payback by Charles to Michel Begon. On the other hand, the naming of the Magnolia was in recognition of the great botanist Pierre Magnol - who introduced the concept of plant families. Carl Linnaeus and his wife were huge Plumier fans. They used Charles's artwork to make wallpaper for their home. Today, Charles is remembered by the genus Plumeria. A tropical, the Plumeria grows in shrubs and trees. Plumeria is sometimes called the common name Frangipani. An Italian Marquis named Frangipani used Plumeria blossoms to create a perfume used to scent gloves during the 16th century.   1826 Birth of Peter Barr, Scottish nurseryman, plant hunter, and merchant. Peter is credited as the man who popularized the daffodil. In America, Peter’s promotion of daffodils inspired a daffodil craze after the Civil War ended. Over his lifetime, Peter bred over two million daffodils in his Surrey nursery, which earned him the moniker "The Daffodil King." Each spring, people would travel from all around to see thousands of daffodils representing over a hundred unique daffodil varieties blooming at Peter's nursery. At one point, the Peter Barr daffodil - a white trumpet variety - commanded $250 per bulb.  During his seventies, Peter gave the nursery to his sons, and he went out and traveled the world in search of daffodils in Asia and South America. After seven years of searching, Peter finally retired. He went home to his native Scotland, and once there, he pivoted away from daffodils and began cultivating primroses. Two years before his death in 1909, Peter famously mused, I wonder who will plant my grave with primroses? Today, the Royal Horticultural Society awards the Peter Barr Memorial Cup for excellence in daffodils. And in 2019, there was a Grand Blue Plaque Unveiling at Peter’s English nursery along Garratt Lane.   1849 On this day, Henri-Frédéric Amiel, Swiss philosopher, and poet, was in Geneva and wrote in his journal: It is six years today since I last left Geneva. How many journeys, how many impressions, observations, thoughts, how many forms of men and things, have since then passed before me... Three snowstorms this afternoon.  Poor blossoming plum trees and peach trees!  What a difference from six years ago, when the cherry trees, adorned in their green spring dress and laden with their bridal flowers, smiled at my departure along the Vaudois fields, and the lilacs of Burgundy threw great gusts of perfume into my face!    Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Flavors from the Garden by William Woys Weaver This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is Heirloom Vegetable Recipes from Roughwood. Of course, Roughwood is a reference to the Roughwood Seed Collection of heirloom food plants that William maintains at the historic Lamb Tavern in Devon, Pennsylvania. William is an expert not only on gardening but also on food history. And he is a four-time winner of the prestigious Julia Child Cookbook Award. Now, what I first noticed about this book is the gorgeous cover, which features a simple yellow plate with a beautiful tomato salad on it, and then that is set on an old table painted and patinaed with a very light teal. It's a gorgeous cover. William creates recipes that are all about plants, and so in this book, you will find 80 seasonal recipes- everything from fresh salads and stir-fries to soups and fantastic baked goods, where the bounty of the garden harvest is the star of the show. Now William has arranged this book to follow the seasons, which means you can dip in and out as appropriate and then head to the garden to pick the in-season produce needed to make these beautiful dishes that include items like Saffron Corn Soup. There's a Ramp Pesto, and wild harvest ramps are one of the hottest new trends in pesto over the past decade.  Now two things I always think of when I see a book by William Woys Weaver are heirloom gardening and herbs - and you'll find both of those featured in this cookbook. This book is 208 pages of eighty recipes that take vegetables from the garden to the kitchen and the table. You can get a copy of Flavors from the Garden by William Woys Weaver and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $24.   Botanic Spark 1739  Birth of William Bartram, American botanist, artist, and naturalist known as The Flower Hunter. The son of the Quaker botanist John Bartram, William - or Billy (as he was known to his family) - was the first American to pursue a life devoted to the study of nature. Together, William and his father were the leading American plant collectors and horticulturists of their time. The two men explored colonial Pennsylvania and New York. Now in his heart, William was an artist, and his nature art was eventually widely-acclaimed. But before William’s artistic success, his father, John, worried that Billy would end up a starving artist. And so, John attempted many times to no avail, to steer William toward other more lucrative endeavors. Ultimately, John came around, and he and William went on their final adventure together in Florida. During the trip, John collected specimens while William wrote and sketched. In a happy moment of discovery, John and William came upon a unique specimen, a tree that John named the Franklin tree after his dear friend Benjamin Franklin. The botanical name for the tree is Franklinia alatamaha ("frank-LIN-ee-ah ah-lah-tah-MAH-hah."), And if you're working with student gardeners, this is a fun name to teach them -  just break it down for them into smaller parts: "allah-toe-ma- ha." Then put that together,  Franklinia alatamaha. Now, the discovery of the Franlinia Tree became a bit of a legacy for William Bartram. In a twist of fate, William revisited the tree later in life to collect seeds for propagation. Unbeknownst to William, his seed collection of the Franklinia would prove to be his most botanically significant endeavor.  By the turn of the century in 1803, the Franklin tree was extinct in the wild. And so, all of the Franklin trees that are cultivated and prized in gardens and herbariums today are descended from those seeds that William Bartram collected and cultivated over 200 years ago. And here's a little botanical fun fact: William Bartram was also the first person to describe a name, the Oakleaf Hydrangea  - the hydrangea quercifolia. (Hydrangea quercifolia “kwer-sih-FOE-lee-ah”). After his trip with his father, William returned to Florida to farm. This was another career move that worried his dad. But In 1791, William's book Travels was published. In the book, William shared his 2,400-mile exploration of the American south. Travels became an immediate sensation in Europe, where people were over-the-moon curious about flora and fauna of the new world. Finally, in BJ Healey’sbook, The Plant Hunters, there is a charming summation of William's lifestory:   Through his [book] Travels — one of the earliest and certainly the finest record of the American experience, landscape, and people in the eighteenth century; a book that achieved worldwide recognition and profoundly influenced Wordsworth, Coleridge, and many later writers — [William] more than proved himself a worthy son of the Old Quaker pioneer. John Bartram need not have been troubled in his later years, he would have been proud of Billy in the end.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1844 Birth of Helene Cramer, German landscape and flower painter.  Helen and her sister Molly were both painters in Hamburg, Germany. Their father, Cesar, disapproved of them as painters, so the two women didn’t start painting until middle age. (Helen was 38 when she first picked up a brush.)  Helen and Molly exhibited their art throughout Germany and at the 1883 World's Fair in Chicago. Most folks say that their favorite Helene Cramer painting is her work called "Marsh Marigolds and Crown Imperials." In 1916, Helen died at 72. She and Molly are buried in Plot 27 of the "Garten der Frauen," or the Garden of Women at the Hamburg Ohlsdorf cemetery.   1888 Birth of Harry Saier, American nurseryman, printer, and garden writer. In 1911, Harry started his seed company in Lansing, Michigan. A 1916 newspaper ad encouraged women to "help beautify Lansing by a pretty home garden." Harry pledged,  We supply everything necessary for making your home and lawn a beauty spot. We have assembled a rare collection of beautiful shrubs, trees, flowers and seeds. Lovers of horticulture will find much to interest them here. By the fall of that same year, Harry posted an ad for: [A] lady to canvass city for shrubs, seeds and garden supplies. Harry acquired a new building at 3 West Michigan Avenue for his florist shop three years later. Newspapers reported that, A resplendent posy shop [was] to open. One of the features of the... shop will be an icebox, which will be the largest in the state of Michigan for its purpose. It will measure twelve [by six and made] entirely of glass and... decorated with German silver trimmings.  ...The new marble tables... will be arranged about a large fountain which will occupy the center of the building.  In 1926, Harry moved his operation to the century farm he bought on highway 99 in Dimondale. Harry was known for producing his exceptional and exhaustive garden catalog. He included a pronunciation list, plant descriptions, and miscellaneous advice.  Throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, if someone were looking for a plant or seeds, they would usually find their way to Harry as their last best hope. Katherine White wrote about Harry's work in her book Onward and Upward in the Garden: Consider the case of Harry E. Saier, who issues three or four catalogues a year, each of them listing as many as eighteen hundred genera and eighteen thousand kinds of seed.  Mr. Saier is not a grower but a collector and distributor of seeds... [he] primarily depends on his two hundred seed collectors, who are stationed all over the world, and on commercial growers from many countries. There is nothing beautiful about his latest catalogue and its hundred and seventy-six pages of small-print lists, interspersed with occasional dim photographs, but it is fascinating to browse in, translating, if you can, the abbreviations made necessary by lack of space.  ...His global lists of clients include nurseries, greenhouses, seedsmen, universities, botanical gardens, and drug manufacturers, but a third of them, he tells me, are amateurs like you and me.  And just to spark your nostalgia for simpler times, listen to Elizabeth Lawrence describe ordering from Harry. I find most plantsmen send their wares without cash, even when they have never heard of you, but I certainly would never ask them to. I am always in debt to Mr. Saier because he sends things at odd times, and I wake up in the night and remember that I have owed him a quarter for three years. After Harry died in 1976, JL Hudson inherited Harry's seed collection. Harry's Dimondale property is now a cemetery.   2017 On this day, the Beijing Crabapple Conference began. Conference-goers toured the Crabapple Garden, which featured many American cultivars like Brandywine, Cinderella, Molten Lava, Lollipop, and Madonna - all varieties created by Jim Zampini, a beloved nurseryman from Lake County, Ohio. During the conference, attendees learned that Jim had passed away at 85. Today, Jim’s legacy lives on in his fantastic crabapple varieties like Centurion, Harvest Gold, Lancelot Dwarf, Sugar Tyme, and the Weeping Candied Apple. Generally speaking, a crabapple tree takes two to five years to bear fruit. Crabapples differ from standard apple trees in that they offer smaller fruit. Apples that are less than 2 inches in diameter are considered crabapples. And, Crabapples rarely grow taller than 25 feet high. If you want to plant a mini-orchard of Crabapple trees, space the saplings six to fifteen feet apart depending on the variety - plant tighter if you are planting dwarf or more upright varieties. Right now, crabapple trees are just starting to bloom in our 2022 gardens. Most gardeners agree that few flowering trees can rival the charm of a crabapple tree in flower. In Polish folklore, apple trees were considered dream trees. Sleeping under an apple tree was sure to cause a dream-filled sleep. And, placing an apple under a maiden’s pillow could induce a dream of her future husband. In English folklore, crabapple seeds (called pips) were thrown into the fire on Valentine’s Eve while chanting your true love's name. If the pips explode, your love will be true and will last forever.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation A Naturalist's Book of Wildflowers by Laura Martin  This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is Celebrating 85 Native Plants in North America. Great topic. Before I tell you about this book, I want to point out Laura's incredible talent. She got her degree in botany from the University of Georgia, and she has worked as a naturalist at Georgia's Callaway Gardens. She even has a certificate in botanical art and illustration from the New York Botanical Gardens. And get this — she's published 25 books. When you see the cover of Laura's book, it's all the more special when you realize that she did all of the illustrations herself. Laura dedicated this book to her grandchildren, and I wanted to share with you what she wrote in the introduction because it gives us a little insight into Laura as a person. She writes. I have spent my entire life loving wildflowers. I grew up in the woods on the outskirts of the city and because my mother was a wildflower enthusiast, I became one too. So we have another great example of the love of flowers, the love of gardening, being passed down from one generation to the next.   And then Laura continues. I eventually acquired a bachelor's degree in botany and then a certification in botanical illustration. And the result is a naturalist book of wildflowers, celebrating 85 native plants of North America. And the celebration features scientific text, interesting folklore, detailed botanical drawings and whimsical sketches I have learned to look at plants from many different angles. And I'm happy to share this perspective with you.   As a gardener, I know you are going to love Laura's book, but even if you aren't all that much into gardening, don't be bashful about cracking open this book. Laura introduces us to these plants in a very, very friendly fashion. She's got one little paragraph called just a little botany, and she writes, Although it's not essential to know botany to appreciate wildflowers, it might make it a little more fun and interesting. And botany is just the study of plants.   It's that gentle, conversational tone that I think you're really going to like in Laura's book. There's one other aspect that I want to share with you about this book. Laura adds all these little images - these little doodles - in the margins. Laura also includes these incredible drawings of her subjects. She has the plant's name, and then underneath, in a script font, she has the Latin name for the plant. While the drawing of the plant is beautiful, of course, it is the text that she puts around the plant and the way that she places this information that I think makes these drawings extra unique. For instance, when she's talking about the Bellwort at the very top, she says it's 12 to 20 inches high in a script font, making you feel like you're looking at somebody's scrapbook. These little snippets are just marvelous and full of information and Laura's gentle perspective that you won't find in many other books. The publisher writes, A charmingly illustrated, keepsake and guide to native wild plants of North America.   This book is truly a delight. It's 288 pages of North American wildflowers in their myriad colors. By the way, Laura organized this book by plant color, which is so helpful. So if you have a blue garden or a pink garden, you'll be able to find the wildflowers of that color and then look up the ones you want to grow in your garden. You can get a copy of A Naturalist's Book of Wildflowers by Laura Martin and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $8.   Botanic Spark 1963 Every year on this day, April 14th, Japan celebrates Drew Day in honor of Kathleen Drew-Baker, a British phycologist. Phycology is the study of algae, and Kathleen was the first president of the British Phycological Society.  She was utterly devoted to learning everything about these often dismissed sea plants. Although she was forced to give up lecturing at the University of Manchester after getting married (the college did not allow married women to work), Kathleen continued as an unpaid researcher. Two decades later, in 1949, Kathleen figured out the mysterious life cycle of a red algae known as Welsh Porphyra ("POR-fer-ah") - commonly called laver ("LAY-vur"). Kathleen had tried repeatedly to grow laver in the lab to no avail. In a stroke of luck, she decided to toss some oyster shells in the bottom of the tank with the laver spores. Soon the oyster shells were covered in pink sludge. Unsure what to make of it, Kathleen feared she had contaminated her work. But she soon realized that the sludge was simply the juvenile part of the laver life cycle. The shells provided shelter for the seeds. When Kathleen's discovery was published in Nature magazine, a Japanese biologist named Sokichi Segawa realized that she had probably just cracked the code on cultivating seaweed. For centuries, Japan had harvested a sister variety of laver to make sushi. But the Japanese seaweed variety was getting harder and harder to source in the wild. It had all but disappeared after WWII. What the Japanese didn't realize was how important shells on the seafloor were to the seaweed lifecycle. American underwater mines from WWII, typhoons, and pollution meant that bivalves like oysters, scallops, and mussels were in scarce supply. Without the shells, the Japanese red seaweed called nori couldn't reproduce. Kathleen's understanding of the seaweed lifecycle meant that the Japanese now knew how successfully farm nori seaweed, creating a stable supply for sushi. It also meant that Japanese fisherman could feed their hungry, recovering nation and make a living. Her discovery also led to the commercial practice of collecting oyster shells for seeding seaweed. After Kathleen's work proved successful, Japanese nori fishermen took up a collection for a statue to honor Kathleen. But before she could sit for the artist, Kathleen died of cancer at 55. On April 14, 1963, the Japanese unveiled a memorial to Kathleen - a slab of granite inset with a metal plaque with Kathleen's likeness that overlooks the Ariake Sea. Kathleen's scientific papers and graduation garb were buried on site. To this day, the Japanese lay an offering of seaweed at Kathleen's shrine every April 14th.  While the rest of the world is largely unaware of Kathleen Drew-Baker, in Japan, Kathleen is remembered as the Mother of the Sea.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1711 Birth of John Mitchell (books about this person), American physician, botanist, and polymath. John was educated in Edinburgh. As a young man, John returned to Virginia and settled in Urbanna - about seventy miles from Richmond. There, he began botanizing throughout Virginia, and he corresponded with most of the colonial botanists of his time. For instance, John sent a list of Virginia plants to Peter Collinson for inclusion in his book on new world plants.  John Mitchell and John Clayton both botanized in Virginia. The American writer Henry Theodore Tuckerman once wrote, Mitchell and Clayton together gave to the botany of Virginia a distinguished lustre. John also corresponded with Linnaeus, who named the sweetly trailing Partridgeberry Mitchella repens ("Mi-CHEL-uh REE-pens") in his honor. The word repens means "creeping" and describes its growing habit. Partridgeberry is in the Madder family. The berries are red and sport two bright red spots. By 1746, John and his wife had returned to England. He arrived utterly penniless after losing all of his botanical work on the voyage over from America. He paused his botanical work to create a map to help Britain identify their colonial territories. The Mitchell Map took five years to complete and became the most detailed and largest 18th-century map of eastern North America. The Mitchell Map also is regarded as one of the most significant maps in American history. Published before the Seven Years' War, the Mitchell Map was used in the Treaty of Paris (1783) and (ironically) helped define the boundaries of the newly independent United States. And Lewis and Clark used the Mitchell Map on their expedition.   1743 Birth of Thomas Jefferson (books about this person), American statesman and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Thomas loved plants and gardening. He once wrote, The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture.   He also once wrote, On a hot day in Virginia, I know nothing more comforting than a fine spiced pickle, brought up trout-like from the sparkling depths of the aromatic jar below the stairs of Aunt Sally's cellar.   1851 Birth of Helen Maria Winslow (books by this author) (pen name Aunt Philury), American writer and poet.  Helen's nature poems are charming. Here's the beginning verse to her poem, Spring Song. The bluebird from the apple-tree  Pours forth a flood of melody ;  The sky above as blue as he.  Shimmers and shines, an azure sea.  And the robin sings, 'What cheer, what cheer ?'  Summer is coming, and Spring is here!"   1909 Birth of Eudora Alice Welty (books by this author), American writer and photographer who wrote about the American South. Eudora's novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. She famously wrote, One place comprehended can make us understand other places better. Today, Eudora's house and garden in Jackson, Mississippi, is a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public. The home was built by Eudora's parents, Christian and Chestina. Eudora lived in her family home for seventy-six years and wrote all her major works there. In the 1930s, Eudora hosted the 'Night Blooming Cereus Club' of Jackson, Mississippi, in her moon garden to watch the annual blossoming of the flower known as the 'Queen of the Night.' Eudora learned to love gardening from her mother, Chestina. Chestina designed the garden at Eudora's home in 1925. The two spent the next two decades working in the garden - planting, digging, weeding, and harvesting. Today, the gardens are beautifully restored based on Eudora's photos and letters and Chestina's garden journals. The garden is not a show garden - it's a gardener's garden - and that's the way Eudora wanted it to be maintained for future generations.  Eudora found inspiration in the natural world. Over 150 different plants are mentioned in her various works.  In 1931, Eudora and her mother turned to the garden after the sudden death of her father. During that time, she wrote short stories, including a story inspired by the garden called A Curtain of Green. Looking back at the years following the loss of her dad, Eudora wrote, No experience could have taught me more about grief or flowers, about achieving survival by going, your fingers in the ground, the limit of physical exhaustion. In Delta Wedding (1946), Eudora wrote, The evening was hot; it was the fragrance of the lemon lilies that was cool, like the breath from a mountain well. Gardeners often say that gardening is cheaper than therapy. Eudora knew that garden time had benefits that were on a higher level. She once wrote to a friend,   I like the work in the yard, never get tired, and can think out there... or maybe it’s dreaming.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans This book is an oldie, but goodie - it debuted in 2009 - and this is a fiction book that should definitely be part of your garden fiction collection. Now, as with most of the fiction books that I recommend, this book has a beautiful cover and bonus points: it has the word garden in the title. In addition to all of that, Harriet Evans is a wonderful writer. Now the publisher of this book pitched it this way. One house for women And the secret that binds them all. Lose yourself in this unputdownable tale of the enduring power of family love told by three generations of extraordinary women. Now I bought this book back in November of 2020, and I know that because Amazon was kind enough to remind me when I went to find what year this book was published. Anyway, I remember reading it over Christmas break, and I would say it's part mystery and part thriller. So if you're looking for something to read over spring break- or maybe for a beach read over the summer- this would be a fantastic option. And by the way, this is a big book. It is 560 pages. I thought I'd give you just a little bit of a teaser here. It starts with the setting at Nightingale House in 1919: Liddy Horner discovers that her husband, the world-famous artist Sir Edward Horner burned his best-known painting called The Garden of Lost And Found. And he did that just days before his sudden death.  And then, of course, we're off to the races. So there you go. You can get a copy of The Garden of Lost and Found by Harriet Evans and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $2.   Botanic Spark Here's an excerpt from HLV Fletcher's book of garden gossip called Purest Pleasure. This is from his chapter for April, and it includes an exchange with a 70-year-old friend and fellow gardener named Micah. He wrote: I had been working in the garden almost as long as the light lasted, and when dusk fell I went down to see Micah. He had a sore throat and was treating it with boiled Nettles, and we got to talking about them. Everywhere now the young Nettles were growing, their strong new growth making a mat of rich green. To most people, accustomed to think of them only as weeds, the sight is hateful, but I don't know. As weeds I do not find them very hard to destroy; as herbs there are less handsome plants.  It certainly makes an excellent green vegetable about this time of year, went the tips are young and tender. The Romans are said to have used it like Spinach.  Micah had a riddle to ask me. "What did Adam first plant in the Garden of Eden?" I tried a number of plants and then gave up. "Well, what was it?" He grinned triumphantly. "His foot, of course."   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1722 Birth of Christopher Smart, English poet. He was known for his pen name as the midwife "Mrs. Mary Midnight."  The back half of Christopher's life was spent in madhouses or prisons. He wrote his long religious poem, Jubilate Agno (Rejoice in the Lamb), in a debtor's prison. It includes the words, For the flowers are great blessings. For there is a language of flowers. For the flowers are peculiarly the poetry of Christ. In this same poem, Christopher praises his beloved cat Jeoffry. The Jeoffry verses inspired Oliver Soden's whimsical biography of Jeoffry, which debuted in April 2021 to the delight of cat lovers everywhere.  In 1752, Christopher published The Hop-Garden, a long poem of 733 lines about a hop garden that tells the reader how to cultivate hops. The poem is part personal history and part instruction.  In The Hop-Garden, Christopher mentioned the river that ran past his childhood garden, and he dedicated the second half of the poem to his dear friend Theophilus Wheeler. Christopher was in the middle of writing The Hop-Garden when Theophilus died during his sophomore year at Christ College.  After The Hop-Garden was published, Christopher's friend, Samuel Johnson, said the poem was proof that, one could say a great deal about cabbage. In the poem, when a storm threatens the harvest, Christopher writes, Haste then, ye peasants; pull the poles, the hops; Where are the bins? Run, run, ye nimble maids, Move ev’ry muscle, ev’ry nerve extend, To save our crop from ruin, and ourselves. Christopher Smart died in debtor's prison in London in 1771, at 49.   1897 Death of David Burke, English plant collect and gardener. The Veitch nurseries became obsessed with the painting of a Pitcher-plant (Nepenthes Northiana) by Marianne North. After Marianne's death, Veitch sent David on his first collecting trip with Charles Curtis to bring back specimens of the North Pitcher plant. During the trip, David discovered the beautiful Leea amabilis, which is now a popular tropical houseplant that features dark, jagged-shaped leaves with have white color along the midrib. David continued to travel extensively for James Veitch & Sons, and he collected plants in British Guiana, Burma, and Colombia. David was honored with the naming of a pitcher plant he discovered called Nepenthes Burkei.  In the Philippines, David also collected Phalaenipsis stuartiana. He found the orchid growing abundantly along the coastline, where it thrived being sprayed by the ocean. The Veitch firm praised Burke's writing. This traveller (Burke) crossed a greater area of the earth's surface and covered more miles in search of plants than any other Veitchian collector, with the possible exception of the two brothers William and Thomas Lobb. The writer Sue Shephard wrote a biography of the Veitch family, and in it, she described David as Veitch's strangest, longest–serving and most adventurous orchid collector. James Veitch once remarked,  Burke was one of those curious natures who live more or less with natives as a native, and apparently, prefer[ed] this mode of existance. In 1896, David left on what was to be his final voyage. He died of cholera on Ambon island.   1912 Birth of Elsie Elizabeth Esterhuysen, South African botanist. Elsie's been described as the most outstanding collector of South African Flora. She collected over 36,000 herbarium species. A botanist at the Bolus Herbariumin Cape Town, Elsie was humble, and she would never publish the results of her work under her own name. After Elsie died, over 200 people gathered at her memorial, which featured three tributes from her botanist family. The botanist John Rourke recalled, It’s an astonishing fact that for the first 18 years of her employment she received no proper salary and was paid out of petty cash at a rate not much better than a laborer. She did not collect randomly; Elsie was above all an intelligent collector, seeking range extensions, local variants, or even new species, filling voids in the Bolus Herbarium’s records, often returning months later to collect seeds or fruits that were of diagnostic importance. […] Always self-deprecating, one of her favorite comments was ‘I’m only filling in gaps’.   The botanist Peter Linder said, She was what I thought a botanist was supposed to be. She was in the mountains every weekend, and came back with big black plastic bags full of plants, that she sorted and passed to Gert Syster to press.  Elsie taught me that each species has an essence, a character—that it liked some habitats but not others and that it flowered at a particular time.  ...She was interested in the plants themselves—she cared about them.   The botanist Ted Oliver remembered, Her mode of transport was the bicycle (we have her latest model here today). She rode to the University of Cape Town up that dreadful steep road every day for a lifetime, come sunshine or rain, heat or cold. Now one knows why she was so fit and could outstrip any poor unsuspecting younger botanist in the mountains! Every day she would come up and park her bicycle behind the Bolus Herbarium building and then often jump through the window in the preparation section rather than walk all the way around to the front door.   Today there are 56 plant species and two genera named for Elsie Esterhuysen.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Ladies' Village Improvement Society Cookbook by Florence Fabricant This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Eating and Entertaining in East Hampton. Well, this is another book that I wish had debuted before the pandemic because I think it would have been so much more popular had it come out, say, in 2018. Nonetheless, it's not too late to discover this fabulous cookbook. This is a cookbook for all seasons, but I think the cover just screams summer and eating outside in your garden. So if you're going to get this book, now is the time. Martha Stewart wrote the forward to this cookbook, and I wanted to share just a bit of what she talks about here because she's introducing us to the LVIS, or the Ladies Village Improvement Society. This group of women has done so much to make sure that the natural beauty of the Hamptons stays intact, and Martha alludes to adhere in this forward. She writes, I bought my home on Lily Pond Lane almost thirty years ago. Much has changed in Easthampton since then. Many new houses have been built, and countless new stores have opened on Main Street and Newton Lane. The summer populations have swelled, and the beaches have become more crowded. But some things have remained the same. The giant Elm trees that tower over the highway leading into town are still green and stately. The roadsides are still planted with lovely Maples and Lindens, offering shady avenues and streets on which to walk or bicycle. The scenic Village Green and its iconic pond populated by pairs of plump swans are still the backdrop for many thousands of photographs throughout the year. And the Ladies Village Improvement Society can claim bragging rights for the glory of this scenery. There is no better time to be in East Hampton than in mid-summer when the trees are leafed out, the roses are blooming, and the ocean is beautiful. And then there are the farmer's markets and the farm stands displaying their freshly harvested vegetables. It's a beautiful sight to see. And as Martha indicated, this volunteer organization, the Ladies Village Improvement Society, has done a lot to ensure that the Hamptons retain their natural charm. Now a lot of these women are gardeners and cooks. So you can imagine the beautiful recipes -the over 100 recipes - in this fabulous cookbook, and many of them are garden to table. The other thing that's really fun about this book is that the Hamptons is all about entertaining. And so, these women are sharing their go-to recipes for all kinds of gatherings - whether you're talking about dinner after a movie or lunch by the pool - whatever the occasion, there are delightful suggestions here. There's a Fettuccine recipe that's got Asparagus and Blue Cheese. There's a fabulous Bittersweet Chocolate Pound Cake. Bonnie Reiff-Smith shared her recipe for Perfection Pork Chops. There's an excellent Zucchini Sausage Quiche - another great recipe for using your zucchini. There's Moroccan Carrot Salad and a fabulous Sunflower Seed Salad along with Whole Roasted Cauliflower - that's fantastic as well. Anyway, I could go on and on. This beautiful cookbook is so fun. This book is 256 pages of more than 100 recipes for food and drink, and it's all put together in 20 different menus with directions on how to make any of your gatherings extra special. And it really is a beautiful cookbook for summer - and the price is right, too. You can get a copy of The Ladies' Village Improvement Society Cookbook by Florence Fabricant and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $9.   Botanic Spark 2014 On this day, a dedication ceremony was held at the University of South Carolina in honor of the new Desegregation Commemorative Garden on the side of the Osborne building. The garden was established to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of desegregation at the college. Student Government President Lindsay Richardson read a poem by USC Poet Nikky Finney called The Irresistible Ones, which is inscribed on a granite plaque in the garden and reads, THE IRRESISTIBLE ONES ROBERT ANDERSON, HENRIE MONTEITH, JAMES SOLOMON They arrive knocking at Osborne’s great garnet door.  They want to study mathematics, join the debate team, and sing in the choir.  They are three in a sea of six thousand.  With each step they pole vault shards of doubt, sticks of dynamite, and stubborn hate mail.  With them arrives the bright peppermint of change.  The new laws of the new day can no longer resist these three irresistible ones, in a sea of six thousand, stepping through a door now garnet and black.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1805 Birth of Hugo von Mohl, German botanist.  One newspaper called him the "greatest botanist of his day." He coined the word protoplasm. He discovered Mitosis and chloroplasts - describing them as discrete bodies within the green plant cell in 1837. In 1846 he described the sap in plant cells as "the living substance of the cell" and created the word "protoplasm."   1859 On this day, the Ohio Legislature named Alliance, Ohio, the "Carnation City," saying "truly it is the home of Ohio's State flower," thanks to the work of the amateur horticulturist Levi L. Lamborn (books by this author). In 1876, Levi ran against his friend William McKinley for congress. Before every debate, Levi gave William a "Lamborn Red" Carnation to wear on his lapel. Levi had propagated and named the Lamborn Red Carnation from seedlings he had received from France. After William won the election, he considered the Lamborn Red Carnation his good luck charm - his lucky flower - and he wore a Lamborn Red Carnation during his successful campaigns for Governor of Ohio and President of the United States. William wore a Lamborn Red Carnation when he was sworn into office. He was also wearing one when he attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, in 1901. At that event, he removed the Carnation and gave it to a 12-year-old girl named Myrtle Ledger, saying, I must give this flower to another little flower. Minutes later, in the receiving line, he greeted his assassin, Leon Czolgosz. President McKinley lingered for eight days after being shot twice before finally succumbing to infection. When McKinley's funeral train passed through Alliance, Ohio, the train tracks were covered in Lamborn Red Carnations.  The Ohio General Assembly named the scarlet Carnation the official Ohio floral emblem three years later. The resolution reads: Even though the first mention of the Dianthus genus of plant... is traced to some four hundred years before the birth of Christ, it was not until a native son of Alliance, Ohio, (Levi L. Lamborn) worked his floricultural magic that it blossomed as the matchless symbol of life and love that is today. Representative Elijah W. Hill, from Columbiana County, said, England has the rose, France has the lily; Ireland, the shamrock; Scotland, the thistle. ...To these ends, we seek to adopt the scarlet Carnation as Ohio's floral emblem. Fifty-five years later, on this day, April 8, 1959, Alliance, Ohio, became the "Carnation City" thanks to the work of Levi L. Lamborn. Every year since 1960, Alliance has held a Carnation festival. In 2022, the 10-day festival takes place between August 4 - August 14.   1892 Birth of Mary Pickford (books about this person), born Gladys Marie Smith, became known as America's sweetheart and a Hollywood legend. Mary was also a lover of trees. If you jump on Twitter, search for "Mary Pickford Tree," and you'll see images of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford planting a tree at their PickFair estate. #ArborDay Mary Pickford was the first to plant a Japanese cedar tree in the Forest of Fame at the California Botanic Garden. And Trivia/Folklore says that Mary Pickford used to eat flowers - especially roses. Katie Melua sang about Mary in a song that goes: Mary Pickford Used to eat roses Thinking they'd make her Beautiful, and they did-  One supposes. In real life, Mary did indeed eat roses. Mary Pickford revealed in her autobiography, Sunshine and Shadow that as a young girl living in Toronto, she would buy a single rose and eat the petals, believing the beauty, color, and perfume would somehow get inside her. Mary starred in Madame Butterfly (1915). The movie was shot in the Japanese garden of Charles Pfizer's Bernardsville, New Jersey estate called Yademos, the word "someday" spelled backward. The elaborate three-and-a-half-acre Japanese garden - complete with a lake filled with Japanese goldfish, a tea house, and a hooped and arched bridge - looked like it had been there forever - but in reality, the garden was only nine years old.    1918 Birth of First Lady Betty Ford (books about this person). As a woman, Betty Ford consistently defied the odds. She was an incredible trailblazer and very open about her struggles with alcohol and breast cancer. She revolutionized addiction treatment and opened her center for treatment while she was in the middle of working on her own recovery. Today' the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens is a fitting living tribute to this remarkable woman. Known as Vail's Alpine Treasure, the garden was founded in 1985 by the Vail Alpine Garden Foundation and renamed in honor of Betty three years later in 1988. This special place is located in Ford Park right next to the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater–named in honor of her husband, the 38th president of the United States. Over the years, the Betty Ford Alpine Garden has evolved to comprise four distinct sections; Mountain Perennial Garden (1989), Mountain Meditation Garden (1991), Alpine Rock Garden (1999), & the Children's Garden (2002.) Today, over 3,000 species of high-altitude plants play host to children's programs, horticultural therapy activities, and numerous partnerships and conservation initiatives. In 1991, Betty said, When I was a little girl, I spent many cherished hours with my mother in her garden. She wisely marked off an area for my very own plants. As we worked together, she nurtured me as she nurtured my love of gardening. This nurturing mother-daughter relationship, with its love growing strong in a garden, has been passed along to my daughter, Susan, and her two girls.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Immersion by Nola Anderson  This book came out on April 13, 2021 - (so we're almost at the year anniversary) - and the subtitle is Living and Learning in an Olmsted Garden. This book came about because Nola Anderson and her husband purchased a property called The Chimneys in 1991. The Chimneys was an old estate, and  Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. designed the gardens for the original owners. Sadly, the property had fallen into ruin by the time Nola and her husband got ahold of it. The Chimneys story reminds me so much of Sissinghurst. I love when people revive old spaces like this. One of the things that I appreciate about Nola is her courage and curiosity. When Nola walked onto The Chimneys property, she had not a lick of garden experience, which always reminds me of the saying, "Ignorance is bliss." Perhaps if Nola had been a gardener, she might've looked at the property and felt daunted by the task of restoration. But instead, Nola and her husband committed to renewing this incredible seaside garden. After three decades of hard work and research, The Chimneys was a sight to behold.  Originally, The Chimneys was created at the turn of the century, between 1902 and 1914. The Chimneys was home to a wealthy Boston finance guy named Gardiner Martin Lane and his wife, Emma. They hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to create an Italianate garden for them. The seaside garden is perched on a bluff and comprises a series of garden terraces that gradually taper down with the natural topography. The very top terrace is called the water terrace and features a rose-covered pergola and a shelter that boasts a stunning view of the terraces below and the ocean. Then there is the most incredible water feature (on the book cover), inspired by a 16th-century country estate in Italy called Villa Lante. In the Facebook group for the show, I shared a video of Monte Don walking through the incredible garden at Villa Lante. Monte says that this garden, Villa Lante, is the prime example of an Italianate Garden and the inspiration for Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. when working for the Lane family. The other terraces at The Chimneys are also stunning. They include the overlook terrace, the lavender terrace, the all-white tea terrace, the vegetable garden, the crab apple allee, and finally, the luxuriant rose garden.  So how lucky are Nola and her husband to stumble on The Chimney's estate and then bring it back to life? It really was the chance of a lifetime. And, don't you just love stories like this? The people who take on these forgotten gems - these gardens from our past - usher them through a transformation to reclaim their former glory. Before I forget, I wanted to mention that Clint Clemens is the photographer for this book, and he did a truly magnificent job. The photography is absolutely stunning. This book is 293 pages of The Chimneys - a garden on my bucket list.  You can get a copy of Immersion by Nola Anderson and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for about $50.   Botanic Spark 1955 Birth of Barbara Kingsolver (books by this author), American writer and poet. A daughter of Kentucky, Barbara graduated from DePauw University and the University of Arizona. She worked as a freelance writer before writing novels. Since 1993, her books have made the New York Times Best Seller list. The Poisonwood Bible (1998) brought critical acclaim and told the tale of a missionary family in the Congo - a place Barbara knew briefly as a child when her parents worked in public health in the Congo. In 2007 Barbara shared her family's quest to eat locally in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, where she wrote, Spring is made of solid, fourteen-karat gratitude, the reward for the long wait. Every religious tradition from the northern hemisphere honors some form of April hallelujah, for this is the season of exquisite redemption, a slam-bang return to joy after a season of cold second thoughts. She also mused, I have seen women looking at jewelry ads with a misty eye and one hand resting on the heart, and I only know what they’re feeling because that’s how I read the seed catalogs in January.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1727 Birth of Michel Adanson, French botanist and naturalist. He created the first natural classification of flowering plants. Although today we think mainly of Darwin and Linnaeus when it comes to classification, these two men and others stood on the shoulders of Michel Adanson. The great botanist Jussieu ("Juice You") adopted Michel's methodology to create his masterpiece called Genera Plantarum (1789). Michel was the first person to question the stability of species. When he saw breaks or deviations in nature, he came up with a word for it: mutation. Linnaeus honored Michel's contributions with the genus Adansonia, which features the spectacularly unique Baobab ("BOW-bab") trees of Africa, Australia, and Madagascar. The Baobab tree (books about this topic) has a Seussical quality, and it is one of the most massive trees in the world. They are called "The Queens of the Forest" or "The Roots of the Sky in Africa." The last name refers to a legend that tells how long ago, in a fit of anger, the devil pulled the Baobab tree out of the ground, only to shove it back into the earth upside down - leaving its roots shooting up into the air. The story offers the perfect description of how the trees look.  The enormous trunks of the Baobab tree can store up to 32,000 gallons of water. The outer bark is about 6 inches thick, but the cavity is spongy and vascular. This is why animals, like elephants, chew the bark during the dry seasons. Carbon dating indicates that Baobabs may live to be 3,000 years old.  And here's a fun fact: the cooking ingredient Cream of Tartar was initially made from Baobab seed pulp. Today, it is mainly sourced as a by-product of making wine.   1775 Birth of Francis Cabot Lowell (books about this person), American industrialist and anthropologist. The first planned company town - the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, is named in his honor. One of the fathers of the Industrial Revolution in America, Francis once wrote, One lifetime is never enough to accomplish one’s horticultural goals.  If a garden is a site for the imagination, how can we be very far from the beginning?   1869 Birth of David Fairchild (books about this person), American botanist. In terms of plant exploration, David was single-handedly responsible for introducing more than 200,000 plants to the United States, including pistachios, kale, mangoes, dates, nectarines, soybeans, and flowering cherries. In 2019, David's incredible adventures and contributions intrigued author Daniel Stone so much that he wrote a magnificent biography of David called The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats. David also brought the Avocado to America. David loved the Avocado and wrote, The avocado is a food without rival among the fruits, the veritable fruit of paradise.   In 1905, David married Mary Ann Bell; his father-in-law was none other than Alexander Graham Bell - who, along with his wife, also enjoyed gardening. Today the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables is filled with many of the plants David collected, and of course, the garden is named in David's honor. In The World Was My Garden: Travels Of A Plant Explorer (1938),  David  wrote, The human mind prefers something which it can recognize to something for which it has no name, and, whereas thousands of persons carry field glasses to bring horses, ships, or steeples close to them, only a few carry even the simplest pocket microscope. Yet a small microscope will reveal wonders a thousand times more thrilling than anything which Alice saw behind the looking-glass.   1940 Birth of Steven Vogel, American biomechanics researcher and the James B. Duke professor in the Department of Biology at Duke University. In The Life of a Leaf (2012), Steven wrote, I’m not even much of a gardener—my contribution to the family garden consists mainly of compost.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Fine Art of Paper Flowers by Tiffanie Turner This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is A Guide to Making Beautiful and Lifelike Botanicals. When it comes to making permanent arrangements and using elements like paper flowers, there is no better teacher than Tiffany Turner. By the way, this book has the most beautiful cover. Tiffany is a bit of a polymath - she's multitalented. She's licensed as a California architect. She's a fine art instructor and an artist in her own right. Her work has been featured all over the country. Tiffany typically explores nature in her work, and she creates botanical specimens that can be staggeringly large or very, very, very tiny. Now, Tiffany was raised in the woods of New Hampshire. But, for the past twenty years, she's made San Francisco her home, and that's where she and her husband are raising their two children. There's no doubt her children have delighted in their mother's beautiful, beautiful work. There's something about Tiffany's work that reminds me a bit of Mary Delany - the famous crate paper artist from the 1700s. I think Mary would really delight in what Tiffany can do with paper, and I especially love what Publishers Weeklysaid about Tiffany's book. They wrote, Under the mantra 'You must make what you see, not what you think you see,' this book guides artisans to astonishing results.   Tiffany walks you through how to make these awe-inspiring creations, but the most crucial element is how to start — how to approach each floral subject — whether you're talking about a poppy or a rose, or a peony. Each flower has a little bit of a different approach. Tiffany's book is a fantastic resource because it's an in-depth instructional guide where Tiffany leaves nothing to chance and lays it all out on the table. So even if you are a complete novice in crafts and working with an element like crate paper, you will quickly be put at ease by all of Tiffany's encouragement and simple, straightforward instructions. Now, one of the ways I love to use this book is whenever my daughter says that she and her friends want to do something - they're bored, but they have no idea what to do. Crate paper flowers are enjoyable to do with a small group of friends. They're not very messy. You can start and stop the project at any time. And generally, by the time the gathering is over, people are leaving with flowers in their hands - and that's what you want. You don't want an overwhelming project that can't be finished in a sitting. So I love this book. This is one of my go-to resources for botanical crafting. This book has been out for five years, and it's still one of the very, very best resources for paper flowers. This book is 264 pages of paper, crafting gift decorating, flower arranging, and more from your trusty guide: Tiffany Turner. You can get a copy of The Fine Art of Paper Flowers by Tiffanie Turner and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $15. So fun.   Botanic Spark 2020 On this day, Female First shared an article about Dame Helen Mirren (books about this person), English actor. Speaking to Yours magazine, she shared: I love to spend time in my garden. If I have a few free hours I love to dig around in the dirt. It's so calming, worthwhile and a really good way of keeping those dark dragons away which I do have at times.  Gardens and green spaces are vital for people and the planet. ...They should teach it in schools. ...Gardening is learning, learning, learning. That's part of the fun of it. You are always learning." It comes after the 74-year-old actress revealed she is a pomegranate farmer and harvests the fruits at her farm in Salento, Italy. She explained: Apart from acting, my other job is that of a pomegranate farmer.  My husband I have planted over 400 pomegranate trees and we're producing juice for the market. The juice is delicious.  Our little company is still in the early stages but we want to sell our juice in Italy and abroad. ...The first time I saw the full moon rising from the sea and shining on my pomegranates, I burst into tears.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1528 Today is the anniversary of the death of the German painter, engraver, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer (books about this person). Albrecht's work was extraordinary, and by the time he was in his 20s, he was already quite famous. During Albrecht's lifetime, explorers shifted their focus from medicinal plants to ornamental plants. As an artist, Albrecht captured many new exotic plants with incredible attention to detail. If you're looking for bunny art, you should check out Albrecht Dürer's watercolor called Young Hare. It's a beautiful piece, remarkable for its accuracy and realism. One of Albrecht's most famous pieces is The Great Piece of Turf (German: Das große Rasenstück), which he created in 1503. This exceptional watercolor shows a very natural grouping of natural plants together in community and features grass that has gone to seed, plantain, and dandelion.   1732 Birth of José Celestino Mutis (books about this person), Spanish priest, botanist, and mathematician. He's remembered as the architect of the Royal Botanical Expedition of the Kingdom of Granada (what is now Columbia) in 1783. For almost 50 years, José worked to collect and illustrate the plants in Colombian lands. In Columbia, José created an impressive botanical library and a herbarium with over 24,000 species. During his lifetime, only Joseph Banks had a bigger herbarium than José.  José's study of the Cinchona tree (Cinchona officinalis) at the Bogota Botanical Garden helped develop a cure for yellow fever or malaria. The Cinchona tree grows in the cloud forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The bark of the cinchona tree contains quinine, the chemical used to create medicines. During José's lifetime, Cinchona was believed to have the potential to cure all diseases, and so the Spanish crown encouraged José to continue his work with Cinchona. José sent thousands of specimens back to the Madrid Botanical Garden. He also used local artisans to create over 6,500 pieces of botanical art. The majority of the collection remained in shipping crates until 2010 when they were finally exhibited at Kew. Today, thousands of pieces of the Mutis collection are housed at the Botanical Garden in Madrid, Spain. The pieces are significant - mostly folio size - and since they haven't seen much daylight over the past two centuries, they are in immaculate condition. The old 200 pesos banknote in Colombia bears the portrait of José Mutis, and the Bogota Botanical Garden is named in his honor.   1759 Death of Johann Zinn, German anatomist and botanist. He died young from tuberculosis at 32. Johann accomplished much in his short life, and he focused on two seemingly disconnected areas of science: human anatomy and botany. From an anatomy standpoint, Johann focused on the eye. He wrote an eye anatomy book and became the first person to describe the Iris. Today, several parts of the eye are named in Johann's honor, including the Zinn zonule, the Zinn membrane, and the Zinn artery. As a young man, Johann was appointed the University Botanic Garden director in Göttingen (pronounced "Gert-ing-en"). He initially thought the University wanted him to teach anatomy, but that job was filled, so he took the botany job instead. One day, Johann received an envelope of seeds from the German Ambassador to Mexico. After growing the plants, Johann wrote about them, drew the blossoms, and shared the seed with other botanists throughout Europe. Those seeds were the Zinnia (click here to order Zinnia seeds).  When Johann died so young, Linnaeus named the Zinnia in his honor. The Aztecs had a word for Zinnia, which basically translates to "the evil eye" or "eyesore." The original Zinnia was a weedy-looking plant with a dull purple blossom. This is why the Zinnia was initially called the crassina, which means "somewhat corse." Once the French began hybridizing Zinnias, the dazzling colors began turning the heads and hearts of gardeners. This gradual transformation of zinnias from eyesores to beauties is how Zinnias earned the common name Cinderella Flower. Zinnia's are a favorite flower of gardeners, and it is Indiana's state flower. In addition to their striking colors, zinnias can be directly sown into the garden, they attract pollinators like butterflies, and they couldn't be easier to grow.   2021 On this day, The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly by Kate Lebo was released.  In her book, Kate Lebo - essayist, poet, and pie lady - shares a natural, culinary, medical, and personal history of twenty-six fruits, including:

• Aronia or chokeberry - a member of the apple family and it is not poisonous. Like raspberries, the Aronia pigment stains clothes.
• Durian - fruit from the tree of the hibiscus, or mallow, family. The unique rind contains a sweet freet. But the durian is very pungent - the odor subtly shifts between sweet and stringent on a spectrum from peaches to garlic.
• Medlar - a very squishy and very sweet fruit. It tastes similar to an over-ripe date, toffee apples, or apple butter. Medlar is beloved by gardeners for its flowers.
• Quince - has a bright fragrance of pear, apple, and citrus. Once cooked, quince softens and the flesh transforms from white to pink.

Kate's book includes one essay along with recipes for each fruit. The fruits that Kate profiles are notoriously challenging. They might be difficult to grow or harvest. The window of ripeness might be very brief. The fruit may have a toxic aspect. Or, it may be invasive and not suitable for the garden. But in Kate's book, these fruits make the cut, and she shares all kinds of insights and culinary uses for these fruits. Kate reveals all kinds of tips, including why Willa Cather included the pits in her plum jam. Great book. The Book of Difficult Fruit was named a Best Book of the Year by The Atlantic, New York Magazine, and NPR.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Private Gardens of South Florida by Jack Staub By the way, I should mention that Rob Cardillo took the fantastic photographs in this book. This book is a treat, and I am thrilled to share it with you on today's show. It's been out for about six years, which means that this book's used prices have gone down. This was a $50 book when it came out, but you can now get copies for about $12, which is such a deal. In this book, twenty-two private gardens from South Florida are featured. And if you love tropical gardens, you've got to get this book because it's the only way you'll see some of these secret gardens and grounds that are so unbelievably designed. For instance, you'll meet a painter-turned-horticulturist who transformed her garden into a mysterious forestlike escape. There's a couple that created their garden after being inspired by the Near East, so their garden is something that you might see in a Persian Royal Garden. And of course, all the gardens are set in Florida, so you're going to see all kinds of pools, fountains, ocean views, and just incredible vistas - not to mention avenues of palms. (That's something I love because clearly, we will never have that here in Minnesota.) The palms add such a stately majestic aspect to tropical gardens. Now, of course, Jack himself gardens on Hortulus Farm in Pennsylvania. His main concern was finding diverse gardens to feature in his book. Jack really wanted to show the full spectrum of private gardens - everything from a grand estate to tiny, hidden oases. Jack also wanted to find gardens that had owners that were very invested in them, that actually cared about them, and had a significant relationship with their gardens. And I think to me, that makes all the difference in the way these gardens are portrayed because you can tell that these gardens are loved. One other thing I want to mention about Jack Staub and his writing is that he is such a compelling writer. Jack, himself is passionate about gardens, which comes through in how he writes about gardens. For instance. One garden is introduced by Jack this way: There is something very Hansel and Gretel about this garden as it reveals itself so slowly and circuitously. One is nearly sufficiently disoriented to strew a trail of crumbs behind one so that one is guaranteed away out of the forest. People just don't write like that about gardens - and so I appreciate that about Jack and his writing. And while you might be sitting there going, why would I get a book about the gardens of South Florida? Well, I would say stretch yourself. This book may show you gardens that are out of your growing zone - that are a little foreign -but you will learn a ton about composition, design, and how to look at gardens through the wise eyes of Jack. And that, my friends, is very much worth investigating. This book is 256 pages of enchanting properties that will inspire you not only to partner with nature and design in new ways but also to create your little slice of paradise right in your backyard. You can get a copy of Private Gardens of South Florida by Jack Staub and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $12.   Botanic Spark 1809 Birth of Alfred Lord Tennyson (books by this author), English poet. During most of Queen Victoria's reign, he was England's Poet Laureate. Today, you can take a tour of Tennyson's walled garden on the Isle of Wight. Both his home and the garden have been restored to their former glory, and the property gets top ratings on TripAdvisor. Tennyson loved his "careless-ordered" garden. In 1863, he wrote, I hope no one will pluck my wild Irises which I planted. ...if they want flowers there is the kitchen garden — nor break my new laurels, etc. whose growth I have been watched... I don't like children croquetting on that lawn. I have a personal interest in every leaf about it. And here's Tennyson's most quoted sentiment is a favorite among gardeners: If I had a flower for every time I thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1898 On this day, The Lilies of the Valley Fabergé egg (books about this topic)was presented to the Russian Tsar Nicholas II. The egg was a gift for his wife, Empress Alexandra. Today the egg is kept in the Fabergé Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Lily of the valley, Convallaria majalis ("con-vah-LAIR-ee-ah mah-JAY-liss), is a woodland plant that flowers in the spring with sweetly scented, delicate, bell-shaped white flowers. Despite its common name, Lily of the valley is in the asparagus family - not the lily family. It's not a lily at all. The etymology of the Latin name "majalis" means "belonging to May," In addition to blooming in May, the Lily of the Valley is the birth flower for May. In France, Lily of the Valley Day is celebrated every May 1st. In floriography, the Lily of the Valley represents good luck. The tiny blossoms are favorite for making perfume. Lily of the Valley is a favorite bridal flower and was included in the wedding bouquets of Queen Victoria, Princess Astrid of Sweden, Grace Kelly, and Kate Middleton. Lily of the Valley thrives in cool growing zones - it cannot thrive in hot conditions.   1908 Birth of Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (books about this person), American actress. Her career spanned over five decades. She often played tough, unsympathetic characters. As Margo Channing in All About Eve (1950), she said, Remind me to tell you about the time I looked into the heart of an artichoke.   1913 Birth of Anne Scott-James (books by this author), English author and pioneering journalist. In 1934, Anne started out as a secretary at Vogue before rising through the ranks to become the Beauty Editor. After a brilliant career in journalism - including stints at Harper's Bazaar and the Daily Mail - Anne became a garden writer. Her books included The Best Plants For Your Garden, The Pleasure Garden, Down to Earth, and Sissinghurst: The Making of a Garden. Regarding Sissinghurst, Anne wrote, Sissinghurst is the last cottage garden made on a grand scale, but fortunately, it does not mark the end of cottage gardening. Both of Anne's children followed in her footsteps and ended up in journalism. Anne's daughter Clare Hastings also became a garden writer, and she is the author of Gardening Notes from a Late Bloomer. She also wrote a memoir of her mother released in 2020 called Hold the Front Page!: The Wit and Wisdom of Anne Scott-James. It was Anne Scott-James who wrote, However small your garden, you must provide for two of the serious gardener's necessities, a tool shed, and a compost heap. and To pick a flower is so much more satisfying than just observing it or photographing it ... So in later years, I have grown in my garden as many flowers as possible for children to pick.   2011 Death of Kim McDodge, American garden founder and artist. In 1993, Kim used her inheritance to buy two parcels of land in the Sabin neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, near NE Fremont and 11th, called Ariadne Garden. Two years later, she donated the 100 x 100-foot plot to the Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust (OSALT). The Ariadne Garden became a volunteer-staffed, organic, urban farm selling blooms like peonies, roses, yarrow, lilies, gladiola, zinnias, and a diverse array of produce. Kim designed the Hopi mother and child maze at Ariadne. It is a nod to the lore of Ariadne herself. In Greek mythology, Ariadne (books about this topic) was a Cretan princess. She is remembered for helping Theseus escape the labyrinth after slaying the Minotaur with the help of a golden thread. Ariadne then became the wife of Dionysus. In Jhan Hochman's beautiful tribute to Kim, he wrote, Before the mortal Ariadne more famously enabled Theseus to kill the minotaur and escape the labyrinth, she was a Minoan vegetation goddess celebrated by rituals reflecting the death and revival of the vegetation she personified. Kim elegantly fused these two Ariadne’s in her garden-labyrinth, becoming remarkably Ariadne-like herself by showing the rest of us at least one way to kill the minotaur of corporate agriculture, thread our way out of the labyrinth of supermarket aisles, and find our way back to the mazing paths of an organic garden.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Get Growing by Holly Farrell This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is A Family Guide to Gardening Inside and Out. I should mention that this book is by the RHS, and it is really fantastic as per usual for the RHS. The goal here with this book was to put fun into gardening with this excellent family guide to help you make gardening a family affair. Now, you know, it's hard to beat RHS books because they're so well put together, and of course, they're grounded in science — the latest science — so that's always a plus.  One of the reasons why you might want to consider getting this book is if you're working with students in your garden because this book is full of ideas and projects. Sometimes when you're thinking about working with kids, you just need some new ideas or some different activities that you can put together to keep them engaged and keep them learning and growing and excited about working in the garden. This book would be perfect for that. This book is also is excellent for families with young kids. It is really all about trying to inspire young people, getting them growing. Thus the title. Now there are all kinds of fun experiments in this book — things like working with rain, tracking rain, tracking shadows (something I had not read about before. I loved that idea.), and another fantastic idea is having kids make their own wormery. This is a little worm farm that they can put together in a jar very quickly, and it'll provide lots of entertainment and really teach them about what worms do and how they're so vital to soil health. Now I also had to chuckle just a little bit because they feature one of my favorite activities that I've always done with kids, and that is making pesto together. I did this with my kids early on when they were in elementary school. I taught them how to use the food processor and cut garlic. To this day, they still love making pesto, and they associate that smell with being in the garden with me and cooking during the summer - and all season long - which is just such a joy. I'm so glad that I did that. In any case, this book is loaded with lots of great ideas. It's step-by-step. It is impeccably illustrated. It is smart- and it's just an excellent current resource. Holly Farrell, I just want to mention, also put together a book in 2013 called Planting Plans For Your Kitchen Garden: How to Create a Vegetable, Herb, and Fruit Garden in Easy Stages. She also did a really good book in 2015, called Plants from Pits - and that was a book that she did for the RHS. So anyway, Holly is an experienced author, a great gardener, and passionate about getting kids excited about gardening. This book is 176 pages of ideas and inspiration and projects and experiments and so forth - all about the garden and all about getting kids involved in gardening - to get growing. You can get a copy of Get Growing by Holly Farrell and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $2.   Botanic Spark 1933 Birth of Barbara Holland, American author. She grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. She was witty and a bit of a rebel, defending vices like cursing, drinking, eating fatty food, and smoking cigarettes. Barbara once quipped, One's own flowers and some of one's own vegetables make acceptable, free, self-congratulatory gifts when visiting friends, though giving zucchini - or leaving it on the doorstep, ringing the bell, and running - is a social faux pas. In Endangered Pleasures, Barbara wrote, Poets and songwriters speak highly of spring as one of the great joys of life in the temperate zone, but in the real world, most of spring is disappointing.  We looked forward to it too long, and the spring we had in mind in February was warmer and dryer than the actual spring when it finally arrives.  We'd expected it to be a whole season, like winter, instead of a handful of separate moments and single afternoons.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1802 Birth of Dorothea Lynde Dix, Boston activist, writer, and schoolteacher.  As a young woman, she visited England and met the philanthropist and mental-health reformer Samuel Tuke, the director of the York Retreat. There, the patients tended the flower and vegetable gardens surrounding the buildings. Samual called his methods "moral treatment," His work inspired Dorothea to pursue new ways of treating mental illness back home in America. Dorothea championed the causes of the marginalized, incredibly the mentally ill. She successfully lobbied for the creation of mental asylums. Despite today's negative connotations, the word asylum was initially intended to be a place of safety and refuge. Dorothea's asylums were a complete departure from the punitive madhouses that had come before. Today, the Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh stands on the site of North Carolina's first mental health facility, Dorothea Dix Hospital, which existed for 160 years. Before that, the land was part of the Spring Hill Plantation, which was worked by hundreds of enslaved people for 150 years. Dorothea Dix Park is known for daffodils in spring and a field of sunflowers at the end of July. Dorothea Dix often included flower petals in letters to her friends. In 1829, she wrote a book of Floriography ("FLOOR-EE-ah-grah-FEE") or the language of flowers called The Garland of Flora. Dorothea wrote, The rose is the flower and handmaiden of love – the lily, her fair associate, is the emblem of beauty and purity.    1928 Birth of Maya Angelou (books by this author), American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. Maya once wrote, On late evenings when quiet inhabits my garden when grass sleeps and streets are only paths for silent mist I seem to remember Smiling.   1929 Birth of James A. Duke (books about this person), American botanist and writer. He's remembered for his Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and the best-selling book The Green Pharmacy (1997). He developed Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases at the USDA.  James once quipped regarding dandelions: If you can't beat them, eat them.   1944 On this day, English and American bombs hit the Botanical Garden in Bucharest. The garden's herbarium lost 500,000 sheets of specimens - roughly two-thirds of their collection. The origins of the garden date back to 1874. The garden found a champion in a 28-year-old Romanian botanist and naturalist named Dimitrie Brandza. Today the garden is named in his honor. Dimitri came to Bucharest to be a professor at the Department of Natural Science at the University of Bucharest. He created the botany department at the Natural Science Museum, only to see his entire plant collection destroyed by a fire two years later in 1884. But the fire ignited a new passion for Dimitri, which was the creation of the botanical garden, which opened in 1891. The garden's 42 acres are home to a museum, a greenhouse, formal gardens, wild spaces, lakes, ponds, and research buildings. The garden is a living part of the biology department at the University of Bucharest.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Graphic Garden by Keith Williams This very, very green-covered book came out in May of 2020, and it's the first monograph from landscape architect Keith Williams. This book features all of Keith's projects to date. Now Keith is one of the country's leading landscape architects. Keith is a partner, along with Mario Nievera, in their design firm called Nievera Williams Design, a genuinely groundbreaking landscape architecture firm Is based in South Florida. Together, Mario and Keith have been designing fantastic outdoor spaces for over two decades. One of the wonderful things about this particular book is that Keith shares with us the transformations and pictures of his gardens, showcasing his work process from the beginning of the project all the way through to the end. In this way, you can see how he looks at spaces and incorporates different elements into these monumental design projects. And there's a reason he calls it the Graphic Garden, and that's because it's so visual. Keith is very generously sharing everything— all the pictures, all of the drawings, and the details regarding his approach to designing gardens. So if you are a garden designer, this book is a must because you will learn from a true expert in garden design. Now I have to say that when I first got this book, I was so blown away. It was way more than I anticipated. The level of detail is fantastic. You will learn about layering in gardens and how each layer contributes to the garden's overall design. And the other thing that I want to mention quickly is that I shared a great video of Keith and his partner, Mario, in a video with Steele Marcoux of Veranda, and they're talking about garden design, their unique perspectives, and their approach to it, which is just so fascinating. I learned a ton of little tips and views on garden design just from watching that particular video. So that's in the Facebook group for the show. But this book is a little gem — and since it's new and there weren't that many of them published — it is an investment, but it is so worth it. This book is 216 pages of the best of Keith Williams and his work in gardens. You can get a copy of The Graphic Garden by Keith Williams and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $70.   Botanic Spark 1938 On this day, the Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol, wrote in his diary: For a few minutes this morning I fumbled around my Wild Flower garden...  Little points which will soon be Bloodroots.  Cautious little down covered stems and buds that will later become Hepaticas.  Narrow leaves the forerunners of spring beauty.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1755 Birth of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (books by this author), French lawyer and politician. He became a famous epicure and gastronome. In The Physiology of Taste, He wrote, A man who was fond of wine was offered some grapes at dessert after dinner.  'Much obliged', said he, pushing the plate aside; 'I am not accustomed to taking my wine in pills.   1803 Birth of Miles Joseph Berkeley, English cryptogamist and clergyman. Miles is regarded as a founder of plant pathology. As a young man, Miles became passionate about lichens, and he became a recognized expert in his lifetime. Miles pursued his botanical work around his duties as a pastor. He coined the term "mycologist" to describe his work with nature. Today Websters defines a mycologist as someone who works with fungi ("fun-guy"), living organisms such as molds, yeast, and mushrooms.  And while many of his fellow clergymen believed the potato famine to be a tool of the devil, Miles correctly suspected that a water mold, Phytophthora infestans, could be the source of the problem. Miles named a mushroom species Agaricus ruthae ("Ah-GARE-uh-kus Ruth-ee") after his daughter Ruth. Ruth Ellen Berkeley became a successful botanical illustrator.   1838 Birth of George Edward Post, American physician and scholar. He was a missionary, professor, and pioneering doctor in Syria, Beirut, and Lebanon. In his spare time, he botanized the countryside and wrote the first English Flora of the Middle East. George is remembered for his extensive herbarium. His students helped with his collecting efforts. George would assign two hundred herbarium sheets per student and reward those who traveled the furthest to obtain specimens. There are many incredible stories about George Post. Supposedly, he could outwork most men and fall asleep very quickly. George Post lore tells how George could also collect specimens without getting off his horse. George got good at leaning down low on the side of his saddle to grab a specimen for his study. Finally, as George lay dying, a visitor placed some wheat in his hand. The wheat was symbolic of the harvest and George's lifetime of work with plants.   1868 Birth of Edmond Rostand (books by this author), the very dapper-looking French poet and dramatist. Edmond built a villa called Arnaga in Cambo less Bains, France. The beautiful gardens cover 37 acres. Edmond planned the French garden on the east side to greet the rising sun and an English garden on the west side to enjoy the setting sun. Edmond called Arnaga "a poem of stone and greenery," and it is often referred to as the "Little Versaille" in the Basque country. Today the villa and the gardens get five-star reviews on Trip Advisor. Edmond is best known for his 1897 play Cyrano de Bergerac. In the play, Edmond wrote this garden-inspired verse, My soul, be satisfied with flowers, With fruit, with weeds even; but gather them In the one garden you may call your own.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Patina Farm by Brooke and Steve Giannetti This book came out in March of 2016 - so it's been out for six years already. This book has been on my watch list for quite some time, and use copies have finally dipped below $20, so I am thrilled to share this with you on today's show. Let me just start by saying that the cover of Patina Farm is so stunning. It's one of my favorite covers, and when I saw the cover for the first time, I could not stop thinking about it. I love the use of dried flowers and the styling on the cover. I love the cutting boards displayed over the mantle, the beautiful teal slip-covered chairs, and the natural elements that make this gorgeous cover. And then, of course, there is the incredibly inspiring story of Steve and his wife, Brooke, because they decided to leave suburbia - they were living in Santa Monica - and then they built a new life for themselves on a farm. But first, they went to Europe to find their inspiration for their farm - visiting Belgium and France - and then combined their talents to create Patina Farm, sharing what they did in this book. Now Steve is the architect. He puts together all the architectural drawings, which you can see in the book. And then Brooke is the writer. She's a beautiful writer and took over 200 photographs shared in this book. And don't I love the name of their farm: Patina Farm. The book is dedicated to their children, Charlie, Nick, and Lyla, and in the dedication, they said that their kids give their dreams meaning, which is so touching. The other thing I like about this book is how they share their journey in the titles of each chapter. So there's arriving, connecting, nourishing, creating, restoring, rejuvenating, sharing, and then farming - and then they give abundant resources at the end, too. If there's something that you're particularly inspired by, you can track down the resources that they used. Patina Farm is a total eye candy book. If you're a gardener, You're going to swoon at this book. It's gorgeous. And like I said, it's one of my favorite books. It's got all of the things that I love - beautiful elements, both natural and manmade - and it all comes together to create tranquil, inspiring Patina Farm (Which has not one but two courtyards. Isn't that a dream come true?!) The other thing that you're going to enjoy by getting this book is that you will quickly realize how down-to-earth Steve and Brooke are, even though they've created this incredible jaw-dropping space. These guys are salt of the earth kind of people, and they're just so generous and sharing how they came up with the plans and the ideas behind this space. I also want just to take a quick second and share a bit of what Clinton Smith said about this book. He is the editor-in-chief of Veranda, and he wrote the forward. He wrote. On five acres in the heart of the Ohai Valley in California Is a place that has emerged over the past three years as the best case study of confident design married with passion and purpose. It's not as over the top or attention-seeking as some homes. In fact, it excels in understatement. Hidden from street view by a bank of white roses, the house and landscape — treated as one — fosters respect for nature, for space, for light and air, and everyday moments.  When you're at Patina Farm, you feel it through the waft of lavender in the backyard, the sound of crunching pea gravel underfoot on the back terrace. Bowls of freshly cut lemons on the kitchen island, the jolly nature of miniature donkeys, and silky Bantam chickens that have the run of the place. And while the owners didn't set out to create a Biltmore or Monticello (and why would they?), There are indeed similarities.  I could go on and on gushing about this book, But I trust that you get the drift. This book is 176 pages  (But I sure wish there were 500 pages, to be honest) of Patina Farm because I can't get enough of it. You can get a copy of Patina Farm by Brooke and Steve Giannetti and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $18.   Botanic Spark In 2013, nine graduation speeches by Kurt Vonnegut (books by this author) were collected and published posthumously in a book called, If This Isn't Nice, What Is?: Advice for the Young.  In one speech, Kurt gave his unique take on the seasons. One sort of optional thing you might do is to realize there are six seasons instead of four.  The poetry of four seasons is all wrong for this part of the planet, and this may explain why we are so depressed so much of the time.  I mean, Spring doesn’t feel like Spring a lot of the time, and November is all wrong for Fall and so on. Here is the truth about the seasons: Spring is May and June!  What could be springier than May and June?  Summer is July and August. Really hot, right?  Autumn is September and October. See the pumpkins? Smell those burning leaves.  Next comes the season called “Locking.” That is when Nature shuts everything down.  November and December aren’t Winter. They’re Locking.  Next comes Winter, January and February. Boy! Are they ever cold!  What comes next? Not Spring.  Unlocking comes next. What else could April be?   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1621 Birth of Andrew Marvell, English poet and politician. He was a friend of John Milton. In addition to writing The Garden - one of the most famous English poems of the seventeenth century - he wrote this little garden verse: I have a garden of my own But so with Roses overgrown And Lilies, that you would it guess To be a little wilderness.   1824 Birth of Dietrich Brandis, German forester and botanist. He's remembered as the Father of Forestry in India, the Father of Modern Forest Management, and the Father of Tropical Forestry. Concerned about the unregulated destruction of the forests in India, the British wanted people in India to help manage and protect the trees. In 1856, Dietrich left his botany professorship in Bonn (where his father had been a professor) for a civil service position managing the teak forests in Burma. Eight years later, Dietrich was in charge of all the forests in India. In Carl Alwin Schenck's Birth of Forestry in America, there's a fascinating story about how Deitrich inventoried the Teak trees in the forest. [He rode] an elephant, on such trails as there were, with four sticks in his left hand and a pocketknife in his right. Whenever he saw in the bamboo thickets a teak tree within two hundred feet of his trail, he cut a notch in stick number 1, 2, 3, or 4, denoting the diameter of the tree. It was impossible for European hands, dripping with moisture, to carry a notebook. At the end of the day, after traveling some twenty miles, Brandis had collected forest stand data for a sample plot four hundred feet wide and twenty miles long, containing some nineteen hundred acres. He continued his cruise for a number of months, sick with malaria in a hellish climate. Moreover, he underwent a trepanning operation (brian surgery), and for the rest of his life, he carried a small hole filled with white cotton in the front of his skull. But he emerged from the cruise with the knowledge needed for his great enterprise. Dietrich established modern "sustainable" agroforestry principles that are still followed today. For two decades, Dietrich measured, itemized, and chronicled the forests of India. He started forest management schools and created training protocols for his employees. In 1878, Deitrich founded the Forest Research Institute in the Doon Valley in Dehradun. Styled in Greco Roman architecture, the building is beautiful and is the largest purely brick structure in the world. Sir Joseph Hooker recognized Deitrich's work and named the flowering-plant genus Brandisia in his honor.   1848 Birth of William Waldorf Astor, American-British attorney, politician, businessman (hotels and newspapers), and philanthropist. In 1891, a tall, shy William Waldorf Astor moved to Britain after declaring that "America is not a fit place for a gentleman to live." After over a decade living in England, William bought a run-down double-moated Hever Castle, which was Anne Boleyn's family home four hundred years earlier. Between 1904 and 1908, William oversaw the installation of the extensive gardens designed by Frank Pearson to surround the castle. William diverted water from a nearby river to make a 35-acre lake to make his vision a reality. It is said that eight hundred men hand-dug and stomped on the clay soil to make the bottom of the lake. Mature trees were harvested from Ashdown Forest and transplanted at Hever. Two mazes were installed. Topiary chessmen were pruned for the chess garden. Thousands of roses were brought in for the rose garden. But, the most impressive Garden at Hever was and is the Italian Garden, which features colonnades, classical sculptures, antiquities dating back to Roman times, and a loggia. There's also a long pergola on one end that features cool dripping fountains the entire length. Even today, it's staggering to think the whole project was completed in four short years.   1924 Birth of Leo Buscaglia, American author, motivational speaker, and professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Southern California. Leo believed education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness. Leo learned to Garden from his father, and he once wrote, To this day I cannot see a bright daffodil, a proud gladiola, or a smooth eggplant without thinking of Papa. Like his plants and trees, I grew up as a part of his garden. Leo was a self-help guru who preached love so much that he became known as "Dr. Love." He once wrote,  A single rose can be my garden; a single friend, my world. He also wrote, There are many miracles in the world to be celebrated and, for me, garlic is the most deserving.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Passions by Carolyne Roehm   This book came out in 2021 at the end of the year in December, and this is actually a collection of three books. All three books feature Carolyn's passions: flowers and gardens, feminine touch (which is all about how Carolyn loves to decorate), and furry friends, which of course, shares Carolyn's love of animals, especially her pups.  I have to say that I love the book sleeve for these books slip into because the artwork is reminiscent of Maria Sibylla Merian. Carolyn writes, I hope that this little trio of books about the joy that I found in flowers and gardening, feminine allure and feminine style and the love of furry friends delights and inspires you as it has me.  When I think about this book set, I think about it like a gift - a little book set to gift - so if you're looking for something special for yourself or a friend, this little set of books should be at the top of your list. The photography in all of these little books is absolutely stunning; it's all Carolyn Roehm. If you're a Carolyn Roehm fan, if you love her home in Connecticut or if you've watched any of her styling videos on YouTube, then you will immediately recognize the deeply saturated hues and the stunning compositions that she puts together with flowers and exquisite objects in her home. The balance of color, form, and architecture - all the incredible details that she pulls together - is just drop-dead gorgeous. This book is 240 pages of Carolyn Rome's passions - her favorite things - flowers and gardens, feminine allure and design,  and furry friends.  You can get a copy of Passions by Carolyne Roehm and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $34.   Botanic Spark 1962 On this day, a landscape worker hit a line connecting President Kennedy's White House to the Strategic Arms Command, the line vital to launching a nuclear attack. The project was led by Bunny Mellon, who was in charge of designing a new rose garden outside the President's office. Robert Kennedy once reflected on Bunny in the Garden, saying, Often during cabinet meetings, we would see her out there in the rose garden – a little figure with a bandana on her head.  One of Bunny's first tasks was to find a gardener to implement her designs. She selected a man named Irvin Williams, who was a government gardener at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. After Bunny brought him to the White House, he would stay on as the head gardener for almost fifty years. In early talks for the rose garden redesign, the Park Department voiced concerns about hitting underground lines. Bunny's plan called for large magnolia trees, which after some debate, were eventually ordered. But on this day, the underground line was cut during ground preparation. Bunny recalled that the problem was handled calmly and that she was never reprimanded. Bunny found the perfect magnolia trees for the White House over by the Tidal Basin overlooking the Jefferson Memorial. Once again, the Parks Department said "no" (due to costs). But Irvin Williams supported Bunny's idea, and he made arrangements to have the trees brought to the White House.  The roses included a yellow rose from the state of Texas called the Speaker Sam rose in honor of the late speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, a bright red variety from the World's Fair, a white rose name Frau Karl Druschki, and pink Doctor roses. Twenty-four days after the underground line was hit, the Garden, complete with magnolia trees and roses, was unveiled to the public. The updated rose garden was an instant success. The artist and friend of the Kennedys, William Walton, later wrote, [President Kennedy's] pleasure in that garden was infinite.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, Garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1568 Birth of Henry Wotton, English writer, diplomat, and politician. Henry celebrated our relationships with gardens and landscapes. He especially enjoyed gardens that made one think or offered a surprise. Henry served as an Ambassador to Venice, and during his time there, he fell in love with Italian gardens. Henry's concept of a "garden of surprise" was inspired by the gardens he saw in Italy. In his Elements of Architecture (1624), Henry discusses what it was like to walk through an Italian garden: I have seen a garden into which the first [entry point] was a high walk like a [terrace], from whence might be taken a general view of the whole plot below, but rather in a delightful confusion... From this the Beholder descending any steps, was afterwards conveyed again... to various entertainments of his [scent] and sight... every one of these diversities, was as if he had [been] magically transported to a new garden.   1844 Birth of Paul-Marie Verlaine, French poet.  He's remembered for his work with the Symbolist and Decadent movements. His poem, Clair de Lune, begins with the line, "Your soul is a sealed garden," and inspired Claude Debussy ("deh·byoo·see") to write his own 'Clair de lune, the work for which he is now most famous.  Paul once wrote, Here are fruits, flowers, leaves and branches, and here is my heart which beats only for you.   1853 Birth of Vincent van Gogh, Dutch post-impressionist painter.  After his death, he became a top-selling figure in the history of Western art. Bold colors and brushwork characterized his work. Vincent found inspiration in the natural world, and he once said,  If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere. Vincent was also a lover of flowers and gardens, and he also said, For one's health as you say, it is very necessary to work in the garden and see the flowers growing. At the end of his life, Van Gogh suffered from depression, an unsuccessful painting career, and poverty. He committed a slow and painful suicide at 37 by shooting himself in the chest.  He died two days later beside a stack of his sunflower canvases. He said his last words to his brother Theo, The sadness will last forever. The legacy of Van Gogh's 2,100 pieces of art was much brighter than he ever expected. In March of 1987, his painting titled Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers was sold by Sotheby's in London for $39.85 million, more than three times the highest price ever paid at the time for a painting at auction.   2003 On this day, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram shared an article called, What's in a name? Deciding the name of every plant could take decades and require a huge effort by Stephanie Simon. The article revealed that  the Missouri Botanical Garden is teaming up with botanists worldwide on a 10-year $100-million effort to standardize plant names. The article shared the forecast for finishing the project, saying the project’s leaders’ plans for... the database [is] “45 compiler years.” One note says “52 imager years.”  At the bottom there’s a final tally: They will need a staff of 32 for at least a decade just to compile and input the information.  That’s not counting the botanists who will do all the research Missouri scientists will be working in formal collaboration with the two other top botanical research centers in the world: the New York Botanical Garden and the Kew Botanical Gardens near London. Incredibly, the project was completed way ahead of schedule at the end of 2010. At the time, The Plant List included 1.25 million scientific plant names.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Writing Wild by Kathryn Aalto This book came out in the summer of 2020, and the subtitle is Women Poets, Ramblers, and Mavericks Who Shape How We See the Natural World. This is such a good book, and I've been waiting to recommend it on the show. Kathryn herself was inspired to write this book after stumbling on a book written with all-male voices. Kathryn wanted to find the female voices and add their perspective on the natural world. In all, there are about 75 women that are talked about in Kathryn's book. Now, the goal behind curating all of these pieces was to help us deepen our connection to and understanding of the natural world. Some of these writers are some of my old favorites, like Mary Oliver, Vita Sackville West, Mary Austin, Susan Fenimore Cooper. But then there are also new voices like Helen MacDonald, Andrea Wulf, Amy Liptrot, and Elizabeth Rush. There are 25 of these women whose works are shared in full in this book. I love what Kathryn wrote in the introduction. She says, Much of this book was researched and penned outside - mountain climbing, mudlarking, canoeing, beachcombing, gardening, hiking, and birdwatching. I retraced the footsteps of those who have passed on, some of whom wrote anonymously or were chastised for daring to venture off without male chaperones. I walked and talked with living authors. I read original 19th-century journals, letters, essays, and books. I held tangible personal objects. I searched the faces and old photographs. I listened to historians, archivists, and experts. I attended live author readings and listened to recordings. I passed through 200 years of women's history through nature writing. Remarkable. Compilation books like this are excellent because Kathryn has done the heavy lifting for us. She has sifted through all of this nature writing, and she has brought us the best of the best - an excellent sampling of women writing about nature over the past two centuries. I simply have to share two beautiful quotes that Kathryn includes at the top of the book. The first is from Willa Cather in her 1913 book O Pioneers! She wrote,  Isn't it queer: there are only two or three human stories and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes for over thousands of years.  And then there's this beautiful quote by Emily Dickinson in an 1885 letter that she wrote to Eugenia Hall. I hope you love Birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.  This book is chock full of great insights, quotes, and readings from women as marvelous as Willa Cather and Emily Dickinson. This book is 288 pages of women finding joy in nature and then writing about it and sharing it.  You can get a copy of Writing Wild by Kathryn Aalto and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $6.   Botanic Spark 1918 On this day, The Oregon Daily Journal out of Portland, Oregon, shared a front-page story with the headline, SLACKER IF HE PUTS BASEBALL STARTING TIME BACK ONE HOUR. President Pack of National War Garden Commission Severely Criticises [Baseball] Club Owner Who Plans to Add Extra Hour of Daylight That Could Be Used in Garden Work. Charles Lathrop-Pack was president of the national war garden commission and was against baseball teams who were planning to change the start time of their games to take advantage of the brand new daylight saving plan. Pack said, A move like this will take thousands of hours of time from gardens. It will doubtless mean many extra dollars in the box office, but it is certainly a violation of the spirit of the law. In other media, Charles reminded both leagues that,  [the] law was intended to increase the daylight usefulness in war work, and was not intended to give extra hours for recreation...  Slackers of the worst type is the brand placed upon baseball league owners or managers who plan to move down the scheduled time of starting games this Summer. But the historian Michael O'Malley noted in his book Keeping Watch (1996) that as president of the War Garden Commission, Charles Lathrop Pack was essentially the head of [a] lobbying organization for the makers of garden products—tools, seeds, fertilizers, canning, and preserving equipment... [and he] stood to gain dramatically from any increase in wartime gardening.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1779 Birth of William Baldwin, American physician, and botanist.  William is remembered as one of the first botanists to explore Georgia and Florida and parts of Latin America and the West Indies. William was brought on as the botanist for Stephen Long's 1819 expedition to find the headwaters of the Missouri River. Six months later, William Baldwin died at Franklin, Missouri, at the age of 40 and was buried on the banks of the Missouri River. Today we know about William mostly from his dear friend, the botanist William Darlington, who wrote his biography. The two men became close after William nursed Darlington back to health after an illness when the two were young men. Darlington reflected on William's death decades later when he wrote these words: His gentle spirit forsook its frail tenement, in a region far remote from his anxious family, - and the wildflowers of the West, for more than twenty years, have been blooming on his lonely grave: But the recollection of his virtues continues to be fondly cherished by every surviving friend, - and his ardor in the pursuit of his favorite Science will render his memory forever dear to the true lovers of American Botany. William Darlington learned from a colleague that floodwaters had washed away William Baldwin's grave the following year. Baldwin's milkwort (Polygala balduinii "puh-LIG-ah-lah bal-DEE-nee-eye") was named in honor of William Baldwin. Baldwin's milkwort is one of only a handful of white milkworts found in Florida.   1913 Birth of Ronald Stuart Thomas (published as R. S. Thomas), Welsh poet and Anglican priest. Here's an excerpt of his poem The Garden (1963). It is a gesture against the wild, The ungovernable sea of grass; A place to remember love in, To be lonely for a while;   1969 On this day, work was finished on a kimono-inspired garden in Japan called Yûrin no Niwa ("Yer-EEN no nee-wah") in Kyoto. The garden was initially designed to accompany the building for the Association of Kimono Manufacturers. The famous garden designer Mirei Shigemori ("Me-ray Shig-ah-mor-ee") designed the garden, which was celebrated in a ceremony the day after work was completed. But thirty years later, the area was redeveloped, and the building was set to be demolished. Iwamoto Toshio ("E-wah-mo-to To-see-oh") was a student of Shigemori's, and he decided to rescue the garden so that it could be relocated to a new home. When Shigemori's hometown built a new town hall, the garden found its new home. And so, over 80 truckloads of rock and stone were painstakingly brought to the new site, where they were reassembled to make the second incarnation of the Yûrin no Niwa garden. This second garden ended up being just a bit larger.  The garden features a shallow kimono-shaped pond, and the water brings out the colors of the red and blue stones that make the strips of the noshi bundle on the kimono. The garden's name was a blending of the two names - the name of the man who developed the silk-dying process for the kimonos and the name of the painter who inspired the kimono designs: Yûrin no Niwa.   2021 On this day, as Brits were enjoying the end of their COVID lockdown, Out and Out shared an article called, five things to do to get your garden ready for March 29th. The tips included: 1. Smarten up your lawn  There is something so appealing about a lush, vibrant green lawn, so make this your first job. Give your lawn a good raking to get rid of any fallen debris and shake over some grass seed if you notice any patchy areas. 2. Wash away winter ...get everything scrubbed up nicely – you don’t want to take the shine off your gathering with grubby surroundings. Give your patio and decking areas a good going over with a jet wash and blast away winter’s deposits. 3. Organize your seating Place garden dining furniture in a large enough area that there’s space to walk all the way around and for guests to comfortably get in and out. If you have a garden lounge set or garden sofas, lay them out so you can comfortably converse with guests while enjoying the satisfying garden views. 4. Spring planting If you didn’t get round to planting spring bulbs last year, you can always add instant colour by picking up some established plants at the garden centre. Shrubs such as Camellia, Japanese quince and Forsythia also look their best during the spring months. Pop some into borders and create container displays for the patio to give your garden an instant lift. 5.  Finishing touches For alfresco dining, set the table with colorful crockery and beakers which will take you through to BBQ season too. For sunny weather, invest in a parasol, and for cooler days and evenings patio heaters and some chunky throws will be very welcome additions.  Don’t forget solar lights either, to keep the conversation going after nightfall.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Homegrown Tea by Cassie Liversidge   This book came out in 2014, and the subtitle is An Illustrated Guide to Planting, Harvesting, and Blending Teas and Tisanes. I have been waiting to share this book with you.  Now, if you don't know what a Tisane is, it's an infusion: take dried or fresh herbs and infuse them into liquids, and then you have a beverage that you can drink just to enjoy or get some medicinal benefit from it. A sample Tisane might be made with Juniper berries or white peppercorns with grapefruit and orange peels. That's a great little drink. Juniper is outstanding and is a common ingredient in a Tisane. Now, one of the things that I want to say about Cassie's book right off the bat is that it's stunning. This is a St. Martin's Griffin book. There are so many beautiful photos. I love illustrated guides because they are so helpful. Sometimes, when you're exploring a new topic or venturing into a new area of gardening, you need lots of photos to find your way and serve as inspiration for you. Now Cassie is a huge tea fan, and she sees the garden through the lens of tea. When Cassie sees a garden, she sees a living tea cupboard because there are all kinds of plant materials that you can harvest to make your own teas and tisanes. As Cassie says in her introduction, Homegrown Tea is a gardening book for tea lovers. It explains how to grow a large variety of plants from which you can make your own teas and tisanes. your garden, your balcony, or even your window sill could become your tea cupboard. Now, one of the other things that I love about how Cassie approaches this is, she also shares some of the history of tea and how some of these ingredients have been used over the years. Her sample drinks include plants like rose hips, mint, sage hibiscus, and lavender and plants like chicory or angelica, apple geranium, and lemon verbena. One other thing that I want to tell you about Cassie is that she's a garden girl. She grew up in her parents' plant nursery, so she knows about plants - they're in her DNA. And that's why Cassie is so thoughtful and so knowledgeable about plants in the garden and how you can incorporate them into teas. And by the way, her debut book was called Grow Your Own Pasta Sauce, and that book is excellent as well. But if you are a tea lover, you've got to get this book. And if you have a friend that loves tea, this would make an excellent gift or even just a wonderful hostess gift. It would be great to give this book to a summer party hostess and a few teabags of your own concoctions.  This book is 288 pages of tea in all its glory and fresh from your garden. You can get a copy of Homegrown Tea by Cassie Liversidge and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $16.   Botanic Spark 1942 On this day, a twenty-six-year-old ethnobotanist named Richard Evans Schultes arrived at the Kofán village of El Conejo, where a shaman welcomed him.  Richard had just finished his Ph.D. at Harvard, and his mission was to find indigenous arrow poisons used in the Amazon rainforest. The goal was to see if the poisons could be used as muscle relaxants in surgical procedures. The trip set Richard down a path of meeting with shamans and discovering the plants they used medicinally and in their holy traditions. Richard gleaned so much on this trip. He learned about special leaves that were heated with smoke and then laid on the forehead to relieve headaches; orchid bulbs that were chewed for energy on long trips; shamrock leaves that were gargled for throat pain; pepper plant poultices applied to insect bites; the leaves of a white orchid that could be packed around a sore tooth or eaten mashed with sugar to heal a broken heart. The list goes on and on. Overall, Richard's trip was a success. It seemed charmed from the start. On his first day in Bogata, Richard discovered a new orchid. He pressed it in between the pages of his passport. It was later named Pacyphyllum schultesii in his honor. Richard later reflected on the opportunity and wrote, I had just earned my Ph.D. at Harvard, and I had been offered two jobs.  One was as a biology master at a private school in New England; the other was a ten-month grant... to go to the Amazon region to identify the plants employed in the many kinds of curare the Indians use for hunting.  I decided on the Amazon—which is fortunate because otherwise, I would probably still be a biology [teacher]!   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1895 Birth of Spencer Woolley Kimball, American business, civic, and religious leader. He was the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was also a gardener and wrote, Where you have a plot of land, however small, plant a garden.  Staying close to the soil is good for the soul. 1906 Birth of Jean Galbraith, Australian botanist, gardener, writer, and poet. Jean is remembered for her books on Australian botany including three editions of the seminal Wildflowers of Victoria (1950), Collins Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of Southeast Australia, and a children's book Grandma Honeypot (1964). Her charming book, Garden in a Valley (1939), became an instant garden classic when it was republished in 1985. Born in Tyers (a little town in Gippsland, Australia), Jean spent almost eighty years in her family home called Dunedin ("Do-NEE-din"). At Dunedin, Jean maintained an enormous garden, which became a draw for visitors from all over Australia and the world. The artist, Peter Cuffley, painted a fabulous representation of Dunedin. It's one of the most iconic garden art pieces of the past century.  Jean learned botany through letters she exchanged with the botanist Herbert B. Williamson during the 1920s. When Jean turned 21, Herbert sent her a microscope and it became one of her most treasured possessions. As a writer, Jean had a distinctive style and voice. Her writing was more akin to John Muir's than the stiff formal writing of her scientific peers. For 50 years she delighted the readers of the two magazines she regularly wrote for: The Garden Lover and the Victorian Naturalist.  As a person, Jean lived an incredibly simple life. She did not have a car, tv, or phone and wrote her books longhand. By all accounts, she was one of the kindest souls to have ever walked the earth. She wanted children to know and love nature. She was an advocate for plant preservation - especially wildflowers in their native habitats. Jean believed in the spiritual and healing aspects of gardening. She believed that the garden was a metaphor for life and for living.  In 1970, Jean was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion. Jean died in 1999, just before her 93rd birthday.  Jean once wrote that she knew the stories of every plant in her garden, There is no flower in the garden that has not its remembered history.  And Jean loved her garden, despite its faults. It is not a model garden, rarely, alas, is it even orderly.  (But) in spite of its failures and mistakes and imperfections,  its airs are sweet, its flowers love to bloom, and we are happy in it.    1928 On this day, Margarita Grace Phipps, wife of John S. Phipps (an heir to the Phipps family fortune), hosted the first meeting of The Garden Club of Palm Beach at her home, Casa Bendita. Fifteen women attended the event. Mrs. Frederick E. Guest is credited with having the original idea for the club Today Casa Bendita's remaining six-acre garden has evolved into Casa Phippsberger, the island’s most sensational private botanical garden. And, The Garden Club of Palm Beach continues to grow. One of the ways the club stays relevant is to have a member attend every single town meeting to make sure the club can take advantage of opportunities to help the community.   In 2010, the club installed a beautification and education garden at the Southern Oasis Traffic Circle. The garden features plants that thrive in the Palm Beach climate. That same year, the club installed xeriscape landscaping in eight Kaleidoscope Flower Beds on Royal Poinciana Way. In 2011, the club created a vertical garden on the Saks Fifth Avenue store. Called the Living Wall, the project has become an iconic element of the Worth Avenue Restoration Project. In 2021, the club created the four-acre Bradley Park Tidal Garden. When the club began work on a children’s playground in Bradley Park, members realized that frequent flooding from king tides needed to be addressed in the plans.  The solution was the creation of a tidal garden.  King tides are bigger than normal tides and they can cause an enormous amount of damage to the Landscapeape. The new tidal garden was designed by SMI Landscape Architecture LLC, to withstand king tides by incorporating sunken gardens with channels that send water back where it belongs. The majority of the garden is designed with native plants and natural elements like climbable cap-stone boulders. The next project will be the restoration of the Chinese Garden at The Society of The Four Arts where the demonstration gardens are maintained by the Palm Beach Garden Club. The seven demonstration gardens illustrate different themed garden spaces and include the Chinese Garden, the Fragrant Moonlight Garden, the Palm Garden, the Bromeliad Garden, the Jungle Garden, the Spanish Facade Garden, the Formal Garden, the Tropical Garden, and the Madonna Garden.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Aquascaping by George Farmer This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Simple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces. You can get a copy of Aquascaping by George Farmer and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes.   Botanic Spark 1961 On this day, the American poet Sylvia Plath wrote a poem called I Am Vertical. Here's the first verse: I Am Vertical But I would rather be horizontal. I am not a tree with my root in the soil Sucking up minerals and motherly love So that each March I may gleam into leaf, Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted, Unknowing I must soon unpetal. Compared with me, a tree is immortal And a flower-head not tall, but more startling, And I want the one's longevity and the other's daring.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events Lady Day March 25 is also known as Lady Day, the traditional name of the Feast of the Annunciation, which commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. During this visit, Gabriel told Mary that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Lady Day is also the first of the four traditional English quarter days.  The Marigold is the flower dedicated to Mary on Lady Day. The etymology of the common name Marigold comes from Mary (probably referring to the Virgin Mary) + gold, thus Mary's gold. Mary's gold was also a common name used for a similar plant native to Europe, Calendula officinalis. Both Marigold flowers and leaves are edible, and Marigolds are commonly used as culinary herbs. In terms of medicinal uses, Marigold is good for the skin and has been used for topical healing to address cuts, soars, and general skincare. Marigolds have essential oils and a high concentration of flavonoids like carotene.  In Floriography or the language of flowers, Marigolds represent the sun and therefore refer to the power, strength, and light inside each of us. Marigolds also represent lost love. So if someone's inner strength has been damaged by the loss of a loved one, whether by death or a breakup, the Marigold represents that despaired or lost love.   1641 Birth of Nehemiah Grew, English botanist. He's remembered as the Father of Plant Anatomy. Nehemiah was the first person to illustrate plants' inner structures and functions in all their unique intricacies. His 1682 book, Anatomy of Plants, was divided into four topics: Anatomy of Vegetables Begun, Anatomy of Roots, Anatomy of Trunks, and Anatomy of Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, and Seeds. Nehemiah used a relatively new invention to help his study of plant morphology: the microscope. He tried to recreate what he saw through the lens when he drew. Nehemiah's drawings of tree parts cut transversely look like intricate laser cuts - imagine a mandala  - and the lines are impossibly thin. Nehemiah examined all kinds of natural elements under the microscope, and he wrote the first known microscopic description of pollen. If you'd like to try something fun this summer, channel your inner Nehemiah Grew, get a microscope on Amazon or at a thrift store, and check out your own plant specimens under the microscope.   1890 On this day, the naturalist João Barbosa Rodrigues established the Herbarium at the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro.  The Herbarium was Rodrigues's first step toward expanding the scope of the garden to include education. Today, the Herbarium has over 750,000 mounted specimens of Brazilian flora, and most of the collection is from the Atlantic and Amazon forests. The botanic garden sits on 350-acres and features over 7,000 species of tropical plants. One of the most unique elements of the garden is the avenues of 100-foot-tall avenues of royal palms.    2021 On this day, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Tulip garden in Kashmir opened to the public. The most extensive tulip garden in Asia, the garden was formerly known as the Model Floriculture Center and covers 74 acres. The government owns the garden. The garden was initially created in 2007 with 1.5 million tulip bulbs from Amsterdam's famous Keukenhof tulip gardens. Other spring-flowering bulbs like daffodils, hyacinth, and ranunculus have since been added to the 65 different varieties of tulips now growing in Kashmir. This year the Kashmir Tulip Garden Festival runs from April 1 through the 20th. Every year, the tulip garden is opened to the public during the month of March when the tulips start to bloom - a fantastic sight to see.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Violets of March Sarah Jio This book came out in 2011, and this book is a fiction book. The book is about a heartbroken woman who stumbles on a diary and then steps into the life of its anonymous author. The main character is named Emily Wilson. She has a bestselling novel and a GQ husband, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after. But ten years later, Emily's life has changed. Her Great Aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on Bainbridge Island in Washington State. When she's researching her next book, she stumbles on a red velvet diary dated 1943. And then, the contents of the journal have massive implications for her own life. Now I love what Jodi Picoult said about The Violets of March. She wrote Mix a love story history and a mystery and what takes root. The Violets of March is a novel that reminds us how the past comes back to haunt us and packs great surprises along the way. Now, if you're a gardener, you're going to love the cover of this book because it's an old chair with the diary that's open and then a violet cutting on top of the pages. It's gorgeous. So if you're looking for a bit of fiction book to tide you over through the spring, please consider The Violets of March by Sarah Jio. This book is 296 pages of intrigue, incredible settings, as well as history, and mystery. You can get a copy of The Violets of March Sarah Jio and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $1.   Botanic Spark 2020 On this day, Jim Salyards, Director of Horticulture, Filoli Center, documented the spring displays in an article called Essential Gardening: Public Gardens in the Spring of COVID-19, published in Arnoldia, a publication of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. The Filoli garden is located at a grand country estate built in 1917 for the William Bourn family. Bourn devised the name Filoli from his personal motto. Fi from fighting for a just cause, Lo from loving your fellow man, and Li from to live a good life. There's a good chance that Filoli is a place you may be familiar with - especially if you were a fan of the 1980s hit tv show Dynasty because Filoli's house was the Carrington house. Every year, 100,000 visitors stop by the home and gardens.  It is nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains just south of San Francisco. The 16-acre formal English garden at Filoli is in USDA zone 7, which allows Filoli to grow beautiful spring bulbs and draws many visitors since spring bulbs generally can't grow in the native California climate. But on this day in 2020, at the beginning phase of the pandemic, the garden had no visitors. Here's some of what Jim wrote, On March 25, I was in the Sunken Garden, snapping a social media photo of yellow ‘West Point’ tulips that were blooming within the low, clipped hedges of the parterres.  Filoli has blooms 365 days a year because of the moderate climate along the coast of northern California. Locals and visitors from around the globe are captivated by the spring experience of seeing daffodils and tulips in our meadows and formal beds. Wisteria clambers on the side of the mansion, and peonies are showstopping. But this year, our spring peak of mid-March to mid-April was completely missed. All the planting and tending on the part of the staff, all the expectant calls and emails that started at the beginning of the year asking the best time to visit were for naught. I did my best to share photos and videos through our social media outlets, but it’s just not the same. A few thumbs-up or heart emojis are a poor substitution for the “oohs” and “aahs” and the thank-yous we receive from guests each day—the guests who call out compliments while we are weeding and pruning or who pass along the praise to our colleagues in visitor services and interpretation. Public gardens like Filoli are champions of environmental education and conservation, yes, but we also provide substance for people’s souls. Hopefully, in the near future, the garden will once again become a space of healing, just when the world needs us most.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1682 Baptism of Mark Catesby, English naturalist, adventurer, explorer, and artist. Mark made two trips to the new world when America was still a British colony. On his second trip, he explored the lower southeastern corner of the United States. After returning to England, he published his masterpiece, the very first account of flora and fauna of North America, in two large folios called The Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands. Mark provided the text and the outstanding illustrations. He also offered an overview of the climate, soil, water, and any crops that were grown. Mark was a superb nature artist. He depicted birds and plants together, something only a handful of artists did at the time. Maria Sybilla Merian did that, and like Maria, once you've seen Mark's work, you never forget it. Mark also painted living subjects, which made his depictions more lifelike. Mark's botanical illustrations showed both the fruit and the flower of a plant in a single image. And when you consider the fact that Mark paired his art with the text in two languages - English and French - to market this content to his audience, Mark Catesby's genius and dedication really become apparent. In Mark's book, the first plant he dedicated an entire page to was the Magnolia, and he also included a full page of text. Magnolias are one of the planet's earliest flowering plants, and as such, they existed before bees. Now for gardeners, this is an important clue about how Magnolias reproduce, which explains why magnolias rely on beetle pollination. Magnolia blossoms do not produce nectar. Instead, they produce pollen, and that pollen is food for the beetles. In terms of uses, in Chinese medicine, the bark of the Magnolia has been used to treat respiratory illness and anxiety.   1733 Birth of Joseph Priestley FRS, English chemist, polymath, author, and minister. Joseph conducted many experiments while he tutored the sons of American sympathizer William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, at Bowood House in Wiltshire, England. In one of his experiments, he put a mouse and a mint plant in a bell jar. Without the mint, the mouse died, but the mouse survived with a plant inside the jar. This laid the foundation for the study of ecosystems. Joseph also wrote the first comprehensive study of the history of electricity, invented carbonated water, created the first timeline, and discovered laughing gas. He also revealed a practical use for vegetable gum: it could remove pencil marks from paper, becoming known as the eraser.   1834 Birth of William Morris, British textile designer, poet, writer, and socialist activist.  Born in 1834 to a wealthy family, William was the leading figure in the Arts and Crafts Movement. As a designer, William Morris remains widespread, and his designs are based on nature. Trees and plants figure prominently in his designs and patterns. Many of his designs feature the flowers that bloomed in his own garden, and among his favorites were honeysuckle, rose, acanthus, tulips, and chrysanthemums. Although he was not a fan of geraniums and once wrote, Red geraniums were invented to show that even a flower could be hideous. The first Morris wallpaper was 'Trellis' (1862) and was based on a rose trellis in his garden in Kent. William found inspiration in England's gardens and countryside. His most iconic designs include Larkspur (1872), Jasmine (1872), Willow (1874), Marigold (1875), Wreath (1876), and Chrysanthemum (1887). And William's poems are clever and offer a glimpse of his personality. In 1888, William created his design for 'Autumn Leaves' 1888 and a seasonal poem 'Autumn': 'Laden Autumn here I stand Worn of heart, and weak of hand: Nought but rest seems good to me, Speak the word that sets me free'   In 1890, William designed his first tapestry, which depicts four medical women holding a banner with the words of an original poem by morris. The poem celebrates the orchard in every season, from the bounty of the harvest to the promise of spring. Midst bitten mead and acre shorn, The world without is waste and worn, But here within our orchard-close, The guerdon of its labour shows. O valiant Earth, O happy year That mocks the threat of winter near, And hangs aloft from tree to tree The banners of the Spring to be.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Reflections of Paradise by Gordon Taylor This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is The Gardens of Fernando Caruncho. Every time I think about this particular book, I regret the fact that it was released during the pandemic, as I believe it would've gotten so much more attention had it been released just a year earlier, in September of 2019. But that said, people, are still discovering the magnificent gardens created by Fernando Caruncho. Fernando is a Spanish landscape designer, and he has been designing gardens for over four decades. His gardens are all over the world, and they include elements from zen gardens, Islamic gardens, and classical European gardens. Fernando is very sensitive to scale in gardens, the amount of light in a garden, and how light can impact garden design. He's also a massive fan of using local materials- not shipping in a bunch of different stone and elements from far-flung places around the globe. Fernando is all about looking to the region, to the location to determine what beautiful elements should be incorporated into his garden. In this book, Reflections of Paradise, Gordon Taylor is profiling 26 Fernando Caruncho projects, and these gardens run the gamut from largest states to private little spaces. You will see an incredible vineyard in Italy. You'll see a private garden in France. There's a magnificent estate in New Jersey. That's how it is with Fernando Caruncho because once you know about him and once you've seen some of his gardens, he is just going to pop up everywhere in your life. In any case, this book features unique environments that are landscape-focused that are designed to perfection, and that are unmistakably Fernando Caruncho's creations. This bookcase is 304 pages of 26 Incredible gardens designed by Fernando Caruncho. (And the cover is extraordinary too, I might add.) You can get a copy of Reflections of Paradise by Gordon Taylor and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $29.   Botanic Spark 1993 On this day, 2.4 acres of the Krider Display garden were donated to the town of Middlebury, Indiana. The garden was formally dedicated two years later and is formally known as Krider Nurseries World's Fair Garden, a garden park. Kreider Nurseries' origins date back to 1896, when Vernon Krider supplemented his teaching income by planting berries on thirty acres of land. A decade later, he quit his teaching job to start his nursery. The nursery had grown to over 500 acres when the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago looked for a nursery to set up display gardens. Vernon signed onto the project but had no way of knowing how the World's Fair would change his business. Kreider gardens set up many different display gardens at the fair in the horticulture building. The gardens represented gardens worldwide; there was a Japanese garden, a Dutch garden with a windmill, etc. The gardens got a lot of attention, and visitors happily shared their contact information to receive the Kreider nursery catalog. Vernon had over 370,000 names and addresses for his catalog by the end of the expo.  The old saying "the money is in the list" proved true for Krider Nurseries, and they became the largest mail-order nursery business in the U.S almost overnight. Soon, there were many mail-order requests that the Middlebury post office had to be redesigned to handle the volume. At one point, Kreider Nurseries was the largest employer in Middlebury. In 1946, in an attempt to keep growing, Kreider Nurseries spent $11,000 on a patent for a thornless rose dubbed "Festival." It was the most amount of money ever paid by a single nursery for a patent - and they had to learn to cultivate it all on their own. Another Kreider claim to fame was that the nursery provided all the roses for Tricia Nixon's wedding. Despite their successes, Kreider's business declined in the 1980s. By 1990, Kreider Nursery closed for good - almost 100 years after Vernon's humble start. Today the Kreider Nursery legacy is the Kreider Garden - lovingly restored and maintained by the Middlebury community since 1995. The garden pays homage to the display that Krider Nurseries created for the Chicago World's Fair - complete with the original Dutch windmill and the giant toadstool sculptures that were a hit with the crowds back in 1933-1934, as well as new elements like the ever-changing Quilt Garden, is one of several Quilt Gardens in Northern Indiana Amish Country.    Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1699 Birth of John Bartram, American botanist, and explorer.  John founded the first botanical garden in America, and Linnaeus called him the "greatest natural botanist in the world."  Like many botanists of his time, John was born to a farming Quaker family in Pennsylvania. He never forgot his rural roots, and he always thought of himself as a farmer first. When asked to describe how he ended up in botany, he wrote,  One day, I was very busy [plowing]… and being weary I ran under a tree to repose myself.  I cast my eyes on a daisy; I plucked it mechanically and viewed it with more curiosity than common country farmers are wont to do, and observed ... many distinct parts, some perpendicular, some horizontal.  ...I thought about it continually, at supper, in bed, and wherever I went.... On the fourth day I hired a man to plow for me and went to Philadelphia. [I bought] a Latin grammar [and] ...applied to a neighboring schoolmaster, who in three months taught me Latin enough to understand Linnaeus... Then I began to botanize all over my farm.   1907 On this day, a school garden for boys only was started at a school in Rhode Island. A summary report was published with the State Board of Education. Here's what the report said,  On March 26th, all the boys wrote for catalogs, some sending several letters or cards.  It proved a valuable letter lesson in letter-writing and geography as they looked at the places they had sent the letters and inquired about distances, railroads, and mail trains.  More than fifty attractive catalogs were received. Tomatoes, lettuce, and radishes were planted in boxes ready for early transplanting. The seeds were obtained through a member of Congress, and despite all the rumors regarding the poor quality of government seed, [they] proved excellent. Two boys found an old sink in a dump. This was sunk in the middle of the West yard, partly filled with cement and now used as a birdbath. Each boy chose several vegetables from a list of corn, squash, onions, carrots, beans, beets, lettuce, radishes, pumpkins, potatoes, peas, and parsnips. The corn and a row of sunflowers were planted next to the fence; the other vegetables [were planted] according to height, living lettuce, and radishes in the front. Difficulties: There have been many difficulties in the way. Most of the work has been done outside of school hours, at noon when some of the boys have to hurry home or at night when they carry papers. Most discouraging of all, vegetables have been stolen and Gardens trampton almost nightly. Effect: But the effect of the garden work on the boys has been excellent.  First of all it's giving them an outside interest. They have learned courtesy and generosity and showing visitors the garden and giving away their vegetables. Toads which we have raised from eggs are to be put in the garden when school closes.  There has been less time for running about the streets and cigarette smoking. Since the gardens were started, there's only been one case of truancy and very little absence. Ten or fifteen minutes hard work during the school hours has often served to bring a cross, restless boy back to quiet and pleasant.  Of the 23 boys, 18 have made gardens at home and most of them are doing well. A copy of one boy’s notebook will give an idea of the garden from the boy's standpoint. March 25: Began to pick rocks. Got a backache. Wrote for catalogs. March 26: Laid out 23 beds - [each] 6 by 14 ft March 27: Planted radishes, lettuce, tomatoes in boxes. Miss Allen paid $0.25 for loam. May 1: Put down sink for Birds bath. May 3rd: Planted pumpkins, potatoes, beans, beets, lettuce, radishes. May 15, 16, 17: Cleaned up West yard. Got loam. Planted shrubs and trees.  Planted marigolds, candytuft and poppies, Boston Ivy, cornus, weigelia, lilac, crab.  It looks slick. May 20th: These seeds are up in my bed: radish, lettuce, beans. May 21: brought Bush to school. Went to Arlington for ferns. Pumpkins up. Put violets beside Birds tub. June 12th: Brought home 10 radishes. They were good ones.  Saw a jay in our bath and a chipping sparrow. June 17: Mr Randall out. Hoeing. A lot of teachers came. Took home lettuce June 18: Sent radishes to Mr. Small. A man and lady came to see if we will get a prize. June 19: Everything in my garden is growing fine. It's a good thing. We have spent $11.45.   1913 Birth of James C. Rose, American landscape architect, and author.  A high school dropout, James was expelled from Harvard University as a landscape architecture major because they disapproved of his design style.  James fulfilled a lifelong dream despite his personal struggles with educational institutions when he created The James Rose Center for design study and landscape research.  In From Creative Gardens (1958), James wrote, A garden is an experience.  It is not flowers or plants of any kind.  It is not flagstone, brick, grass, or pebbles.  It is not a barbeque or a fiberglass screen.  It is an experience.  If it were possible to distill the essence of a garden, I think it would be the sense of being within something while still out of doors. That is the substance of it; for until you have that, you do not have a garden at all.   1923 Birth of Norman Thelwell, English cartoonist. He is remembered for his humorous drawings of ponies and horses. In his book, From a Plank Bridge by a Pool (1978), he wrote, When I look at the tree in the dark days of winter, its huge green-black skeleton silhouetted against the ashen sky, or hear its tracery seething in a westerly gale as I lie snug and warm in bed, I wonder who it was planted this giant for so many generations to enjoy. And in the balmy days of summer when its leaves are overlaid like the breast feathers of a great bird to form high domes of rounded foliage, I wish I could call back this gentle spirit of the past and say,  “This is your tree. Look at it now, for it is gracious beyond words.”   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Cook's Herb Garden by Jeff Cox and Marie-Pierre Moine This book came out in 2010, and the subtitle is: grow harvest cook. As someone who loves to grow herbs, this is one of my favorite books on herbs because it features beautiful photography of over 120 culinary herbs. Then, Jeff and Marie-Pierre offer more than 30 delicious, practical recipes that show you what you can do with your herbs - everything from making your own salad dressings and marinades to flavored butter, pestos, herbal teas, and cordials; in addition to seasoning your favorite meals. And I love what Jeff writes. He says, I always think of culinary herbs as the champions of the kitchen garden. And he reminds us that their volatile oils serve a purpose: they were the compounds that plants used to defend themselves from insects and fungi. As for Marie, she says that, As a cook herbs are my best friends. Just a handful brightens up the concoctions that I make in my kitchen. And she also reminds us that when space is at a premium, herbs should be a priority. So whether you're going to store some ginger root in the freezer, or a roll of herb butter or even just a little cilantro ice cube. They are all well-worth their shelf space. This book is 192 pages of fantastic herbs -and the photography is top-notch. This is a DK book - and it looks like it. You can get a copy of The Cook's Herb Garden by Jeff Cox and Marie-Pierre Moine and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $4.   Botanic Spark 2011 Death of Elizabeth Taylor, British-American actress. She was the highest-paid movie star in the 1960s. She won two academy awards - for BUtterfield 8 (1960) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966) In 1999, she was named the seventh-greatest female screen legend of Classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute. Elizabeth was an early AIDS activist, and she founded the National AIDS Research Foundation. In 1990, she championed Ryan White Care Act to stop discrimination against people with H.I.V. One of her tactics was to send lavender-scented notes to senators and congressmen that simply read, "I think you should see this," along with detailed information about H.I.V.  Elizabeth's Bel Air home garden was located behind the swimming pool. A private tropical paradise, the garden featured her favorite flowers - gardenias and lilies of the valley - along with birds of paradise. Tucked beneath lush palms and bamboo, a small greenhouse held her collection of orchids. In 2004, Elizabeth's mobility declined, and she stopped walking through her beloved garden. In 1987, Elizabeth was one of the first celebrities to launch a signature fragrance: White Diamonds. Her garden served as the muse for her fragrance. The White Diamonds scent is made up of Italian neroli, Egyptian tuberose, narcissus, and Turkish rose. It has generated more than $1.5 billion in sales, and Revlon reports that four bottles of the scent are sold per minute in the United States, and a bottle is sold every 15 seconds worldwide. Elizabeth died at 79 from congestive heart failure. She left instructions that her funeral service started 15 minutes late as she wanted to be late for her own funeral.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

March 22, 2022 St. Catherine, Thomas Carew, New York Horticultural Society, Christine Johanna Buisman, The Earth in Her Hands by Jennifer Jewell, and John Banister Tabb

1775 Birth of Pierre Jean François Turpin (books about this person), French botanist and illustrator.

Pierre was friends with the botanist, gardener, and botanical artist, Pierre Antoine Poiteau. And although we know that he learned a great deal about botany from his friend Poiteau, Pierre was self-taught when it came to his botanical illustrations. And Redouté's work was an obvious influence on him. Pierre created over 6,000 magnificent botanical watercolors. He was an expert on fruit trees, and his fruit prints are considered some of the best in the world.

There are two fascinating stories about Pierre I wanted to share with you today.

First, Pierre created a fictional plant for Goethe that was an amalgam of different angiosperms.

Goethe wanted an illustration to show the diversity of angiosperms, and when Goethe saw Pierre's drawing, he named it the Urplant.

Goethe wrote, The Urplant would be the most wondrous creation in the world, for which nature itself would envy me.  With it, one could invent plants to infinity... The second Pierre story that I wanted to share with you is about his son, Pierre Jr.

No doubt Pierre taught his son how to draw. But tragically, Pierre Jr. died young, and his final drawing was of an Amaryllis.

After his death, Pierre made sure his son was credited for the work, and then he did something unusual for botanical illustrations: he made a little personal remark on his son's passing, writing: This original illustration was painted by Pierre John Frederick Eugene Turpin.  The illustrator, who was 18 years and six days of age, ceased to live on the 21st of August in 1821.

Less than 20 years later, Pierre himself would die in Paris in 1840 at 65.

Now, speaking of Amaryllis, this is the time of year when gardeners get all kinds of questions about them. My neighbor Jan, up at the cabin returned from a trip to Las Vegas to find her Christmas gift, an Amaryllis, in full bloom - and she's utterly captivated by this gorgeous Amaryllis, but of course, she called me to say,

What do I do with it after it's done blooming? 

And this is the question that's on everybody's mind because they're wrapping things up about now. So what are your options if you have an Amaryllis?

Well, number one, you can throw it away. You can simply be done with it. If you choose to, you could put it in the compost pile and so forth.

Or, if you're committed to trying to get your Amaryllis to bloom again next year, it is possible to do. You can force it to flower again next year.

Keep it on a sunny window inside until June when things warm up and then harden it off, the way you would any of the houseplants that you bring outside, take it outside for a few hours, and then bring it back in.

Gradually increase the amount of time it stays outside until it's out all day. Make sure that it's in a sunny spot.

And then, in the fall, you can bring it back indoors. This is the time when you're going to impose dormancy. Put the Amaryllis in a cold area. (If you have a dark cellar, that would be ideal). And remember that during dormancy, you don't want to water your Amaryllis. Think about your Amaryllis like a sleeping beauty that you'll wake up in time for the holidays.

And then, at that point, you can resume watering, and your Amaryllis, with any luck, will flower again.

So there you go—a little Amaryllis care 101 inspired by the son of Pierre Turpin.   1811 Birth of Katherine Sophia Kane, Irish botanist, and horticulturist.

Orphaned as a little girl, Katherine was raised by her uncle, who fostered Kate's love for the outdoors and, ultimately, her focus on botany.

When Kate was 22, she anonymously published a book that became the first national flora of Ireland, called The Irish Flora Comprising the Phaenogamous Plants and Ferns (1833). Kate's book not only described all the Irish flowering plants but also ferns and other cryptograms.

Accurate and informative, Kate's book became a textbook for botany students at Trinity College in Dublin. Three years later, in recognition of her work, Kate became the first woman to be elected to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh.

The story of how Kate met her husband Robert is similar to how John Claudius Loudon met his wife, Jane Webb: through her book. In Kate's case, proofs of The Irish Flora had mistakenly landed on Robert's desk. Robert tracked down Kate's address and personally returned the proofs to her. The rest, as they say, was history. The two were married in 1838, and they went on to have ten children.

In 1846, Robert was knighted, and Kate became known as Lady Kane. An economist, a chemist, and a scientist, Robert was hired to serve as the President of Queens College. Although Kate was happy for her husband, she refused to move to Cork. She'd designed a magnificent garden with many exotics planted all around their home in Dublin, and she was reluctant to leave it.

And so, much to the school's dismay, Robert commuted to work until the College finally insisted he reside in Cork during the school year in 1858.

And here's a fun little side note about Kate and Robert: since they were both scientists, Kate and Robert would send messages to each other in Greek.   1877 Birth of Jean White-Haney, Australian botanist.

In 1912, as a young botanist, Jean was asked to deal with the non-native Prickly Pear problem in Australia. The plant had been introduced to Australia 100 years earlier, and it became invasive once it was established.

Tackling the Prickly Pear was a massive undertaking, and Jean's appointment marked the first time a woman held a scientific leadership position in the Australian government. Jean knew she would have to power through the hardships of the job to prove herself. She recalled the experience this way: [I lived] amid the thickest pear. A desolate little place where living was primitive. I was young then and still rather nervous, but I insisted on not being given any special privileges because of being a woman. ...Failures of women who can not rough it would naturally be magnified.  I lived in the little public house there. [I] worked on my fascinating job with all the enthusiasm of those who see small beginnings to great ends. And the methods chosen for experiment were the introduction of suitable insects and poison.

Many gardeners are surprised to learn that the Prickly Pear is actually an excellent pollinator plant.

Charles Darwin noticed that the flowers of the Prickly Pear Cactus had thigmotactic anthers, which means the anthers curl over and drop their pollen when touched. And yes, the bees love it.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Life in a French Country House by Cordelia de Castellane

This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Simple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces.

Cordelia is France's favorite host and the artistic director of Dior Home and Baby Dior.

This book is organized into four seasons - one of my favorite ways to organize a book that covers all the basics like at-home entertaining and decor. Cordelia shares her tips and secrets to imbuing your home with style and flowers. Architectural Digest's review of this book highlights Cordelia's five things every home needs: meaningful objects, books, flowers, scent, and children.

If you love French Country and want to know how to recreate the look in your own home and garden, you can't go wrong with Cordelia's guidance. Cordelia even includes some of her favorite recipes, flower arranging, and table setting tips.

This book is 240 pages of French Chic combined with Cordelia's eclectic but elegant vibe that has been refined to perfection over the past three decades.

You can get a copy of Life in a French Country House by Cordelia de Castellane and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $34.   Botanic Spark

1952 Birth of Douglas Noel Adams (books by this author), English writer, satirist, and dramatist.

He's remembered for his radio comedy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which became a trilogy of five books. He was an environmentalist and a conservationist.

In his book, Last Chance to See, Douglas wrote, As zoologists and botanists explore new areas, scrabbling to record the mere existence of species before they become extinct, it is like someone hurrying through a burning library desperately trying to jot down some of the titles of books that will now never be read.

And in Richard Dawkins' best-seller The God Delusion, his dedication was to Douglas Adams in memoriam, and included this quote by Douglas, who was an atheist:

Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?

Finally, in his book Life, The Universe and Everything (1982), Arthur Dent's old friend Ford Prefect, says,

....I decided I was a lemon for a couple of weeks. I kept myself amused all that time jumping in and out of a gin and tonic....I found a small lake that thought it was a gin and tonic, and jumped in and out of that. At least, I think it thought it was a gin and tonic.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

March 11, 2022  Pierre Turpin, Katherine Sophia Kane, Jean White-Haney, Life in a French Country House by Cordelia de Castellane, and Douglas Adams

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden Meeting in Athens, Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1763 Birth of William Cobbett, English writer, Member of Parliament, and farmer.  In Parliament, Wlliam fought for agrarian reform. He did this through his regular writings called Rural Rides, where he shared what he saw while taking horseback rides throughout rural England. William never forgot his rural roots, and he was a lifelong gardener. He once wrote, How much better during a long and dreary winter, for daughters, and even sons, to assist, or attend, their mother, in a green-house, than to be seated with her at cards, or, in the blubberings over a stupid novel, or at any other amusement that can possibly be conceived. And he also wrote,  If well-managed, nothing is more beautiful than the kitchen garden.   1845 Birth of Wilhelm Friedrich Philipp Pfeffer, German botanist and plant physiologist. Wilhelm was born in his father's apothecary. He grew up and learned every aspect of the business, which had been in his family for generations. One of his childhood friends noted, In those days, it was not yet customary to obtain drugs in cut and powdered form; thus, he spent hours cutting roots and herbs and pulverizing dried drugs with a heavy pestle in a mortar. In addition to life at the A=apothecary, Wilhelm loved collecting plants in the Alps. His early study of plants and his natural curiosity set the stage for his in-depth plant experiments as an adult. In terms of plant physiology, he's remembered for the Pfeffer pot or pepper pot to measure osmotic pressure in plant cells.   1874 Birth of Karl Foerster, German plant breeder, writer, and garden designer. When Karl turned 18, he took over his family's Berlin nursery, which was a bit of a mess. Karl quickly streamlined the business by simplifying his plant inventory. Although Karl loved all plants, he was especially drawn to tough, low-maintenance, hardy perennials. Karl used three factors to determine whether a plant would be sold in his nursery: beauty, resilience, and endurance. Today, Karl is most remembered in Karl Foerster Grass. The story goes that Karl was on a train when he spied the grass growing along the tracks. Karl frantically pulled the emergency brake, stopped the train, and quickly collected the specimen that now bears his name. In 2001, Karl Foerster grass was the Perennial Plant of the Year. Karl's plant standards and his appreciation for low maintenance spaces with year-long seasonal interest helped shape the New German Garden Style of garden design. A Karl Foerster garden had some signature plants: grasses, delphinium, and phlox. Naturally, all of these plants were favorites in Karl's breeding work. Karl once wrote, Grasses are the hair of mother earth. And he also wrote, A garden without phlox is not only a sheer mistake but a sin against summer. Karl lived to the ripe old age of 96. And looking back, it's staggering to think that Karl spent nearly nine decades gardening, and it was Karl Foerster who said, In my next life, I’d like to be a gardener once again.  The job was too big for just one lifetime.   1892 Birth of Vita Sackville-West, English author and garden designer. In 1930, Vita and her husband, the diplomat, and journalist Harold Nicolson, bought Sissinghurst Castle - at least what was left of it. Together, they restored the house and created the famous garden, which was given to the National Trust in 1967. Vita explored the depths of her own creativity as she shaped the gardens at Sissinghurst. When she came up with the idea for a Sunset Garden, she wrote, I used to call it the Sunset Garden in my own mind before I even planted it up. Vita's Sunset Garden included flowers with warm citrus colors, like the yellows, oranges, and reds of Dahlia's Salvias Canas and tulips. Vita also created a White Garden – one of the most difficult Gardens to design, maintain and pull off. Why is that? Well, the main reason is that, after flowering, most white blooms don't age well; they turn brown or yellow as they wither and die on the plant. But I have to say that ten years ago, I did help a friend install a white garden. And when it was in bloom, it really was spectacular. During World War II, there came a point when Vita and Harold were convinced that a German invasion of Britain was likely. Vita planted 11,000 daffodils, a message of defiance to the enemy. In 1955, Vita was honored with the Veitch Memorial Medal. She died seven years later in 1962. She once wrote, The waking bee, still drowsy on the wing,  Will sense the opening of another year  And blunder out to seek another spring.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Art of Edible Flowers by Rebecca Sullivan  This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Recipes and ideas for floral salads, drinks, desserts, and more. This sweet little book is a fun little recipe book of the many ways flowers can be incorporated into drinks and edibles. Recipes include a Rose and Lavender Cocktail Syrup, a Jasmine and Green Tea Ice Cream, Lavender and Orange Cheesecake, Pumpkin Carpaccio with Mustard Flower Sauce, Artichoke Flower with Borage Butter, Fermented Elderflower Fizz and a soothing Poppy Milk. The recipes are simple, creative, and elegant. This book is 80 pages of edible, beautiful, tasty blossoms. You can get a copy of The Art of Edible Flowers by Rebecca Sullivan and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $12.   Botanic Spark 1902 Birth of Luis Barragán, Mexican architect and engineer. In 1980, he won the Pritzker Prize, the highest award in architecture. In 1948 he designed and built his own home with cement after being inspired by local modernist architecture. In 2004, the Luis Barragan house was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition to architecture, Luis loved landscapes. He once wrote, I don’t divide architecture, landscape and gardening; to me they are one. And he also wrote, A garden must combine the poetic and he mysterious with a feeling of serenity and joy.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1746 Birth of André Michaux (books about this person), French botanist and explorer. André grew up on a royal farm in Satory south of Versailles. His father trained both he and his brother in horticulture, and after his father died, André carried on at the farm. André married a prosperous farmer's daughter from a nearby farm named Cécile Claye. A month shy of their first wedding anniversary Cécile delivered a son, Francois-André. Later in life, André would name an oak in his son's honor. Tragically, Cécile died after the delivery. André battled through the next decade by studying horticulture. His friend, the naturalist Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier ("Lew-ee Ghee-ohm Lew-moh-nay"), urged him to focus on exotic plants, and the great botanist Bernard de Jussieu gave André a solid understanding of botany. The next step for André was travel. In 1786, André was asked to go to North America. As a single father, he brought François-Andre, then 15, along with him. André's mission was to establish a botanical garden in America. The goal was to set up a botanical clearinghouse of sorts and send seeds and specimens back to France. André established his nursery on the land where the Charleston Area National Airport exists today. In fact, at the Charleston airport, there is a stunning mural installed in 2016 that honors Andre and his son. In one panel, Andre-François and his father are depicted in the potager or kitchen garden. The central scene shows the rice fields along the Ashley River and the Charleston Harbor, where Michaux introduced one of the first Camellia plants. Native to Asia, Camellias are small, evergreen flowering trees or shrubs, and Camellias are in the Theaceae or tea family, which is why Camellias are commonly called tea plants. In Floriography ("FLOOR-EE-ah-grah-FEE") or the language of flowers, the Camellia represents love and loyalty. Camellia blossoms are beautiful and come in various colors, sizes, bloom times, and forms. And, best of all, Camellias are long-lived and can grow for 100 to 200 years. Finally, here are two fun facts about the Camellia: In California, Sacramento is nicknamed the Camellia City, and the Camellia is the state flower of Alabama.   1836 Birth of Sir Michael Foster, English physician, and iris breeder. He's regarded as the father of iris cultivation. In the late 1800s, Michael became the first person to crossbreed new varieties of Iris. He started his work with purple and yellow iris and made a beautiful blend by the third generation. Soon Michael had large wild iris specimens arriving from all over the world. He found that missionaries could be a great help to him. They sent Trojana, Cypriana, and Mesopotamica varieties from the Near East. In time, Michael's iris creations had bigger flowers and grew taller. He crossed Irises in every conceivable way, and he once wrote to the plant breeder William John Caparne, "In hybridizing, be bold." Michael once said, Nature is ever making signs to us; she is ever whispering to us the beginnings of her secrets.   April 26, 1970, Elizabeth Lawrence (books by this author) reflected on the spring, writing, This spring, I was asked if I am bored. How can anyone ask that of a gardener? No Gardener could ever be bored, for ... Every season is new and different from all those that went before.  There always is something new in bloom, something expected and something unexpected, something lost that is found, and there is always disappointment, but being sad is not the same thing as being bored. “It acts like spring, but I dare not hope,” Carolyn Dorman wrote on Saint Valentine's Day. "It was about this time in 1899 that the temperature here in Northern Louisiana was 20 degrees below… God spare us, daffodils are beginning now, and Magnolia Alba Superba will soon be in bloom.”  It is the white form of Magnolia x soulangiana that Caroline calls “alba superba”. She thinks it more beautiful than the Yulan. In my garden the Yulan (Magnolia denudata) and two of its hybrids M. x soulangiana and M. x veitschii, came into bloom together on March 8th. I can't think of when, if ever before, all three have bloomed at once when the weather was warm but not hot, when there was no frost and no rain, and when only a few petals were whipped off by wind.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Private Gardens of Santa Barbara by Margie Grace This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is The Art of Outdoor Living. Margie is a two-time-named International Landscape Designer of the Year. She has worked in the field for over three decades, and she is the perfect host to showcase these magnificent private gardens in Santa Barbara, which is often called the American Riviera.  This book features eighteen gardens designed by Margie and representing a range of spaces from large estates to surf retreats. This is an elegant coffee table book - a total escape - to the lush spaces of Santa Barbara's private gardens, and they are water-smart, maintenance-smart, and fire-smart. This book is 256 pages of incredible private California gardens showcased by one of the country's top designers. You can get a copy of Private Gardens of Santa Barbara by Margie Grace and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $28.   Botanic Spark 1897 Birth of Joseph Pla (books by this author), Spanish journalist and a popular author. His seminal work, The Gray Notebook, was a diary he wrote in 1918 during the onset of the Spanish flu pandemic. Joseph was a law student at the University at Barcelona, but when the school shut down, he was forced to return home to Palafrugell ("Pala-frew-yay") on the coast of Spain. Realizing he would rather be a writer than a lawyer, he kept a journal to improve his writing skills. It was Joseph Pla who once said, Cooking is the landscape in a saucepan.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden in Athens, Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1849 Birth of Luther Burbank (books about this person), American botanist and horticulturist. During his 55-year career, Luther developed over 800 varieties of plants. He is remembered for many plants, including the Shasta daisy and the white blackberry. A russet-colored variant of a Luther potato became the world's predominant potato in food processing and was called the Russet Burbank Potato. Luther hoped the potato would help revive Ireland's potato production after late blight destroyed potatoes all across Europe. Luther once said, Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the mind.   1858 On this day, Robert Fortune (books about this person) left for his fourth trip to China. Months earlier, he had sent thousands of tea seeds to the United States. The Americans didn't feel they required Fortune's oversight to cultivate the plants, although the distribution of the little seedlings wasn't very strategic. Most of the seeds and plants were distributed via members of congress from southern states who sent the plants home to their farming constituents. James Rion of South Carolina wrote, In the fall of 1859, I received from the Patent Office, Washington, a very tiny tea plant, which I placed in my flower garden as a curiosity. It has grown well, has always been free from any disease, has had full outdoor exposure, and attained a height of 5 feet, 8 inches There cannot be the least doubt but that the tea plant will flourish in South Carolina. Two years later, the start of the Civil War derailed those early hopes for tea production in the United States.   1865 On this day, Edmund Hope Verney received a letter. By this point, Edmund had been botanizing Vancouver Island for three years. All throughout his expedition, he was gobsmacked by the beauty of the landscape - especially during spring and had written, I cannot believe that any part of the world can show a greater variety and number of wildflowers than this. As much as he could, Edmund sent specimens back home to Claydon in England. Occasionally, he would get discouraged if he didn't hear back - sometimes not even a thank you. But on this day, 1865, Edmund's stepmother wrote with words of praise, Your seeds are excellent - just what we wanted - the Colony is celebrated for its Pines and Cypresses.  The Bishop says bulbs, too.  If [possible], perhaps you can bring some with you - all lilies are valuable.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Art and Science of William Bartram by Judith Magee This book came out in 2007, and it's one of the best authoritative books on William Bartram. William was an eminent artist and naturalist, and he was one of the first people to explore the flora and fauna of the American Southeast between 1773 and 1777. Bartram's work was sent to his patron back in London, and today the London Natural History Museum houses most of William Bartram's drawings. Judith's book showcased for the first time all sixty-eight Bartram drawings from the Natural History Museum, along with other pieces from his contemporaries. This book also shares some of Bartram's writings and letters, proving that Bartram was influential during his lifetime and a beacon for the next generation of American naturalists. Bartram's work had an impact beyond the world of science. Wordsworth, Coleridge, and other writers found in the significance of Bartram's drawings and writing a source of inspiration. Bartram accomplished so much during his lifetime, especially because he was entirely self-taught. Bartram's humility and compassion made it possible for him to spend time with Native Americans during his explorations. He became an authority on the birds of North America. In 1773, William collected and propagated seeds from the Franklinia or the Franklin tree. The tree survives today, thanks to William Bartram. This book is 276 pages of William Bartram's life and contributions in the context of modern scientific thinking. You can get a copy of The Art and Science of William Bartram by Judith Magee and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $46.   Botanic Spark 2001 On this day, The Baltimore Sun shared a story called Maryland's Mr. Grass Plantsman: Kurt Bluemel ("Blu-MEL") by Nancy Taylor Robson. Nurseryman and landscaper Kurt Bluemel had dealt with groundhogs, rabbits, and rapacious deer.  But nothing in his career prepared him for the destructive powers of elephants and giraffes.  "They are like organic lawnmowers!" he [said].  Kurt Bluemel (the company) is one of the largest, most extensive wholesale growers of ornamental grasses in the nation, which is why six years ago the Disney company asked him to help design, supply and plant the 125 acres of Savanna at its new Animal Kingdom in Florida.  He assumed the animals would graze the landscape, so he was careful to avoid poisonous plants.  But, he was unprepared for their voraciousness.  "We planted acacias they have very long thorns as part of the permanent landscape, but the giraffes ate them down to the ground. Thorns and all!"  Another surprise was the soil or lack of it.  "Florida only has sand," he says.  "It's like hydroponic growing. As soon as you stop giving things water and fertilizer, they stop growing.  But with food and water, in three months, the vegetation was unbelievable!  We miscalculated planting distances as a result."  Kurt died of cancer in 2014 at the age of 81. He was known as Mr. Grass and The King of Grasses after a lifetime spent championing ornamental grasses and perennials to bring nature, movement, and vibrancy to the landscape.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden Meeting in Athens Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1810 Birth of William Griffith, English botanist and naturalist. By the time a young William arrived at the botanical garden in Calcutta, he was eager to make his mark. But he clashed with the old ways of running the garden established by Nathaniel Wallich. When Nathaniel departed to tend to his deteriorating health, William was put in charge of the garden. In his youth and inexperience, he acted in haste and he executed a complete renovation of the garden. For instance, there was an avenue of gorgeous Cycas trees that was a signature element of the garden and beloved by visitors, but William had the entire avenue removed. And in his singular focus on organizing plants by classification, he sacrificed beauty and common sense. Plants that were happy under the canopy of established trees and shrubs were suddenly exposed to the harsh Indian sun, and they burned and perished out in the open. In a little over two years, the garden bore no resemblance of its former glory. In September of 1844, William married his brother’s wife’s sister - Emily Henderson. By the end of the year, William quit his post and left the Calcutta botanical garden for good. Together, William and Emily returned to Malacca in Southwestern Malaysia, but William got sick on the voyage. He had languished for ten days and then died from hepatitis. He was 34. Meanwhile, back at the Calcutta Botanical Garden, it’s hard not to imagine the shock Nathaniel Wallich experienced when he returned to the garden in the summer of 1844 and saw the complete devastation in every bed and every planting in every corner of the garden. Nothing was untouched - it had all been changed. Nathaniel shared his grief in a letter to his old friend William Hooker: Where is the stately, matchless garden that I left in 1842? Is this the same as that? Can it be? No–no–no! Day is not more different from night that the state of the garden as it was from its present utterly ruined condition. But no more on this. My heart bleeds at what I am impelled daily – hourly to witness. And yet I am chained to the spot, and the chain, in some respects, is of my own making. I will not be driven away. Lies, calumnies, every attempt... to ruin my character – publicly and privately... are still employed – they may make my life miserable and wretched, they may break my heart: but so so long as my conscience acquits me... so long will I not budge one inch from my post.   1847 Birth of Henry Frederick Conrad Sander, German-English orchidologist and nurseryman. When he was 20, Conrad met the Czech plant collector Benedict Roezl. The two men struck up an idea for a business that left Benedict free to explore and collect plants and Conrad focused on selling the specimens. Conrad set up shop in St. Albans, and Benedict was soon sending shipments of orchids from Central and South America. After his successful arrangement with Benedict, Conrad expanded his operations. He soon had over twenty collectors gathering specimens and was growing orchids in over sixty greenhouses. Europe’s top collectors and even royalty stopped by to examine Conrad's inventory. Soon known as the King of Orchids, Conrad wrote a two-volume masterpiece on every variety of orchid. He named his book Reichenbachia in honor of the legendary orchidologist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach. In return, Reichenbach honored Sanders by naming the “Queen of Philippine Orchids” Vanda Sanderiana, which the locals called the waling-waling orchid. The waling-waling is considered one of the rarest, most beautiful, and most expensive orchids, and it is also one of the largest species of orchids in the world. Orchids are some of the world’s oldest flowering plants, producing the world’s tiniest seeds. A single Orchid seedpod can contain three million seeds! Orchids are also the largest family of flowering plants in the world. With over 25,000 species, Orchids represent about ten percent of all plant species on earth, and there are more orchids on earth than mammals and birds! Now, once they are germinated, Orchids can take five to seven years to produce a flower. And if you look at the orchid bloom closely, you’ll see that the blossom, like the human face, is perfectly symmetrical, which only adds to their visual beauty. And, by the time you are buying that Orchid at Trader Joe’s, it is likely already decades old. But never fear, Orchids are long-lived and can reach their 100th birthday. The vastness and complexity of orchids can be frustrating. Charles Darwin grew so discouraged writing his book about orchids that he wrote to a friend, I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything.   1949 On this day, the Santa Cruz Sentinel out of California, published a lovely story about an upcoming Arbor Day celebration that would plant trees to honor Luther Burbank. In a bittersweet gesture, Nurseryman Joe Badger was personally planting a flowering plum tree. Joe's plum tree will be planted in Mrs. Burbank's garden at Santa Rosa, Calif, near the spot where her husband is buried. Burbank’s widow said, “No, there will be no wreath-laying on Luther Burbank's grave... Laying a wreath is only a ceremony... It doesn't make things grow." she said. Instead, she and Nurseryman Joe Badger, who as a youngster stole plums from the Burbank experimental gardens, will plant a flowering plum tree adjoining the Redwood highway, where passersby can enjoy it. The flowering plum was developed by her husband. He gained world fame with his Burbank potato, his spineless cactus, and many other horticultural achievements. Her husband now lies buried under a huge Cedar of Lebanon tree in a simple unmarked grave. Beside him lies his white dog, Bonita, who was his constant companion until Burbank died in 1926. Burbank requested that no marking be placed above his burial place. Instead, he was buried beneath his Cedar of Lebanon. He, himself, had planted the seed sent by a friend in Palestine. He had said, "When I go, don't raise a monument to me; plant a tree."   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Art of Outdoor Living by Scott Shrader This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is Gardens for Entertaining Family and Friends. For anyone who wants to live well in their garden, here is a guide to creating stylish and livable outdoor spaces--for entertaining, playing, and relaxing. Scott Shrader is a California landscape designer who has an intuitive ability to connect his outdoor landscape creations with the heart of the home. His designs are known for their sense of flow, style, and serenity. Scott's specialty is creating lush outdoor rooms where meals and company can be enjoyed at your leisure. Scott's blending of the indoors and the outdoors can be seen in these twelve gorgeous properties highlighted in this book. Scott also shares his tips for keeping guests happy outdoors and he breaks down how planning ahead makes outdoor spaces comfortable, inviting places you don't want to leave. This book also features some essays where Scott shares in-depth observations on all aspects of outdoor living and gardens including topics like sustainability, lifestyle, and paths. This book is 240 pages of making outdoor spaces comfortable places for cooking, entertaining, playing, and relaxing. You can get a copy of The Art of Outdoor Living by Scott Shrader and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $26.   Botanic Spark 1862 Birth of Norman Rowland Gale, English poet, storyteller, and reviewer. His best-known poem is The Country Faith, which ends with this verse: God comes down in the rain, And the crop grows tall— This is the country faith, And the best of all! In his book A Merry-Go-Round of Song, there is a poem about fairies. Norman wrote, If you could pierce with magic eyes The secrets of the lavender, You'd find a thousand Fairylings A-perching there, with folded wings. And pouring sweetness into her.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden Meeting in Athens Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1606 Birth of Edmund Waller (books about this person), English poet, and politician who was one of the longest-serving members in the English House of Commons. Edmund is remembered for his carpe diem or "seize the day" poem, Go, Lovely Rose (1645), in which the rose must relay an urgent message: that time is short, that she is beautiful and that he loves her.  Go, lovely rose! Tell her that wastes her time and me, That now she knows, When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be.    1616 Birth Mathias de l'Obel ("ma-TEE-us dew Lew-bell"), Flemish physician and botanist. Mathias practiced medicine in England, and he was the first botanist to recognize the difference between monocots and dicots. Today we remember Mathias de l'Obel ("LEW-bell") with the Lobelia plant. Before researching Mathias, I pronounced obelia as "LOW- beel- ya." But now, knowing the French pronunciation of his name, I will say it "LEW-beel-ya." It's a subtle little change (LOW vs. LEW), but after all, the plant is named in Mathias's honor. Now, for as lovely as the Lobelia is, the common names for Lobelia are terribly unattractive. They include names like Asthma Weed, Bladderpod, Gagroot, Pukeweed, etc. Vomit Wort, and Wild Tobacco. These common names for Lobelia reflect that Lobelia is very toxic to eat. Despite its toxicity, Lobelia is one of the sweetest-looking plants for your summer containers. This dainty annual comes in pink, light blue, and royal blue. Personally, every year, I buy two flats of light blue Lobelias. But no matter the color you choose, lobelias are a favorite of pollinators. The delicate blossoms frequently host bees, butterflies, and moths, which only adds to their charm.   1880 Birth Muriel Wheldale Onslow (books by this author), English biochemist. She researched flower color inheritance and pigment molecule biochemistry. Muriel married a fellow biochemist named Victor Onslow. Victor was actually the son of royalty - his dad was the fourth Earl of Onslow. When Victor was a student at Cambridge, he was paralyzed from the waist down after diving off a cliff into a lake. Victor's physical limitations did not stop Muriel from loving him. Even though they were married for only a little over three years before Victor's untimely death, Victor and Muriel's love story was one of mutual admiration and respect. When Muriel recorded her memoir of Victor, she wrote that he was a man of amazing courage and mental vitality; and that he was an inspiration to their peers in biochemistry. Muriel worked with snapdragons, which come in a range of flower colors including green, red, orange, yellow, white, purple, and pink - and now even bicolor and speckled. The snapdragon was the perfect subject for Murial's work. Muriel's coloration research resulted in four major papers on snapdragon color inheritance and worldwide recognition. In 2010, the Royal Institution in England sponsored a play about four female biochemists - including Muriel Onslow. The play was called Blooming Snapdragons. Snapdragons or Antirrhinum majus ("ant-er-EYE-num MAY-jus") are beloved cottage garden flowers. They are a cousin to the foxglove. Snapdragons are happiest when planted early, in cool weather. They will bloom their hearts out all summer long. Then, if you cut them back in August, you will get a second flush of color in the fall.    1899 Birth of Yury Karlovich Olesha (books by this author), Russian and Soviet novelist. He was part of the Odessa School of Writers and is considered one of the greatest Russian novelists of the 20th century. Here's an excerpt from his book, Envy (1927): “Once he raised his arm to show his friends the back of his hand, where the veins were laid out in the shape of a tree, and he broke out in the following improvisation: “Here,” he said, “is the tree of life. Here is a tree that tells me more about life and death than the flowering and fading of tree gardens. I don’t remember when exactly I discovered that my wrist was blooming like a tree…but it must have been during that wonderful time when the flowering and fading of trees still spoke to me not of life and death but of the end and beginning of the school year! It was blue then, this tree, blue and slender, ...and turned my metacarpus’s entire landscape into a Japanese watercolor… “The years passed, I changed, and the tree changed, too. “I remember a splendid time; the tree was spreading. The pride I felt, seeing its inexorable flowering! It became gnarled and reddish-brown—and therein lay its strength! ...But now, my friends! How decrepit it is, how rotten! “The branches seem to be breaking off, cavities have appeared… It’s sclerosis, my friends! And the fact that the skin is getting glassy, and the tissue beneath it is squishy — isn’t this a fog settling on the tree of my life, the fog that will soon envelop all of me?”    Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Terrain by Greg Lehmkuhl This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Ideas and Inspiration for Decorating the Home and Garden. And yes, in case you're wondering, this is the same Terrain as in the historic nursery set in southeast Pennsylvania. Terrain is a nationally renowned garden, home, and lifestyle brand with its own signature approach to living with nature. It's an approach that bridges the gap between home and garden, the indoors and the outdoors. An approach that embraces decorating with plants and inviting the garden into every living space. That blurring of the outdoors and the indoors makes this book such a delight for gardeners. The book is loaded with gorgeous photos of ideas, projects, tips, and applications. There are tons of ideas for flower arranging beyond simple bouquets. You'll learn to use branches and wild natural elements like a pro. There are beautiful container gardens, wreaths for all seasons, preservation tips with glycerin, forcing branches, decorating with natural elements, and so many doable gorgeous ideas for every season of the year. This book is a whopping 400 pages of a master class on decorating with nature and bringing the best of the garden indoors. You can get a copy of Terrain by Greg Lehmkuhl and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $10.   Botanic Spark 1878 Birth of Edward Thomas (books by this author), British Poet. Edward's mentor was Robert Frost, and a trip to see Frost inspired his most famous poem, October. Like Henry David Thoreau, Edward loved simplicity in his work and life.  There are two verses I wanted to share with you today. The first is from his poem Cherry Trees. The cherry trees bend over and are shedding On the old road where all that passed are dead, Their petals, strewing the grass as for a wedding This early May morn when there is none to wed. The second is an excerpt from his poem, The Manor Farm (1878) Over the land freckled with snow half-thawed The speculating rooks at their nests cawed And saw from elm tops, delicate as flowers of grass, What we below could not see, Winter pass.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Friends of the Garden Meeting in Athens Georgia Register Here   Historical Events 1717 Birth of Catharina Helena Dörrien ("Durr-ee-in"), German botanist, writer, and artist. After the death of her parents, Catharina became a governess for the Erath ("AIR-rit") family in Dillenburg. Sophie Erath was a childhood friend of Catharina's, and Anton Erath was an attorney; they became Catharina's second family. While teaching the Erath children, Catharina turned to nature to teach almost every subject. Catharina even wrote her own textbooks, heavily focused on botany and the natural world. As the Erath children grew, Catharina focused on her botanical work. Anton helped her gain membership to the Botanical Society of Florence - something unheard of for women of her time. Catharina would go on to be a member of the Berlin Society of Friends of Nature Research and the Regensburg Botanical Society in Germany. When Catharina was alive, Dillenburg was part of the Orange-Nassau principality. And Catharine's 496-page flora called Flora for Orange-Nassau was published in 1777. Catharina not only used the Linnaean system to organize and name each specimen, but she also named two new fungi ("funj-eye") - two little lichens - she named major Doerrieni ("Durr-ee-en-ee") and minor Doerrieni- an extraordinary accomplishment for a woman during the 1700s. As for her botanical illustrations, Catharina created over 1,400 illustrations of local flora and fauna. Yet, these masterpieces never made it into her flora. Instead, Catharina's botanical art became an heirloom passed down through the generations of the Erath family. In 1875 a few pieces of Catharina's work were shown at an exhibition. However, fifteen years later, a large collection of paintings by Johann Philipp Sandberger was bought by the Museum of Wiesbaden. Johann was a dear friend of Anton Erath's, and today, his work is considered to be copies of Catharine's original watercolor masterpieces. Still, Sandberger's pieces are precious because they give us a glimpse of Catharine's breadth and depth of talent. Without Sandberger, all would be lost because the bulk of Catharine's work has been lost to time. The curator Friedrich von Heinbeck once said that the precision of Catharine's brush strokes was like that of an embroiderer who stitched with only the finest of thread.   1848 Birth of Augustus Saint Gaudens ("gaw-dens") (books about this person), American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation. He is remembered for his stunning Civil War monuments, including a work called Abraham Lincoln: The Man.  In Augustus Saint Gaudens, biography, Reminiscences, he wrote, What garlic is to salad, insanity is to art. The Frick museum has a medallion carved by Augustus. He was a fan of Robert Louis Stephenson, and the two met toward the end of Stephenson's life. The medallion has an inscription: Stevenson's poem Underwoods (1887), which reads: Youth now flees on feathered foot Faint and fainter sounds the flute  … Where hath fleeting beauty led?  To the doorway of the dead  Life is over, life was gay We have come the primrose way.   1877 Birth of Lenore Elizabeth Mulets, children's author, poet, and teacher  Born Nora Mulertz in Kansas, Lenore's mother died when she was ten, and so she was raised by her uncle. In addition to teaching, Lenore was a marvelous children's author. Her books were always charming, and her titles include Stories of Birds, Flower Stories, Insect Stories, and Tree Stories, just to name a few. In the preface to Flower Stories, Lenore wrote, When the flowers of the field and garden  lift their bright faces to you,  can you call them by name  and greet them as old acquaintances?  Or, having passed them a hundred times,  are they still strangers to you? And in her book Stories of Birds, Lenore wrote: Such a twittering and fluttering there was when this news came.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Stylish Succulent Designs by Jessica Cain  This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is & Other Botanical Crafts. Jessica wants to teach you how to elevate your succulent creations and learn the tricks you need to know to create professional-quality succulent arrangements made simple! Jessica is the creator and owner of "In Succulent Love." She is a native of San Diego, the succulent capital of the world, and she fell in love with making succulent arrangements after working with succulents with her grandmother. Jessica's DIY guide teaches how to makeover forty creative projects using many varieties of succulents, air plants, and other easy-care botanicals. This book is 176 pages of creating beautiful and lush succulent designs that are simple to make and will last for months.  You can get a copy of Stylish Succulent Designs by Jessica Cain and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $2.   Botanic Spark 1958 On this day, The New Yorker published gardener and garden writer Katharine White's (books about this person)review of garden catalogs.  It was the first time a garden catalog received a published review, and it was an immediate hit. Readers wrote in to request the name of the author since Katharine had signed off with only her initials, KSW. Katherine was married to EB White - the author of Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little.  But the garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence (books about this person) figured out that KSW was Katherine, and she sent her a letter a month later. The two women would exchange correspondence about gardening for the rest of their lives. Here's an excerpt from Elizabeth's letter: I asked Mrs. Lamm if you were Mrs. E. B. White, and she said you were. So please tell Mr. E. B. that he has three generations of devoted readers in this family... Have you the charming Barnhaven catalogs? (Gresham, Oregon).  You should, even if you don’t want rare primroses. And do you know Harry E. Saier? Dimondale, Michigan. I subscribe to his Garden Magazine too. Used to be free, now a dollar a year ...comes four times a year, if it comes.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1533 Birth of Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (books by this author), also known as Lord of Montaigne, French Renaissance philosopher. He was a prolific writer and was famous for his anecdotes. He once wrote, I want death to find me planting my cabbages, neither worrying about it nor the unfinished gardening.”   1828 On this day, Frederick William Beechey (books about this person) wrote to William Jackson Hooker (books about this person) to apologize for sending an inferior collection of specimens. He explained that the expedition's collector opted to play the violin seven hours each day instead of exploring and gathering plants.   1844 The New England Journal published a little notice about a use for the milky sap of Sumac: [It] is the best indelible ink that can be used.  Break off one of the stems that support the leaves, and write...  In a short time it becomes a beautiful jet black, and can never be washed out.   1877 Birth of André Simon (books by this author), French wine merchant, wine expert, and writer. In The Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy (1952), André wrote, Beans... possess over all vegetables the great advantage of being just as good, if not better, when kept waiting, an advantage in the case of people whose disposition or occupation makes it difficult for them to be punctual at mealtime.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Hill House Living by Paula Sutton This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is The Art of Creating a Joyful Life. Paula's book is a delight. It's part antique-hunting, part gardening, and part a celebration of the seasons. A beloved British design and fashion influencer, Paula left her busy life in London at age 50 and started over in a gorgeous cottage home in the country. Paula likes to say she traded catwalks for dog walks (she has a beautiful lab) and couture for manure. A master of styling with vintage treasures in the home and outside in the garden, Paula shares all of her top tips and tricks for bargain hunting, repurposing, and incorporating old and new in a way that feels fresh, simple, and stylish. As a person, Paula is positive, generous, and authentic. You will love following her on social and having a little bit of her genius right on your bookcase, coffee table, or bedside table (which is where mine is as I write this ;). You can get a copy of Hill House Living by Paula Sutton and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $15.   Botanic Spark 1865 Birth of Arthur William Symons (books by this author), British poet, critic, and magazine editor. Here's an excerpt from his poem, Lillian, which appreciates the green powers of the hot-house: This was a sweet white wildwood violet I found among the painted slips that grow Where, under hot-house glass, the flowers forget How the sun shines, and how the cool winds blow.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1872 Birth of Anna Gilman Hill, Director of the Garden Club of America (1920-1926) and assistant editor of the Club's Bulletin (1921-1945). Anna and her husband own an estate in East Hampton called "Grey Gardens," which was purchased by the American socialite Edith Bouvier Beale. Anna once wrote, Above all, in your absence, do not allow the children, the ignorant visitor, your husband, or your maiden aunt to play the hose on your poor defenseless plants.   1943 Birth of George Harrison (books about this person), English musician and singer-songwriter, and lead guitarist of the Beatles. His original song compositions include While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes the Sun. Sometimes referred to as the "Quiet Beatle," George relished his life out of the spotlight and said, I'm not really a career person. I'm a gardener, basically... Sometimes I feel like I'm actually on the wrong planet. It's great when I'm in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate, I think, 'What the hell am I doing here?"   1989 On this day, The Age newspaper out of Melbourne, Australia, ran a story about a brand new play written by Suzanne Spunner called "Edna for the Garden." The play featured the charismatic Australian gardener, designer, conservationist, and writer Edna Walling. During her lifetime, her garden design clients would say to their friends, You must have Edna for the garden. The familiar saying inspired the name of the play.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Secret Gardeners by Victoria Summerley This book came out late in 2017, and the subtitle is Britain's Creatives Reveal Their Private Sanctuaries. This book features the private gardens, the secret gardens, of some of Britain's most famous artists. In all, twenty-five gardens are featured in this drop-dead gorgeous book. You'll get to see the gardens of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anish Kapoor, Jeremy Irons, Cath Kidston, Terry Gilliam, Prue Leith, Ozzy Osbourne, Sting, Julian Fellowes, and Rupert Everett, just to name a few. For the most part, these private sanctuaries - these great spaces - are not for public consumption. Without Victoria and Hugo's book, these gardens would remain hidden; they would remain secret gardens. But thankfully and generously, they all agreed to be part of this incredible book. In the introduction, Victoria reveals how she and Hugo have connected with these beautiful spaces. They've done a couple of great books together:   Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds (2015) Great Gardens of London (2019) Victoria writes, When planning this book, Hugo Ritson Thomas and I did not set out to feature famous people who had lovely garden. Our original concept was a book on artist's gardens, looking at how those who had some training or background in the visual arts organize their outdoor spaces. We were all very enthusiastic about the idea, but realized that it might have a broader appeal if we included people who were involved in the performance arts as well. I'm often asked how I choose the garden for my books. The answer is that I don't — Hugo does. I have a power of veto… but Hugo is the one who persuades people to open their gates and let us in.  How he does this I have no idea. I am firmly of the belief that Hugo could persuade St. Peter to open the gates of heaven... If our publisher decided to... commission a book on the Garden of Eden. Hugo and Victoria make a lovely garden book team. Hugo's indelible images transport us to these wonderful spaces, and Victoria helps us appreciate them on a much deeper level than we would otherwise without her lovely commentary. When you pick up a Victoria Summerly/Hugo Rittson Thomas book, you know it's going to be beautiful, you know that the gardens will be world-class, and you know that you're buying a book that is not for the bookshelf. It's way too pretty for that. This is a book that is set out so that when you walk by, you're tempted to stop and to read it — or when someone visits your home, they see that beautiful book and fall in love. This book is 272 pages of gorgeous, sublime, unforgettable, imaginative, secret gardens that are sure to knock your socks off. You can get a copy of Secret Gardeners by Victoria Summerley and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $30.   Botanic Spark 1881 Birth of Olive Mary Edmundson Harrisson, British horticulturist. In 1898, Olive was the top student at Swanley Horticultural College and placed first on her exams with 285 points. By rights, she should have earned a spot at the RHS garden in Chiswick, £5,000, and a scholarship. But Olive was born just a bit too early because the RHS declined to recognize Olive's accomplishment since they were still an all-male institution. Women made up 10 of the top 25 test scores for 1898. So, two Marys, three Ethels, one Jessie, a Lillian, a Eunice, and an Ada, would not have been able to work at the RHS either. Olive's story was uncovered by a researcher at the RHS Lindley Library and then picked up by the BBC. The media attention led to a connection with Olive's descendants, who confirmed Olive's lifelong love of gardening. After her exam, Olive did eventually find work as a gardener. In 1901, she worked for the Cadbury family (the Cadbury's loved their gardens). Once she married in 1904, Olive stayed home to raise her family. Olive died in 1972 in Seattle.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1743 Birth of Joseph Banks (books about this person), English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Joseph is best known for his study of Australian flora and fauna as the botanist on board the Endeavor with Captain James Cook. Before returning to England, Cook worried the Endeavor wouldn't make it around the Cape of Good Hope. In a fateful decision, Cook brought the ship to Batavia, a Dutch colony, to fortify his boat. Batavia was rife with malaria and dysentery. As a result, Cook lost 38 crewmembers. Joseph and fellow botanist, Daniel Solander, became gravely ill but managed to survive. Even as they battled back from illness, they still went out to collect specimens. As gardeners, we owe a great debt to Joseph. When he returned to England, Joseph Banks advised George III on creating the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. And, in 1778, when Linnaeus died, Joseph acted with haste to buy Linnaeus's belongings on behalf of the Linnaeus Society. When the king of Sweden realized Linnaeus' legacy was no longer in the country, he sent a fast ship to pursue the precious cargo. But Joseph was too quick, and that's how Linnaeus's collection came to reside in London at the Linnaeus Society's Burlington House and not in Sweden. Earlier this month, there was breaking news that the HMS Endeavor was discovered lying at the bottom of the Newport Harbour in the United States. In 1778, 35 years after the Endeavor brought Joseph Banks and Captain Cook to Australia, the ship was sold. HMS Endeavor was renamed Lord Sandwich, and then during the Revolutionary War, the British deliberately sunk her off the coast of Rhode Island.   1955 Birth of Steve Jobs (books about this person), founder of Apple. A lover of simplicity and elegance, Steve once said, The most sublime thing I’ve ever seen are the gardens around Kyoto.   To Steve, the ultimate Kyoto garden was the Saiho-ji ("Sy-ho-jee") - and most people would agree with him. The dream-like Saiho-ji garden was created by a Zen priest, poet, calligrapher, and gardener named Muso Soseki ("MOO-so SO-sec-key") in the 14th century during the Kamakura ("Comma-COOR-rah") Period. The Saiho-ji Temple is affectionately called koke-dera or the Moss Temple - a reference to the over 120 moss species found in the garden. Steve Jobs wasn't the only celebrity to find zen at Saiho-ji - David Bowie was also a huge fan. And when it comes to design, there's a Steve Jobs quote that garden designers should pay attention to, and it goes like this: Design is a funny word.  Some people think design means how it looks.  But... if you dig deeper, it's really how it works.   1963 On this day, The Anniston Star out of Anniston, Alabama, published a little retrospective on the adventures of Joseph Rock, the great Austrian-American botanist, and explorer, who had passed away almost three months earlier in Honolulu at 79. Joseph was born in Austria but ended up immigrating to the United States and eventually settled in Hawaii, where he was beloved. He became Hawaii's first official botanist. Before he died, the University of Hawaii granted Joseph an honorary doctor of Science degree. In addition to plants, Joseph had a knack for languages. He cataloged and transcribed Chinese manuscripts and wrote a dictionary of one of the tribal languages. He had an enormous intellect and was multi-talented. In addition to being a botanist, he was a linguist. He was also regarded as a world-expert cartographer, ornithologist, and anthropologist. From a gardening standpoint, Joseph Rock introduced blight-resistant Chestnut trees to America. He also brought us more than 700 species of rhododendron. Some of his original rhododendron seeds were successfully grown in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Joseph spent much of his adult life - more than 20 years - in southwestern China. There were many instances where he was the first explorer to enter many of the locations he visited. Joseph became so embedded in the country that there were many times that his counterparts in other parts of the world thought that he might have died in the Tibetan or Yunnan ("YOU-nan") mountains. And so it was on this day that The Anniston Star shared a few of Joseph's most hair-raising adventures, including this little story called Night Amid Coffins. Two of Dr. Rock's expeditions (1923-24 and 1927-30) were sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Reporting on the first of these in September 1925. National Geographic Magazine. Rock [was] trapped by bandits in the funeral chamber of an old temple in a small settlement north of Yunnanfu. While the small army he had hired for protection kept the brigands at bay, the explorer (Rock) sat amid coffins, with two .45 caliber pistols (one in each hand), and his precious plant collection nearby. By morning, the bandits had disappeared, though Dr. Rock noticed several heads hanging from poles outside the village.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Claudia Roden's Mediterranean by Claudia Roden This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is Treasured Recipes from a Lifetime of Travel. A legendary cookbook writer, anthropologist, and regional cuisine expert, Claudia Roden ("Roe-din") began traveling the Mediterannean when her kids left home. She traveled extensively through the area and fell in love with Mediterranean food. And in this book, Mediterranean means favorites from France, Greece, Spain, Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco. Claudia knows the slight differences that make the flavors of these regions. Listen to how the ingredients - like herbs, vegetables, and citrus - get used in different places. Claudia writes: Despite the similarities, there are distinct differences. Where the French use cognac, Sicilians use Marsala, and Spaniards sherry. Where Italians use mozzarella, Parmesan, pecorino or ricotta; the French use goat cheese or Gruyère ("groo-yair"), and the Greeks Turks Lebanese and Egyptians use feta or halloumi ("huh-loo-mee"). Where an Egyptian or Syrian would use ground almonds or pine nuts in a sauce, a Turk uses walnuts. Crème fraîche is used in France, where yogurt and buffalo-milk cream are used in the eastern Mediterranean. In the northern Mediterranean, the flavors are of herbs that gow wild; in the eastern and southern Mediterranean, they are of spices, flower waters, and molasses. In Turkey they flavor their meats with cinnamon and allspice, in Morocco they use cumin, saffron, cinnamon, and ginger. While a fish soup in the French Midi includes orange zest and saffron, in Tunisia it will have cumin, paprika, cayenne, and cilantro leaves. It's as if the common language of the Mediterranean is spoken in myriad dialects.   Claudia grew up in Egypt. She was born there in 1936. She also spent lots of time with extended family in France and Spain. The cookbook shares some of her personal stories as well. Claudia's dishes are a little bit of everything - simple to sophisticated. But the recipes take center stage and speak for themselves - magnified by spectacular photography. Recipes range the gamut from appetizers to desserts and include:

• Focaccia
• Tapenade
• Fresh Goat Cheese with Herbs and Olives
• Roasted Cheese Polenta Cubes
• Green Olive, Walnut, and Pomegranate Salad
• Yogurt Soup with Orzo and Chickpeas (Perfect For Summer!)
• Hot Chilled Cream of Beet and Yogurt Soup
• Citrus Salad with Greens
• Winter Arugula with Pancetta and Grapes
• Roasted Celery Root Sweet Potato and Carrot with Tarragon Vinaigrette,
• Potato Omelette
• Chicken with Grapes
• Chicken with Apricots and Pistachios

This book is 320 pages of what Josep Pla called cooking: the Landscape in a saucepan You can get a copy of Claudia Roden's Mediterranean by Claudia Roden and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $25.   Botanic Spark 1749 Birth of Mary Eleanor Bowes (books about this person), English Countess of Strathmore, grandmother of John Bowes, and ancestor to the late Queen Mother. After her father died when she was 11, she became the wealthiest and most educated woman in England. After the death of her first husband, she was tricked into marrying a man who abused her nearly to death more than once. But before this torturous time in her life, she loved learning, she loved collecting, and she loved botany. Her father created an amazon garden at the family's beloved Gibside estate in Northumberland. For Lady Eleanor, botany was not only a genuine passion but a way to stay connected to her father and his legacy. Lady Eleanor was very interested in plant exploration and the latest plant discoveries. She had hothouses installed at Gibside and at Stanley House in London near the Chelsea Physick Garden. She hired the Scottish botanist, William Paterson, to collect plants on Cape of Good Hope in South Africa during four expeditions between 1777 and 1779. Lady Eleanor came up with some unique ways to showcase her love of botany. Around 1780, she commissioned an extraordinary mahogany botany cabinet that featured long drawers on the side of the cabinet for dry specimens and live specimens. The side of the cabinet flipped down to create a little desktop and to make it possible to access the drawers. The front of the cabinet was adorned with holly swags and seven medallions with the heads of great men like Shakespeare, Theophrastus, and Alexander Pope. The cabinet also had a bottom shelf that would have had a lead-lined tray for plants. The lead-lined legs of the cabinet had taps and would have held water. The water could have been used for the live plants sitting on the tray or perhaps the humidity somehow helped preserve the dried specimens. Obviously, the combination of water and wood never works well, but nonetheless, that was the original design idea. Up until the 1850s, the cabinet was known to hold some of her most prized herbarium specimens, but after Lady Eleanor's death, they were lost to time when the cabinet was sold. The other unique botanical element Lady Eleanor enjoyed was an adorable little plant theatre at Gibside. The theater was essentially a little alcove or niche recessed into the brick wall that wrapped around the garden. The niche was then filled with prized potted plants. Today there is an adorable pale blue painted wooden frame around the alcove with the words "Plant Theatre "written across the top of the frame. During her disastrous and tortured second marriage, which lasted for nearly a decade, Lady Eleanor was forced to give up her botanical endeavors and almost everything she enjoyed in life. In the end, one of her maids helped her escape her husband. Lady Eleanor became the first woman to keep her property after divorce. Shortly thereafter, she signed her properties over to her eldest son - including her most precious possession: her beloved Gibside and its garden - her father's legacy.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee   Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1756 Birth of the handsome and tall Swedish botanist, Pehr Loefling. Pehr met Carl Linnaeus at the University of Uppsala, where Carl was his professor. Early on, Carl dubbed Pehr his "most beloved pupil," and he started calling Pehr "the Vulture." Carl came up with the moniker after observing that Pehr had an intuitive way of finding plants and observing the most minute details of plant specimens. After graduating, Carl recommended Pehr for an opportunity in Madrid. Pehr landed the position, learned Spanish, and was soon called Pedro by his friends. In short order, Pehr joined a Royal Spanish Expedition to South America. His mission was to find and learn about an improved cinnamon species. Two years into the trip, Pehr was botanizing in Venezuela when he died of malaria on the banks of the Caroní River. He was buried beneath an orange tree. He was 27 years old. By the end of the year, over half of the expedition's men would be dead from disease compounded by hunger and fatigue. When Linnaeus heard the news about Pehr, he wrote to a friend, The great Vulture is dead.   1801 Birth of William Barnes (books about this person), English polymath, writer, and inventor. He wrote over 800 poems and had familiarity with over 70 different languages. The English writers Thomas Hardy and Edmund Gosse visited William on his deathbed. Edmund later wrote that William was dying as picturesquely as he lived... We found him in bed in his study, his face turned to the window, where the light came streaming in through flowering plants, his brown books on all sides of him save one, the wall behind him being hung with old green tapestry.   Any gardener who loves their garden has likely thought about the day they'll have to say goodbye. William wrote about that moment in a little poem called To a Garden—On Leaving It. Sweet garden! peaceful spot! no more in thee Shall I ever while away the sunny hour. Farewell each blooming shrub, and lofty tree; Farewell, the mossy path and nodding flower: I shall not hear again from yonder bower The song of birds, or humming of the bee, Nor listen to the waterfall, nor see The clouds float on behind the lofty tower. My eyes no more may see, this peaceful scene. But still, sweet spot, wherever I may be, My love-led soul will wander back to thee.   1870 Birth of Adolph G. Rosengarten, Sr., American businessman. His family pharmaceutical company would become part of Merck in the 1920s. In 1913, Adolph and his wife Christine wanted to escape the heat of Philadelphia and find a place suitable for a country home. They settled on a piece of land in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and commissioned their former friend and classmate Charles Borie to design the house and Landscape architect Thomas Sears to work on the terraces. After 1924, the family lived there year-round. Adolph named the estate Chanticleer as a tongue-in-cheek nod to "Chanticlere" in William Makepeace Thackeray's The Newcomes (1855), wherein the estate was "mortgaged up to the very castle windows." Adolph always said he sympathized with the fictional Chanticlere owner from the novel. The etymology of Chanticleer means rooster, and that's why there are so many rooster motifs at Chanticleer (books about this garden). Today the public garden at Chanticleer is among the best in the United States. The grounds occupy 35 of the 50 acres owned by the foundation. The garden opened to the public in 1993. The job of maintaining and designing Chanticleer now falls to seven full-time horticulturists who strive to preserve and improve a garden that's been called America's most romantic and creative garden.   1939 Birth of Phyllis Theroux (books by this author), American writer and journalist. She grew up in San Francisco following World War II. She once wrote, I think this is what hooks one to gardening: it is the closest one can come to being present at creation.   Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Flower Hunter by Lucy Hunter This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is Seasonal flowers inspired by nature and gathered from the garden. Lucy Hunter is a floral whisperer. She knows how to create beauty - true, artistic, Raphaelian, dreamy, sumptuous beauty. For a first book, Lucy has given gardeners quite a gift. Gardeners love nothing better than chatting with other gardeners and seeing their gardens. How do you do this? Why do you grow that? What do you do with this flower? In The Flower Hunter, Lucy Hunter welcomes us to a year in her North Wales garden. And trust me; you want to see what Lucy is doing with the beauty she finds in her own backyard. Lucy is generous with her step-by-step tutorials. She inspires with her essays on working with natural elements. She’s funny, too. And Her photography is top of the top. Even if you feel no match for Lucy’s level of mastery, she manages to help connect the reader to the well of creativity, the tiny spark of inspiration that each of us possesses. As gardeners, we see the beauty in the every day. We know how to find peace in nature. Lucy extends that serenity and joy and puts it to work in creating more than just exquisite floral arrangements. She also demonstrates other projects like drying flowers for a fall wreath, making natural dyes (easier than you think), and creating your own journal (more fun than you think!). Lucy Hunter has two decades of floral, photography, and landscape design experience. She is a naturalist at heart. She is an edge-softener, an evocateur, a seasonal transition lover, a rose lover and guru, a believer in potential, and a pathfinder to your own creative voice. You’d better believe that her Instagram is amazing. You can follow her @lucytheflowerhunter. This book is 208 pages of Lucy Hunter doing what Lucy Hunter does best: florals, beauty, softness, nature, and sparks. You can get a copy of The Flower Hunter by Lucy Hunter and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $25.   Botanic Spark 1892 Birth of Edna St. Vincent Millay (books by this author), American lyrical poet and playwright. Gardeners know many of Edna's verses like: April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. I would blossom if I were a rose. I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.   But there's a touching little poem of Edna's that was published posthumously. that I thought I'd end the show with today. It's a lovely spring poem called, If It Should Rain. The American actress Kathleen Chalfant once said that her friend Sloane Shelton would repeat the last three lines before going to sleep at the end of particularly hard days. If it should rain --(the sneezy moon Said: Rain)--then I shall hear it soon From shingles into gutters fall... And know of what concerns me, all: The garden will be wet till noon-- I may not walk-- my temper leans To myths and legends--through the beans Till they are dried-- lest I should spread Diseases they have never had. I hear the rain: it comes down straight. Now I can sleep, I need not wait To close the windows anywhere. Tomorrow, it may be, I might Do things to set the whole world right. There's nothing I can do tonight.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.