The Daily Gardener

It's decision time in the garden. What will your projects be this year? Often, we have no idea if our dreams for our gardens will come true. Gardeners may dream bigger dreams than emperors, but we can often get stuck, too. We put plants in the wrong spot. We buy the wrong thing. We spend too much money. We over do. But, every now and then we get it completely right. I waited for years to put paths in around my front garden. Why did I wait so long. No reason really. But, once it was in, I knew it was the perfect thing my garden had been missing. Whatever you're dreaming of and planning for your garden this season, I hope you get it completely right. Brevities On this day in 1847, Birkenhead Park opened to "great rejoicing and festivity, and in the evening there was a gorgeous display of fire-works. The day at Birkenhead, and indeed partly at Liverpool, was observed as a holiday; and the workmen at the Birkenhead Docks, 2,000 in number, each received a day's wage. Later in the evening a ball and supper took place in the Dock warehouse" Designed by Joseph Paxton, Birkenhead was the first publicly funded civic park and inspired New York's Central Park. Clippings from the Liverpool Mercury during the month of April that year show that Birkenhead was quickly becoming a bustling port city and, mindful that the people of the community who were the "source of all wealth and power" would appreciate the "accommodation and recreation", the commons area, "overgrown with fern, and rough with prickly gorse [had] been converted into a magnificent park, beautifully laid out, and planted with every variety of shrubs and flowers". The prickly gorse mentioned in that clip, now considered noxious, is a yellow-flowered shrub and member of the pea family. The day of the grand opening, Lord Viscount Morpeth gave the commemorating speech gushing, "We have seen something this day beyond even the dreams of Venice. For instance, such an array of steamers as has today graced the Mersey, never could have been witnessed in Venice; and though perhaps a steamer may not be so picturesque an object as a gondola, I may yet remind you that… Venice never could have sent forth a message which in ten days might reach those harbors and roadsteads of the new world." In the first four days following the grand opening, the paper reported that a Mr. Cooper had crossed the river and visited Birkenhead park, and 58,000 persons had done the same. On April 23rd of this year, there will be a presentation hosted in conjunction with the Friends at Birkenhead Park. For over two years, plans have been developed to secure Birkenhead Park's listing as a World Heritage Site. The evening's presentations are intended to provide an opportunity to learn more about this process. Presenters include Professor Robert Lee of the University of Liverpool's Department of History. Happy Birthday today to the German botanist and early evolutionist Matthias Jakob Schleiden, (born April 5, 1804, Hamburg[Germany]—died June 23, 1881, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) Schleiden was also the cofounder (with Theodor Schwann) of the cell theory, Schleiden was the first person to recognize the importance of cells in plants. Later, speculated on the roll of the nucleus in cell division. Matthias Schleiden who said, "Youthful fancy lends to the rock, the tree, the flower, an animating genius, and in the thunder hears the voice of God. Then comes earnest science stripping Nature of that inspiring charm, and substituting the unvarying law of blind necessity." Unearthed Words The poet Algernon Swinburne was born on this day in 1837. In A Forsaken Garden, the poem describes a garden - or rather, "the ghost of a garden". Although the sun still shines and the rain still falls, the beds in the garden are blossomless. Now there is only brushwood and thorn. Branches and briars cover the paths. Even the weeds are dead. The wind is relentless. The sun burns. The only thing left is one gaunt bleak blossom of scentless breath. Here's the first five verses of A Forsaken Garden - In a coign of the cliff between lowland and highland, At the sea-down's edge between windward and lee, Walled round with rocks as an inland island, The ghost of a garden fronts the sea. A girdle of brushwood and thorn encloses The steep square slope of the blossomless bed Where the weeds that grew green from the graves of its roses Now lie dead. The fields fall southward, abrupt and broken, To the low last edge of the long lone land. If a step should sound or a word be spoken, Would a ghost not rise at the strange guest's hand? So long have the grey bare walks lain guestless, Through branches and briars if a man make way, He shall find no life but the sea-wind's, restless Night and day. The dense hard passage is blind and stifled That crawls by a track none turn to climb To the strait waste place that the years have rifled Of all but the thorns that are touched not of time. The thorns he spares when the rose is taken; The rocks are

Have you started to think about your garden in geographical terms? Aside from the zone you are gardening in, what are the micro-climates in your garden? Areas sheltered by trees, buildings or other structures may be warmer and ideal locations for less hardy plants. Low-lying areas may create boggy or marsh-like conditions - perfect for plants that like to have "wet feet". What is the composition of your soil; is it heavy and clayish? loamy or sandy? Is your soil acidic? Get to know your garden's topography and micro-climates; then situate (or relocate) plants accordingly. The more you know, the better your plants will grow. Brevities #OTD Botanist Alphonse Pyramus ("Peer-ah-mus") de Candolle ("Cundull") died on this day at the ripe age of 87 in Geneva in 1893 (28 October 1806 – 4 April 1893).Born the year Linneas died, he was the son of the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. His father's monumentous work, Prodromus, was an effort to characterize all of the plant families and establishing the basis for the science of botany. Alphonse and future generations of the Candolle family would finish Prodromusthrough extensive and detailed research. In 1855, Alphonse was awarded Linnean gold medal. The Candolle family are honored in the plant genera Candollea and Candolleodendron. The scientific journal, Candollea, is also named after the family. Candolle's ground-breaking book, Origin for Cultivated Plants begins, "It is a common saying, that the plants with which man has most to do, and which rendered him the greatest service, are those which botanists know the least." Candolle set about correcting that gap in understanding which had persisted for 50 years. In 1885, The Glasgow Heraldreminded readers, "At the commencement of the present century but little was known respecting the origin of our cultivated plants, and even up till the middle of the present not much progress had teen made in determining the original condition and habitat of the different species, Alexander von Humboldtin 1807 said : 'The origin, the first home of the plants most useful to man, and which have accompanied him from the remotest epochs, is a secret as impenetrable as the dwelling of all our domestic animals. We do not know what region produced spontaneously wheat, barley, oats, and rye. The plants which constitute the natural riches of all the inhabitants of the tropics the banana, the papaw, the manioc, and maize have never been found in a wild state. The potato presents the same phenomenon.'" In his magnum opus, Candolle attempted to record exhaustively and conclusively all that was known about each species using data from the expeditions of the time. For instance, the apple was vital to the lake dwellers of Lombardy, Savoy and Switzerland. Candolle wrote, "They always cut them length-ways and preserved them dried as a provision for the winter." That said, Candolle's work was not without criticism. One reviewer wrote in a piece called "Where do our crops come from", "Instead of an interesting and readable book he has given us a painfully formal catalogue, about as enticing as a stock and share list or the prices current at the Queen Victoria-street stores." Yet, Charles Darwin learned plant geography from Candolle, and said, "no one […] could have worked […] with more zeal and sagacity". Candolle named growing regions and came up with climate classifications. Gardeners use them today when we refer to growing zones. Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle is regarded as the father of geographical botany and Harvard botanist Asa Grayremarked, "De Candolle's great work closed one epoch in the history of the subject and [Sir Joseph] Hooker's name is the first that appears in the ensuing one." Alphonse devised the first code of botanical nomenclature - the International Code of Botanical Nomenclatureis its descendent. These laws ensure that no two species of plants have the same name. The botanical name is always given in Latin. Fun Fact: Like his fatherAugustin, public service was important to Alphonse de Candolle. After visiting England, Candolle introduced the use of postage stamps to Geneva. Geneva became the fourth country in the world to use postage stamps, after Great Britain, Zurich, and Brazil. #OTD On 4 Apr 1969 architect Alois Ludwig died.One of his works is the floral design on the Majolikahaus in Vienna - a gem for gardeners and lovers of Art Nouveau. A private residential building close to Naschmarkt, Ludwig adorned the front of the building with majolica tiles creating an intricate floral motif. It is an incredible sight and worth viewing whilst in Vienna, it is a few minutes walk from Kettenbrückengasse U-Bahn station. #OTD in 1901 in Nova Scotia, The Floral Emblem Act was passed, making the mayflower, ground laurel or trailing arbutus, the official flower of Nova Scotia.This is why the the mayflower is featured in the decorative ironwork outside of the Legislative Library. Check it out the next time you're in Nova Scotia. The

As I was preparing for today's show, I kept thinking about this quote from John Burrows: "... One's own landscape comes in time to be a sort of outlying part of himself; he has sowed himself broadcast upon it, and it reflects his own moods and feelings; he is sensitive to the verge of the horizon: cut those trees, he bleeds; mar those hills, and he suffers." Think about your own landscape. If it is an outlying part of yourself, what does is reflect about your mood and feelings? Controlled and manicured? Wild and wooly? Relaxed and comfortable? Unsure or confused? Where are you at today? Where were you a year ago? 5 years ago? 10 years ago? Where do you want to be this season? We are not static. As my youngest son said to me the first time he ate spaghetti sauce on his noodles, "People can change, Mom." We are not static… and our gardens aren't either. Brevities Naturalist, poet and philosopher John Burroughs (books by this author) was born on a dairy farm on this date in 1837. He was sent to the local school, where his desk was next to that of Erie Railroad Robber Baron, Jay Gould (the son of a nearby neighbor). When Burroughs struggled in school, Gould would bail him out. Called "John o' Birds" for hisspecial admiration for birds, Burroughs loved the natural world. One of the four vagabonds (a reference to an annual camping group that included Harvey Firestone, Henry Ford, and Teddy Roosevelt) Burroughs drove a Ford which was an annual present from Henry Ford. John Burroughs wrote about what he knew and loved best: the land around his homes in the Catskills of upstate New York. The area included a stream called "The Pepacton" - today it is known as the "East Branch of the Delaware River". Burroughs was great friends with Walt Whitman (Books by this author) whom he loved dearly. Of Whitman, Burroughs reflected: "[Meeting] Walt was the most important event of my life. I expanded under his influence, because of his fine liberality and humanity on all subjects." Here's a fun fact: Whitman gave Burroughs a little marketing advice on his first book, Wake-Robin. Burroughs recalled "It is difficult to hit upon suitable titles for books. I went to Walt with Wake-Robin and several other names written on paper. '"What does wake-robin mean?" he asked "It's a spring flower,' I replied. "Then that is exactly the name you want." Wake-robin is the common name for trillium. Trilliums are in the Lily Familyand they carpet the forest floor in springtime.. They have a single large, white, long-lasting flower that turns pink as it matures. During Burroughs time, The Tennessean and other newspapers advertised English Wake-Robin Pills Tho best Liver and Cathartic Pills in use. Price 25 cents per box. Here's the beginning of "Wake-Robin by John Burroughs" "Spring in our northern climate may fairly be said to extend from the middle of March to the middle of June… It is this period that marks the return of the birds…. Each stage of the advancing season gives prominence to certain species, as to certain flowers. The dandelion tells me when to look for the swallow, the dog-tooth violet when to expect the wood thrush, and when I have found the wake-robin in bloom I know the season is fairly inaugurated. With me this flower is associated, not merely with the awakening of Robin, for he has been awake some weeks, but with the universal awakening and rehabilitation of Nature." At the 100th anniversary of Burrough's birthday celebration was held at Hartwick College. Music was furnished by the college a cappella choir who sang Burrough's favorite song, "Lullaby" by Brahms. Supreme Court Justice Abraham Kellogg presented this tribute: "When the trees begin to leaf and the birds are here, the arbutus, laurel and wild flowers are blooming and nature is clothing herself with beauty and grandeur, turn ye to your library and in a restful attitude read 'Pepacton' and you will acquaint yourself as never before with John Burroughs, the scientist, the naturalist, the poet and the philosopher." Burroughs died at the age of 84 years - fourteen more than the biblical allotment of man. He was on his way back to the Catskills after undergoing abdominal surgery in California. Burroughs just wanted to see home one more time. Burroughs' nurse and biographer was with him as he made the trip by train. After a restless attempt at sleeping, he asked "How near home are we?" Told the train was crossing Ohio, Burroughs slumped back and passed away. The third woman to enroll at Berkely's medical school and the second woman to be professionally employed as a botanist in the US, the intrepid Kate Brandegee died on this day in 1920. After getting her MD at Berkley, she found starting a practice too daunting. Thankfully, Kate's passion for botany was ignited during med school. She had learned that plants were the primary sources of medicine, so she dropped the mantle of physician to pursue botany. Five years later, she was the curator of the San Francisco Academy of Sci

What are you curious about in your garden? What are you hoping to learn this season? You might be signed up for something you didn't plan to learn. Maybe you've always been a flower gardener, but then somehow you discover the joy of growing your own garlic. Last year, you grew your own tomatoes to great success. This season you may question why you even bothered. Maybe you didn't like pulling weeds for your mom and now she's gone and you suddenly want to have a garden of your own. Our gardens, are classrooms. And those classrooms are filled with many teachers or Upah Gurus. Upah Guru is the Hindu word for the teacher next to you at any moment. The Upah Gurus in your garden this year might be the seeds you just ordered, a mystery plant that you inherited, the hydrangea that refuses to flower, the rose that won't give up. One of the things that can happen to gardeners, is that we can focus on the teacher; not the teaching. What if this season, your mindset is simply to be a good student. You don't need to get straight A's in the garden - no one is putting that pressure on you but yourself. You're simply there to learn. To focus on the teaching. The teaching is what makes us better gardeners. Brevities Today we remember a phenomenal woman: Maria Sibylla Merian. She was born April 2, 1647. As a frame of reference, Isaac Newton was only a few years older than her. Unlike Newton, Merian's work was largely forgotten. However, over the past century, her work has made its way to us. Merian has the it factor. In 2011, Janet Dailey, a retired teacher and artist from Springfield, Illinois became so captivated by Merian's life story that she started a Kickstarter campaign to follow Merian's footsteps to the mecca of her best work - Surinam, in South America. In 2013, Merian's birthday was commemorated with a "Google Doodle". Merian would have delighted in our modern day effort to plant milkweed for the Monarchs.The concept that insects and plants are inextricably bound together was not lost on Merian. In her work, she carefully noted which caterpillars were specialists - meaning they ate only one kind of plant. (You can relate to that concept if your kid only wants to eat Mac and cheese; they aren't being picky - they're being specialists.) Before all this social media and high tech, drawings like Merian's were a holy grail for plant identification. One look at Merian's work and Linneas immediately knew it was brilliant. Merian helped classify nearly 100 different species long after she was gone from the earth. To this day, entomologists acknowledge that the accuracy in her art is so good they can identify many of her butterflies and moths right down to the species level! Between 1716 and 1717, during the last year of her life, Merian was visited multiple times by her friend, artist Georg Gsell - and his friend Peter the Great. Oh to be a fly on the wall for THAT meet up. Gsell ended up marrying Merian's youngest daughter, Dorothea Maria, and Peter the Great ended up with 256 Merian paintings. In fact, Peter the Great so loved these pieces that when Merian died shortly after his last visit, he immediately sent an agent to buy all of her remaining watercolors to bring them home to St. Petersburg. Here's a fun story for you. On the Maria Sibylla Merian Society website, the feature a video that shows writer Redmond O'Hanlon flipping through an original Merian folio (with gloveless hands!) Now O'Hanlon is a scholar and explorer himself. He is known for his journeys to some of the most remote jungles of the world. At one point in the video, he becomes speechless. Then, he just lets out this big sigh and says, "It's so simple. Without the slightest doubt, she is - she was the greatest painter of plants and insects who ever lived... I mean just between you and me, she's the greatest woman who ever lived. You can keep Catherine the Great.Maria Sybilla Merian is the real heroine of our civilized time." On this day in 1513, Juan Ponce de León claims new land for Spain. He names his discovery La Florida; in a nod to the Easter Season, which the Spaniards called Pascua Florida (Festival of Flowers). In 1819, the first successful agricultural journal, American Farmer, was published in Baltimore. Today, in 1711, Job Baster was born. Baster was one of the first Dutch nature researchers to use a microscope to look at flora and fauna. He wrote down his findings in a book. He also wrote an excellent translation of Philip Miller's work on horticulture. In 1758, Baster was given a beautiful property loaded trees and two large ponds. He called it Zonnehof (Sunshine Farms). As a new pond owner, Baster decided to try his hand at breeding Goldfish. A versatile scientist, Baster exchanged letters with leading biologists of his time and the first twelve fish arrive thanks to a contact in England. Unfortunately, all the goldfish die. The following year, Baster gets eighteen more fish. Two die, but the rest survive. Thirteen years later, Baster ow

It's the 1st of April - April Fools Day! April is derived from the word aperit- which means to open. Yet, every Prince fan, or northern gardener, knows that, sometimes it snows in April. So, April flowers should take heed; open at your own risk. Brevities April is National Pecan Month, Lawn and Garden Month, Fresh Celery Month, National Garden Month, Soy Foods Month, National Landscape Architecture Month, and National Safe Digging Month. Add 811 in your phone contacts. Save it under "Digging" In the notes, add a reminder to call at least three days before you dig. In 1851, a note was written to Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward (of Wardian case fame). The note was from Southwood Smith; an eminent English doctor, minister, and the father of sanitary reform (public health) in England. During his time, Southwood Smith was recognized as the originator of preventive medicine and he was constantly writing about health in ways the masses could easily understand and remember. He wrote numerous reports on cholera and he introduced the system of house-to-house visitation to prevent outbreaks. His obituary stated that Smith's work, "brought him much in contact with the poor, his penetrating and benevolent mind readily perceived how greatly physical suffering contributes to moral degradation." When Smith wrote to Ward on April 1, 1851, he was part of the successful effort to get the Window Tax repealed. Ever since 1696, England had imposed a tax based on, of all things,... wait for it...the number windows on a house. Crazy, right? On the plus side, the window tax was a no-brainer. Assessors just walked down the street and counted the windows on the house... and Bob's your uncle and there's your tax bill. But, then... the window tax story took a dark turn. Folks started bricking up their windows (nooo!)or building homes with fewer windows - simply to avoid the tax. No windows means no light... or ventilation. And, that created stuffy, sick living spaces. By the mid-1800's, doctors like Smith realized that the window tax had to go. So why would Smith (a doctor fighting the window tax) reach out to a plant guy like Ward? Well... it just so happened that Ward conducting experiments on the influence of light on plants and animals.Ward showed that light acted,"chemically on the blood of animals, and also on the sap of plants." Essentially, Ward was proving Smith's point: light was vital to health. Ward shared a story of how he had once grown two identical geraniums in different conditions - one in the light and the other in darkness. The geranium grown in dark, was stunted and sickly. It had a skinny thread-like stem and it was studded with pathetic excuses for leaves (that were no bigger than the head a pinhead). Smith realized that plants were enjoying better living conditions than the people. Like plants, people need light. Here's Smith's to-the-point note to Nathaniel Ward: My Dear Sir, If you should have recently made any additional observations on the influence of light in health or disease, I should be glad if you would favor me with it, as it may just now, perhaps, be turned to account with reference to the Repeal of the Window Duties. I am very faithfully yours, Southwood Smith It's the birthday of Peter Cundall (Books by this author). Born in 1927 - the big 92 this year. A Tasmanian gardener, Peter was the friendly host of the long-running TV showGardening Australia - one of the first shows committed to 100% organic practices and practical advice. Peter inspired both young and old to garden. In his epic "lemon tree episode," Peter got a little carried away and essentially finished pruning when the tree was little more than a stump. Thereafter, Cundallisation was synonymous for over-pruning. Peter learned to garden as a little boy. His first garden was a vegetable patch on top of an air raid shelter in Manchester, England. His family was impoverished. His father was an abusive alcoholic. Two of his siblings died of malnutrition. Through it all, the garden brought stability, nourishment, and reprieve. Of that time, Peter's recalls, "Lying in bed in the morning waiting for it to be light, so I could go out and get going in my garden. I used to think there was some gas given out by the soil that produced happiness." Unearthed Words In honor of Smith's note on the influence of light, here's a poem from Louis MacNeice (Books by this author), called Sunlight on the Garden. Louis wrote this poem in 1936, after his divorce from Mary Ezra and it is probably one of his best-known works. At the time, Louis lived at number 4, Keats Grove - just down the street from the romantic poet John Keats' impeccable white, Georgian villa (where Keats wrote his best-loved poems.) If you're ever in London, check out Keats House and gardens - it's a veritable time capsule. It has awesome reviews on Trip Advisor. Then, drive past Keats Grove Number 4 and peak at Louis MacNeice's home and front garden - it's still very charming. The poem contrasts lightn

The show will start Monday, April 1st. The show is called The Daily Gardener. The Daily Gardener is a weekday show (M-F) - weekends are for rest, family, fun, & gardening! Shows are between 5 - 10 minutes in length. The format for the show begins with a brief monologue followed by brevities: #OTD commemorating people, places, and events in horticulture #Readings of poems, quotes, journal entries, and other inspiring works #GardenBook recommendations to help you and your garden library grow #ToDo A Daily Garden Chore; improve your garden one actionable tip at a time #SomethingSweet; adding more joy to the pursuit of gardening There are a few easter eggs in the show for Still Growing listeners. I start the show with - "Hi there, everyone" and the show is made in (where else!) "lovely, Maple Grove, Minnesota". I'd love it if you would check it out and share it with your garden friends. I'd also like to invite you to join The Daily Gardener Facebook Group - just search for "The Daily Gardener Community" and request to join.