The Daily Gardener

Are you growing Cleome? My daughter just had her senior pictures taken and I took some cuttings from the garden for her to hold during her photo shoot. For one of the pictures, I had her hold just one large white blossom in her hands. It looked like a giant puffball and it had a very etherial quality about it Cleome is beautiful - but it is also sticky - so keep that in mind if you handle it. I know some gardeners have no trouble sowing cleome directly into their gardens, but some gardeners complain that it can be an inconsistent germinater. I like to sow cleome right now since the seeds like strong light to get going. Sometimes cleome can benefit from staking - so keep that in mind as well. And, if you are planning a cutting garden, it is hard to beat cleome. The blooms are a show-stealer in any arrangement. Brevities #OTD The Botanic garden at Oxford, also known as the Physic Garden, was founded on this day in 1632. The garden is the oldest in England. When the garden was founded,the ground where the garden stands had been raised to protect it from floods. During the founding ceremony, dignitaries of the University walked in a procession from St. Mary's church to the garden. Mr. Edward Dawson, a physician, and Dr. Clayton, the Regius Professor of Medicine, each gave a speech and a stone was placed in the garden gateway by the Vice-Chancellor himself. #OTD Today is the birthday of William Forsyth who was born on this day in 1804. Forsyth was a Scottish botanist. He trained as a gardener at the Physic Garden and was an apprentice to Philip Miller, the chief gardener. In 1771, Forsyth himself took over the chief gardening position. Three years later, he built one of the very first rock gardens with over 40 tons of stone collected from the land around the Tower of London and even some pieces of lava imported from Iceland. The effort was noted for posterity, the garden was a bust. Forsyth was also the founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. The genus, Forsythia, is named in his honor. #OTD The English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge died on this day in 1834. Along with his friend, William Wordsworth, he helped found the Romantic Movement in England and was a member of a group called the Lake Poets. In his poem called Youth and Age, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, "Flowers are lovely; Love is flower-like; Friendship is a sheltering tree;" #OTD On this day in 1938, Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") wrote about sharing his garden with a toad. He wrote, "One particular toad has taken quite a fancy to the Wild Flower garden. His den is alongside the Hepatica plant. There he sits half buried, and blinks up at me while I shower water on him." Unearthed Words Here are a few English proverbs about July: "If the first of July be rainy weather, It will rain, more of less, for four weeks together." "The glowing Ruby should adorn Those who in warm July are born, Then will they be exempt and free From love's doubt and anxiety." Today's book recommendation: The Fragrant Path by Louise Beebe Wilder This is a wonderful guide to the cultivation of scented flowers. The newly revised edition includes modern varieties as well. The late Louise Beebe Wilder is that rare figure, a garden writer from another era (she was born in 1878). Her books continue to be published because they are so charming and contain a wealth of horticultural knowledge. Today's Garden Chore Go to a local farmers market - not for the produce - for the knowledge. The growers at the farmer's market have an expertise about growing that is often an untapped resource. Plus, the growers are so generous with Information. It's always a pleasure to talk to someone who has first-hand knowledge about growing plants. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Today in 1874, the The Opelousas Courier shared a wonderful story called "A Case of Floral Offerings." The story was from Berlin, it told of an actress who was playing the role of a female Hamlet. She wanted to have bouquets and wreaths thrown to her at the end of her performance. When a man told her that the flowers would cost $20, the actress said that it was too much for one night. But, the gentleman had an idea. He said, twenty dollars would be sufficient for two nights. And he explained how it would work. He said, "Today, I and my men, will throw the bouquets to you from the first tier. After the performance is over, I shall take the flowers home with me in a basket [and] put them in water... Tomorrow night [we will toss them at your feet again]. No one in the audience will know that the bouquets have been used before." The actress liked to the man's ingenious plan and paid the sum he had demanded. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Are you a fan of basil? A few years ago, I produced an entire long-format show about basil for the Still Growing podcast. It was Episode 573, and I called it Basilmania. At one point or another, we've all needed an introduction to basil and to pesto. So, if you've never grown basil, or smelled basil, or tasted it, or cooked with basil - I want to introduce you to it. I'd love it if someday you look back and say - yeah that Basilmania episode on Still Growing - that's what made me want to give basil a try. If you're an experienced basil gardener, you also it because I take you through some of the amazing varieties of basil - just know that there are over a hundred - (and I give you some ideas for what you can do with them). From a growing standpoint, I share how to grow it from seed, how to propagate it (it's so easy - its insane), offer some basic cultivation tips, and provide answers to some common questions about problems folks can have growing basil. I also tell you about harvesting and storing all of your green gold - your basil leaves. And then I wrap up with my favorite part of growing basil - eating it. I'll share my pesto tips and give you some pretty amazing recipes that may or may not incorporate pesto. Whew! So, check it out on my blog or on your favorite podcast player just search for the word Basilmania (SG573) and the Still Growing podcast episode should pop right up. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Benning Wentworth who was born on this day in 1696. Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766. Wentworth is important to North American gardeners, because Wentworth had brought the lilac along with other trees and shrubs when he immigrated to America from England. In 1750, the first lilac was planted at the Wentworth home. In 1919, it was adopted as the New Hampshire State Flower because lawmakers felt it was, "symbolic of the hardy character of the men and women of New Hampshire; the granite state." #OTD It's the birthday of one of the man who created the Missouri Botanical Gardens also known as "Shaw's Garden," or "Hank's Garden" - I'm talking about none other than the great Henry Shaw who was born on this day in 1800. Shaw is easily in the top ten of any list of great American botanical philanthropists. Shaw is commemorated on the St. Louis Walk of Fame with this epitaph: Henry Shaw, only 18 when he came to St. Louis, was one of the city's largest landowners by age 40. Working with leading botanists, he planned, funded and built the Missouri Botanical Garden, which opened in 1859. Shaw donated the land for Tower Grove Park and helped with its construction. He wrote botanical tracts, endowed Washington University's School of Botany, helped found the Missouri Historical Society, and gave the city a school and land for a hospital. Of Shaw's gifts, the Botanical Garden is best-known. Said as early as 1868 to have "no equal in the United States, and, indeed, few anywhere in the world." In addition to the Botanical Garden, Shaw built the Linnean House in 1882. It is the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi River and was originally designed to be an orangery; a place to overwinter citrus trees, palms and tree ferns. And, there's a little story I love that reveals Shaw's regard for the plants in his garden. It was posted in the St. Louis Star and Times on April 5, 1933 "Mr. Shaw was escorting a lady through his gardens, pointing out objects of interest. The visitor said: " I cannot understand, Sir, how you are able to remember all of these difficult names." He replied, with a courtly bow, "Madame, did you ever know a mother to forget the names of her children? These plants and flowers are my little ones." #OTD Today in 1938, The Miami News posted an article about pigeon peas. The article begins this way, "If English peas don't suit your palate, plant pigeon peas. The suggestion is that of a Miami pioneer, Charles F. Sulzner, who through the years has pointed out to newcomers the advantages of growing tropical fruits and vegetables, often of a type requiring no painstaking cultivation... Pigeon peas, as Sulzner demonstrated in his spacious grounds at 236 S. W. Second St grow on trees, and may be had by the simple process of picking. Pigeon peas make a lovely and distinct addition to the edible garden. The cultivation of the pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), can be traced back more than 3,500 years. Other common names include: Congo pea, Angola pea and red gram. In Barbados, pigeon pea was used to feed pigeons. Gardeners who love growing peas in the spring, may thoroughly enjoy growing pigeon pea in the summer. It's a hardy perennial that can produce multiple harvests during the season. The sweet, fresh green peas are technically beans. They can be eaten fresh when green or dried. The dried beans need to be soaked before boiling. Pigeon peas have a nutty taste and crisp texture. The entire pod may be eaten. As a bonus, the yellow-red flowers att

Today, Catholics honor St. Phocas the Gardener who lived in Turkey during the third century. A protector of persecuted Christians, Phocas grew crops in his garden to help feed the poor. Phocas is remembered for his hospitality and generosity; his garden played an important part in living both of those virtues. When Roman soldiers were sent to kill him, they could not find shelter for the night. Naturally, when Phocas encountered them, he not only offered them lodging, but a meal made from the bounty of his garden. During the meal, Phocas realized they had come for him. While the soldiers slept that night, he dug his own grave and prayed for the soldiers. In the morning, Phocas told the soldiers who he was and the soldiers, who could conceive of no other option, reluctantly killed him and buried him in the grave he had dug for himself. Although gardening can be a solitary activity, may we follow in the footsteps of Phocas the gardener, using our gardens to connect us to others through generosity and hospitality. Brevities #OTD Today is the birthday of Frances Ropes Williams, born on this day in 1883. Williams had a shady garden in Winchester, Massachusetts. And, what is the most-used plant by shade gardeners? Hostas. That's right. And, Williams had an appreciation for hostas before they became widely used in the United States. A graduate of MIT, Williams was lucky enough to get the chance to work with Warren H. Manning, the famous Boston landscape architect, for a little over two years. Williams stopped working to marry Stillman Williams. But sadly, he died after almost twenty years of marriage, leaving Frances with four young children - two boys and two girls. Williams and her family loved the outdoors. When the kids were little, Williams made them one of the very first playsets. When the children were grown, Williams found purpose in her garden and she zeroed in on her hostas. She became known for hybridizing them and she even wrote about them for various botanical magazines. Williams discovered the hosta that would be named for her honor quite by happenstance. She had visited her daughter in college in New York, and she stopped by Bristol Nurseries in Connecticut on her way home. Nestled in a row of Hosta sieboldiana,was a hosta that had a yellow edge. Williams bought it and continued to grow it in her garden. Years later, Williams hosta ended up in the hands of Professor George Robinson at Oxford. Williams had labeled the plant FRW 383. When the professor couldn't remember what Williams had labeled the plant, he simply called it hosta Frances Williams. Williams work with hosta helped the newly-formed American Hosta Society. After she died in 1969, a hosta garden was planted in her memory at MIT. #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of John Goldie who died on this day in 1886. Goldie was a Scottish-born botanist and author. He led an extraordinary life. He started out as an apprentice at the Glasgow Botanic Garden. As a young man, another botanist bumped him off what was to be his first plant exploration. However the botanical gods were smiling on him. The expedition was doomed when most of the party died from coast fever along the Congo River. Two years later, William Hooker encouraged Goldie to travel to North America. He started in Montreal and made his way down the Hudson River to New York. He wrote that he carried as many botanical specimens "as his back would carry." Goldie returned to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens and for five years, he trained an eager young apprentice and fellow Scottsman named David Douglas. When Douglas met an early death, Goldie planted a Douglas-Fir next to his house to remember his young friend. After Goldie discovered the giant wood fern, Hooker called it Dryopteris goldieana in his honor and it earned the name Goldie's woodfern. Goldie worked tirelessly and he recorded a total of fourteen plant species previously unknown to science. Unearthed Words Here's a poem from Raymond A. Foss called Summer Rain "A break in the heat away from the front no thunder, no lightning, just rain, warm rain falling near dusk falling on eager ground steaming blacktop hungry plants thirsty turning toward the clouds cooling, soothing rain splashing in sudden puddles catching in open screens that certain smell of summer rain." Today's book recommendation: The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden Hardcover by Rick Darke and Douglas W. Tallamy What if you're looking for a landscape that's not only beautiful, functional and productive, but also nourishes and fosters wildlife. That's the aim of The Living Landscape. Darke and Tallamy describe how plants can be used for multiple uses in the garden. Today's Garden Chore Buy a bolt of wedding tulle. Wedding tulle is the perfect protector for you summer crops and ornamental from Japanese Beetles and other ravenous insects. It's attractive and inexpensive; the perfect combination. You can get 600 feet of wedding tulle

Have you ever tried drying flowers? Successfully drying one of your favorite flowers is such a joy. Some flowers actually look even better when they are dried. There are many options for drying flowers; air drying is the simplest. Then, of course, there's pressing. If you've never tried sand drying a bloom, you should give it a shot. Just fill a microwave-safe container with a layer of silica sand. Put the bloom on top of the sand and then bury the bloom in sand. Place the bloom along with a cup of water in the microwave. Heat in microwave in 30 second increments. Your flower should be dried in 2-3 minutes. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1842, Asa Gray arrived at Harvard. He didn't have to start teaching until the following spring. Gray wasn't a great speaker, but he was respected by his peers and his students for his knowledge. #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of the physician and botanist Hugh Algernon Weddell who died on this day in 1877. Weddell specialized in South American flora and he collected specimens there for five years. Before he left Paris, Weddell was asked to look into the Cinchona, or "fever bark" tree. Cinchona is the source of quinine. Weddell did the job. He found multiple regions where the tree grew. In addition, he discovered fifteen species of the genus Cinchona (Rubiaceae). Weddell returned to Paris with the seeds and they were germinated in the botanical garden there. Weddell's seeds helped establish the Cinchona forests that were brought to Java and other islands in the East Indies. #OTD It's the birthday of Cornelius Herman ("Neil") Muller, the American botanist and ecologist, who was born on this day in 1909. Muller pioneered the study of allelopathy "uh·lee·luh·pa·thee." Allelopathy occurs when one plant species releases chemical compounds that affect another plant species. Most Gardeners know that the black walnut is an example of allelopathy. In addition to the leaves, black walnut trees store allopathic chemicals in their buds, in the hulls of the walnuts, and in their roots. #OTD Today in 1938, the St. Cloud Times ran a story about Miss Louise Klein Miller. Miller, at the age of 84, was retiring as supervisor of Cleveland's Memorial Gardens - after supervising them for over a quarter of a century. The first woman to attend Cornell University's school of forestry, Miller became the landscape architect for Cleveland schools; she was the only female landscape architect working in a large city school system. Collinwood is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland. On Ash Wednesday, March 4, 1908 the Collinwood school fire became one of the country's biggest tragedies. The school had only two exits, the construction created a chimney effect; the school became a fire trap. Almost half of the children in the building died. In 1910, Louise Klein Miller planned the Memorial Gardens to honor the 172 children, 2 teachers and 1 rescuer who died in in the blaze. The year before, in 1909, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that, "a memorial should stand in perpetuity to honor those who lost their lives in this school fire tragedy." The memorial is comprised of a large square planting bed is rimmed 3.5 foot walls made of concrete that are tiled. The plantable area of the memorial measures roughly 20' x 40'. There's also a deep bench around the perimeter and the walls are slanted to make seating more comfortable. The down side, is that the bench and the scale of the raised bed make access to the planting area is sometimes very challenging. During Miller's era, students grew flowers in a school greenhouse for the Memorial. Over the span of 70 years, the garden fell into neglect. 2018 was the 110th Anniversary of the Collinwood School Fire; there have been a few attempts to make sure the that garden continues to be a meaningful memorial. The struggle to maintain the Memorial continues. In July of 1910, there was an article in the Santa Cruz newspaper that described the new memorial garden - which at the time included a large lily pond: "There was a poet who said he sometimes thought that never blows so red the rose as where some buried Caesar bled; That every hyacinth the garden wears, drops in her lap from some once lovely head. Then there will never be lilies so fair as those that will bloom in the lily pond that is to be on the site of the Collinwood school." Unearthed Words "Our fear of death is like our fear that summer will be short, but when we have had our swing of pleasure, our fill of fruit, and our swelter of heat, we say we have had our day." - Ralph Waldo Emerson Today's book recommendation: Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds by Victoria Summerley This gorgeous book features 20 special British gardens and people who own and manage them. The book is photographed by Hugo Rittson-Thomas and written by Victoria Summerley, both of whom live in this part of England. Their combined knowledge and love of these gardens shines through in their depictions of each garden and t

What's the Difference Between Oregano and Marjoram? If you've grown both, you know they look quite similar and they are often confused for one another. But, when it comes to flavor and taste, it is easy to tell them apart. Oregano tends to be earthy, pungent, and spicy. It can easily overpower the other flavors in a dish. To subdue the pungency, cooks recommend using the dried form of oregano. On the other hand, marjoram is more mild. Use that alliteration to help you remember, Mild Marjoram. Marjoram's flavor is more refined; it's floral and woodsy. Because marjoram is sweeter and milder, chefs recommend using fresh marjoram instead of dried marjoram for cooking. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of the naturalist, botanist, ornithologist, prizewinning horticulturist, painter, archaeologist, historian, author of six books and a proud daughter of the great state of Louisiana: Caroline Dormon. Her friends called her "Carrie." Carrie was a tiny woman; she was also a powerhouse; she formed her own opinions and ideas about the natural world and she always wore dresses; she thought pants were quite scandalous. Carrie was born at her family's summer home called Briarwood. In the 1920's at Briarwood, Carrie built a writing cabin she called Three Pines because of the trio of tall pines around it. Carrie told her friends it was a place for daydreams. In the 1950's, a second cabin was built at Briarwood. Carrie liked to take the screens off the windows every spring so wrens could build nests inside. At Briarwood, Carrie installed trails through the woods, planted hundreds of plants and she even installed a reflecting pool for "Grandpappy" - her favorite tree on the property. Grandpappy is a longleaf pine and he's still alive today. Grandpappy is estimated to be over 300 years old. There's a story about Grandpappy that Carrie used to share with visitors. Once a forester wanted to "core" Grandpappy to determine a more exact age for the tree. Carrie stopped him and said, "It's none of your business how old Grandpappy is, or how old I am for that matter." #OTD On this day in 1920, John Macoun, one of Canada's leading botanists, passed away. He was 90 years old. Here's a little story he shared about Macoun's early life, growing up in Ireland: "We had a garden well fenced in, she encouraged us to spend our idle time in it... I seemed to prefer taking an old knife and going out to the fields and digging up flowers and bringing them in and making a flower garden of my own. I only remember primroses and the wild hyacinth. Another characteristic was the power of seeing. I could find more strawberries and more birds' nests ... than any other boy." After arriving in Canada, Macoun had started out as a farmer. In 1856, he became a school teacher; partly to nourish his nearly "obsessive" interest in botany, but also to find a more balanced life. Macoun wrote that before teaching, "I never had had more than one holiday in the year and that was Christmas Day. [My brother] Frederick and I might take a day's fishing in the summer, but an eight-mile walk and scrambling along the river was not very restful." Within five years, Macoun had begun regular correspondence with prominent botanists like Asa Gray and Sir William Hooker. In Macoun's autobiography, there are many touching passages about his love of botany. Here's a little glimpse into how he cultivated his own understanding of plants: "I would take a common species of roadside or garden plant of which I knew the name and then immediately endeavor to work out its correct name from the classification. The Mullein was the species that I took first. I found it more difficult than I had thought on account of its long and short stamens, but I soon came to understand the arrangement of the stamens and pistils so well that most plants could be classified by their form alone." Once, Macoun was approached by his future father-in-law, who was a bit skeptical of Macoun's prospects. Macoun wrote, " Simon Terrill, who was a well-known Quaker in that district, ... found me with a plant in my hand and said : "John, what dost thee ever expect to make out of the study of botany? I told him that I did not know but that it gave me a great deal of pleasure." Unearthed Words Flowers reflect the human search for meaning. Does not each of us, no matter how our life has gone, ache to have a life as beautiful and true to itself as that of a flower? Philip Moffitt Today's book recommendation: The Wild Garden by William Robinson Rick Darke updated this garden classic. At the time when Robinson first published the book, his natural vision for gardens was considered revolutionary. Today, we regard it as standard gardening. In addition to the complete original text and illustrations from the 1895 edition, this expanded edition includes material from Rick Darke the esteemed photographer and landscape consultant. Like Robinson, Darke seeks to show wild gardening in a modern context. The result is even more inspira

Have you tried growing the herb chervil? Chervil tastes similar to tarragon - it's sometimes called gourmet parsley. It has a wonderful fern-like leaf which turns red in the fall which is another plus. August is a wonderful time to sow chervil - so keep that in mind. The 1884 Dictionary of English Names of Plants lists chervil as "the shepherd's clock'' because the blossoms open at five in the morning and then close up around eight in the evening. The word chervil is derived from a Greek word meaning "the herb of rejoicing'' or "the cheer leaf." Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of the English naturalist, Gilbert White, who was born on this day in 1720. White kept a journal for almost three decades where he recorded observations of his garden. It was eventually published as a Calendar of Flora and the Garden, followed by the Naturalist's Journal. People immediately recognized White had a gift for observation and for describing with vivid clarity the goings-on in the natural world. Here's a little of what he wrote in his journal on this day in 1781; his 61st birthday: "Farmers complain that their wheat is blited. In the garden at Dowland's,... stands a large Liriodendrum tulipifera, or tulip-tree, which was in flower. The soil is poor sand; but produces beautiful pendulous Larches. Mr R's garden, ... abounds in fruit, & in all manner of good & forward kitchen-crops. Many China-asters this spring seeded themselves there... some cucumber-plants also grew-up of themselves from the seeds of a rejected cucumber thrown aside last autumn. Mr R's garden is at an average a fortnight before mine." #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the author and gardener Jane Austen. Austen loved gardens. She had a heart for ornamentals, herbs, and kitchen gardening. Her family always had a garden - growing their own food and beautifying their homes with flowers. In every single one of her books, Austen included gardens. We know from Austen's letters to her sister, Cassandra, that gardens brought her joy and they were also regulating. In 1807, she wrote about the redesign of her garden: "I could not do without a syringa... We talk also of a laburnum. The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries." In 1814, she wrote about the garden outside her rented room, "The garden is quite a love... I live in the room downstairs, it is particularly pleasant...opening upon the garden. I go and refresh myself every now and then, and then come back to Solitary Coolness." #OTD It was on this day in 1863 that the father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted, walked the battlefield of Gettysburg, just 15 days after the battle. Olmsted was the General Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) - overseeing the support of sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army during the Civil War. At times, Olmsted personally treated the battlefield wounds of soldiers. Olmsted was handpicked for the job thanks to his success in designing and overseeing New York City's Central Park, one of the country's largest public works projects. A week after the battle at Gettysburg, Olmsted arranged for 40 tons of supplies to flow into Gettysburg every day - bringing in items like surgeon's silk, fans, butter, shoes, and crutches. By July 18, the scene had settled down enough that Olmsted could walk the fields of Gettysburg. In Martin's biography of Olmsted, he shared that Olmsted, "was struck by the scale of the place; everything had happened across distances far greater than he had supposed." Ever attuned to the landscape, Olmsted also noted that, "The hills were gentle and rolling, so very out of kilter with the carnage that was everywhere still in evidence... Olmsted came across spent shells and twisted bayonets, broken-down wagons and half-buried dead horses. Particularly touching, to Olmsted, was the random strew of Union and Confederate caps, often together on the ground, shot through with bullet holes." Unearthed Words Recently, I've started collecting cuttings from my garden to make my own potpourris and sachets. Here's a quote from Eleanor Sinclair-Rhode about this lovely garden pastime: "No bought potpourri is so pleasant as that made from ones own garden, for the petals of the flowers one has gathered at home hold the sunshine and memories of summer, and of past summers only the sunny days should be remembered." Today's book recommendation: A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawrence As much as I love to garden, there are days when it's just too hot or humid to go out there. I draw the line when sweat starts to trickle into my eyeballs - then it's time to call it a day. Lawrence's Southern Garden is a classic. This is Lawrence's personal experience with gardening - my favorite kind of gardening book. Although Lawrence's growing zone isn't always applicable to where you might be gardening, I guarantee you'll learn somethin

The Daylilies are blooming their little hearts out right now. Daylilies are in the genus Hemerocallis which has about 15 species of daylilies. They are not part of the Lilium genus, which is the genus for true lilies. The name Hemerocalliscomes from the Greek words ἡμέρα (hemera) "day" and καλός (kalos) "beautiful". Especially in China, the daylily symbolizes motherhood. Their name alludes to the flowers which typically last no more than 24 hours (about a day or so). Daylily flower stems are called "scapes" and as one fades, the next one on the scape opens, keeping daylilies blooming for weeks or even months. Daylilies have been dubbed the 'perfect perennial' because their wonderful features: they are pretty low maintenance, beautiful colored blooms, tremendous drought tolerance, and they can grow in most zones. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1850, The Sydney Morning Herald shared an advertisement from plantsman John McMahon. McMahan advertised that he had put together a catalogue of nearly 2000 species of plants. For his customers, McMahon assured that, "Plants securely packed for long journeys, glazed plant cabins prepared, and filled with rare plants for transmission to Europe." #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of botanist Charles Theodore Mohr who died on this day in 1901. Charles Mohr was one of Alabama's first botanists. He was born in Germany and educated in Stuttgart - he was a trained pharmacist. Mohr traveled the world before settling in Alabama. He collected in Surinam, emigrated to the United States in 1848, took part in the California gold rush, lived briefly Mexico, Indiana, and Kentucky. Mohr spent decades gathering the information and plant specimens for his work. In 1857 he started Chas. Mohr & Son Pharmacists and Chemists in Mobile, Alabama. His personal herbarium specimens were donated to the University of Alabama Herbarium (15,000 specimens) and the United States National Herbarium (18,000 specimens). When Mohr's book on the plants of Alabama was published, he was seventy seven years old. The following plants are named for Charles Theodore Mohr: Andropogon mohrii (Hack.) Hack ex Vasey Mohr's bluestem Grass family Aristida mohrii Nash Mohr's threeawn Grass family Eupatorium mohrii Greene Mohr's thoroughwort Aster family Marshallia mohrii Beadle & F.E. Boynt. Mohr's Barbara's buttons Aster family Rudbeckia mohrii Gray Mohr's coneflower Aster family Silphium mohrii Small Mohr's rosinweed Aster family Tephrosia mohrii (Rydb.) Godfrey pineland hoarypea Pea family Quercus mohriana Buckl. Ex Rydb. Mohr oak Oak family #OTD The poet, George William Russell who went by the pseudonym AE, died on this day in 1935. Russell attended the Metropolitan School of Art, in Dublin. There he met the poet William Butler Yeats Russell became the editor of The Irish Homestead. His popular quotes include the following: "Our hearts were drunk with aa beauty our eyes could never see." "You cannot evoke great spirits and eat plums at the same time." #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of one of the 20th century's leading landscape architects; Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. Jellicoe was multi-talented, but his true passion was landscape and garden design, which he described as "the mother of all arts". He was a founder member of the Landscape Institute. Over his 70-year career, Jellicoe designed more than 100 landscapes around the world. Jellicoe designed the John F Kennedy memorial site by the River Thames in Berkshire. Jellicoe's final and most ambitious project was the Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. Jellicoe imagined a design where visitors could walk through the history of landscape, from the Garden of Eden and the gardens of ancient Egypt, to a design inspired by Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain (1924). As the Moody Garden website acknowledges, "It was the culminating work of his design career but has not, as yet, been implemented. We live in hope." Jellicoe's favorite garden was the gardens he designed in Hemel Hempstead. Jellicoe designed the Hemel Hempstead Water Gardens to improve the quality of life for the townspeople. Jellicoe designed a canal with dams and little bridges to take visitors from the town parking lot to shopping. Jellicoe designed the canal after seeing one of Paul Klee's paintings of a serpent. Jellicoe said, "The lake is the head and the canal is the body," wrote Jellicoe in his book Studies in Landscape Design. "The eye is the fountain; the mouth is where the water passes over the weir. The formal and partly classical flower gardens are like a howdah strapped to its back. In short, the beast is harnessed, docile, and in the service of man." Unearthed Words Here's a poem from Niels Mogens Boedecker, who was an illustrator and author of children's books. "Mosquito is out, it's the end of the day; she's humming and hunting her evening away. Who knows why such hunger arrives on such wings at sundown? I guess it's the nature of things." Today's book recommendation: A Year in

Did you know Tarragon is an artemisia? Like all plants in the Artemisia genus, Tarragon is gray and silvery. Artemisia's were sacred to Artemis and there are over 180 species - all of them ornamental, most are medicinal, and of course, a small few are culinary. Tarragon is quite agraceful plant when it is fully grown. Never demanding, Tarragon can stand some shade and a heavier soil. French tarragon has a subtler aroma and flavor compared to Russian tarragon.Tarragon has its own peculiar sweet taste recalling anise. Tarragon is an integral part of dijon mustard. Tender, fresh stems of Russian tarragon can be cooked and consumed as asparagus. The tea stimulates the appetite, especially when it has been lost because of illness. Drinking the tea before bedtime is helpful because Tarragon compounds are mildly anesthetic and sedative. The tea can also help with hyperactivity. And, here's something valuable to remember about tarragon: the flowers generally do not produce viable seed. So, tarragon propagates via root cuttings, rhizome sprouts and stem division. As an example, the French tarragon commercial growers dig it upin the fall after all the foliage has been harvested. Then they cut the roots into short pieces. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Camille Corot born in 1796 in Paris. Corot was a French painter, famous for his landscapes and he inspired the landscape painting of the Impressionists. Corot's quotes about painting are inspiring to gardeners. Here's a little sample of his inspiring perspective on the natural world: "Beauty in art is truth bathed in an impression received from nature. I am struck upon seeing a certain place. While I strive for conscientious imitation, I yet never for an instant lose the emotion that has taken hold of me." Here are some of Corot's words about the end of the day: "...everything is vague, confused, and Nature grows drowsy. The fresh evening air sighs among the leaves - the birds, these voices of the flowers are saying their evening prayer." Imagine sitting beside Corot as he wrote, "I hope with all my heart there will be painting in heaven." Gardeners would reply, "I hope there is a garden." #OTD Today in 1907, Orville Redenbacher, was born. Redenbacher was a U.S. agricultural scientist and the co-creator of a new hybrid of popcorn called "snowflake." It was lighter and fluffier than traditional popped kernels and Redenbacher became a household name with his commercials for his popcorn. To this day, Orville Redenbacher is the number one selling popcorn in the world. Nebraska produces more popcorn than any other state in the country. Unearthed Words Rachel Peden was a popular environmentalist, newspaper columnist, and author. Peden had a profound appreciation for the minutia in the natural world and she was very funny. She wrote, "The serene philosophy of the pink rose is steadying. Its fragrant, delicate petals open fully and are ready to fall, without regret or disillusion, after only a day in the sun. It is so every summer. One can almost hear their pink, fragrant murmur as they settle down upon the grass: 'Summer, summer, it will always be summer.'" Today's book recommendation: Good Planting by Rosemary Verey Verey is regarded as the "Queen of the Traditional English Country Garden." Verey was known for creating gardens with a amix traditional elements and beautiful plantings. The gardens she created are timeless. Verey's practical reference book covers planting throughout the seasons. This book is a classic for your garden library. The best part about this book is that it offers advice for successful planting and utilizing difficult areas of the garden. Today's Garden Chore Get serious about planting blueberries. Blueberries provide more than just fruit; they can be an effective screen, they can add greenery to the walls of your house. They provide massive interest during three seasons in the garden: In spring, the beautiful white flowers to kick off the growing season, there's blue berries during the summer (of course), and they offer gorgeous fall coloring. Don't forget that blueberries need full sun. They require acidic soil. Blueberry plants grow slowly and reach full size in 8 to 10 years. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Today in 1987, The Indianapolis Star announced that the biography of Charles Clemon Deam, the legendary turn-of-the-century Indiana botanist and author had been published. The book was written by Robert C. Kriebel, editor of the Lafayette Journal and Courier. Charlie Deam was a self-taught botanist and served as state forester for Indiana. In his home herbarium, Deam kept a loaded pistol in his desk drawer One time, Deam and a guest were discussing something about taxonomy. Suddenly, Deam quickly opened the drawer, pulled out the gun, and fired two or three shots through the open window making some disparaging comments about the "canine ancestry of a rabbit" which had been terrorizing his garden. Thanks for li

Let's start today off by talking briefly about bolting cilantro. Why does cilantro bolt and how should you address it? You can help delay when cilantro will bolt by planting it in part shade instead of full sun and keeping the plant cool and moist. Heat is a stressor and sensing it's own mortality, cilantro will bolt quickly in hot weather. You can also buy a slow-bolt cilantro variety and harvest the leaves more often to keep the stalks under control. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of the English architect, Inigo Jones; born today in 1573. Jones introduced classical Roman architecture and the Italian Renaissance to Britain. He left his mark on London by his design of buildings, such as the classically styled Queen's House for James' queen, Anne of Denmark. Sadly, Anne died after work on the building started. It took another 15 years before it was finished; It was presented to queen Henrietta Maria. Inspired by an Italian palace, it caused a sensation when it was revealed. Today, gardeners remember that Jones designed the layout for Covent Garden square. The Duke of Bedford asked Jones to build a residential square using the Italian piazza for Inspiration. The Duke felt he had to include a church, but he told Jones to put up something simple like a barn.Jones' famous response was that the Duke would have "the finest barn in Europe". Covent Garden square became the chief produce market for Londoners. #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of the botanist John Wilson who died on this day in 1751. It was Wilson who first attempted a systematic arrangement of the plants of Great Britain in the English language. From an occupational standpoint, Wilson was a shoemaker and then a baker. There is a little story that is often told about Wilson - although it's veracity has been questioned. Apparently Wilson was so intent on the pursuit of botany, that he was tempted to sell his cow in order to by a book written by the Scottish botanistand taxonomist Robert Morison. The transaction would have caused Wilson's financial ruin had a neighbor lady not purchased the book for him. And there was one other story that reveals Wilson's self-taught expertise and personality. Wilson had traveled to the county of Durham where he met a man who enjoyed growing rare plants. The man challenged Wilson to a contest of skill. The man thought himself superior to Wilson and when he could not stump him with the names of the rarities in his garden. Wilson turned about and grabbed a wild herb which the man simply dismissed as a weed. But, Wilson stated that a weed was a term of art, not a production of nature: adding, that the explanation proved his antagonist to be a gardener, not a botanist. And so, the contest ended. #OTD It's the birthday of William Robinson, originator of the Herbaceous border and advocate for the wild garden, who was born on this day in 1838. Robinson helped change the English landscape from formal to much more relaxed and attainable for the masses. Robinsons work and books brought him financial security. By the age of 45, he had enough money to purchase the Elizabethan Manor of Gravetye in Sussex, along with almost two hundred acres of pasture and woodland. In 1896, Gertrude Jekyll offered this summary of Robinson's impact on gardening: "[Thanks to Robinson] ... we may see how best to use and enjoy the thousands of beautiful plants that have been brought to us by the men who have given fortune, health and often life in perilous travel that our gardens may be enriched and botanical knowledge extended. We cannot now, with all this treasure at our feet, neglect it and refuse it the gratefully appreciative use that it deserves." Unearthed Words Today is the birthday of Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps who was born on this day in 1793. Phelps wrote about nature and her textbook, Familiar Lectures on Botany, was first published in 1829. Phelps taught at Amherst Academy and her textbook was undoubtedly known and used by Emily Dickinson who was a student there. The following quotes show us that she was hip to the idea of mindfulness over 200 years ago. Here's what she wrote: "So, in the physical world mankind are prone to seek an explanation of uncommon phenomena only, while the ordinary changes of nature, which are in themselves equally wonderful, are disregarded." "How often are the beauties of nature unheeded by man, who, musing on past ills, brooding over the possible calamities of the future, building castles in the air, or wrapped up in his own self-love and self-importance, forgets to look abroad, or looks with a vacant stare." "Each opening bud, and care-perfected seed, Is as a page, where we may read of God." Today's book recommendation: Classic Garden Design by Rosemary Verey Rosemary Verey's book Classic Garden Design (1984) gives us a glimpse of how much she learned from various gardens of the past, with their topiary, knot gardens and box-edged beds. All are incorporated in her Barnsley garden, providing a formal struc

In China, July is the month of the lotus. Recently I shared a video in the Facebook Group for the Showfrom the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburghwhich shows Senior Horticulturist, Pat Clifford, teaching their intern Hazel, how to remove the older leaves of the Giant Water Lily so the pond does not get overcrowded. Using a pitchfork, Pat carefully folds the large lily pad first in half, then quarters, and then once more. Then he stabs the large folded pad with the pitchfork, hoists it in the air to let the water drain out and then flops the beast down on the edge of the pond. The camera zooms in to reveal the most savage thorns that grow on the underside of the lily pad and all down the stem of the plant. It was so surprising to see how viscous the thorns are - rivaling the thorniest rose. Brevities #OTD It's the anniversary of the day that Captain Cook arrived in England in 1771. He had successfully led that first voyage to Australia. But, neither Cook, nor his botanist Joseph Banks, realized that the quartz reef where they planted the British Flag contained gold. The area would remain untouched by Europeans for almost two more decades. And, Cook's ship, the Endeavor, had somehow managed to survive the trials of sailing on the Great Barrier Reef and River. Before he sailed for England, Cook worried the Endeaver wouldn't make it around the Cape of Good Hope. In a fateful decision, Cook had brought the ship to Batavia, a Dutch colony, in order to fortify his ship. Batavia was a dangerous place. Malaria and dysentery were rampant. As a result of his stop in Batavia, Cook lost a staggering 38 members of his crew. The botanists, Banks and Solander, managed to survive the stop, although at one point they were both gravely ill. Even as they battled back from illness, they still went out to collect specimens. So, on this day, in 1771, Cook and Banks and Solander make it home to England. 365 days later, Cook would be setting sail once more, but this time Banks would not be going with. Instead, a German, Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg—would be the botanists for his next big adventure. #OTD Today, in 1835, Charles Darwin wrote a letter to his friend John Stevens Henslow. He wrote: "In a few days time the Beagle will sail for the Galapagos Islands. I look forward with joy and interest to this, both as being somewhat nearer to England and for the sake of having a good look at an active volcano." Throughout his life, Darwin exchanged letters with Henslow, professor of Botany and Mineralogy at Cambridge University, Their correspondence was a powerful influence on Darwin; helping to shape his thinking about the natural world. And, it was thanks to Henslow that Darwin received the invitation to join captain Robert FitzRoy on the HMS Beagle. Henslow had written a letter recommending Darwin for the journey because of his like-able personality. When they were young, Henslow and Darwin had walked the Cambridgeshire countryside together. Their walks inspired Darwin to study the natural world and to travel. Once Darwin was part of team Beagle, Henslow presented Darwin with a copy of Humboldt's Narrative, an account of Humboldt's travels in South America. In it, Henslow had inscribed these words: "J. S. Henslow to his friend C. Darwin on his departure from England upon a voyage around the World. 21st Sept. 1831." Darwin treasured this gift above all others and at his death, the book was safely brought to Cambridge University Library where it remains to this day. Unearthed Words #OTD It's the birthday of Henry David Thoreau, born on this day in 1817. National Simplicity Day is observed on July 12th in his honor. Thoreau was an advocate for living a life of simplicity. Thoreau said all of these things: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." "The question is not what you look at, but what you see." "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." Today's book recommendation: Gardens Are for People by Thomas Church Church is one of the most influential American landscape architects of the twentieth century. Church's ideas on the 'modern' landscape revolutionized residential landscape design; changing the look of the suburban back yard. His notion that the suburban backyard should be an extension of the house, essentially creating an outdoor room, was revolutionary. Gardens Are for Peoplecontains the essence of Thomas Church's design philosophy and much practical advice. His four design principles include: • Unity • Function • Simplicity • Scale The book is loaded with photographs of some of the 2,000 gardens designed by Church. It was Thomas Church who said: "When your garden is finished I hope it will be more beautiful that you antici

It's National Rainier Cherry Day. Rainier cherries were bred at Washington State University by crossing Vans and Bings. They are one of the most delicate and challenging cherries to grow because of one big drawback: their thin red-yellow skin. This makes them super sensitive to the elements and they bruise easily. Even if a grower can address these challenges, they still must contend with the birds. Birds LOVE Rainiers and can eat as much as 1/3 of the cherry crop before the harvest arrives. Watch what happens if you add a few Rainier Cherries to your bird feeder. Brevities #OTD Today in Fettercairn Scottland in 1857, the amateur botanist David Prain was born. He would ultimately become the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Calcutta and Kew. Prain was sent to Calcutta in 1887 to be the curator of the herbarium. He researched Indian hemp, followed by other crops like wheat, mustards, pulses and indigo for the Bengal government. Prain's most important work involved Cinchona plantations. The bark of cinchona trees contains quinine which is used to treat malaria. In Prain's obituary, it said that he set up a system to send every village in India quinine through the local post offices thereby saving unnumbered lives. During Prain's directorship at Kew, the medicinal garden was installed at Cambridge Cottage and the Japanese gateway was acquired for the 1910 Japan-British exhibition. Prain also reinstated the Kew Bulletin. Prain's biggest professional challenge at Kew came not from a plant, but a person. William Purdom was a sub-foreman at Kew and he was passionate about making sure that the garden staff was being treated fairly. The discord stemmed from some of the gardeners at Kew discovering that their positions were only temporary. Having wages well below market levels didn't help either. Even though all of this was set in place before Prain assumed the directorship, it fell to him to fix everything. Prain's humble origins gave him a heart for his workers and he did his best to remedy the situation. Despite Prain's reasonable efforts to mediate the situation, Purdom made it personal. Prain finally forced the issue basically saying that it was either him or Purdom. In a magnanimous gesture, Prain worked to get Purdom a spot on the expedition to China by Harry Veitch and the Arnold Arboretum. Today, history looks back at Prain with admiration, that he could recognize the talents of an employee, even while disagreeing with him - and all the while acting with fairness and integrity. #OTD Today in 1941 the Amarillo Daily News ran an article featuring Charles Sumner Lambie who was a Denver area civil engineer by day and a rare orchid breeder by night. Lambie grew up in Pittsburgh tending the family garden. He later married Margaret McCandless and together they raised nine children. As his engineering firm became successful, Lambie's wife said he turned to the hobby of raising orchids as a means of relief from the stresses of his job. Mr. Lambie shared an upside that he discovered about greenhouse gardening: He no longer suffers from hay fever as he did when he gardened outside. After sharing the various types of orchids grown by Lambie, the article shared Lambie's method for documenting his plants. Here's what it said: "Mr. Lambie has a card index file ... on each plant. Here is a simple entry from the card of C. Talisman: "L.O. Talisman: 6 inches, December 1938, Christmas; Winter Bloomer, October to early summer, variable. Flowers large, Sepals and petals – Light to dark rose. Lip, dark rich crimson; Throat purple with yellow – gold veins." Mr. Lambie puts a protective canopy over the orchids when they are in bloom and he sprays them several times a day. When Mr. Lambie leaves town on business, Mrs. Lambie makes sure that the orchids are watered several times today. As the reporter for the story was leaving, Mrs. Lambie showed him a small orchidAnd shared that Mr. Lambie was given the orchid when he subscribed to an orchid magazine. The orchid is called the Charles Lambie Rittenberry orchid named for their grandson and of course it receives "very careful attention" she added with a smile. #OTD On this day in 1950, a very unusual dwarf Amaryllis species was collected in Peru by the eminent botanist, Dr. Ramon Ferreyra, July 11, 1950, and was sent to Dr. Hamilton P. Traub in the United States. Unfortunately, the bulbs experienced frost while they were being shipping in the mail. Some of the bulbs were totally destroyed, the surviving bulbs all had been damaged. It took almost 18 months for Dr. Traub to nurse the frosted plants back to health. In recognition of his patience and skill, the Amaryllis was named Hippeastrum traubii. Unearthed Words Here's a sweet diary entry from 1938 for today by Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") shared by the Toronto Archives on their fabulous twitter feed - which is a wonderful thing to follow: "I find it hard to come in from the flower borders. My Pansi

Are you growing parsley? I do. But, I generally only plant the flat leaf variety - since the curly leaf parsley is used mainly as a garnish. Parsley is a member of the Umbelliferae family, which also includes celery, carrots, dill, cilantro, caraway, cumin, and the poisonous hemlock. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1838, the botanist Asa Gray resigned from the Wilkes Expedition. Gray was frustrated by all of the delays. He also disagreed with Captain Charles Wilkes. Gray and Wilkes disagreed about the Latin descriptions of the new taxa. In addition, Wilkes wanted to work with Americans only. Gray recognized that the work could not be done with his usual level of excellence unless European herbaria and experts were included. Instead, Gray accepted a position at the University of Michigan. But, before he could officially start, Harvard wooed him away. Gray established the science of botany and guided American botany into the international arena. It was Asa Gray who said, "Natural selection is not the wind which propels the vessel, but the rudder which, by friction, now on this side and now on that, shapes the course." #OTD Today in 1949, a 79 year old botanist, Dr. Melville Thurston Cook, his wife, and their pilot were rescued by an Air Force helicopter after a week in the Alaskan wilderness. Cook reported they survived on 90 dozen eggs after their plane was forced down in the rugged Brooks Mountain range. As luck would have it, the 1,080 eggs were aboard the plane as cargo. Cook shared their ingenuity with the world; telling how they had not lacked for variety in their preparation of the eggs, enjoying fried eggs, boiled eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, shirred eggs and omelet. Naturally, when he wasn't eating eggs, Dr. Cook collected specimens. Dr. Cook, who would be 80 in September, and his wife had been vacationing in Alaska. In newspaper accounts he said he never doubted the party would be saved. But the crash had impacted their priorities. Following the accident, Cook and his wife moved to be closer to their children. One of their four kids followed Cook's footsteps to become a plant pathologist; Dr. Harold T. Cook. Before the accident, Cook was finishing up his career by working as visiting part-time professor of plant pathology at Louisiana State University. During his prime, Cook had gone botanizing with Nathaniel Lord Britton and Elizabeth Gertrude Britton in Puerto Rico. He had also worked with Henry Allan Gleason at the New York Botanical Garden. #OTD Back in 1977, Ethan Allen and Elvin McDonald of House Beautiful (ww.housebeautiful.com) gave a presentation called "Decorating with Plants." McDonald revealed many new decorating-with-plant ideas. Keep in mind, this was three decades before Instagram. Otherwise, McDonald would have no doubt share photos of the over 300 plants in his apartment. In the newspaper promotions for his presentation, McDonald was quoted as saying, "Take a pill if you will I say take a plant to cope with everyday stress." #OTD A 1983 newspaper headline on this day in The Town Talk in Alexandria, Louisiana said, 'Rare Plant Halts Road Work'. Turns out, a $15 million highway widening project near College Station was stopped because it threatened a tiny, rare, and unusual orchid plant. The Spiranthes parksii (ii = "ee-eye"), also known as Navasota Ladies' Tresses because it grew along the Navasota River, is only 6 inches tall with white blooms. First discovered in 1945 and described by Donovan Stewart Correll in his 1950 book, Native Orchids of North America North of Mexico, It became the 54th U.S. plant species to be classified as endangered. #OTD In 1988, British plant explorer Roy Lancaster revealed that a thriving black market for plants was threatening rare Chinese orchids. In the same way an art collector might buy stolen works of art underground, elite plant collectors are the wealthy clients of orchid smugglers. Lancaster shared the plight of Paphiopedilum armeniacum which was discovered in 1980, but was 100 percent harvested from the world in 1983. In just three short years, the plant had gone from discovery to presumed extinction! Unearthed Words Here's a poem by Theodore Roethke called Transplanting. Roethke said he wrote the poem from the perspective of "a very small child: all interior drama; no comment; no interpretation." Watching hands transplanting, Turning and tamping, Lifting the young plants with two fingers, Sifting in a palm-full of fresh loam,-- One swift movement,-- Then plumping in the bunched roots, A single twist of the thumbs, a tamping and turning, All in one,Quick on the wooden bench, A shaking down, while the stem stays straight, Once, twice, and a faint third thump,-- Into the flat-box it goes, Ready for the long days under the sloped glass: The sun warming the fine loam, The young horns winding and unwinding, Creaking their thin spines, The underleaves, the smallest buds Breaking into nakedness, The blossoms extending Out into the sweet air, The

Here's a little primer on mulch placement. Keep mulch away from the bases of plants and trees. Trees can be harmed or killed by mulching too heavily around the trunk. Perennials and other plants can be smothered or damaged by heavy mulch around the crown as well. Mulch is a wonderful tool in the garden, but it pays to pay attention to placement. Brevities #OTD Today in 1926, the Green Bay Press-Gazette posted an article titled, "Ice Cream Grown on Vine in yard of Former Kentuckian." The article was about the fabulous Colonel Henry Wallace Johnston who, until the age of 50, had operated a hardware store in Lebanon, Kentucky. At midlife, he moved to Homestead Florida. And, in 1912, Johnston created a 20 acre estate called Palm Lodge Tropical Grove. He even liked to dress the part; wearing a tropical outfit complete with a white helmet and looking as if he had just finished playing Jumanji. Known as the Wizard of Palm Lodge or Florida's Burbank (a nod to California's Luther Burbank ), Johnston began adding over 8,000 incredible specimens of tropical fruits and flowers, many of them not found anywhere else in America. Palm Lodge gained him widespread recognition. And, although Johnston never traveled outside the US, he was a natural marketer. Stories about Johnston include the following: He coined the name "lipstick tree". Rarest among his plants was a flower that produces a perfume called the "Scent of Lilith." Johnston grew the Dumb Cane tree or dieffenbachia from Cambodia. He would tell folks that if they bit into the leaves, their tongue would be paralyzed for six weeks. Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford brought back rubber plants from Madagascar, but only Colonel Johnston's plants survived. Johnston's Palestine tree fruit was wrapped in cellophane while on the tree to protect against insects. The fruit was used in religious rituals by rabbis. Johnston's gingerbread palm's fruit tasted of gingerbread. Johnston furnished almost all of the tropical exhibit for the state of Florida at the Chicago World's Fair. All of Johnston's plants were grown from seed. Johnston also produced nearly 300 different types of fruits and jellies all packaged on site. One of Johnston's specialties was the cultivation of the aloe vera plant. He grew a 15 acre aloe field and by 1920 was regularly harvesting the leaves and bringing them to Miami, individually wrapped to stop the spines from making the jelly ooze out. And yes, one of Johnston's plants was something he called "the ice cream vine," botanically known as the monstera deliciosa. The fruit resembles a large ear of corn minus the husk and tastes like a combination of banana, strawberry and pineapple. Johnston's lodge was a Florida showplace and there was no charge for admission. Homestead's chamber of commerce showed that 30,000 people, including botanists, visited the lodge every year. One day, after 2,000 guests had been received, the register revealed that Henry Ford had passed unnoticed in the crowd. #OTD On this day in 1941 a Soviet court sentenced the prominent Russian botanist Nikolay Vavilov to death by firing squad. Vavilov never faced the firing squad. Instead, he died of starvation in a Soviet prison two years after receiving his sentence. #OTD Today in 1942, newspapers announced the retirement of George Shull. An Ohio farm kid, Shull was the noted botanist who taught at Princeton University for 27 years. His work resulted in a $150M increase in the value of US corn as a result of his crossing pure line varieties with self-fertilized corn. Shull's hybrid yielded 10 to 40 percent more than ordinary corn. Shull never made a penny from his creation. Unearthed Words Here's a poem from Emily Dickinson called Answer July. In the poem, Dickinson speaks to July directly and July responds by pointing out that the hot summer is the fulfilled promise of spring. Answer July – Where is the Bee – Where is the Blush – Where is the Hay? Ah, said July – Where is the Seed – Where is the Bud – Where is the May – Answer Thee – Me – Today's book recommendation: Lives of the Trees: An Uncommon History by Diana Wells Wells investigates the names and meanings of trees, sharing their legends and lore. As Wells says, "Our long relationship with trees is the story of friendship. The human race, we are told, emerged in the branches of trees and most of us have depended on them ever since for food, shade, shelter, and fuel." Today's Garden Chore Incorporate a wheelbarrow garden into your garden plans. Take an old wheelbarrow, drill some drainage holes in the bottom (very important!) and up-cycle it into a beautiful, portable planter that is perfect for flowers, herbs, and small edibles. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Today in 1963 the Marvel comic botanist Samuel Smithers became Plantman when lightening struck his plant ray gun, giving it the power to control and animate all plant life. Plantman dueled with the Human Torch in the botanical garden and lost. He w

Have you checked to see if there is an herb society near you? Herb societies offer gardeners what I call next-level understanding of plants. Aside from parsley, oregano, and thyme, you'll probably be surprised by the sheer number of plants that fall into the herbal category; plants like bronze fennel, red-veined sorrel, lovage, tansy and sweet cicely. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1878 the American botanist Forrest Shreve was born. We owe such a debt of gratitude to Shreve. He was THE preeminent botanist of North American deserts during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Shreve worked out of a laboratory in Tucson, Arizona. The lab was ideally situated for Shreve's field research of the western United States and northern Mexico. Shreve relished telling the origin story of his lab: "Of course you are familiar with the story of Andrew Carnegie," he began, "the immigrant boy who became one of America's richest steel magnates and who left a fortune "to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind." Before he died Carnegie had established an institution which divided its scientific investigations into twelve departments in widely separated parts of the country. The Desert Laboratory became one of the outposts of the Division of Plant Biology. The total Carnegie benefaction totaled about $25,000,000." In July of 1908, Shreve ascended the Santa Catalina Mountains for the very first time. His party rode on horses to climb the 6,000 feet from Mount Lemmon's desert base to the summit which is 9,100 feet above sea level. During that climb, Shreve noticed what he called, "a continually shifting panorama of vegetation". Shreve's astuteness helped him realize the most amazing aspect of desert mountains; changes in vegetation are compressed into a few thousand feet of elevation - started with desert scrub, then grassland, then oak woodland... and followed by pine-oak woodland and forest, then pink forest, montane fir forest, and finally subalpine forest. Shreve's mastery of the North American Desert allowed him to describe and define, with precision, the four distinct desert regions of the United States. Today, each year, in Shreve's honor, the Forrest Shreve Student Research Award ($1000-2000) is given to support ongoing research of the hot deserts of North America. #OTD Today in 1901, the world lost Eva Reed, a botanist, author, and librarian with the Missouri Botanical Gardens . In a tragic accident, Reed had been sketching on the tracks of the Burlington railway, near Louisiana, Missouri, when she was run over and instantly killed by a passenger train. Several years earlier, she had become almost totally deaf as the result of a fever. #OTD Today in 1934, Leonard Cockayne passed away. Cockayne was 79 years old and is considered New Zealand's greatest botanist. Cockayne was born in England and was raised in home that encouraged the exploration and appreciation of the natural world. As a child, Cockayne loved pressing flowers. In addition to Cockayne, both his brother and sister were great gardeners. In 1879, Cockayne left England and made his way to New Zealand. Dominion became his home for the remainder of his life. Ever modest, Cockayne once sent a letter to Kew along with a small parcel of seeds. He attached a little note which said, "I may say I am not a nursery gardener but merely a private individual who spends his whole time in the study of botany." In recognition of his 30 years of tireless work in New Zealand, Cockayne won the Darwin metal. During his career, Dr. K Richter von Goebel and John Paulus Lotsy, two distinguished botanists from the UK, visited him in New Zealand. Those visits where true highlights for Cockayne and they inspired him to continue his work. When he died, Cockayne was buried at the open-air museum he founded, which is serves as lasting memorial.vFrom his grave, one can see the native vegetation which had captured his heart, as well as the heights which bear his name. #OTD Today we wish Monty Don a happy birthday! Don is an English television presenter, writer and speaker on horticulture, best known for presenting the BBC television series Gardeners' World. Over the past year, Don wrote Japanese Gardens: a journey by Monty Don and Derry Moore, the complement to the BBC2 series. In this personal and lyrical exploration of both the traditional and the modern aspects of Japanese gardening, Monty Don guides us through the history and beauty of Japanese gardens throughout the spectacular changing seasons. Unearthed Words National Meadows Day took place over the weekend in the UK - and it is an annual celebration of the wildflower meadows of England. Each year, the event takes place on or around the first Saturday of July. So, in tribute, here's a little poem about the Meadow Sweet by Charles MacKay: ROSE ! we love thee for thy splendor, Lily ! for thy queenly grace ! Violet ! for th

Sometimes the plant gods smile on you with a clearance sale featuring something truly spectacular like Japanese Forest Grass or in this case, Hakonechloa 'All Gold'. My local Lowes was clearancing them for $3 a pop - and it was just what the plant doctor ordered to dress up our cabin up north. In 2009, my garden idol, Margaret Roach tweeted, "Another plant I cannot garden without: Hakonechloa 'All Gold.' Solid gold in the shade." She's right. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1796, Gilbert Laing Meason was born. Laing Meason was a friend of Sir Walter Scott and he invented the term 'landscape architecture', in his 1828 book on The Landscape Architecture of the Great Painters of Italy. Not many copies of his book were printed, but somehow the prolific garden author, John Claudius Loudon, . secured a copy. He shared the term with American horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing, who, in turn, shared it with Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted was the first professional to describe himself as a 'landscape architect', and he is regarded as the founder of landscape architecture. Meason was very balanced in his perspective on architecture. He valued both function and beauty. In terms of his own property, Meason was a romantic and his personal estate was known as Lindertis House. It is no surprise that he surrounded it with ornate gardens. Over time, the cost of maintaining the elaborate gardens in addition to the household management of the estate as a whole brought Lindertis to total financial ruin. Today, barely a trace of the mansion exists. When Meason died, he had no idea that his notion of 'landscape architecture' would be his legacy. #OTD Today in 1806, Michael Keens, a market gardener from Isleworth, exhibited the first large-scale cultivated strawberry combining flavor and appearance, at the Royal Horticultural Society. It's hard to imagine, but large garden strawberries didn't exist prior to the 1800s. In his wonderfully illustrated book, The Complete Strawberry (Century Books, 1985), Stafford Whiteaker revealed the modern strawberry's development over the last two centuries; sharing how plants were harvested from the foot of the Andes and brought to France by a French spy named Amédée François Frézier (1682- 1773). Frézier cared for five plants during the six-month journey home by sharing his own precious supply of water. In a strange coincidence, Frézier's surname is itself derived from fraise, the French word for strawberry. It turns out, his ancestor, Julius de Berry, presented the Emperor with a gift of strawberries and was honored with the name of his gift. For clarification, the name ''strawberry'' does not refer to mulching the berries with straw. Rather, it is from the Old English term straw which means ''to spread' referring to their runners grow. On 30 Apr 1859, The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser, offered a little advise about growing Keen's strawberries, saying, "For edgings for these nothing is more profitable than parsley or a line of Keens's seedling strawberry." #OTD It was on this day in 1939, that The Asbury Park Press, reported that Lambertus C. Bobbink, one of the country's best known florists, was honored at the New York Botanical Gardens. The author, Pearl Buck, was there to dedicate a rose garden and unveil a plaque to Bobbink that read, "To honor Lambertus C. Bobbink, a great rosarian whose counsel and generosity helped to make this garden possible for the enjoyment of all." Bobbink immigrated to the United States from Holland in 1896. He purchased a few acres of land in Rutherford, New Jersey, and in 1898 Frederick L. Atkins, an English nurseryman, became his partner in the business forming Bobbink and Atkins; one of the worlds largest horticultural organizations at the time. They both made their homes on Herrick Street, around the corner from their business on Paterson Avenue. In 1911, Bobbink & Atkins successfully grew the first crop of budded Hybrid Tea Roses in the United States and they hybrid tea roses to this country. In 1935, Bobbink introduced the Azalea Rutherfordiana in 1935 which memorialized Rutherford, his hometown. Unearthed Words Today is the birthday of the English poet, William Henry Davies. Davies loved the natural world, especially birds and butterflies. George Bernard Shawwas a fan of his work and he wrote the preface of Davies' autobiography. Here are a few of his poems: " When I can hear the small woodpeckers ring Time on a tree for all the birds that sing ; And hear the pleasant cuckoo, loud and long? The simple bird that thinks two notes a song." "And here are butterflies : poor things Amazed with new-created wings; They in the air-waves roll distrest Like ships at sea ; and when they rest They cannot help but ope and close Their wings, like babies with their toes." Today's book recommendation: Grow in the Dark by Lisa Eldred Steinkopf Lisa Eldred-Steinkopf is known as the Houseplant Guru and this is her latest book. She's putting thespotlight on 50 of

Do you have delphiniums in your garden? I used to start out every summer by planting twenty delphinium in front of my porch. By the time I my red lilies were popping, my delphinium would be 4 feet tall. In that same area, I had planted white astilbe and alyssum; I had a little red, white, and blue garden under my American flag for 4th of July. The Delphinium is one of the birth flowers for the month July. It's also known as 'Larkspur' and 'Knight's-spur'. During the Victorian age, people essentially used flowers as emojis: and the delphinium symbolized lightness and an open heart. If your a delphinium lover, it's easy to see how the happy delphinium blooms would be associated with levity and laughter. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1846 that the British naturalist, and women's rights activist, Marian Farquharson was born. As a botanist, Farquharson had specialized in ferns and mosses. Farquharson had petitioned the Linnaean Society for four years to allow women. In 1904, 83% of the Society voted to elect women members. When the first 15 women were nominated, Farquharson was the only one not to be elected on that day in 1904. It took four more years for Farquharson to be elected to the Society in March, 1908. Sadly, she was too ill to attend to sign the register. Farquharson died from heart disease, in Nice, in 1912. #OTD It was on this day in 1893, that the Welsh landscape gardener, architect and author, Ralph Hancock was born. Hancock created several famous Gardens across Wales, England, and United States. One of his most famous works is the rooftop garden at the Rockefeller Center in New York. Hancock designed his rooftop garden in 1934. It was really cutting-edge at the time. In the interview, he said, "The days of penthouse gardening in boxes are over and miles and miles of roof space in every metropolis in this country remain to be reclaimed by landscape gardening." Hancock's rooftop garden was called The Garden of Nationsand it featured gardens for eight different countries around a central, old English tea house and cottage garden. Hancock's Garden of Nationsrequired 3,000 tons of earth, 100 tons of natural stone, and 2,000 trees and shrubs. They were all delivered by the service elevator or by man using a block and tackle pulley system on the side of the building. The 11th floor Garden of Nations opened on April 15, 1935. Nelson Rockefeller was in attendance as well as students from Bryn Mawr college. The young women arrived wearing costumes from the various nations and there's a beautiful photo of Nancy Nichol wearing a kimono in the Japanese garden. #OTD It was on this day in 1940 the St. Joseph Gazette reported that Dr. Hugh C. Cutler of St. Louis had discovered two species of plants in Utah: the wild bridal wreath and a crucifer. He sent the specimens via airmail to Washington University in St. Louis. #OTD It was on this day in 2018, that NASA's Best known as ECOSTRESS berthed at the space station. ECOSTRESS' mission is to measure the temperature of plants from space enabling researchers to determine how much water plants use and to study how droughts affect plant health. Unearthed Words Today we honor Herman Hesse, who was born on this day in 1877. He was a German poet, novelist, and painter. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. Hesse had a special appreciation for trees and I thought I'd share some of his prose with you today: "Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth." "A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail." Today's book recommendation: Seasonal Flower Arranging by Ariella Chezar Chezar says in the introduction of her book, "I use as many blossoms as possible that are in season. I don't want to see a tulip in August or peony in September. I love them in their season - and when that season passes, it's time to move on." Chezar is a professional floral designer and she provides step-by-step instructions for 39 seasonal floral arrangements. A pioneer in the farm-to-vase movement, her book is a delightful reminder to gardeners that they can bring their garden indoors and create exciting compositions with cut flowers. Today's Garden Chore Multiply your Solomon Seal through division. All you need to do, is split the large white tubers. Make sure that each piece has at least one big bud. If you want to plant in drifts, use small pieces and plant them close together; instead of using one large mass. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1932, the Sydney Morning Herald shared a story of attempted murder. Richard Wettstein was responsible for the Botanical Gard

Martagon Lilies are in peak right now in most gardens. They bring the most wonderful architectural aspect and form to the garden; they are so very elegant. Offering a Turk's cap-style bloom, Like many plants, Martagon colonies get better and better with age. Martagons like sweet soil and they will be grateful for a dusting of lime every year. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1871, the Yorkshire Herald reported the first meeting of the Vale of York Field Naturalists Club. Although the weather was very unfavorable, forty-seven ladies and gentlemen (members and friends of the club) left the Society's Rooms, in Micklegate, in three four-horsed conveyances. When they reached Rivaulx ("ree-VOH")Abbey, the company then broke up into small parties - geologists, botanists, and entomologists - and proceeded to examine the valley for their own specialities. "The geologists were interested with the sections laid bare in the quarries, and many interesting and beautiful fossils were found The botanists collected, amongst other plants, Saxiraga tridaclylitet (nailwort), Helianthemum vulqare (rock rose), Cuscuta Epithymum (clover dodder), Aquilegia vulgaris (columbine), Atropa Belladonna (belladonna or deadly nightshade), Polypodium Phegopterit (northern beech fern), P. Dryoplerit (oak fern), besides the common Scolopendrium vuigare (hart's-tongue fern). At six o'clock the party sat down to dinner at the Crown Hotel, Helmsley, which was served in Mr. and Mrs. Cowen's usual substantial style, after doing justice to which the Rev. Vice-President Rowe addressed those assembled on the advantages of natural history and the beauties and history of the Abbey, and also stated he would shortly bring a very interesting piece of information concerning it before the public, he being hon. secretary of the Architectural Society. It was arranged that the next monthly field day should be held at Bolton Abbey and Woods. They then left for home, after a most agreeable day, which left every one with the feeling that this the first excursion of the club was a great success." #OTD It was on this day in 1908 that Illinois adopted the Violet as its State Flower. As with many State Flowers, Illinois had decided to let the school children vote to decide on the state flower. The purple violet received 15,591 votes and the wild rose came in second with 11,903 votes. The children also decided the state tree and they selected the white oak. Meanwhile newspapers were running a piece that blared the headline, "the reign of the violet is over". "Strange and unbelievable, but a fact, nevertheless, violets are no longer fashionable. Gardenias, orchids and American Beauty roses are as much in evidence as ever, but the reign of the violet is temporarily over. It is true that a large bunch of deep purple violets relieved by a single mauve orchid, a deep pink rose, or a single waxlike gardenia is still an acceptable gift, but it is not the gift that is so frequently' chosen this year, as a small cluster of gardenias or even of two or three exquisitely beautiful orchids... Roses are much in favor at the moment, ... A new flower hailing from Paris is the pink American Beauty, and well does it deserve the name... the color is an adorable shade of shell pink, and for all decorative purposes tins flower has already a firmly established place in fashion's regard. ... one cannot but regret the sense of chivalry of a generation back, when etiquette demanded that flowers be sent always to a hostess before even the least formal entertainment, and when a debutante had better stay at home than go to a ball without her ... little bouquet of flowers." #OTD It was on this day in 1910 that the Allentown Democrat out of Allentown PA reported that Joseph Hooker was 93 years old. "Sir Joseph Hooker, the world-famous botanist, received a personal note of congratulations from King George today on the occasion of his ninety-third birthday. Sir Joseph, who is still remarkably active for a man of his great age, has had a long and brilliant career in his chosen field of science. As early as 1839 he accompanied the expedition of Sir James Ross to the Antarctic region. Later he conducted scientific expeditions to many parts of the world including Eastern Bengal, the Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, Morocco and the Greater Atlas, New Zealand Ceylon, California and the Rocky Mountain region of North America. In the course of his active career he rendered invaluable services to the British arts, manufactures and commerce by promoting an accurate knowledge of the floras and economic vegetable products of the various colonies and dependencies of the empire." Unearthed Words Today's poem is by Ann Taylor - an English poet and literary critic. In her youth she was a writer of verse for children, for which she achieved long-lasting popularity. Her sister, Jane, wrote the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". The Violet Down in a green and shady bed, A modest violet grew; Its stalk was b

Today is National Paul Bunyan Day. In Minnesota, most folks fondly remember the tales of Paul and Babe - his big blue ox. Speaking of big, Many gardeners have a fondness for giant plants. They are perfect if you have lots of space, or if you just prefer the look of tall or giant plants. You can Celebrate Paul Bunyan Day today by planting giant plants like these: hibiscus, Joe Pye weed, Baptisia, Hollyhock, Queen of the Prairie, Plume Poppy, Gunnera, Cup Plant, Castor Bean, - and this list is just to get you started. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1924 that botanist Harry V. Harlan gave a presentation to the Science Club at Kansas State University about his Plant Exploration and travels in North Africa. Harlan made the trip by mule caravan over 59 days. In some villages, Harlan was the first English-speaking person ever to visit. Harlan returned to the states with over 600 varieties of plants. During his life. Harlan organized a school of agriculture in the Philippines. He worked for the USDA and was the Principal Agronomist in charge of barley. Harlan went on many Plant Expeditions around the globe. The University of Illinois has a black and white photo of a young, handsome Harlan - looking a little Indiana Jones-ish. The photo was taken just before a trip to Ethiopia. The image was used as the headshot for his book One Man's Life With Barley(1957). #OTD It was on this day in 1939 that The Daily Times out of Davenport Iowa published a story about the practice of importing seeds to the United States. Here's what it said: "Exactly 100 years ago this week the United States Congress authorized the first search and collection of foreign seeds and plants in an attempt to increase the number of agricultural products produced in this country. In the century that has followed, this work has been carried forward with untold benefits to American farmers. Plant explorers have tramped over much of the earth's land surface and have imported thousands of varieties of seeds and plants that have enriched American agriculture in an incalculable degree." #OTD It was on this day in 1974 that the Panama City News out of Panama City, Florida published a story about one of Florida's most outstanding horticulturists: Dr. Henry Nehrling, who was an ornithologist, botanist, and plant breeder. It's been said that during his lifetime, "Every plant lover in Florida knew or knew of Henry Nehrling." Nehrling's horticultural writings covered a period dating from the early 1890s to the late 1920s. The esteemed plant explorer David Fairchild said this about Nehrling: "Dr. Nehrling's writings should be available to the young people who are making gardens around their houses, for they not only give the facts regarding a host of interesting plants from which they may choose, but they tell in narrative form how one who learns to recognize plants can explore for a lifetime the unlimited variety of beautiful forms which compose the plant kingdom." Nehrling's notes are wondrously inspiring even after all this time. Here's a sample of some of his quotes: "Show me your garden, provided it is your own, and I will tell you what you are." "In both the cultivation, and enjoyment of gardens. Is peace, rest, and contentment. Pleasure is not a luxury of life, but one of its necessities and ornamental horticulture is one of the truest and most stimulating pleasures in life and may be enjoyed by him who possesses only a window-box, as well as the favored mortal with acres in abundance." "The cultivation and enjoyment of tropical and subtropical plants is the noblest, the most delightful, the most satisfying of all earthly pursuits." "Florida Is the land of almost unlimited possibilities as far as ornamental horticulture is concerned. We are able to grow in the open air hundreds- no, thousands - of species of exquisite tropical and subtropical plants which farther north can only be grown with much difficulty and with considerable trouble In expensive glasshouses." "Nowhere, have I found such a wealth of beautiful native and exotic plants as in Florida, very aptly called the "land of flowers" and the "paradise of ornamental horticulture". Even if we were deprived of the exotic vegetation, we would be able to form wonderful gardens by using only the material found In our woodlands and along our water courses. There is no more beautiful evergreen tree in the whole plant world than our glorious evergreen Magnolia grandiflora bedecked with its noble lustrous foliage and embellished with Its snowy-white, deliciously fragrant flower-chalices." Following Nehrling's death in 1929, his incredible Gardens went untended and became a jungle. Over 20 years passed before the present owner, Julius Fleischmann, came upon the scene. Fleischmann had the heart of a naturalist, and he was determined to make Henry Nehrling's garden live again and did. It took over three years of intensive restoration and development to reopen the garden to visitors in 1954. Unearthed Words I

Today is the very first National Onion Day. It was founded by the National Onion Association which represents almost 500 growers from across the United States. The association celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2013. Onions are a member of the bulb family. There are twenty-seven different types of onion. They all grow underground and they're one of the easiest vegetables to grow. There's an old saying that says that the thicker the onion skin, the colder the winter will be. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1787 that the naturalist Thomas Say was born. Say was born to a Quaker family and was a relative of the Bartrams. Say grew up making frequent visits to their botanic garden on the banks of the Schuylkill River Say was one of the first naturalist in the United States to advocate for the naming and describing of native flora and fauna. Before Say's time, plant and animal specimens were sent to Europe for identification. The long sea voyage took a toll on specimens and there were often identification errors as a result. Say's specialty was entomology and Say is often considered to be the father of descriptive entomology in the United States. Say died from typhoid fever on the 10th of October in 1834, at the age of 47. His long obituary ended with these words: "On the 8th, the hopes of his friends were flattered by a deceitful calm. On the day following, these hopes for chilled; He appeared sinking under debility, when on the 10th, death came over him like a summer cloud. He met the embrace as the weary traveller falls into the arms of restoring sleep. Intellect triumphed to the last hour. He left his wife directions as to his Library and Cabinet of Natural History." #OTD Any was on this day in 1861 that the Courier and Argus out of Dundee, Scotland reported the death of a botanical guide: William Williams. The newspaper account said: While his party rode slowly forward on ponies, Williams indulged in his favorite science; collecting plants. When they arrived at the summit he left them again in order to gather some ferns. The party waited for him 90 minutes and then finally descended. Scouts were sent out and his body was found lying 300 yards beneath the precipice from where he fallen. Before he died, Williams had begun to realize that he was living a sort of contradiction by locating rare plants for collectors, he was contributing to their extinction. Today Williams tombstone reads: "William Williams, upwards of 25 years botanical guide at the Royal Victoria Hotel. Killed by a fall while pursuing his favorite vocation." #OTD And it was on this day in 1889 that William Guilfoyle married Mary Alice darling. Guilfoyle was the director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Victoria. When he married Alice, he decided to take his first holiday from the gardens in 17 years. They took a nine-month grand tour of British and European gardens and Forests. It was really quite the experience and it's documented wonderfully in this book called Mr. Guilfoyle's Honeymoon. Just so you know, you can only get it on Kindle. #OTD Anniversary of the death of Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz. Agassiz was an American naturalist, an educator, and the first president of Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She grew up in an intellectual family. In 1856, she married married the Swiss naturalist, Louis Agassi. She became an intimate part of his life and work. When they were first married, she started a girls school in their home to bring in some extra income. When Louis died, Elizabeth was 51 years old. His death spurred her to establish Radcliffe College. Unearthed Words The Glory of the Garden by Rudyard Kipling Our England is a garden that is full of stately views, Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues, With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by; But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye. For where the thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall, You will find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all; The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dungpits and the tanks, The rollers, carts and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks. And some can pot begonias and some can bud a rose, And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows; But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam, For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come. Today's book recommendation: Practical Botany for Gardeners by Geoff Hodge This book explains over 3,000 botanical terms. I think one of the reasons this book is so helpful is that it is so beautifully put together. The Denver Post said: "It is a gentle guide to the green world... organized precisely how a non-botanist would need it done." The book is heavily illustrated and it's illustrated in a very decorative way. It's one of my favorite books to give to new and experienced gardeners. Part handbook, part reference, Practical Botany for Gardeners is a beautifully captivating read. It's a must for garden lovers and backyard

Have you ever needed to move a bumblebee nest? We discovered a nest under the basketball hoop on the driveway when the guys came to sealcoat. To move it, I waited until dusk. Then I grabbed a terra cotta pot that was a little bigger than the nest... and my pizza peel from kitchen. I placed the pot over the nest and then slid the peel under the pot. As I was carrying the nest, the buzzing sound from inside the pot was tremendous. I moved the nest about 10 feet away into a shaded and out-of-the-way spot in the garden. Then, I cut a 10 inch piece of 1inch tubing from my irrigation system and slipped that under the pot to elevate the pot a bit and to give the bees a way to fly in and out from under the pot. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1797, that Charles Newbold patented the first cast iron plough. Farmers were worried that the iron would negatively effect the soil. #OTD It was on this day in 1880, that the Chicago Tribune wrote an article about the herbarium of Dr. Charles Christopher Perry; it contained 15,000 species and it was being presented to the Davenport Academy of Sciences. Thirty years earlier, in 1850, Perry had written to the botanist John Torrey, he said: "I here found a new species of pine growing in sheltered places bout the bluff. Its characters are so unique …. if new I wish it with your permission to bear the name Pinus Torreyana…" Besides the Torrey Pine, Harry discovered the Colorado Blue Spruce on Pikes Peak in 1862. Colorado made its official state tree in 1939. #OTD On this day in 1967, The Rolling Stones compilation album "Flowers" was released. It included three previously unreleased tracks – "My Girl", "Ride On, Baby", and "Sittin' on a Fence". #OTD And it's the anniversary of the death of the ornithologist, Margaret Morse Nice, who died on this day in 1974. Nice developed a close bond with nature, especially birds; it was deepened with her hobby of gardening and frequent walks. In 1939 nice wrote these words in the opening pages of her book, The Watcher at the Nest: "The land was defended and won by age-old ceremonies and fierce battle…. Their conflicts with each other and their neighbors, their luck with their wives and devotion to their babies… the fortunes of their sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren—all these were watched season in and season out until tragedy overtook them." It's hard to believe when you hear that passage that Nice is referring to song sparrows. She was the scientific outsider. She conducted all of her groundbreaking studies at home, in her backyard in Ohio, while she was busy raising a family of five children. Unearthed Words Why Was June Made? by Annette Wynne Why was June made?—Can you guess? June was made for happiness! Even the trees Know this, and the breeze That loves to play Outside all day, And never is too bold or rough, Like March's wind, but just a tiny blow's enough; And all the fields know This is so— June was not made for wind and stress, June was made for happiness; Little happy daisy faces Show it in the meadow places, And they call out when I pass, "Stay and play here in the grass." June was made for happy things, Boats and flowers, stars and wings, Not for wind and stress, June was made for happiness! Today's book recommendation: 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names by Diana Wells Diana knows that every flower tells the story and she's collected some of the very best stories about our flowers. Once in an interview Diana said, "If we fail to remember the history of our flowers we know them less and to trace their link with us is to make them part of our lives." Here is a good example of Diana's storytelling ability when it comes to flowers. This one's about lilacs: "American settlers planted lilacs in front of farmhouse doors, not for usefulness but for beauty, while they struggled to make a new life in the wilderness. Sometimes the slowly cleared fields, the houses, and the walls were no more permanent than those who made them, but the liliacs remained by the ghost porches leading nowhere." Today's Garden Chore Plant Sunflower Seeds. I'm seeing posts about sunflower seeds pump up all over social media. And the main question that people have is, "Is it too late to plant them?" June is still planting season. As with your edibles, you can succession sow your flowers. Depending on the variety, sunflowers will bloom about 55 to 75 days after planting – 60 days is a good average. By planting in the back half of June you'll have a wonderful second flush of blooms - and you'll be able to take cuttings on Labor Day weekend. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1922, The Nevada State Journal published an article out of San Francisco. The headline was: "Laws are changed to help gardener..." The gardener in question was the famed landscape expert and creator of the city's "Eden," the beautiful Golden Gate Park. His name was John McLaren. McLaren had come to America from Scotland.

Did you know that the most popular giant hosta is Empress Wu? At maturity the plan is 5 feet tall with an 8 foot spread. Pictures don't really do the Empress Wu hosta justice. Because of its size and fast rate of growth, Empress Wu demands soil that is consistently moist but not soggy. Empress Wu was bred by Brian and Virginia Skag out of Lowell, Indiana. On February 23, 2010, they finally received their patent for the impressive Empress Wu hosta. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1799, the Scottish botanist David Douglas was born. Douglas was responsible for the identification over 200 new plant species in North America including the famous Douglas-fir. Douglas never received a formal education, and he was primarily a plant collector rather than a published scientist. Despite his lack of formal training, Douglas sent more plants to Europe than any other botanist of his time. During his expeditions, Douglas was often accompanied by his little Scottish terrier named Billie. Douglas's career ended tragically in 1834 when he was killed while exploring in Hawaii. There is a memorial to Douglas and Honolulu which says: "Here lies Master David Douglas - an indefatigable traveler. He was sent out by the Royal Horticultural Society of London and gave his life for science." And on the second bronx tablet there is a quote by Virgil: "Even here the tear of pity springs, And hearts are touched by human things." #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the landscape gardener and botanist William Robert Guilfoyle, who died on this day in 1912. Guilfoyle was the architect of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne. It took Guilfoyle over 35 years to transform the Botanic Gardens into what is now is widely accepted as one of the world's greatest botanical landscapes. When the author of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle, saw the garden, he said it was absolutely the most beautiful place he had ever seen. #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of Nathaniel Lord Britton; an America botanist and taxonomist who died on this day in 1934. Britton married the famous brylogist Elizabeth Gertrude Knight. Together, they used Kew Gardens in London as their inspiration for the New York Botanical Garden. Britain and the botanist Joseph Rose named Regina Carnegiea in 1908 as a tribute to his philanthropy. In obituary of Britton, botanist Henry Rusby shared this charming anecdote: "Attracted one day, by the beauty of some drawings that lay before him, I inquired as to their source. When told that he, himself, was the artist, I asked in astonishment, 'Can you draw like that?' 'Of course,' he said. 'What you suppose I did all that hard work in the drawing class for?'" #OTD And it was on this day in 1903 that the author George Orwell was born. Over the past few decades Orwell's diaries have been made public. Across from his entry for October 3, 1946, there is a map for a fruit and vegetable garden. Orwell hoped to set up a small farm on the property, that he called Barnhill, on the island of Jura. In reality, Orwell's health was not good when he was on the island. Before he arrived, he had actually received a diagnosis of tuberculosis. Working in the vegetable garden was considered good for him because, at that time, being in fresh air was considered part of the treatment for tuberculosis. The last entry in his diary is for December 1949. It reads: "Snowdrops all over the place. A few tulips showing. Some wallflowers still trying to flower." Unearthed Words Here are some quotes from George Orwell: "Outside my work the thing I care most about is gardening, especially vegetable gardening." "The plant is blind but it knows enough to keep pushing upwards towards the light, and it will continue to do this in the face of endless discouragements." "So often like this, in lonely places in the forest, he would come upon something--bird, flower, tree--beautiful beyond all words, if there had been a soul with whom to share it. Beauty is meaningless until it is shared." Today's book recommendation: Gardener's Latin by Bill Neal This text remains one of the best resources for helping you to understand Latin plant names and to help you become a better gardener with that knowledge. Neal includes horticultural fats, fables, and wisdom from other gardeners; from Virgil to Vita Sackville-West. Today's Garden Chore Order yourself some 2 inch floral pins (Click here to see the ones I order from Amazon). I use them all the time in the garden - especially when I'm creating with succulents. Recently I was sharing images of some head planters I put together and even a large succulent wreath. Floral pis help make those creations possible and help train the plants where you want them to grow. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart It was on this day in 1929, that the American illustrator and writer Eric Carle was born. Carle gave a commencement address at Bates College in 2007. He concluded these words: "Love your partner and tend yo

Did you know that lilies enjoy being planted in part shade? They don't really like to be baked in full sun. If you plant them in a little bit of shade, it will allow your plant to experience less stress and thus it will elongate its stem. Lilies that are grown in full sun tend to be shorter and more stout. In nature, lilies grow in dappled light at the edges of woods and meadows. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1788, that the self taught tinkerer Thomas Blanchard was born. At the tender age of 13, Blanchard created a mechanical way to pare apples with a wire gauge. #OTD On this day in 1804 at the botanist Stephen Endlicher was born in Pressburg, Hungry. Endlicher devised a major system of plant classification. He explained it in his groundbreaking book Genera Plantarum. Endlicher donated his herbarium of 30,000 specimens to the Vienna Museum of Natural History and in 1840 he was appointed Prof. of botany at the University of Vienna. Sadly, Endlicher ran out of money after purchasing botanical collections and self-publishing his own work, in addition to the work of other botanists. Endlicher died in 1849 at the age of 45; he committed suicide. #OTD And it was on this day in 1817 that the first coffee was planted in Hawaii on the Kona Coast. Fifty years after those first plants were planted by a Spanish physician with a deep love for all things botanical, Mark Twain said this in the Sacramento Daily Union: "Kona coffee has a richer flavor than any other be grown where day and call it by what mean you please." As it turned out, coffee plants thrived in the rich volcanic soil. They loved the afternoon rainfall, the abundance of sun, and they were protected by the mountains from strong winds. By 1899, a little over 70 years after those first coffee plants were planted, nearly 3,000,000 coffee trees had grown throughout the region. #OTD And today in 1977, her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, celebrated her Silver Jubilee by planting a Cerus Atlantica Glauca on the east lawn. The tree is regarded as the most striking in appearance of all the blue conifers. #OTD And on this day in 1989 Paul McCartney's album flowers in the dirt became the number one album in England. Flowers in the Dirt brought McCartney some of the best reviews he had seen in years. Unearthed Words The birthday of the poet John Ciardi who was born on this day in 1916. Here are a few of his most famous quotes: "A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of idea." "Every word has a history. Every word has an image locked into its roots." "And the time sundials tell May be minutes and hours. But it may just as well Be seconds and sparkles, or seasons and flowers. No, I don't think of time as just minutes and hours. Time can be heartbeats, or bird songs, or miles, Or waves on a beach, or ants in their files (They do move like seconds—just watch their feet go: Tick-tick-tick, like a clock). You'll learn as you grow That whatever there is in a garden, the sun Counts up on its dial. By the time it is done Our sundial—or someone's— will certainly add All the good things there are. Yes, and all of the bad. And if anyone's here for the finish, the sun Will have told him—by sundial—how well we have done. How well we have done, or how badly. Alas, That is a long thought. Let me hope we all pass." ― The Monster Den Today's book recommendation: Plant Names Simplified by Arthur Johnson This book was first published in 1931 and is considered a botanical classic. The book gives the name, pronunciation, classification, and Latin origins of plants. If you've ever wondered how to pronounce the botanical name, this little book will come in handy. As Johnson wrote in his preface, "My job in preparing this glossary has been to offer the reader a simple translation and pronunciation of the names of plants, trees, and shrubs, that are commonly growing in the average garden. As they stand in such names are to most of us, something more than an awkward obstacle, barring way to any real intimacy with elements of botany. [...] If, in this work, I've succeeded in reducing even buy a little, the menace presented us by that pile of heterogeneous names which stand as a barrier between our people and the fairest gates of knowledge, I sure feel that I have done my bit in a good cause." Johnson's book was updated in 1946 and then again, in 2019, by AP Stockdale. Today's Garden Chore Incorporate Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpuream) into your garden. JPW is an incredible perennial. It is an herb, a wildflower, and a pollinator plant all in one. Its common name is in honor of a Native American named Joe Pye (Jopi), who made medicine with the plant to cure typhus in the 1800's. Over in the Facebook Group, I shared a photo of a single leaf of Joe Pye weed. The leaves can grow as long as 25 cm and as wide as 10 cm. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in y

When is the best time to divide? To prune? To transplant? In general, the answer I most often give is that the best time to do anything is when you're standing there with a shovel, or a knife, or a spade in your hand. We are all so busy. Our gardens can get away from us. Our good intentions of getting to things at a later date can evaporate faster than water on a hot July day. Thus the saying, "There is no time like the present." So, if you're in your garden, and you have helpers, or you just have the right frame of mind to tackle that bigger project, to move that plant, or split that rhubarb; I say go for it! Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Abraham Mignon who was born on this day in 1640. Mignon was a Dutch Golden age painter and he created vibrant paintings of fruit, birds, and his specialty: flowers. When Mignon that was just nine years old, he was placed under the care of Jacob Merrill - a still life painter and art dealer. Mignon became his apprentice and Merrill was impressed with Mignon; he asked him to instruct his stepdaughter Maria Sabella Marián. Maria went on to become, arguably, the best botanical illustrator of all-time. Mignon died before his 40th birthday. #OTD It was on this day in 1834 that the American inventor and businessman, Cyrus McCormick, patented the reaping machine. McCormick's thresher changed agriculture forever; replacing the manual cutting of crops - which is why he's considered The Father of Modern Agriculture. McCormick's company would go on to become the International Harvester Company. McCormick was a devout Christian. He made a fortune from his reaper and much of his wealth went to charity. It was Cyrus McCormick who said, "There's a special place in God's kingdom for businessmen who put their money where their mouth is." In 1940, the three-cent postage stamp commemorated McCormick. And today the original McCormick Farm is owned by Virginia Tech. McCormick came up with all of these wonderful witticisms about business here's a fun one.. "Trying to do business without advertising is like winking at a pretty girl through a pair of green goggles. You may know what you are doing, but no one else does." #OTD It was on this day in 1872 that the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olsted was nominated in absentia as Vice President of United States. Banker James McKim and philanthropist Robert Minturn, (who was instrumental in the creation of New York's Central Park), proposed a ticket featuring Olmsted as Vice President and as President, William Groesbeck (a former United States representative from Ohio). The party involved was the national American Democratic Republicans. When Olmsted heard the news, he immediately quashed his own nomination. He posted a rebuttal in the New York Post that said, "My name was used without my knowledge in the resolutions of the gentlemen who met on Friday at the Fifth Avenue Hotel..." Privately, Olmsted was delighted by the support. It was one more sign of the revered public figure that Olmsted had become. #OTD Today is officially the first day of summer. It's the longest day of the year and it always marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere. It's also known as the summer solstice. A solstice happens when the suns's zenith is at its furthest point from the equator. Solstice has Latin origins and means sun-stopping. Unearthed Words Here are some quotes from Donald Culross Peattie, who was born on this day, in Chicago, in 1898. Peattie was regarded as the most-read nature writer in America during his time. "What is a weed? I've heard it said that there are 60 definitions. For me, a weed is a plant out of place." "I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, null and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human being whose humor was not the better for a walk." "All the great naturalists have been habitual walkers, for no laboratory, no book, car, train or plane takes the place of honest footwork for this calling, be it amateur's or professional's." Today's book recommendation: Flowering Earth by Donald Culross Peattie The Hartford Times said this about Peattie's masterpiece: "Here is Mr. Peattie at his superb best.... [H]e makes the story of botany and its pursuit as fascinating to the reader as it is to him, and the reading of it a delight." Peattie's book was first published in 1939. The book is part of natural history, part biography, and part philosophical reflection. Peattie's voice is warm and lyrical; the voice of a poet. Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday in the Garden. June 21 is National Selfie Day. So, today, take pictures of yourself in the garden. I did this with my student gardeners a few weeks ago and I have all of these adorable pictures of them peeking out from behind blossom and foliage in the garden. Something Sweet Reviving the little botan

There is nothing that can beat eating fresh food from the garden. It seems every meal around here has fresh basil lettuce from the garden and little cherry tomatoes. Today, I was at my favorite olive oil store and they sell this little gizmo called the Zip Slicer. You load it up with your cherry tomatoes or grapes, and then you slice them all in one quick motion. It's fantastic if you eat tomatoes and grapes a lot. It cuts down on the prep time and I think around here we've been eating Caprese salad about three times a week. So there you go. Check it out: the Zip Slicer. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1757 that the botanist John Bartram wrote a letter to Philip Miller. Miller was the chief Gardner at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1722 until his death. He corresponded with botanists from all over the world, including John Bartram. Miller even trained William Forsyth after whom Forsythia is named. When Bartram wrote to Miller he shared some of his personal preferences as a gardener. First, he shared his desire for variety in the garden. He said, "One or two is enough for me of a sort." Later in the letter, he shared his dislike for plants that weren't hardy in Pennsylvania. He wrote to Miller saying, "I don't greatly like tender plants that won't bear our severe winters but perhaps annual plants that would perfect their seed with you without the help of a hotbed in the spring will do with us in the open ground." #OTD It was on this day in 1803 that President Thomas Jefferson sent a formal letter to his private secretary and aide, Meriwether Lewis. Lewis was a captain in the first United States infantry. Jefferson wrote him to request that he might lead an expedition of the Missouri River. Jefferson never mentioned botany in the letter, but he clearly was thinking about it; and Lewis knew it. As he was preparing for his trip, Lewis connected with Benjamin Smith Barton. Barton had written the first American textbook on botany and he gave Lewis a little crash course on the subject. #OTD It was on this day in 1861 that Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins was born. In the 1700s, Dr. James Lind had made it known that eating limes would cure a sailors scurvy. Hopkins work call these substances accessory food factors. Today, we know them as vitamins. #OTD And it is on this day in 1892 that Benjamin Lincoln Robinson was appointed the curator of the Asa Gray Herbarium at Harvard. When Robinson took over, both the herbarium and the library were in dire straits. Robinson was instrumental in acquiring funds and extending the growth of the herbarium in library. Today, the Gray Herbarium and library are still housed at Harvard at 22 Divinity Ave. #OTD And It was on this day hundred years ago that Isabella Abbott was born. She was the first native Hawaiian woman to earn a PhD in science. Abbott became known as the "First Lady of Limu" or seaweed. When she was a little girl, she spent hours gathering seaweed for her mother to cook in traditional Hawaiian foods. I found a video online of an interview that Leslie Wilcox did with Abbott back in 2008. When Wilcox asked Abbott about her love of studying seaweed, she said, "There are so few of us [compared to] the thousands of people work on flowering plants. Flowering plants mostly have the same kind of life history so they become kind of boring; they make pretty flowers and make nice smells, they taste good - many of them. But, they're not like seaweeds. With every one you pick up, it does go through life a different way ... It's a game, it's a game I bet with myself the whole whole time from the time I cut it on the outside I say oh I think this might be in such-and-such a family, or something like that, and by the time I get to some magnification on the microscope... Oh No. 100% wrong. So let's begin again." You can watch the video of the interview with Isabella Abbott in the Facebook Group for the Show: The Daily Gardener Community Unearthed Words Green Summer No farther than my fingertips, No weightier than a rose, The essence of green summer slips Into a waiting pose. The tilted bowl of heaven Has spilled its blue and gold Among the vines and grasses Where autumn is foretold. Skylarks trill the melody, Crickets cry it over; Summer hides her mystery In fields of hay and clover. Alice Mackenzie Swaim Today's book recommendation: The Hillier Manual of Trees & Shrubs by John Hillier This book is considered a classic in horticultural literature. The best part about it remains all of the notes that were compiled by members of the Hillier family. Among all of them, they had an amazing amount of direct experience growing plants and assessing their performance in different regions. Over 10,500 plants representing more than 650 genera are described in detail, making it an indispensable guide for any keen gardener or botanist. Today's Garden Chore Don't forget to pinch back some of your perennials; this is also known as the Chelsea Chop. The simple technique helps control plant height

Irises are in full bloom right now. Although, there are around 300 species of iris, Bearded Iris and Siberian Iris are two of the most common types of irises grown. Iris takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow. During the Middle Ages, irises were linked to the French monarchy, and theFleur-de-lis is now a national symbol of France. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1820, that the botanist Joseph Banks died in England. Banks is best known for his study of Australian flora and faunaIn his role as botanist on board The Endeavor with Capt. James Cook. When banks return to England, he advised George III on on the creation of the Royal botanic Garden, also known as Kew. #OTD Twenty years after the death of Joseph Banks, the "Raphael of flowers," Pierre-Joseph Redouté died. He was known for his watercolors of roses and lilies.He's often referred to as the greatest botanical illustrator of all time. He was an official court draftsmen to Queen Marie Antoinette. One evening around midnight, she summoned him to appear before her and she asked him to paint her a cactus. He also became a favorite of Josephine Bonaparte and his paintings of her flowers at Malmaison are among his finest works. #OTD It was on this day in 1872 that the English horticulturalist, landscape designer, and botanist Theodore Payne was born. He made his way from England to California. And, he was an early advocate for California native plants. He started his own seedling business In 1903 in downtown Los Angeles. His specialty was California native wildflower seeds, bulbs, and plants. Payne was involved in the creation of many native plant gardens. In 1939, he created one at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, using 178 plant species and all were native to California. It was Theodore Payne who said, "Be a good Californian; be loyal to your own state and keep your landscape Californian, by planting trees from California." #OTD It's the birthday of Elbert Green Hubbard born on this day in 1856. He was a writer, artist, and the philosopher. Among Hubbard's many publications, with the piece he wrote about the founder of the Burpee Seed Company called, "The business of distributing flower seeds." It was Elbert Hubbard who gave us these marvelous quotes: "Our finest flowers are often weeds transplanted." "A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world." "To me, flowers are happiness. If I had but two loaves of bread I would sell one of them & buy White Hyacinths to feed my soul." "Without love, the world would only echo cries of pain, the sun would only shine to show us grief, each rustle of the wind among the leaves would be a sigh, and all the flowers fit only to garland graves." In 1915, Albert Hubbard and his wife, Alice, guy. They were on a ship called The Lusitania when it was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland. Unearthed Words It's the anniversary of the death of the author of Peter Pan; James Matthew Barrie. Barrie was inspired by Kensington Gardens. In 1912, he commissioned Sir George Frampton to build the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. It's been a favorite of visitors to the park ever since. Gardens and flowers were a tremendous source of inspiration from Barrie. 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 for ever!' 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." Today's book recommendation: "Reader's Digest" New Encyclopedia of Garden Plants & Flowers by Justine et al Scott-McNab This is one of my favorite resources. Published back in 1997. Brand-new, this book is almost $200. You can get used copies following the link in today show notes on Amazon for just under $8. Describing 900 genera and over 8000 plants, this A-Z gardening encyclopaedia also introduces a way of identifying plants from their appearance alone. Hundreds of synonyms and common names are cross-referenced, and the book's coverage encompasses fruit, vegetables, herbs, house plants, flowers, foliage, shrubs and trees. The main benefits, uses and any drawbacks of each plant are pointed out, and there are instructions on cultivation, propagation and pruning techniques, and on dealing with pests and diseases. Today's Garden Chore It's time to get some new work gloves. I scoured the options here locally and these are my favorite. They are

Have you heard of the Little Free Library that some thoughtful people put up out by their sidewalks? Well, a few weeks ago, I saw a post by Hylton Jolliffe about his Little Free Herbary... Takes obvious inspiration from the little free library movement and it aims to help us share and connect with neighbors and others who might need herbs for cooking medicinal remedies fragrances etc. The idea takes obvious inspiration from the wonderful Little Free Library movement and it aims to help us share and connect with neighbors and others who might need herbs for cooking, medicinal remedies, fragrances, etc. Anyway, I loved Hylton's idea; I think it's just as cute as all get out. Hylton also has a Facebook groupthat you can go to to find out more information. Just search for "Little Free Herbary the next time your in Facebook. Brevities #OTD It was on this day, in 1812, the botanist Karl Theodor Hartweg was born. He'd started out in Paris, working for the botanical garden there, and then ended up going to the Chiswick garden in London. He was eager to travel and go on expeditions. He was sent to the Americas for the first time in 1836. He was supposed to be there for a three year project, but you know how plans go astray... He ended up being there're seven years. During Hartweg's time, native plants from Mexico, like dahlias and cacti, were all the rage. Hartweg's particular specialty was orchids. According to Merle Reinkka, the author of A History of the Orchid, Hartweg collected, "The most variable and comprehensive collection of New World Orchids made by a single individual in the first half of the [19th] century." During his time in America, Vera Cruz (Mexico) became something of a mecca for Plant Explorers. Hartweg once commented , "All the way from London just to look after weeds." #OTD It's the anniversary of the 1969 death of Edgar Shannon Anderson. Anderson was an American botanist and his 1949 book Introgressive Hybridizationwas a major step forward in botanical genetics. While he was at Harvard, Anderson went on to work at the Bussey Institute; a biological arm of the University. It was there that he met Dorothy Moore, a fellow botanist. Dorothy was always by his side; going on hikes and collecting plant specimens. They were married in 1923. Anderson became the director of the Missouri Botanical Garden. After three years of administrative work, he went back to his passions of teaching and research. In 1952, Anderson published Plants, Man and Life. In the book, Anderson shared his methods of research and his perspective on life. It is a favorite among botanists. It contains not only scientific knowledge, but also folklore, some of Anderson's insight on early herbalists, and a little bit of philosophy. There's a charming account of Leonard Fuchs, a German physician and botanist. When Anderson wrote about him, he said, "He was a big, broad-shouldered Henry VIII sort of man; with handsome clothes and a general air of getting things done." #OTD It's the one-year anniversary of the death of the beloved botanist Professor Holenarasipur Yoganarasimham Mohan Ram (H.Y. Mohan Ram). Mohan Ram Left a tremendous legacy of the faculty and students of the botany department at Delhi University. He had Published over 240 research research papers get guided 32 PhD students and his research included studies in floral biology, plant physiology, insectivorous plants and the river weed family. In one of his autobiographies Mohan Ram said, "I wish I could be like a tree; deep rooted and firmly fixed, bearing a lofty bole and a broad canopy, continuously absorbing, synthesizing and renewing, bearing fragrant flowers and delicious fruits, unmindful of stresses and insults, resilient to changes and perpetually giving and not coveting. To this I must add tenacity, based on the remarkable example of a gingko tree, almost at the epicenter of the 1945 Hiroshima nuclear explosion, that sprouted from the root after its trunk had been completely demolished along with everything around it." #OTD This month, the English gardening expert, Carol Klein, is hosting a brand-new television program called Great British Gardens. Carol's program has four parts and it explores four of the country's most distinctive gardens. Today's episode features Gravetye Manor at 9 PM. The gardens at Gravetye Manor were created by William Robinson; One of England's most distinguished gardeners. Unearthed Words Here are some thoughts on June from Vita Sackville-West: "It always seemed to me that the herbaceous peony is the very epitome of June. Larger than any rose, it has something of the cabbage rose's voluminous quality; and when it finally drops from the vase, it sheds its petticoats with a bump on the table, all in an intact heap, much as a rose will suddenly fall, making us look up from our book or conversation, to notice for one moment the death of what had still appeared to be a living beauty." Today's book recommendation: The Names of Plants by David Gle

Do you change the oil in your window boxes and containers every spring? You really don't need to - I don't. Here's what I do: I remove about a quarter to a third of the soil in my containers, and I put it in my potting soil bin. Then, I add a little perlite and compost to the original container, and that's it. Any extra potting soil that I have leftover in my bin, I use for new containers. Brevities #OTD It was on this day in 1869 that the botanist Edwin Hunt collected the last known specimen of Arethusa bulbosa in the old Oriskany swamp in New York. Arethusa bulbosa is known as Dragon's Mouth Orchid, and it is found in the eastern and central parts of the United States and Canada, from South Carolina to Saskatchewan. One of Hunt's former students shared his recollections of his teacher: "Mr. Hunt was an expert in the preparation of his botanical specimens. Hunt was ever-guarded in his knowledge of locality. He did not believe in sharing it if he thought someone would exhaust it. He knew only too well how many years of patient industry he had spent on his collection." And then he recalled: "We journeyed many miles together and he always seemed 2 inches taller when we got into the woods. He was a very rapid walker and when on a botanical excursion, it was a difficult matter to keep up with him. I have a faint but pleasant recollection of running at his heels for a distance of 12 miles." The Crataegus huntiana is named in memory of Edwin Hunt. #OTD On this day in 1871, James Weldon Johnson was born. He's the lyricist of the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing." He had a summer home known as Five Acres, and he had a little writing cabin on a hill above a brook. Johnson was a founder and member of the Harlem Renaissance, and he wrote most of his famous works like God's Trombone and his autobiography Along This Way in his writing cabin on the hill. Johnson also loved poetry. Here are some excerpts from his Venus in a Garden: But the fair Venus knew The crimson roses had gained their hue From the hearts that for love had bled; And the goddess made a garland Gathered from the roses red. #OTD It was on this day in 1879 at the Botanical Gardens of Berlin, a monument of the late eminent botanist, Alexander Braun, was unveiled. Professor Adler did the granite pedestal. The bust of the Braun was said to be an excellent likeness. Braun was a botanist from Bavaria. He researched the morphology of plants. #OTD It was on this day in 1916, a photograph of Nellie McClung was taken with fellow suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst. Nellie McClung earned Canadian women the right to vote. Today you can explore Nellie's home and garden in Calgary. Although she is perhaps best known for her social activism, being an author was her "day job." Nothing inspired her more than her garden Her first book was called "Sowing Seeds in Danny." It has been compared to L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables. Both books were immediate best-sellers in Canada. #OTD It was on this day in 1934 that the University of Wisconsin's Arboretum was officially dedicated. The idea had first occurred in 1853, to Wisconsin's early naturalist, Increase Lapham. The University didn't actually begin purchasing land for the Arboretum until 1932. The following year, William Longenecker was hired to be the executive director, and Aldo Leopold, who has been a professor of wildlife ecology, was made research director. Unearthed Words Emily Dickinson wrote today's poem in the fall of 1877. She, like most gardeners, was reflecting the seasons, and she made some observations about critical growing times during the year. Dickinson never wrote a poem strictly about June, but she loved to reach back to June in her poems about Autumn. To Dickinson, June was sweeter and best appreciated through the amber lens of Fall. "Summer has two Beginnings -- Beginning once in June -- Beginning in October Affectingly again -- Without, perhaps, the Riot But graphicker for Grace -- As finer is a going Than a remaining Face -- Departing then -- forever -- Forever -- until May -- Forever is deciduous Except to those who die --" And here's a quote from my friend and fellow podcaster, Joanne Shaw, who said this one year ago: "A piece of our heart is in all our gardens." Today's book recommendation: The Plant Hunters: The Adventures of the World's Greatest Botanical Explorers by Carolyn Fry Most of the plants in our gardens are not native to our region. Although we take their accessibility and ubiquity for granted, we owe a debt to the naturalists and explorers who traveled in search of these unusual plants and then brought them back along with fantastic stories. Carolyn is the former editor at Geographical; The magazine of the Royal Geographical Society. Today's Garden Chore Attend to your geraniums. Regular deadheading prevents disease and increases flower production. Be sure to remove the entire flower stalk after the flowers fade. Also, remove yellowing or dry leaves from the plants. It's quite normal

Are you planning to grow Sunflowers this year? Five years ago, Hans-Peter Schiffer toppled the Guinness World Record for third year in a row - growing a sunflower that was 30'1" tall! Over atthe Facebook group for the show, you can check out a time lapse video of sunflowers growing from seed to seed heads; just search for The Daily Gardener Communitythe next time you're in Facebook and request to join. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Harriet Beecher Stowe board on this day in 1811. Stowe is best known as the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. When Stowe met Pres. Abraham Lincoln, he greeted her by saying, "So you're the little woman who started this great war." During the Victorian era, the language of flowers was all the rage. Stowe used that language in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Her use of roses connotes both tragedy and Tom's loving nature. Ferns are a sign of both fortitude and memory. The most important flowers in the story are the brilliant scarlet geranium and one single white Japonica; Red and white conveyed suffering and purity. The character Topsy has the purity of a small child, but as a slave, she was forced to endure the beatings and punishments by her master. Uncle Tom's Cabin was a sensation. During its first year in print, it sold a record 200,000 copies. One year after it's publication, Eva became one of the most popular names for baby girls; Eva was the name of the beloved slave girl in Stowe's novel. #OTD It's the birthday of garden author Ruth Stout, born on this day in 1884. Ruth wrote a number of garden books including the No Work Garden and Gardening Without Work. Here's a sampling of her famous prose: "If you have the soul of a gardener, not for anything would you work with gloves on." "I read somewhere that a shallow pan of beer put into a garden at night will do away with slugs. (Whether they are dead or just dead-drunk in the morning, I don't know.) I wrote this to one inquirer and he answered: 'I'm certainly not going to carry beer out to the garden for slugs. If they want beer they can come in the house and ask for it, like everybody else.'" "If 'heartache' sounds exaggerated then surely you have never gone to your garden one rare morning in June to find that the frost, without any perceptible motive, any hope of personal gain, has quietly killed your strawberry blossoms, tomatoes, lima and green beans, corn, squash, cucumbers. A brilliant sun is now smiling at this disaster with an insensitive cheerfulness as out of place as a funny story would be if someone you loved had just died." #OTD It was on this day in 1922 that Pres. Harding's voice was heard on the radio. Just the year before, Pres. Harding and his wife had opened the grounds to the White House. The Harding enjoyed throwing garden parties; especially for veterans. During one event in the garden, in October 1921, Marie Curie visited the garden at the White House. She presented Pres. Harding with one gram of radium worth half a million Swedish kroner. Unearthed Words #OTD We celebrate the prose of Gilbert Keith or G.K. Chesterton, who died on this day in 1936. He was a British author creator of father Brown a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective of Chesterton's short stories. Known as the "prince of paradox", Chesterton is supposed to have handled episodes of writer's block by firing arrows from his window into the garden. From the Father Brown series, here's an excerpt from "The Secret Garden"... "The garden was large and elaborate, and there were many exits from the house into the garden. But there was no exit from the garden into the world outside; all round it ran a tall, smooth, unscalable wall with special spikes at the top; no bad garden, perhaps, for a man to reflect in whom some hundred criminals had sworn to kill" Here's a bit of philosophy from Chesterton: "When your father told you, walking about the garden, that bees stung or that roses smell sweet, he did not talk of taking the best out of his philosophy. When the bees stung you, you did not call it an entertaining coincidence; when the rose smell sweet you did not say, 'My father is a rude barbaric symbol enshrining (perhaps unconsciously) the deep delicate truth that flowers smell.' No, you believed your father because you had found him to be a living fountain of facts, a thing that really knew more than you; a thing that would tell you to truth to-morrow as well as to-day." Today's book recommendation:In Bloom: Growing, Harvesting and Arranging Flowers All Year Round by Clare Nolan In this gorgeous book, Clare Nolan shares her top tips for growing a bountiful harvest and styling spectacular homegrown arrangements. Clare expertly guides you through the entire process - from choosing the best plants to laying out your cutting garden. She even wrote an entire chapter on arranging - breaking down the secrets to styling flowers to maximum effect in your home. Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday in the Garden. Today take close-ups of your s

My aunt Debbie in Des Moines sent me some fantastic pictures of a great portable elevated plantar idea. She was at Lowes and they had taken two old Weber grills and had spray-painted them different colors. Then, they turned them into planters. In between the two of them they placed a bench. What a great idea. Fantastic idea a great way to repurpose old grills turn them into elevated bed that you could use for annuals - which is what they did. In my case, I'm thinking it is a fun way to have a small edible or herb garden - right by your grill! Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Martha Washington, born on this day in 1731. The kitchen garden at Mount Vernon was said to have been Martha Washington's personal pride. Surrounded by 4-inch-brick walls her garden was protected and it also enjoyed a bit of a microclimate. In addition to the walls, there were pear trees and apple trees that lined the walkways and provided a windbreaker for the vegetables. There was even a cistern placed in the center of the garden; providing the garden with a steady supply of water. One expert stated, "Mrs. Washington had a passion for gardening and her summer residence at the Hasbrouck house allowed her to indulge in it." One admirer said, "Under her skillful hands, bloomed a garden like the desert of the Scriptures." #OTD It was on this day in 1832 that George Thurtell held his impressive ranunculus show. It was said that Thurtell had exhibited between 700 and 800 blooms; including 360 varieties. They were preeminent in beauty, variety, color, form, and size. Fourteen years after his ranunculus show, Thurtell was fined for horse-whipping a journalist on April 30, 1846. Two years later, he pled guilty to stealing from a house where he was living as the gardener. He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and he died serving his sentence. #OTD It was on this day in 1833 David Douglas' luck ran out. On the Rocky Island of the Fraser river at Fort George Canyon, Douglas's canoe was smashed into bits and Douglas himself barely escaped alive. All of Douglas's work: his specimens and all of his writings - covering the years from 1829 to 1833 - were lost to time. Before losing all of his work, in the spring of that year, Douglas had written a friend: "We can be carried into regions where we contemplate the most glorious workmanship of nature and where the dullest imagination becomes excited." Unearthed Words Here's The Rose Treeby William Butler he who was born on this day in 1865. 'O words are lightly spoken,' Said Pearse to Connolly, 'Maybe a breath of politic words Has withered our Rose Tree; Or maybe but a wind that blows Across the bitter sea.' 'It needs to be but watered,' James Connolly replied, 'To make the green come out again And spread on every side, And shake the blossom from the bud To be the garden's pride.' 'But where can we draw water,' Said Pearse to Connolly, 'When all the wells are parched away? O plain as plain can be There's nothing but our own red blood Can make a right Rose Tree.' Here's a sweet diary entry for today by Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") who wrote these words on this day in 1938. "A beautiful June day. The kind of day which has made June's reputation…. Tonight I finished my flower beds entirely…. How pleasant it is to water from a hose, when one has known the effort of hauling water pail by pail." Today's book recommendation: The Flower Fix: Modern arrangements for a daily dose of nature by Anna Potter (Author), India Hobson (Photographer) The Flower Fix was a new book out in May of this year. Potter arranges easy to find seasonal blooms, along with found items such as twigs and dried fruit. And, she uses all kinds of containers. Potter is a florist at Swallows and Damsons. You can get your daily flower fix with her inspiring arrangements. Today's Garden Chore Sow Love-in-a-Mist or Nigella in your garden. It's one of my favorite flowers and I know I'm not alone; it is such a romantic blossom. It's a member of the Buttercup family. Although it comes in white and pink and lavender most gardeners are blown away by the blue version of love of Love-in-a-Mist. It's a favorite with pollinators and it's self-seeding - which, if you're lucky, will bring you more love in the mist through the years. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart It was on this day in 1831 that the scientist James clerk Maxwell was born. Maxwell is remembered for his formulation of the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation. In 1922 but Albert Einstein visited the University of Cambridge his host announced that he is done great things because he stood on Isaac Newton shoulders. Einstein replied "No, I don't. I stand on the shoulders of Maxwell." In 1879 Maxwell wrote a letter to his friend William Thompson. It's a letter gardeners can delight in: Peacocks as Gardeners. We got our original stock from Mrs McCunn, Ardhallow. At that time (1860), the garden there was the finest on the

Fragrance in the garden... The most fragrant blossoms include: Cheddar pinks (a member of the carnation family) Lavender Peony Gardenia Honeysuckle Hyacinth Lilac Mock Orange Daphne Bee balm Brevities #OTD On this day, in 1805, Meriwether Lewis was just one day away from reaching the Great Falls of Missouri. He wrote his own brief description of a species that was previously unknown to science. He wrote, "The narrow leafed cottonwood grows here in common with the other species of the same tree with a broad leaf." Wonder if he saw all the cottonwood seeds floating through the air... #OTD It was a little over 200 years ago today, in 1817, that a forest ranger, named Karl Freiherr von Drais,invented the first bicycle. #OTD And it's the anniversary of the death day of Edward Newman who was an English entomologist, botanist, and writer. Newman wrote, An Illustrated Natural History of the British MothsIn 1869. He also enjoyed writing poetry. Just as the butterfly, child of an hour, Flutters about in the light of the sun, Wandering wayward from flower to flower, Sipping the honey from all, one by one; So does the fanciful verse I've created Love amongst the experts in Science to roam, Drinking their spirit without being sated, Bringing the sweets of their intellect home. #OTD It was on this day, in 1948, that the Michigan Botanical Club adopted its name. It wasn't agreed upon very easily. The Board of Directors and the executive committee couldn't agree. They decided to hold a vote. The choices included: The Michigan Association for Native Plants Protection The Michigan Wildflower Association The Michigan Native Plant Society The Michigan Botanical Club Although the rest of the state voted unanimously for the Michigan Botanical Club, the strong-willed southeastern chapter had taken a poll and they wanted the name The Michigan Wildflower Association. The matter was finally settled when the general membership voted. It's been The Michigan Botanical Club ever since. #OTD And it was on this day in 1918 that the botanist Frank Nicholas Meyer was buried in Shanghai. Six days later, his family, back home in the Netherlands, learned of his death. At the beginning of June, Meyer had traveled to Shanghai by way of Japanese riverboat on the Yangtze River. He was last seen leaving his cabin on the evening of June 1; then he simply disappeared. His body was found in the river four days later. Meyer was just 43 years old when he either fell over board or was murdered. In either case, his legacy continues; not only in the plants he introduced (like the Meyer Lemon), but also, in the magnificent photographs that he took in China. Unearthed Words Here are some short sayings about June: "If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance." - Bern Williams "Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June." - Al Bernstein "What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade." - Gertrude Jekyll, On Gardening "June is bustin' out all over." - Oscar Hammerstein II, 1945 Today's book recommendation: Sex, Botany, and Empire: The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks by Patricia Fara Fara said, "Banks provided a marvelous illustration of how science and the British Empire grew rich and powerful together." Fara reveals how Enlightenment botany, under the veil of rationality, manifested a drive to conquer, subdue, and deflower―all in the name of British empire. Linnaeus trained his traveling disciples in a double mission―to bring back specimens for the benefit of the Swedish economy and to spread the gospel of Linnaean taxonomy. Based in London at the hub of an international exchange and correspondence network, Banks ensured that Linnaeus's ideas became established throughout the world. As the president of the Royal Society for more than forty years, Banks revolutionized British science, and his innovations placed science at the heart of trade and politics. He made it a policy to collect and control resources not only for the sake of knowledge but also for the advancement of the empire. Although Linnaeus is often celebrated as modern botany's true founder, Banks has had a greater long-term impact. It was Banks who ensured that science and imperialism flourished together, and it was he who first forged the interdependent relationship between scientific inquiry and the state that endures to this day. Today's Garden Chore Add perlite to your soil. Get a big bag of perlite like this oneand add it to the soil in your containers. Seasoned gardeners swear by perlite. If you want soilthat has good aeration, water retention and drainage, try adding,the mineral, perlite. A naturally occurring mineral, perlite has a neutral pH level; so it won't change the soil in that way. It's incredibly porous and it contains little pockets of space inside for air. It can also retain some amou

Garden journal - two columns Failures and Successes we learn equally from both Brevities #OTD NATIONAL CORN ON THE COB DAY – June 11 Corn is called maize by most countries, this comes from the Spanish word 'maiz'. Corn is a cereal crop that is part of the grass family. An ear or cob of corn is actually part of the flower and an individual kernel is a seed. On average an ear of corn has 800 kernels in 16 rows. Corn will always have an even number of rows on each cob. A bushel is a unit of measure for volumes of dry commodities such as shelled corn kernels. 1 Bushel of corn is equal to 8 gallons. With the exception of Antarctica, corn is produced on every continent in the world. There are over 3,500 different uses for corn products. As well as being eaten by the cob, corn is also processed and used as a major component in many food items like cereals, peanut butter, potato chips, soups, marshmallows, ice cream, baby food, cooking oil, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and chewing gum. Juices and soft drinks like Coca-Cola and Pepsi contain corn sweeteners. A bushel of corn can sweeten 400 cans of soft drink. Corn and its by products are also found in many non-food items such as fireworks, rust preventatives, glue, paint, dyes, laundry detergent, soap, aspirin, antibiotics, paint, shoe polish, ink, cosmetics, the manufacturing of photographic film, and in the production of plastics. Corn is also used as feeding fodder for livestock and poultry and found in domestic pet food. As of 2012, the United States produces 40% of the worlds total harvest making it the biggest maize producer in the world (273,832,130 tonnes produced in 2012). An area termed the "Corn Belt" in the US where growing conditions are ideal includes the states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky. In the days of the early settlers to North America corn was so valuable that it was used as money and traded for other products such as meat and furs. Corn is now a completely domesticated plant so you're unlikely to find it growing in the wild. Corn can be produced in various colors including blackish, bluish-gray, purple, green, red, white and the most common yellow. #OTD John Constable, RA(/ˈkʌnstəbəl, ˈkɒn-/;[1]11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the naturalistic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintingsof Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".[2 I see the elder is coming into flower. Reminds me of John Constable's oil sketch at Hampstead. c.1821-2 Private collection. Study of the Trunk of an Elm Tree - by John Constable (RA), c1821 Golding Constable's Kitchen Garden, 1815 Golding Constable's Flower Garden, 1815 He considered spring and midsummer as the stirring times for the landscape painter, and not autumn. In his opinion an old tree, half decayed and almost leafless, presented no fitter subject to the painter than an emaciated old man.. .Constable was the first, I believe, in this country who ceased to paint grass yellow ocher, although it appears to me that we are now [1850-60's] in the other extreme. For by the non-employment of yellow, green pictures show a want of sunlight, and allowance is not made for the yellow of the frame, especially at the edge of the picture; still Constable is entitled to great praise for having brought the art back to a truer standard. Green is the colour for trees, and the midsummer shoot gives the green in its greatest variety. pp. 80-81 Nature is the fountain's head, the source from whence all originality must spring. Landscape is my mistress - 'tis to her I look for fame. I never saw an ugly thing in my life: for let the form of an object be what it may, - light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful. When I sit down to make a sketch from nature, the first thing I try to do is to forget that I have ever seen a picture. As quoted in Richard Friedenthal, Letters of the great artists – from Blake to Pollock (Thames and Hudson, London, 1963), p. 40 But the sound of water escaping from mill-dams, &c., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things. Shakespeare could make everything poetical; he tells us of poor Tom's haunts among "sheep cotes and mills." As long as I do paint, I shall never cease to paint such places. They have always been my delight. Quote from John Constable's letter to Rev. John Fisher (23 October 1821), from John Constable's Correspondence, part 6, pp. 76-78 The world is wide; no two days are alike, nor even two hours; neither were there ever two leaves of a tree alike since the creation of the world. Quoted in C.R. Leslie, Memoirs of the Life of John Constable, Composed Chiefly of His L

My neighbor, up at our cabin, has this amazing copse of lilacs. We've become good friends and he invited me to take some cuttings of his lilac as a gesture of goodwill. (He also give me all of his jack-in-the-pulpit - but that's another story.) Over time, lilacs have met different things to different people. The Celtic's thought the sweet scent of lilacs made them magical. During the Victorian age, widows wore lilacs because they were a symbol of old love. In Russia, in order to bless an infant with intelligence, they placed a little sprig of lilac over a baby's crib. Brevities #OTD Today is National Herbs and Spices Day. It is the season for growing fresh herbs. I just helped a friend put together a sweet little kitchen Garden right outside her front door. Herbs are so wonderful to grow because as aromatics they generally don't have any pest issues and they offer tremendous texture and interest. If you're new to gardening and looking for something maintenance to grow, it won't get any easier than growing herbs. #OTD On this day in 1793, the botanical garden, Jardin des Plantes, opened in Paris. The very next year, it becomes the first public zoo. #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of Scottish botanist Robert Brown, who died on this day in 1858. Brown is best known for being the first to notice natural continuous movement of minute particles. It's known as the Brownian movement. Brown had experimented with all kinds of materials - including plants- and he saw the same jittery behavior. He wrote, "These motions were such as to satisfy me … that they arose neither from currents in the fluid, nor from its gradual evaporation, but belonged to the particle itself" Brown was unable to explain why the particles moved, but 50 years later Einstein was able to fully understand Brownian motion. Today, Brownian Motion helping to explain "spin" from black holes. Brown also named the nucleus in living cells. Nucleus in Latin means "little nut". Brown published the remarkable survey on Australian flora which he called The Prodromus. The Prodromus opened doors for Brown when it attracted the attention of Joseph Banks. Brown was asked to serve as Banks' botanist librarian. They became great friends. So much so, that when Banks died in 1820, his left his home, his collections, and his library to Brown; and he also endowed him with a large yearly allowance. #OTD On June 10, 1922, Frances Ethel Gumm — aka Judy Garland — was born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (about 165 miles north of lovely, Maple Grove.) When the famous professional wrestler George Raymond Wagner known as "Gorgeous George" retired, he quipped, "No more wrestlin' .. I'm takin up gardening." When Garland heard this comment, she sent him a couple pots of her hibiscus. Unearthed Words It's the anniversary of the death of Frances Theodora Parsons who died on this day in 1952. She was an American naturalist and author, remembered most for her book on American wildflowers. Frances or "Fanny" Smith was born in 1861 in New York City. She developed a lifelong love of nature and especially wildflowers during summers spent with her maternal grandparents near the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains. When she was 23, Fanny happily married William Starr Dana who was 16 years older than her and a Commander in the U.S. Navy. After they married, they lost their first baby and five years later, William died in a flu epidemic in Paris. Following the Victorian widows custom, Fanny wore black and isolated herself. A few years later, her friend Marion Satterlee managed to get her to take nature walks which rekindled her love for wildflowers. In 1893, Fanny published her popular book, How to Know the Wildflowers,under her husband's name "Mrs. William Starr Dana." It sold out in five days and was a favorite of Theodore Roosevelt and Rudyard Kipling. Three years later, in 1896, Fanny married a childhood friend; professor, politician, and diplomat James Russell Parsons. The following year, Fanny gave birth to their son. Parsons was not well off, so Fanny wrote "How to Know the Ferns"; this time, using her own name Frances Theodora Parsons. A year after Ferns, Fanny gave birth to their only daughter, Dorothea who tragically died at two and a half years old 5 days before Thanksgiving in 1902. Three years later, James was killed when his carriage collided with a trolley car. A widow once again, Fanny published this poem in Scribner's Magazine in 1911: When Laughter is Sadder than Tears. The marshes stretch to the dunes and the dunes sweep down to the sea, And the sea is wooing the meadow which waits with an open door; Then a melody sweet to the hearer floats up from the murmuring lea Till the sea slips seaward again and the land is athirst as before. And athirst is the heart whose worship is not the worship of yore, Whose visions no magic can conjure, whose plenty is suddenly dearth; And parched as the desert the soul whose tears no grief can restore, Whose laughter is sadder than te

I ran across a fascinating old journal as I was researching this show - what I especially loved about it was the layout. If you want to copy it here's what you do: Dedicate a page of your journal to each type of plant in your garden. Make some notes about the characteristics of the plant. (Maybe what you like about it as well) Then leave room to chart the major events with the plant. For instance, after describing Kalmia Angustifolia, it says this: June 7, 1908 First Flowers June 15th Generally comes into bloom July 13 Still in flower Rarely any flowers in the autumn. Doesn't that make for a very handy and personal reference guide for your garden? Brevities #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of one of the most eminent botanists of his age: Louis Claude Richard who died on this day in 1821. His great grandfather had been in charge of the menagerie at Versailles. His grandfather had been charge of the botanic gardens at Trianon. Even his own father was placed in charge of the King's Garden. A biography of Richard was featured in international Gazette in 1831. It said: "Louis Claude Richard was therefore born in the midst of plants; he learnt to know them sooner than the letter of the alphabet; and before he he was able to write correctly, he could draw flowers, or plans of gardens... He did not recollect a moment of his life in which be had not been a botanist; and if he ever engaged in other studies, botany was always the object of them." In 1781, he was the naturalist to the king. Richard sailed from France to French Guyana. Eight years later, when he returned to France, he brought his herbarium; which contained over 1000 plants. #OTD It was on this day in 1769, that Daniel Boone first laid eyes on the forests of present-day Kentucky. Boone wrote in his journal: "Not a breeze shook the most tremulous leaf. I had gained the summit of a commanding ridge, and, looking round with astonishing delight, beheld the ample plains, the beauteous tracts below." 30 years later, Boone left Kentucky and followed his son to Missouri. He was often asked why he left Kentucky. He always answered the same way: "Too crowded! too crowded! I want elbow-room!" #OTD It's the birthday of Fletcher Steele; an American landscape architect who designed over 700 gardens. He was born on this day in 1885. His most iconic work was nestled into the Hillside in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. It's called The Blue Staircase at Naumkeag. Steele designed the staircase for Mable Choate in 1926. She would become his most important client. She was 56 and he was 41. Choate had a history of working with designers and she knew how to collaborate with them. Steele was one of the first landscape architects to speak of plant material as one of the elements in a composition. It was Fletcher Steele who said "Gardening seems to be the most ephemeral of the arts." #OTD It's the birthday of the botanist Jack Harlan, born on this day in 1917. Harlan followed in the footsteps of his botanists father Harry Harland. He loved going on plant collecting expeditions - mainly in search of new genetic material for the USDA's crop breeding programs. Harlan was worried about genetic vulnerability and genetic wipeout Harlan said: "We MUST collect and study wild and weedy relatives of our cultivated plants... we cannot afford to ignore any source of useable genes." Harlan wrote those words in 1970. And one of his final works contain these words: "We will not and cannot find a time or place where agriculture originated. We will not and cannot because it did not happen that way. Agriculture is not the result of a happening, an idea, an invention, discovery or instruction by a god or goddess. It emerged as a result of long periods of intimate coevolution between plants and man. Animals are not essential; plants supply over 90% of the food consumed by humans." Unearthed Words Here's a quote from poet, sculptor, and artist Jean Arp who died on this day in 1966. "Art is a fruit that grows in man, like a fruit on a plant, or a child in its mother's womb." Here's a quote from Charles Rennie Mackintosh, who was born on this day in 1868. "Art is the flower - Life is the green leaf." Today's book recommendation: Fletcher Steele, Landscape Architect: An Account of the Gardenmaker's Life, 1885-1971 by Robin S. Karson Karson wrote this book back in 2003. The cover shows Steele's signature work: The Blue Staircase. The beginning of Karson's book includes Steele's most famous quote. He said, "The chief vice in the garden is to be merely... pretty." Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday in the Garden. Water your plants and then go take pictures. I did this with my student gardener today. Her images of blossoms with water droplets on the petals were absolutely incredible. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart The First-Ever Southeastern Plant Symposium is taking place in North Carolina. Mark Weathington and Tony Avent are launching this event

I made another trip to the garden center today; that's my fourth of this week. The reason I keep going back, is they're clearancing out the annuals already. When it comes to my garden budget, I try to be as frugal as possible with my spending on annuals. I'm not too picky when it comes to the types of annuals,I generally just try to find purples, pinks and whites. Today, I was getting annuals in the large pots for just $3 apiece. I was standing there filling up my cart while everyone around me was buying all of the full price annuals. Go figure. Brevities #OTD Today, June 6th, is National Gardening Exercise Day. As I mentioned in a previous episode, many people think of calming, relaxation, beauty, and food as the reasons to garden; but don't forget - it's a workout. So, go ahead and celebrate that workout on National Gardening Exercise Day today. #OTD It's the birthday of Andrea Cesalpino; the Italian physician, philosopher, and botanist, born on this day in 1519. Cesalpino helped establish botany as a science and he did great initial work classifying plants Unlike many of his peers who were classifying plans based on their medical properties or even alphabetically, Cesalpino classified plants according to their fruit and seeds. He also enjoyed the plant exploration. He loved to go out into the field collecting specimens for his herbariums. One had over 700 specimens that he dedicated to the bishop. It survives still today at the University of Florence in Italy. In 1583, Cesalpino wrote a book about plants and it is considered to be the very first textbook of botany. Unfortunately, Cesalpino included no illustrations in his book. He wrote that he didn't think they were necessary. One of the consequences of that decision, is that today, Cesalpino is less well-known than many of his contemporaries. #OTD And it's the birthday of Cleo Virginia Andrews better known as VC Andrews born on this day in 1923. Her most popular series of books all had a garden theme: Flowers in the Attic Petals on the Wind If There be Thorns Seeds of Yesterday Garden of Shadows Out of that first series of books, Flowers in the Atticis the book that she, will forever, be known for. It is about four children locked in the attic of a very wealthy Virginia family and it just gets worse from there. #OTD Tonight from 6:30 to 8 PM Gordon Hayward is going to be giving a talk at the Westminster Institute and his lecture is called The Intimate Garden. Hayward,and his wife Mary, have created a garden around their 220-year-old farmhouse. For the past 36 years, they've integrated its design with the house and the surrounding landscape. Hayward's talk will be illustrated by slides and it will follow the itinerary of their garden and it's 14 rooms or spaces. As Haywardsaid, "It's a practical lecture. We both have our feet on the ground and a shovel in our hands." Haywardwas recently recognized by the Garden Club of America. Just this past May, he was named an honorary member. Hayward has designed gardens professionally for more than 30 years. He's written 11 books and authored over 70 articles on gardening. Haywardgrew up with his two brothers on his family's orchard in New Hartford, Connecticut. The orchard featured apples, peaches, and pears. Haywardsaid, "We worked as a family in the orchard for nine months of the year," he said. "Then for three months, from late summer into fall, people came to our barn to buy fruit. Our parents greeted everyone, engaged with everyone, and accepted everyone — there was no judgment of social class. I carry with me the openness and acceptance of their world, traits that have influenced how I interacted with students when I was teaching, and with clients when I became a garden designer." Unearthed Words It's the anniversary of the death of the poet Hannah Rebecca Hudson who died on this day in 1920. Hudson wrote a little book of homes in 1874. Here's a poem from Hudson's book called My Garden. My Garden It is set by fields of clover And sentinelled with trees, Hosts of sunbeams range it over 'T is owned by birds and bees. Larkspurs, leaning out of places Where bashful myrtles creep, Peep at monk-flowers' hooded faces And poppies gone to sleep. There are wild and headstrong briers And thistle knights and dames, Bloomless weeds, like jovial friars, Grasses with ancient names ; I am queen and lady in it, — Queen over leaf and flower; Crowned with sprays of purple spinnet, I own no higher power. Today's book recommendation: We Made a Garden by Marjorie Fish In the 1960s, Marjorie and her husband Walter, decided to transform an acre of wilderness into a stunning cottage garden. In the forward of her book, Marjorie says, "You mustn't rely on your flowers to make your garden attractive. A good bone structure must come first - with an intelligent use of evergreen plants - so the garden is always clothed." You can click on the link above to get this book on Amazon. Used copies are selling for a little over $3. Today's Garde

Is your garden new to you this year? Recently at a garden center, I ran into a woman who had just moved. She was tentatively buying just a few plants - curious to see what would work in her new space. One of the things we ended up talking about was the micro-climate she had enjoyed living in an inner-ring suburb of the twin cities - one with milder temperatures thanks to the heat island from the buildings but also helped greatly by the older, dense tree canopy. Even little moves can be big moves when it comes to a new garden space. Just as with the interior spaces, figuring out what you want to do with your exterior space - your garden - takes time. Remember - it's a garden. There's no rush. Brevities #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of the botanist and Scottish explorer Sir John Richardson who died on this day in 1865. Richardson explored with his friend, John Franklin. Their first expedition to Northern Coast of Canada was disastrous. After they were shipwrecked, the men split into groups, attempting to get back to civilization. Richardsons group were forced to survive by eating lichen from rocks and even the leather of their boots. After hearing a gun shot, Richardson and others found one of the men, named Terohaute, standing over the dead body of another group member. Terohaute claimed the other man had accidentally shot himself ... Richardson didn't buy it after examining the man. He'd been shot in the back of the head. Even worse, the men believed that Terohaute had resorted to cannibalization to help keep them alive. Convinced Terohaute was about to kill the rest of the group, Richardson shot Terohaute dead. Richardson is commemorated in the names of numerous plants, fish, birds, and mammals (including Richardson's ground squirrel and Richardson's owl). In his work as a naval physician, he collaborated with Florence Nightingale. As his biographer David A. Stewart said: "[Richardson] ....was perhaps a life of industry more than a life of genius, but it was a full, good life, and in many ways a great life. It is not every day that we meet in one person - surgeon, physician, sailor, soldier, administrator, explorer, naturalist, author, and scholar, who has been eminent in some roles and commendable in all." #OTD It's the birthday of British civil servant Allan Octavian Hume born on this day in 1829. Hume had worked in India for more than three decades. Hume said, "I look upon myself as a Native of India." Hume was a lifelong naturalist. In his late twenties, Hume began to accumulate materials for his dream: a masterwork on the bird of the Indian Empire. Hume's job with the Customs Department of India provided exceptional opportunities of collecting birds. called the 'Pope of Indian Ornithology'. Hume had set up enthusiastic ornithology assistants all over India. As his team of volunteers collected specimens, they were thoroughly debriefed. Hume recorded decades of data and interviews in notebooks and journals in his home, called Rothney Castle, at Shimla. When Hume was 55 years old, he experienced a devastating loss that would spell the immediate end of his work in ornithology. Over the winter, Hume had left Shimla only to return in the Spring to find Rothney Castle ransacked by a disaffected servant who stole and destroyed all of his written manuscripts. Just like that, his dream was gone. All of it. A Lifetime of work. It took the starch right out of him. There would be no master book by Hume on the birds of India. Thankfully, Hume's specimens were spared. But his passion for ornithology had vanished with his papers. Heartbroken, Hume offered his entire collection of over 82,000 birds and eggs to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. The Museum's curator Richard Bowdler Sharpe went to personally pack up the collection. He was blown away by Hume and his staggering collection. He wrote, "It did not take me many hours to find out that Mr. Hume was a naturalist of no ordinary calibre, and this great collection will remain a monument of the genius and energy of its founder long after he who formed it has passed away." Hume returned to England as well. He turned his sharp observation and exploration skills to the field of botany. For the remainder of his life, he found solace and purpose in the garden. He went on expeditions annually and created an impressive herbarium. He designed custom cabinets to store his specimens. He was especially interested in seeds and seedlings - showing the progression of early growth in plants. Hume was a fanatical collector. In the months before he died in 1910, Hume finalized plans to transfer his botanical library and his herbarium to his lasting legacy and gift to the world: The South London Botanical Institute. Btw - There is a lovely Gingko biloba tree standing tall in front of the Institute and it is also in their logo. #OTD Today, June 5th is World Environment Day. One of India's most famous living environmentalists is 107 years old this year. Her name i

Ground cover roses. I had someone ask me about them recently. They are fantastic for a rose that has a low spreading habit. But, they are really not a classic ground cover in terms of their ability to crowd out weeds. I used to grow this rose called "The Fairy" which is a pink rose - it blooms all summer long. It's a ground cover rose and it would amble over this brick garden wall that I had, and I absolutely loved it. It sent out these long tentacles like an octopus and all the way down the arms were these beautiful pink blooms. It's a great rose - tons of thorns - but it didn't stop the Canadian thistle or any other weed that decided to make its home among the branches. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1738 King George the third was born. He's the King who appointed Capability Brown as the royal gardener and planned for the redesign of the Richmond gardens and Kew in 1764. #OTD It's the anniversary of the death of Dr. Nathanial Bagshaw Ward, who died on this day in 1868. Ward developed the first terrarium in 1829. When he accidentally grew a fern in an insect jar. It was quite by accident. A fern spore had gotten into the jar;Ward was using to observe insect behavior. When the jar was sealed, the spore grew into a fern plant. Ward suddenly realized that if plants were enclosed in airtight glass cases, they could survive without watering for long periods of time. That's how the Wardian case came to be. Wardian cases were very simply constructed; they were made out of wood and glass. They looked like little portable greenhouses that could be put on the deck of the ship. They had to sit on the deck of the ship, not placed down below in cargo, because Wardian cases needed the sunlight to hit the glass in order to create the perfect microenvironment for plants. The cases were an enclosed system. The side flaps, that would open to allow plants to be placed inside, would close before starting the long voyage. They would get nailed down and then get tar paint applied over any seams to seal the case. The plants inside would be in pots or there will be soil on the bottom of the case. There would also be a series of battens to prevent the plants from rolling about inside the case. It was a game changer for plant explorers. The plants lived on the ship in the cases for 6 to 12 months. Prior to the Wardian case, salt water and sun killed most plants on their way back to England. With the Wardian case, plantation crops like tea, rubber, and sugar - as well as medicinal and ornamental plants - could be moved among the botanic Gardens of the British Empire Today's Unearthed Words are by Sarah Martha Baker who was an English botanist and ecologist. Baker studied brown seaweeds and zonal patterns on the seashore. Her family had a house on an Island which was the backdrop to her first introduction to seaweed. Baker had noticed that different kinds of seaweed lived in different tidal limits. Baker's theory was that the seaweed boundaries were determined by competition; faster-growing seaweeds taking control in areas with deeper water while slower-growing seaweeds were found in shallower water and had the advantage of being more resistant to drying out. Academically, Baker also had a passion for art. Before pursuing botany she studied for a time at the Slade School of Art; her scientific illustrations were excellent. Tragically, she died young at the age of 29 and her personal story remains a bit of a mystery. The Times indicated in her obituary that she was highly gifted and highly strung and that she worked herself to death. Five years before she died, Baker was invited to lecture at the University College in London in 1912 - a rare honor for a woman or an artist. Her Quaker Sunday school class recalled her telling them, "The universe is always singing, And we must learn to listen, So that our heart may join the universal chorus." Unearthed Words Today's Unearthed Words are by Sarah Martha Baker who was an English botanist and ecologist. Baker studied brown seaweeds and zonal patterns on the seashore. Her family had a house on an Island which was the backdrop to her first introduction to seaweed. Baker had noticed that different kinds of seaweed lived in different tidal limits. Baker's theory was that the seaweed boundaries were determined by competition; faster-growing seaweeds taking control in areas with deeper water while slower-growing seaweeds were found in shallower water and had the advantage of being more resistant to drying out. Academically, Baker also had a passion for art. Before pursuing botany she studied for a time at the Slade School of Art; her scientific illustrations were excellent. Tragically, she died young at the age of 29 and her personal story remains a bit of a mystery. The Times indicated in her obituary that she was highly gifted and highly strung and that she worked herself to death. Five years before she died, Baker was invited to lecture at the University College in London in 1912 - a rare honor

Half-Hardy Plants. That's a term you don't run into very often - but when you do, it can be confusing. Just this morning, I swung by a garden center to check out their clearance plants and I ended up chatting with a gardener who had running to a label that had that term: Half-Hardy Plants. The term Half-Hardy simply means that the plant will not survive a frost - that they can't handle a dip in temperatures. So think about your tropicals; maybe you have some citrus - an orange tree or a lemon tree - or simply your patio pots. Those would all fall into the category of Half-Hardy Plants. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1868 Aristides Simoni was born. He helped discover the role of the mosquito in the transmission of yellow fever. #OTD And it was on this day in 1830 that David Douglas finally arrived at the Columbia River. He had departed from England on October 31st, 1829 after visiting his mom. Before he got on the boat, he wanted to make sure that he got his hands on a Bible with large enough font for him to be able to read it as his vision was feeling him Douglas was excited to go on this trip. He wanted to get to the interior of California to discover the botanical treasures there. But apparently, plant exploration was taking a toll on Douglas. He ran into someone at Fort Vancouver who thought he was 48 years old; he was 30. Despite his physical challenges, Douglas was eager to get going. When he reached the Columbia, he immediately thought about botanizing in the area. In just a few weeks, he was able to send home three chests of seeds and plants. In a letter to Prof. Hooker, he wrote: "You will begin to think that I manufacture pines at my pleasure." One of the pines Douglas sent back was the Pinus nobilis. It commanded a hefty price tag at the time– 15 to 20 guineas per plant. #OTD It's the birthday of Josephine Baker, one of the greatest entertainers of the past century. Josephine's path led her to Paris where she became an instant sensation. By 1929, she was the highest paid entertainer in Europe. Baker bought a Château just outside of Paris and she loved to garden there. She also loved to throw glamorous parties on the lawns of the estate which were flanked by magnolia trees and the enormous rhododendrons. The property boasted its own orchards, multiple greenhouses, vegetable plots, and even a rivulet. Unearthed Words Here's a little snippet about June from Nathaniel Parker Willis. He was an American author and poet. During the mid 1800s, he was the highest paid magazine writer of his day. It is the month of June, the month of leaves and roses. When pleasant sights salute the eyes, and pleasant scents the noses. Today's book recommendation: Kiftsgate Court Garden by Vanessa Berridge The subtitle of the book is intriguing; three generations of women gardeners. It features the influences of Heather Muir who began gardening at Kiftsgate a century ago with her husband. Heather's daughter Dianny took over the estate, including the garden, in the 1940s. Four decades later, in the 1980s, Dianny's daughter took over the property and she owns it to this day. If you like gardens, garden history, and mix in some personal biographies - this gorgeous book is right up your alley. You can click the link above to purchase it. Today's Garden Chore It's time to find perennials for those wet but sunny areas in the garden. There are a number of plants that like these kinds of conditions and many of them are favorites of mine: Ligularia Filipendula (rubra is known as Queen of the Prairie - with the pink tops. I love this one!) Lysamachia Rodgersia btw - I fell in love with Rodgersia a few years ago. The magnificent leaves of this plant are huge and look positively prehistoric once it gets established. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1909 at the Irish immigration reformer Charlotte to Grace O'Brien died. After a life devoted to improving the lot of others, O'Brien at devoted her leisure time to writing and to the study of plant life. O'Brien had found a place for herself along the river Shannon which she called at Ardenoir - which means the height of gold; in reference to the golden gorse that covered the hillsides in spring. She once mused: "The baby heather that blossoms so soon, in the splendid heat that comes after June." When one considers O'Brien's humanitarian work across both sides of the Atlantic, as well as her genius for gardening, it's stunning to discover that by the time O'Brien reached adulthood, she was completely deaf. In 1879 she wrote about her deafness, saying, "Oh bitter loss! all natures voice is dumb Oh loss beyond all loss! About my neck the children cast their arms. No voices break upon my ear, no sounds of laughter come - Child's laughter wrought of love, and life, and bliss; Heedless, I leave the rest, had I but this." In the last half of her life, O'Brien firmly established herself as a writer, a poet, and a plant collector. Her last article contain

Why do we garden? This was a question that was posted in a Facebook group I belong to, and it received over 1400 responses. The most popular were: its calming to bring beauty into my life to connect with nature healthy food There's another benefit that many people often overlook: staying physically active. If you take a look at your Fitbit after spending time in your garden, you'll realize it's a workout. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Charles McIlvaine born in Chester County Pennsylvania. He was a captain in the Civil War, an author and a mycologist. He was born on this day in 1840. When he was 40 years old, McIlvaine moved to West Virginia. He started writing for magazines like Centuryand Harpers. However, McIlvaine is best known for his study of mushrooms. He took copious notes which he compiled into his book called, 1,000 American Fungi. What most distinguished McIlvaine, is the fact that he experimented on himself; eating hundreds of mushrooms and toadstools. This is how McIlvaine came to be known as Old Iron Guts. Since McIlvaine had a love for writing before he had a love for mushrooms, when he wrote about mushrooms his language was often very flowery. Consider what McIlvaine 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 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, I have to share a poem that McIlvaine 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." #OTD On this day in1920, Virginia Woolf was gardening with her husband, Leonard, at the new home they had bought the previous year. She wrote about it in her diary: "The first pure joy of the garden... Weeding all day to finish the beds in a queers sort of enthusiasm which made me say this is happiness. Gladioli standing in troops; the mock orange out. We were out till 9 at night, though the evening was cold. Both stiff and scratched all over today, with chocolate earth in our nails." #OTD It's the death day of naturalist, artist, and taxidermist, Martha Ann Maxwell who died on this day in 1881. She helped found modern taxidermy. At just 5 feet tall Maxwell became an accomplished hunter. One historian wrote, "What distinguished Martha from other taxidermists of the day was that Martha Maxwell always attempted to place stuffed animals in natural poses and amongst natural surroundings. This talent was what would separate her work from others and make her animals so popular with exhibitors and viewers alike." People who saw Martha's exhibits of Colorado wildlife, doubted that a woman had actually done the work. Martha had heard these comments over and over. At one point, she wrote the words "Woman's Work" on a small sign and placed it in front of her exhibit. Unearthed Words #OTD Today is the birthday of Walt Whitman who was born on this day in 1819. 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 head help to heal him. "How it all nourishes, lulls me, in the way most needed; the open air, the rye-fields, the apple orchards." Here's an excerpt from Whitman's Poem called This Compost: "Now I am terrified at the earth! it is that calm and patient, It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions, It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless successions of diseased corpses, It distills such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor, It renews with such unwitting looks, its prodigal, annual, sumptuous crops, It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such leavings from them at last." Today's book recommendation: No One Gardens Alone: A Life of Elizabeth Lawrence by Emily Herring Wilson Lawrence was one of the premier gardeners and garden writers of the 20th Century. Little is known about her personal life until this book - which took the author over 10 years to complete. You can get a copy of this book on Amazon using the link above for a little over $3. Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday in the Garden. It's time to take a hosta inventory, recording the hostas that you've forgotten you even had in your garden. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart In May 1979, Dr. Calvin Lamborn bread snow peas and shelling English peas together to create the Sugar Snap Pea at Magic Seed Farm in Twin Falls Idaho Today,

Today I'm heading over at 1 o'clock to Walmart to pick up my mobile order. It has a ton of things I need to get for my student gardeners. When the kids help me out in the garden, I put them in teams of two and I generally have 6 to 8 kids helping me out in the garden on any given day. That means, I need to have multiples of some of my favorite garden tools. So, today I'm picking up ate whisk brooms and eight pruners. The whisk broom's are for some of the detailed work we will do along the garden paths. This year we will be adding some polymeric sand. And the pruners, of course, are for all the pruning will be doing. In fact, one of the first things they learn is to chop and drop; Allowing little pieces of plant material to fall and return to the earth. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1778, the great French writer Voltaire died. Voltaire's seventeenth-century novel: Candide: or, Optimism, follows a young protagonist as he ventures all over the world. Despite all the terrible things that happen to him, Candide never loseshis optimism. Here is the most cited passage from the story: "'All I know,' said Candide, 'is that we must cultivate our garden.' 'You are right,' said Pangloss, 'for when man was placed in the garden of Eden, he was put there 'ut operaretur eum', so that he might work: which proves that man was not born for the rest.' 'Let us set to work, for that is the only way to make life bearable.'" #OTD Today is the birthday of Gustav Leopold Miller, born in 1884, on this day, in Henry, Illinois. His claim to fame was the invention of the brush weeder. It was described in the Daily Times out of Davenport, Iowa in 1918: "It's composed of two brushes– whisk brooms in reality. The brushes are placed directly ahead of the principal shovels of the cultivator, felling the weeds about the corn plant... And as the weeds are laid low, they are covered with earth which is thrown up by the shovels. Miller donated the first weeder to the Red Cross and at a recent auction, sold one for the price of $60 Which is about 12 times the cost for which it will be retailed." #OTD It's the death day of Brian Lawrence Burt who went by "Bill." He died in 2008. He was an English botanist and taxonomist noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae; the family that Includes African violets. When Burt started going on and plant expeditions in 1951, the Gesneriaceae family was poorly represented. Thanks to Burt's work, Edinburgh became the hub for the family. It led to the popularity in England of both the African violet and the Streptocarpus. Both became beloved windowsill plants. If you look online, you will see a picture of Bill Burt, standing In a forest in South Africa on one of his botanizing trips. In his hands, he is holding a very large Streptocarpus grandis leaf that looks to be about 4-feet tall. #OTD It's National Mint Julep Day. A mint julep is made with a mint leaf, bourbon, sugar and water. If you ask any Southerner, spearmint is the mint of choice if you are going to make a Mint Julep. Unearthed Words Here's a poem from Cicily Mary Barker; an English illustrator known for her work depicting fairies and flowers. The poem mentions Laburnum; a small tree that has hanging clusters of yellow flowers. After it flowers it produces slender pods which contain poisonous seeds. The Lilac Fairy from Cicily Mary Barker White May is flowering, Red May beside; Laburnum is showering Gold far and wide; But I sing of Lilac, The dearly-loved Lilac, Lilac, in Maytime A joy and a pride! I love her so much That I never can tell If she's sweeter to look at, Or sweeter to smell. Today's book recommendation: Green Thoughts by Eleanor Perenyi. We lost Eleanor into 2009, at the age of 91. This book is widely considered by many to be a classic of garden writing. It was Eleanor's only book. She wrote about working in her Connecticut garden. Perenyi was not a fan of rock gardens, chemical pesticides or petunias. She once called petunias, "as hopelessly impractical as a chiffon ball dress" There are many Wonderful quotes and sayings that are attributed to Eleanor in her book Green Thoughts. Here are a few of my favorites: "A little studied negligence is becoming to a garden:" "The double hoops for peonies are beyond description maddening to unfold and set in place. Two people are needed, one of them with better control of his temper than I have." "I ordered a modern purple martin house myself and proceeded to construct a dreadful object: unpainted, it looked like a cheap motel; painted blue and white, it looked like a cheap Greek motel and had to be thrown out." Today's Garden Chore Incorporate more perennial vines into your garden. Vines have more uses beyond just climbing a trellis. Off-the-trellis ideas include —allowing them to amble their way through your garden, over walls, up into shrubs and trees, in pots, and more. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart In 1906, the Superior Timesout of Superior, Wisconsi

Do you have a little sun trap in your garden? The perfect spot for an afternoon of lounging while reading your favorite book? The definition of the sun trap is a small partially-enclosed outdoor space that receives a disproportionate amount of sunlight due to favorable conditions. Think of south-facing areas of your garden, areas without light-blocking trees, areas that are sheltered from the wind, and positioned to receive ample sunshine. Brevities #OTD On this day, on May 29, 1942, the actor John Barrymore died. (Barrymore's granddaughter is actress Drew Barrymore.) When Barrymore was 35 years old and on the verge of stardom, he rented a quiet space in the Greenwich Village from a wealthy widow named Juliette Nicholls. His flat was on the top floor of a Greek revival townhouse. When Nicholls left for a while to go to Europe, Barrymore wrote to her to ask if he could take some liberties with the roof. In his letter he said, "I'd like to build a little stairway to it and place a few plants there, with perhaps a small pavilion in which I could sit when the locust blossoms come to the courtyard ... It would be like living in Paris in the twelfth century." When he hired a contractor to do the work, Barrymore insisted that no measuring tools be used. He said, "I want everything crooked or off-center, like a Nuremberg poet's home. Just guess your way along, old, man, as we all do about most things." He called the little shed with the porch, "New York's First Penthouse," and it still stands today. He decided to add a full garden to the rooftop. He hauled up over 35 tons of long island topsoil In burlap bags no less. Then, he went to work, adding 8-foot Cedars, Cherry trees, and Wisteria's - not to mention the beehives. There was a flagstone path and hedges around the perimeter of the roof. When Nicholls returned from her trip, you can imagine her surprise at finding John Barrymore lounging in his rooftop garden; sitting serenely by an Asian reflecting pool.... feeding the birds. #OTD It's the death day of Joyce Winifred Vickery (15 December 1908 – 29 May 1979) An Australian, Vickery was a botanist who became famous for her work in forensic botany. In 1960, Australia was right in the middle of building the infamous Sydney Opera House. To pay for the construction, Australia held a lottery. Bazil Thorne spent 3 pounds - a quarter of his paycheck - and purchased a winning ticket; he won 100,000 pounds. Tragically, after his win, his eight-year-old son Graeme was kidnapped and brutally murdered - a crime that stunned the country. Ultimately, botanist Joyce Vickery helped police solve the Graeme Thorn kidnapping. She had been tasked with identifying two plant particles from the boy's clothing. Vickery recognized them as pieces from common garden plants and not plants that were not found in the area of scrub where his body had been found. Apart from the Graeme Thorn case, Vickery had "accumulated an unrivaled field knowledge of grass species. Unearthed Words Here's a poem called I am going to sleep by Latin American poet and feminist Alfonsina Storni, born today in 1892. Storni was known as one of Argentina's most respected poets. In 1916, she titled her first series of essays, The Restlessness of the Rosebush. In 1935, Alfonsina was vacationing in Uruguay when she discovered a lump in her left breast. Following a mastectomy, Storni resumed her work with renewed energy and determination. But by 1938, Storni confided in her closest friends that her cancer has returned. Storni sent I am going to sleep, her poignant final poem which she sent to the La Nación newspaper before drowning herself in the sea in 1938. I am Going to Sleep Teeth of flowers, hairnet of dew, hands of herbs, you, perfect wet nurse, prepare the earthly sheets for me and the down quilt of weeded moss. I am going to sleep, my nurse, put me to bed. Set a lamp at my headboard; a constellation; whatever you like; all are good: lower it a bit. Leave me alone: you hear the buds breaking through . . . a celestial foot rocks you from above and a bird traces a pattern for you so you'll forget . . . Thank you. Oh, one request: if he telephones again tell him not to keep trying for I have left . . . Today's book recommendation: A Gentle Plea for Chaos by Mirabel Osler When Penelope Hobhouse reviewed this book, she said, "Like no other writer, Osler captures the pure enchantment of gardening." In this book, Osler wrote, "Garden concepts are threaded through centuries: we pull on them as on a string, not knowing from where our inspiration germinated, only that we each gather up different threads to form whatever pleases us." Today's Garden Chore Stack up those annual flower seed packets like planes on a runway. Just as with vegetables, single sowing of flowers won't take you from early-season to late fall. That's why successively sowing your flowers is so important. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart #OTD It's the anniversary of the wedd

Gardeners. Horticultural experts. Professors, even. On the garden path, you can, from time to time, run into people that decimate you faster than a Japanese Beetle on green beans. Let's just set one thing straight. Gardening is good for you, but people who give garden advice can be bad for you. What they fail to realize is that gardening is an activity of the head AND the heart. I'm here to tell you, gardening is the absolute most wonderful pastime. But don't let anyone diminish your love for it. If the folks giving you advice aren't respectful, helpful, or loving - they shouldn't be in the business of helping people garden. The world needs every gardener it can get. The best thing you can give a gardener is encouragement. Brevities #OTD It's the death day of William Herbert (12 January 1778 – 28 May 1847). He was a British botanist, a distinguished scholar and poet, an Amaryllis breeder, and a clergyman who eventually became the first Dean of Manchester; the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. In 1837, Herbert wrote a book about the Amaryllidaceae ("am-uh-ril-id-AY-see-ee") or the Amaryllis ("am-uh-RIL-us") family. The Amaryllis was named after Virgil's shepherdess Amarysso from Greek mythology, meaning "to sparkle". Nearly two decades earlier, Herbert had split the genera in two – creating one genera for the original Amaryllis genera named by Linnaeus and for the other genera for what he called the Hippeastrum ("hip-ee-ASS-trum"). He explained his actions in writing saying: "Many years ago,...when I distinguished this genus,... I retained for it the name Amaryllis, and proposed that of Coburghia for Belladonna and Blanda. I was not then aware that Linnaeus had given the name Amaryllis to Belladonna, with a playful reason assigned; but as soon as I learned it, I felt, ... that the jeu d'esprit of a distinguished man ought not to be superceded, and that and that no continental botanist would submit to the change. I therefore restored the name Amaryllis to Belladonna, and gave that of Hippeastrum or Equestrian star to this genus, following up the idea of Linnaeus when he named one of the original species equestre." Hippeastrum is Greek; hippeus for rider and astron for star - thus, "horseman's star". Gardeners surmise that the closed buds of the flower look something like a horse's ear and the blossoms are shaped like six-pointed stars. As is often the case in horticulture, the more popular name didn't end up with the more popular genus. The the original Amaryllis genus ended up with only one species - the belladonna - although another species has been discovered. Meanwhile the Hippeastrum genus has a whopping 90 species and over 600 cultivars. It's clearly more significant, botanically speaking, after being hybridized in the 19th century. Thus, it's the hippeastrum genera that gives us the large bulbs we pot up in the winter and lovingly call by their common name: Amaryllis... but they are really Hippeastrum. So this November, when you're potting up your Amaryllis, think to yourself - Hip Hip Hooray - it's Hippeastrum day! What's the likelihood that actually happens? Yeah. It doesn't roll off the tongue, does it? The confusion about the two different genera stems from the fact that folks didn't like and don't likesaying Hippeastrum. When the change was announced, the eminent horticultural empire builder, Harry Veitch challenged it eloquently when he said, "Are we wrong in continuing to call these grand flowers after the name of the Virgilian nymph, and should we therefore drop the pleasing appellative with which they have been almost indissolubly connected from our earliest memory, and substitute the rougher Hippeastrum for the softer Amaryllis?' Veitch was not alone. The century growers from the infamous bulb families refused to go along with the name change. To this day, the bulbs are exported from the Netherlands in crates clearly marked Amaryllis. Yet, William Herbert is remembered fondly through the ages. The genus Herbertia of Sweet - a small genus in the Iris Family - commemorated him. Charles Darwinwrote about Herbert in the On the Origin of Species(1859): In regard to plants, no one has treated this subject with more spirit and ability than W. Herbert, Dean of Manchester, evidently the result of his great horticultural knowledge. And, the International Bulb Societyawards The Herbert Medalto people who advance the knowledge of bulbous plants. #OTD It's the birthday of Carl Richard Nyberg (May 28, 1858, – 1939) the Swede who created the blowtorch which in turn led to the flame weeder. Nyberg worked in various industrial companies, eventually landing at J. E. Eriksons Mekanikus. While he was there, he came up with the idea for the blowtorch. He built a prototype complete with safety features. Convinced he was on to something, he quit his job at Eriksons in 1882 and set up a workshop in Stockholm making blowtorches. Nyberg hadn't set up efficient production and he didn't have a dedicated or tr

Emerson once wrote, "To science there is no poison; To botany no weed; To chemistry no dirt." As much as I like this quote, I know most gardeners will beg to differ. To gardeners, there areweeds. As I mentioned in an earlier episode this month, we often forget one key variable in gardening; the gardener. Each of us, as gardeners, has our own point of view when it comes to weeds. On May 12, 1957, Vita Sackville West reached the same conclusion when she said, "It was borne in on me, not for the first time, how the weeds of one country are the flowers of another. Recently in the tropics I had been shocked on seeing my host and hostess as they wandered round their garden tearing up green oddments as we should tear up groundsel, . . . saying, 'That wretched thing! All over the place as usual!' This was Gloriosa superba, which we have to grow carefully in heat if we want it at all." Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Ynes Mexia, A Mexican American botanist born in 1870. After a lifetime of turbulent personal challenges, Mexia discovered the Sierra Club at age 50. Throughout her life, nature had been a balm to her. She decided to enroll at Berkeley in order to take botany classes.She would take classes there on and off over the next 16 years; her goal was not to graduate but simply to learn more about plants. Mexia fell in love with fieldwork and she went on numerous trips through the southwestern part of the United States, Mexico, and South America. Mexia was especially drawn to unique plants and she absolutely adored sunflowers. In fact, on one of her botanizing trips, she discovered an entirely new genus of Compositae. Although Mexia was a late bloomer as a botanist, her collecting efforts proved extraordinary. Many scholars argue that she was the most accomplished plant collector of her time. Here are some highlights about her work: Mexia collected and preserved 150,000 plants, flowers, and leaves Her first trip yielded 500 specimens the same number that Darwin brought back on the Beagle. Mexia personally discovered 500 brand-new plant species. Her botanist peers were well aware of her staggering amount of work and expeditions. Specifically, Mexia enjoyed the thrill of working with botanist Alice Eastwood. Yet, not even lung cancer could stop her from collecting plants. In 1938, she had returned to Mexico in search of new specimens. But her illness got the best of her, she was forced to cut her trip short and returned to the United States. She died at Berkeley on June 12th. Mexia's estate was donated in part to the Redwood Preserve in California. A 40-acre grove, home to one of the tallest trees, was named in her honor. Today, some 80 years after her death, scientists are still processing the plants she collected. #OTD It's the birthday of Queen Victoria. Kensington Palace is marking the bicentenary, the 200th anniversary, of Victoria's birth with an impressive floral display at the sunken garden. The display will include Flowers from the Victorian period, such as heliotropes, cannas, pelargonium, and begonias. There are many plants named after Queen Victoria including the Victoria agave. The giant waterlily, Victoria amazonica, Is also named for her. Violets were Queen Victoria's favorite flowers. When Victoria married Albert, she broke with protocol. Instead of wearing a crown, she wore a wreath of orange blossoms. #OTD On this day in 2018, The Oakville Horticultural Society outside of Québec, offered a screening of the documentary "The Gardener" featuring horticulturist Frank Cabot and his masterpiece garden Les Quatre Vents or the Four Winds. The film reflects upon the meaning of gardening and its impact on our lives. Cabot passed away at the age of 86, But before he died he shared his personal quest for perfection on his 20-acre English style garden and the state. The Four Winds Garden has been in the Cabot family for over 100 years. There's a wonderful video of an interview that Martha Stewart did with Frank. He tells about the moon bridge being a copy of a moon bridge from Seven Star Park in China. "I'm a great believer in plagiarizing. I think all gardeners are. There's no reason why one shouldn't plagiarize. Why not take someone else's good idea and adapted to one's site. This garden really represents that; it's just Ideas that were gleaned from other sources." Unearthed Words: The Naming of Plants by Linda Leinen Linda was inspired to write this poem after reading T.S. Eliot's poem delightful "The Naming of Cats". When I was researching yesterday's show which honored Carl Linnaeus's birthday and his system of categorizing plants by genus and species - or binomial nomenclature, I came across Linda's poem. If you already know "The Naming of Cats," you'll hear its echoes below. The naming of plants? It really does matter. It isn't correct to think all are the same. You may think at first I'm indulging in patter, but I tell you — a plant must have four different names! First comes the name that tells us

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "But these young scholars... Love not the flower they pluck, and know it not, And all their botany is Latin names." There is more to gardening than nomenclature, and more than nomenclature there's actually growing and knowing plants. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Carl Linnaeus born on this day in 1707. It is said he liked flowers as a young child and whenever he was upset, he was given a flower to sooth him. On May 1st, 1753 the publication of his masterpiece Species Plantarumchanged plant taxonomy forever. It 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 abbreviated sp.) If you have trouble remembering taxonomy, I like to think of it like the given name and surname of a person, but in reverse order. The names that Linnaeus assigned 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 so many stories about Linnaeus; but I thought I'd share a few of the 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, it was Linnaeus who reversed the scale - sharing it in an article with the Botanical Garden at Uppsala University. Second, there is a memorable story about the genus Commelina; the genus for the Asiatic Dayflower. Linnaeus named the genus after the three Commelin brothers; two of whom achieved greatness in botany & one who died young before achieving anything in life. Linnaeus wrote: "Commelina has 3 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 & one very small white petal) you can think of the Commelins and Linnaeus' kind memorialization of the three brothers. Another fun story about Linnaeus involved a trip he took to Lapland where he was given a raccoon named Sjupp. Linnaeus realized that he could use his new naming system to name animals as well as plants. He first classified racoons as Ursus lotor, the washing bear. Linnaeus kept Sjupp (who he described as 'tremendously stubborn') at the botanical garden of Uppsala. Fascinated bySjupp's interactions with his habitat, Linnaeus observed that his students would often find themselves pestered relentlessly by Sjupp if they carried food like raisins or nuts in their pockets. Linnaeus found himself in a number of predicaments. Once he was forced to leave Hamburg after he revealed that the mayor's prized "stuffed seven-headed hydra" was just a bunch of snake carcasses sewn to a weasel carcass. When Linnaeus published his taxonomy, he actually included a section for Animalia Paradoxa to debunk the existence of the fantastic like: unicorns, dragons, hydras and manticores. The national flower of Sweden is the Linnaea (Linn-ee-ah) borealisor the Twinflower; After naming over 8,000 plants, the Twin Flower was the plant to which Linnaeus gave his name. It was his favorite plant. Linnaea is the genus. Borealis is the species and it references where it is found (borealis means northern). As for the story of how he named it after himself, he was actually persuaded to do so by a Dutch botanist, his great friend, Jan Frederik Gronovius Twinflower belongs to the honeysuckle family. It's a sweet tiny plant, offering a faint scent of vanilla. One side note worth mentioning is how Linnaeus' collection ended up leaving Sweden and finding a home in London: When Linnaeus died in 1778, his belongings were sold. Joseph Banks, the president of the Linnean Society, acted quickly; buying everything of horticultural value on behalf of the society. Linnaeus' notebooks and specimens were on a ship bound for England. When the king of Sweden realized Linnaeus' legacy was no longer in Sweden, he sent a fast navy ship in pursuit; but it was too late. Banks precious cargo made it back to London first. Thus, Linnaeus's collection is in London at the Linnaeus Society's Burlington House. Unearthed Words The Swedish author August Strindberg said, "Linnaeus was in reality a poet who happened to become a naturalist". Samuel Taylor Coleridge noted the symmetry in taxonomy and poetry saying taxonomy was "the best words in the best order". Linnaeus wrote most of his prose and poetry in Swedish. Beautiful to swedish ears, much of his work outside of taxonomy is still unknown to the rest of the world. Linnaeus was a deeply religious man, and he often used parallelism in his writing, a method used often in the bible.The son of a clergyman, Linnaeus no doubt grew up hearing the scriptures which clearly influenced his writing as an adult. Here's a little tex

Here's a gardener's bedtime ritual for this time of year: Take sandpaper or a nail file and nick those nasturtium seeds before you soak them overnight; then sow them outside. They grow well in poor soil. The leaves and flowers are edible and are great in salads. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - born in 1859. Ten years ago, in 2009, aviolin made from a dying sycamore tree in Conan Doyle's garden was played to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth. The violin was a nod to Conan Doyle's creation, Sherlock Holmes, who played the violin while solving cases. If you search for "Conan Doyle Garden" on twitter, you'll see a fantastic photographic portrait of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle sitting at a table in his garden with his Irish terrier Paddy sitting beside him on a bench. Doyle and his wife, Jean, purchased a quaint, thatched cottage they called Bignell House. Running along the boundary of the garden was a trout stream and it also had a wicket gate leading directly to the forest. There was a miniature golf course and a croquet lawn. Jean added a number of garden gnomes and statuary to the garden. The Doyles were spiritualists. They believed in garden fairies, pixies, and elves. During the First World War, when two girls took created fake photographs of fairies, Doyle fell for the pictures. They inspired him to write The Coming of the Fairies a book making the case for the existence of fairies. The garden influenced Doyle's writing. He wrote about monkshood and other poisonous plants. When he has his character John Watson write a list of Sherlock Holmes limitations; Watson mentions he knew nothing of practical gardening however, he did note that Sherlock was, "Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally." In The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, Sherlock Holmes solves the case thanks to footprints in the garden. In Doyle's Through the Magic Door,he wrote about the value of understanding botany: "A very little botany will enable you to recognize every flower you are likely to meet in your walks abroad, and to give you a tiny thrill of interest when you chance upon one which is beyond your ken. In an interview with Doyle published in The Strand Magazine in march 1919, he shares his understanding of an odd message that had come to him during a séance. It said, "Food comes before etymology." He said, "On the day before that on which I attended this seance, I had told my two little boys, aged nine and seven (these are children of Sir Arthur's second marriage) that they must go to work and kill all the caterpillars and other predatory insects in our garden. They were not inclined to do it, for they are very tender-hearted little fellows, but I explained to them that these insects were just as much a menace to our food supply as the German submarines then were. They understood the necessity then, and started at once. So now you can see the significance of the message that I received : 'Food comes before entomology,' " Aside from his belief in the supernatural, Doyle greatly enjoyed being in his garden. He did most of his writing in the garden. He once remarked, "What a lovely thing a rose is!" And, Doyle once gave a speech heartily supporting the Early Rising Billor Daylight SavingBillwhich was published in the Daily Mailon April 21, 1909, where he stated: "Of every 100 people in the country ninety-nine would benefit by its passing. The only real objection is that it would set all the sundials wrong. (Laughter.) The need of this age is that people should get more in touch with nature; that they should have a little more fun in their lives; and I think that a measure which sends a man home one hour earlier to his wife and children, gives him a chance to cultivate his garden... would be of great benefit to the country." #OTD It was on this day in 1978 that the botanist Florence Meier Chase died. Meier studied the relationship between sunlight and algae at the Radiation Biology Laboratory (RBL), a part of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO). Meier, and her fellow botanists, used rooms in the tower and basement of the Smithsonian Castle for their research. "In the early days, scientists traveled between floors of the tower by climbing up and down a ladder through a trapdoor, often carrying trays of specimens or scientific equipment. In 1929, a very small elevator was installed in the tower to make the trip safer and easier." In 1937, on Valentine's Day, Meier was giving people a tour around the Smithsonian Castle. She was demonstrating the how she and her group used the ladders and trapdoors to get around. As tour wrapped up, Meier let the group take take elevator down as there wasn't enough room for her. As the elevator door closed, Meier waved goodbye, stepped backwards, forgot that the trap door was left open, and fell through to the floor below, breaking her back. While she was recovering at Garfield Memorial Hospital, her doctor was Dr. William Wiley Chase, the head of the su

Is your rhubarb bolting already? When your rhubarb seems to be bolting too early, ask yourself these questions... Is your rhubarb an heirloom or a new variety? Older varieties tend to bolt sooner. Try planting a newer variety. Is your rhubarb very established? The older your rhubarb, the quicker it bolts. If you divide your established rhubarb, it revitalizes your plant and can thwart flowering. Has it been super cold, hot, or is your rhubarb otherwise stressed? These threatening conditions can cause rhubarb to bolt. Make sure to mulch around your rhubarb to keep it cool as a cucumber. Unlike other bolting edibles, bolting rhubarb does not affect the taste of the stems. So you can chillax about that. Now, for what to do with that rhubarb flower... well, I have a friend who cuts them and puts them in a vase and treats them like a cut flower. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Alexander Pope, a gardener poet who helped inspire the English landscape garden. Born to a Catholic family, Pope was an only child. He was exceptionally bright, self-taught in numerous languages and the classics. When Pope was twelve he contracted Potts disease (a form of tuberculosis); the illness impacted his spine - he was a hunchback- and he was only four and a half feet tall. He had a passion for gardens and garden design. Little details from Pope's garden plans show his regard for ancient Rome as he had incorporated both a vineyard and a kitchen garden. Pope's Palladian villa and garden were separated by a road. Pope cleverly used a tunnel to go under the road in order to create private access to the garden from his home. The tunnel became his grotto; a masterpiece of mirrors, candles, shells, minerals and fossils. He described the thrill of finishing the grotto in a letter to his friend Edward Blount in 1725: "I have put the last hand to my works... happily finishing the subterraneous Way and Grotto: I then found a spring of the clearest water, which falls in a perpetual Rill, that echoes thru' the Cavern day and night. ...When you shut the Doors of this Grotto, it becomes on the instant, from a luminous Room, a Camera Obscura, on the walls of which all the objects of the River, Hills, Woods, and Boats, are forming a moving Picture... And when you have a mind to light it up, it affords you a very different Scene: it is finished with Shells interspersed with Pieces of Looking-glass in angular Forms... at which when a Lamp ...is hung in the Middle, a thousand pointed Rays glitter and are reflected over the place." Pope's villa and grotto became a tourist destination. After he died, new owners of his property were so annoyed by the attention that they destroyed both the garden and the villa. Today, plans are underway to restore the grotto to its former glory. #OTD It's the birthday of Henri Rousseau was born on this day in 1844. Rousseau didn't start painting until he was 40 years old. He submitted his work to the Salon in 1886 and was ridiculed. Nonetheless, he returned every year for the rest of his life with new pieces. One harsh critic said that Rousseau painted with his feet. Rousseau became famous for his jungle paintings. Although he had never been to the jungle, he had been to the botanical garden at Paris. The place was his muse. Rousseau said, "When I step into the hothouses and see the plants from exotic lands, it seems to me that I am in a dream." Unearthed Words Alexander Pope on His Grotto at Twickenham Thou who shalt stop, where Thames' translucent wave Shines a broad Mirror thro' the shadowy Cave; Where ling'ring drops from min'ral Roofs distill, And pointed Crystals break the sparkling Rill, Unpolish'd Gems no ray on Pride bestow, And latent Metals innocently glow. Approach! Great Nature studiously behold; And eye the Mine without a wish for Gold. Approach; but awful! Lo! th' Egerian Grot, Where, nobly-pensive, St. John sate and thought; Where British sighs from dying Wyndham stole, And the bright flame was shot thro' Marchmont's Soul. Let such, such only tread this sacred Floor, Who dare to love their Country, and be poor. Today's book recommendation: The Land of the Blue Poppies by Frank Kingdon Ward During the first years of the twentieth century, the British plant collector and explorer Frank Kingdon Ward went on 24 impossibly daring expeditions throughout Tibet, China, and Southeast Asia, in search of rare and elusive species of plants. Ward discovered the legendary Tibetan blue poppy and thanks to Ward, the seeds were introduced into the world's gardens. Ward's accounts capture all the romance of his wildly adventurous expeditions, whether he was swinging across a bottomless gorge on a cable of twisted bamboo strands or clambering across a rocky scree in fear of an impending avalanche. Today's Garden Chore Take a cue from Alexander Pope and connect your house to your garden with a path. This is especially lovely if you have a kitchen garden or if you grow edibles. By uniting these two areas, you're conveying

Have you ever used a knife as a garden tool? Serrated knives are my favorite. The word serrated has latin origins meaning "saw shaped"; think of the serrated edges of Maple leaves. If you are a thrift shopper, at Goodwill, they keep most of the donated knifes in a case at the front of the store. You can just ask to see if they have any serrated knives - they are so handy in the garden for weeding and working with difficult spaces like between pavers or even just wearing out the root systems of weeds through continuous chopping above ground. Brevities #OTD Today is National Pick Strawberries Day Last year, instead of annual hanging baskets, I installed hanging strawberry baskets over my herb garden. They turned out great and it was fun to harvest (and eat) strawberries as I worked in the garden. There is undeniably something extra special about the taste of a sun-warmed strawberry picked straight off of the vine. Between me and my student gardeners, there weren't many strawberries left to bring in the house. Still, it was a fun alternative to an annual basket and I think I'll do it again this year. Strawberries are members of the rose family and they are unique in that their seeds are on the outside of the fruit. In the late 18th century, the first strawberries were grown in France. It's sweet to read early newspaper accounts of strawberries during the 1800s. In 1843 the New York daily Herald announced that the first strawberries went to Pattinson's on the corner of Ann and Nausau, and they reported that they were as red as the last day. It also noted that strawberries were selling in Baltimore at $.03-$.06 a quart for the best; While green peas were abundant - selling for two shillings a peck. Twenty years later, the first strawberries were announced in this adorable newspaper account out of Columbus Ohio - from the Daily Ohio Statesman, on May 27, 1864. Here's what it said: "The first strawberries of the season were visible to the naked eye and Charlie Wagner's show window yesterday– a window, by the way, in which everything new in the fruit line is always first seen in Columbus." Finally, news of the first strawberries of the season were shared with excitement in the 1800s and the early part of the 1900s. In an article in The Woodstock Mercuryout of Woodstock ,Vermont on July 27, 1854, strawberries made the list of a notable firsts that bring joy to life: "First things are good or bad, as it may happen or as you take them. The first shad or the sleighing, the first strawberries or first child, the first kiss of love or first pair of whiskers, these may be ranged among the primordial delights." #OTD On this day in 1902, America lost one of its most prominent horticulturalists – Horatio Hollis Hunnewell. Hunnewell was staggeringly wealthy. He was a railroad financier. But he also had a lifelong love of nature and gardening. When Hunnewell purchased over 40 acres of land along the eastern and southern shores of Lake Waban ("Wah-bin"), he built a magnificent estate there. He had married Isabella Pratt Wells and he decided to call his impressive home Wellesley in honor of his wife's maiden name Wells. When it came time for the nearby town and college to settle on a name, they also selected the name Wellesley after conferring with Hunnewell who was the most generous benefactor of the town. The Hunnewell estate was so large, that when the Hunnewell children grew up, seven of the nine had homes built on the property - right next to their parents original home. Aside from the impressive homes, Hunnewell added many magnificent features to the estate including a pinetum with over 325 specimen to conifers. Hollis Honeywell made the following remark in 1899 In reference to his trees,"No Vanderbilt, with all his great wealth, can possess one of these for the next 50 years, for could not be grown in less time than that." And, Hunnewell also installed the very first topiary Garden in America at Wellesley. He referred to it as the Italian Garden and it was ideally situated along the shore of Lake Waban. When it came to the Topiary Garden, Hunnewell went all out. Whenever he had guests, Hunnewell would have them hop aboard a large authentic Italian Gondola boat complete with an authentically dressed gondola man. After they would glide up to the Topiary Gardens, they would stop to take a tour. Hunnewell's shores rivaled that of Lake Como in northern Italy. It's difficult to fathom how much attention this one-of-a-kind garden received from the public. Thousands of visitors from all over the country came to Wellesley just to see the topiary garden firsthand. Many more took in its beauty through photographs and engravings published in the most popular periodicals of the time. To this day — a century and a half later — the Hunnewell topiary garden is among the most spectacular sites in the region. There are a few notable tidbits related to Honeywell that bear mention. The first is that Hunnewell and his friend Nathaniel Thayer

Are you feeling it yet? The urge to get going in the garden? I was reading a book from 1915 about spring, it started this way, "If you are not dead, you will feel the sap start within you..." Everyone comes to the garden in their own time. If you're not yet ready to put your pots together or take on gardening the way you did last year, that's completely fine. Sometimes the seasons of our lives, don't align with the seasons of the year. In seasons of loss or grief or depression, we can lose time. We can be out of sync. If that is happening to you this season, please know it is ok to take a break. Instead, enjoy the beauty around you in ways that feel right to you... until you feel the sap start within you again... Brevities #OTD Today in 1510, Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli died. His painting Allegory of Abundance or Autumn is one of his most elaborate and detailed drawings and it depicts an abundance of flowers and fruits. #OTD Today in 1874, the horticultural hornet, George Glenny died. He was 83 years old. Glenny was an opinionated gardener. Known for his sharp tongue and difficult personality, he was called the horticultural hornet by Will Tjaden. He was critical of John Claudius Loudon, Joseph Paxton, and Joseph Harrison. And yet, he was benevolent; assisting the efforts of numerous charities and causes during his time; including the Duke of York Column in London. Glenny started the Horticultural Journal, which was followed in 1837 with the first garden newspaper, The Gardeners' Gazette. These early accomplishments brought Glenny much satisfaction; he knew his work was taken to heart by his readers and his suggestions were being acted upon. As the editor of his paper wrote, "There will be few to deny that his vigorous pen has contributed as much as, that of any single writer to the great and ever-increasing popularity of gardening amongst the people." Through it all, Glenny was a devoted garden writer; sharing his knowledge of gardening with the people, week in and week out, through the very first gardening column and through numerous other articles and writings. His books were affordable; anyone could buy them - and they did. During the Victorian age Glenny was an active contributor to garden literature. No doubt Glenny's advice was swirling about in the heads of many new gardeners. #OTD Today in 1934, The Times Herald out of Port Huron Michigan, shared quite the article about Plant Exploration. With the onset of commencement season, The USDA Would receive an annual batch of letters asking about "agricultural exploring as a career, what the job Is, how to qualify, and what the future prospect are". The article shared that answers to those questions would be spelled out this way: "Knowles A. Ryerson, formerly in charge of the plant exploration before his promotion to Chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, recognizes such ambition as the natural outcropping of adventurous spirits, and he sympathizes with the boy whose mind is turning that way. An agricultural explorer has to be a natural plant lover and must have studied botany and other plant subjects, and must have worked with plants in the field and garden. In addition, he must have a good general education as well as sound technical knowledge. He must have certain other Indispensable qualities - robust health and a good sense of humor. He must not only stand hard traveling in rugged countries day after day, but must be able to go to bed on an empty stomach after a trying day's work and sleep on a rough box without feeling abused. "I see no Indication that plant exploration will become unnecessary, but every indication that the requirements for plant exploration will continue to become even more exacting. I would not want to discourage any boy from the effort, but there is no denying that it would-be Plant Hunter has a man-sized job ahead of him if he is to prepare himself to qualify for one of the relatively few openings." #OTD Today is the birthday of Bernadette Cozart born in 1949. Cozart was a professional gardener and urban gardening advocate. She founded the greening of Harlem coalition in 1989. Her efforts transformed Harlem, bringing flower gardens and green spaces. It was Bernadette Cozart who said, "Instead of taking children on field trips to see farms and gardens, why not bring nature into the community? I don't think it's fair that they should have to go outside the community to have that experience of seeing things grow." #OTD Today in Lafayette Colorado, the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism starts their Rocky Mountain Field Botany Certificate Course. Designed to provide a thorough introduction to field botany, positive plant identification, wild-crafting ethics, and Sustainable harvesting and preservation techniques, this year they will have an additional focus on wild edible plants. #OTD Today in New Zealand, there is a one-day interactive workshop open to anyone interested in learning more about the concept of marke

Do you know what to look for on a plant tag? The first major thing I look at is growing zone. Often the plant tag will give a range for the growing zone like 5-9 or 3-7. This is why knowing your growing zone is key. If you don't know, you just need to ask someone at the garden center -they should know what growing zone you are in. Now, as an experienced gardener, let me tell you what happens to me a few times every summer. I see a plant at my garden center. I fall in love with it. I look at the tag and whaddya know - it's not for my zone. So, I put it back. If it's not for my zone, it will not be able to handle the winter temperatures here. I really don't like it when garden centers pass these plants off to unsuspecting gardeners. We've all done this - bought a plant that won't survive over winter because we forgot to check the tag. Sometimes, when I do catch a plant that is being sold that is not for my zone, I channel my inner gingerbread man - "ha ha ha- you can't catch me!" So know your zone... and check those plant tags for growing zones. Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Luigi Fenaroli born today in 1899. Fenaroli Is known for his book Flora of the Alps and Other Mountains, as well as his work on chestnut varieties. #OTD On this day in 1901 The botanist Charles Theodore Mohr wrote a letter expressing his relief at completing his major work – a book called Plant Life of Alabama. "With the completion of this life work, a big weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel free to take on other tasks. As long as there is work, I will go to Tuscaloosa to the Herbarium which I helped start 20 years ago. Completing my work on the herbarium is my botanical goal for the remainder of my life." Mohr wrote those words two months before his death. At the time his book was published he was seventy seven years old. Mohr spent decades gathering the information and plant specimens for his work. He was a trained pharmacist and one of Alabama's first botanists. Born in Germany and educated in Stuttgart, Mohr traveled the world before settling in Alabama. He collected in Surinam, emigrated to the United States in 1848, took part in the California gold rush, lived briefly Mexico, Indiana, and Kentucky. In 1857 he started Chas. Mohr & Son Pharmacists and Chemists in Mobile, Alabama. His personal herbarium specimens were donated to the University of Alabama Herbarium (15,000 specimens) and the United States National Herbarium (18,000 specimens). The following plants are named for Charles Theodore Mohr: Andropogon mohrii (Hack.) Hack ex Vasey Mohr's bluestem Grass family Aristida mohrii Nash Mohr's threeawn Grass family Eupatorium mohrii Greene Mohr's thoroughwort Aster family Marshallia mohrii Beadle & F.E. Boynt. Mohr's Barbara's buttons Aster family Rudbeckia mohrii Gray Mohr's coneflower Aster family Silphium mohrii Small Mohr's rosinweed Aster family Tephrosia mohrii (Rydb.) Godfrey pineland hoarypea Pea family Quercus mohriana Buckl. Ex Rydb. Mohr oak Oak family #OTD If you're in Winnipeg today between 11:30 and 12:30 you should head down to the University of Winnipeg and grab yourself some free seedlings as part of the 4th annual biology department plant giveaway. The fruiting and flowering plants have been cared for and grown by students in the biology department. Some of the plants you can expect to find at the giveaway: -tomatoes -cucumbers -nasturtiums -sunflowers Unearthed Words Here's a poem called May from the lyrical poet, Sara Teasdale "The wind is tossing the lilacs, The new leaves laugh in the sun, And the petals fall on the orchard wall, But for me the spring is done. Beneath the apple blossoms I go a wintry way, For love that smiled in April Is false to me in May." Today's book recommendation: Wild at Home: How to style and care for beautiful plants by Hilton Carter Make your home a healthier and more beautiful place to be with Hilton Carter's inspirational ideas. "Hilton Carter's love for plants is infectious... His lush and exuberant displays are inspiring reminders that plants can be so much more than neat little containers on a window sill." Carter is a plant stylist. Take a tour through Hilton's own apartment and other lush spaces, filled with a huge array of thriving plants, and learn all you need to know to create your own urban jungle. As the owner of over 200 plants, Hilton feels strongly about the role of plants in one's home—not just for the beauty they add, but for health benefits as well: 'having plants in your home not only adds life, but changes the airflow throughout. It's also a key design element when styling your place. "For me, it wasn't about just having greenery, but having the right variety of greenery. I like to see the different textures of foliage all grouped together. You take a fiddle leaf fig and sandwich it between a birds of paradise and a monstera and…. yes!' You will be armed with the know-how you need to care for your plants, where to place them, how to propagate, h

Plant height is one of the factors often indicated on plant tags. But mature height often takes ten years - especially if you're talking about trees and shrubs. Most plants benefit from some amount of pruning - in which case their height can be controlled. BTW, Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet. It can grow 3 feet in just 24 hours. Brevities #OTD President Abraham Lincoln created the U.S. Department of Agriculture today in 1862. When Lincoln signed the bill, he was bombarded with advice about who should be the first Commissioner of Agriculture. Perhaps he should choose the editor of a Farm magazine? Perhaps a scientist would be best? Maybe a simple pragmatist? A man named Isaac Newton - a direct descendant of Sir Isaac Newton - got the job. Newton was born in Burlington County, New Jersey on March 31, 1800. He had set up an impeccable farm in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. Newton's farm was a model for others; efficient, orderly; and productive. After advocating for farmers for over two decades, Newton was picked to be the chief of the agricultural section of the Patent Office. A master relationship builder; every week Newton sent butter from his dairy farm to the White House. It wasn't long before Newton, and his entire family became friends with the Lincolns. That's why when it came time for Lincoln to make the appointment for commissioner of the USDA, Newton had a firm lock on the job in Lincoln's mind. When he was appointed, Isaac Newton, quoted Jonathan Swift saying, "It should be the aim of every young farmer to do not only as well as his father, but to do his best: to make two blades of grass grow where but only one grew before." Newton brought the same high standards and efficiency he had cultivated for his farm to the USDA. Three years after his appointment, on the evening of April 15, 1865, around 10:30 PM, it was Isaac Newton who had rushed over to the White House, and informed the doorkeeper, Thomas Pendall, that President Lincoln had been shot. In his account of the incident, the doorkeeper said Newton was a bosom friend the president. Sadly, Newton experienced a severe case of sunstroke while surveying the experimental farm in Washington, D.C. The incident debilitated him for a year before he passed a way. He died in office at the age of 67 in 1867 after serving for four years. #OTD On this day, Governor David B. Hill signed a law creating the Adirondack and Catskill Forest Preserve; ensuring the land "be forever kept as wild forest lands." The previous year, Charles Sprague Sargent had been appointed to lead a three-member committee to investigate the Adirondack wilderness. Thanks to the Sargent commission, the area was preserved and Sargent's team created two historically important maps of the Adirondacks. On the 1890 map, Forest areas were outlined in red and the park was outlined in blue. Today, the "blue line" is a term used to mean boundaries of the Adirondack and Catskill Parks. And, if you get a chance to check out the original map, you'll see that the blue ink has turned almost black -after a century of aging. The park land around the Adirondack and Catskill has expanded over the years. Today, the two parks combined comprise more than 6,000,000 acres; larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. #OTD An article called "The Prettiest Wild Flowers." by Ettie C. Alexander was featured in the San Francisco Call, May 15, 1898. In the article, Ettie shared her magnificent experiences collecting wildflowers around San Francisco before the turn-of-the-century. In the span of a decade, Ettie had noticed a remarkable decline in the quantity and quality wildflowers in the area. Here's her comment about the California Cream Cups - an Annual herb in the poppy family found mainly in California. She said, "Nine years ago, cream cups grew in great profusion all around San Francisco. The most beautiful ones that I have ever seen were near Holy Cross Cemetery. I have picked dozens of them in former years as large as a dollar. But now you can scarcely find a plant, and the blossoms are small and of an inferior quality. A great many other varieties of flowers that once were plentiful have disappeared entirely." In the article, it said that Alexander's wildflower collection was the best in the state of California. And Alexander, had teamed up with a chemist; and had worked to refine a process – a preservative – that would help the wild flowers retain their fresh-picked, original color. Alexander's process worked remarkably well. Yet, sadly she never disclosed her formula to the public. Two side comments about Alexander are worth sharing;: First, Alexander was never able to find a process to preserve the brilliant color of the poppy for more than two years. Second, in all of her works she's known simply as E C Alexander. I had to do a great deal of sleuthing just to discover that her first name was Ettie. Unf

Most gardeners share a common secret: they never feel like they know enough about gardening to call themselves an expert. If you feel this way after years of gardening, you're not alone. Over two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to his friend, the painter Charles Wilson Peale. He's lamenting the limitations of his garden at Monticello. He concludes with one of my favorite garden quotes of all time: "But tho, an old man, I am but a young gardener." Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Mary Delany Born today in 1700. Mary Delany led an extraordinary life. The family had forced her to marry a very old man when she was 17. He was an alcoholic. To make matters worse, when he died, he forgot to include her in his will. Despite her lack of inheritance, Mary realized that, as a widow, she had much more freedom than she had as a single young lady. In society, she could do as she pleased. Love came knocking on her door in June 1743 when she married a doctor named Patrick Delany - an Irish clergyman. Her family wasn't thrilled with the idea of her getting married again. But, Delaney did it anyway. She and Patrick moved to Dublin where Delaney had a home. They both shared a love for gardening. When Patrick died, Mary was widowed again; this time at the age of 68. But Mary's life was not over. She hit it off with Margaret Bentinck. Bentinck was the Duchess of Portland, and together they pursued botanical activities. They loved to go out into the fields and collect specimens. It was thanks to the Duchess that Mary got to know Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. When Mary was in her early 70s, she took up decoupage - which was all the rage at the time - and she created marvelous depictions of flowers. Today, historians believe Mary probably dissected plants in order to create her art. Botanists from all over Europe would send her specimens. King George the Third and Queen Charlotte were her patrons. They ordered any curious or beautiful plant to be sent to Delaney when in blossom so she could use them to create her art. Her paper mosaics, as she called them, were made out of tissue paper. She created almost 1000 pieces of art between the ages of 71 and 88. If you ever see any of her most spectacular decoupage pieces, you'll be blown away at the thought of them being made from tiny pieces of tissue paper by Mary Delany in the twilight of her life in the late 1700s. #OTD Today in 1796 Edward Jenner injected his gardener's son with cowpox. The boy's name was James Phipps. James was eight years old. Jenner injected him with fluid from a cowpox blister from a milkmaid named Sarah Nelmes and she had contracted cowpox from a cow named Blossom. In the late 1700s, people thought the folks who took care of cows and had been infected with cowpox, would then not be able to catch smallpox. What Edward Jenner essentially did was to vaccinate James against smallpox. The word vaccinate is from the Latin word for cow. #OTD It's the birthday of John Alexander Montgomery Cushnie, born today in 1943. Cushnie was a landscape designer, writer, and broadcaster. He was a tall, good-looking Irishman. Listeners were often surprised to see how handsome he was after just listening to his voice on the radio for so many years. Cushnie became a household name in England once he became a regular panelist on the show gardeners question time for 15 years. Cushnie was 66 years old when he appeared on the show for his final broadcast right before Christmas. He was enjoying his first week of retirement when it was cut short by his sudden death from a heart attack on New Year's Eve In 2009. On the show, Cushnie cultivated a wicked sense of humor. He was not a fan of poinsettias. He reacted to a discussion about dogs peeing in the garden by saying, "The dog is simply marking his territory... the only thing [the urine of] a male dog will not kill is a lamppost." When asked about lawn damage by playing children, John said let the children play, they aren't young for long. Many times, his ultimate response to a problem posed by a gardener would simply be - "just dig it up". Unearthed Words It's the birthday of Harold Glenn Borland Born today In 1900. Borland was known as the chronicler of the seasons. He went by Hal, and he was a naturalist as well as the writer. Borland wrote an editorial column in the New York Times for 35 years. His last column appeared the day before he died in 1978. He never signed his work, but everyone knew it was written by Borland. Like John Burroughs, Borland had sympathy for and simple communion with the natural world. His writings reflected his essence. Here's a sample of springtime according to Borland: "The violets will come, in their own time. That is all that was written in the sky by Friday's equinox. The sun's summons will not be answered overnight, but the answer is inevitable. The first hungry bee at the first crocus hums of June, and the first green leaf forecast cool summer shade. All is in order. Spring is the ear