The Daily Gardener

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes Late January doesn't bring much drama. No big turning point. No clear signal. Instead, it gives us time. Time to look closely at what's already been shaped — by weather, by decisions, by people who came before us. And today holds stories about distance — how far some people went for plants, and how others tried to bring nature closer to where people live. Today's Garden History 1795 William Jack was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He came from a scholarly family and moved quickly through his education, earning his degree and medical training while still very young. At eighteen, he left Britain for India as part of the East India Company's medical service. And somewhere along the way, botany took hold. While stationed in Calcutta, Jack met Stamford Raffles — the founder of Singapore and a passionate naturalist — and followed him to Sumatra to study the island's natural history. For four years, Jack collected, described, and documented plants in difficult tropical conditions. The cost was high. His health steadily declined. In 1822, he was placed aboard a ship at Bencoolen and sent toward the Cape of Good Hope in hopes that the sea voyage might restore him. He died the next day — from tuberculosis complicated by malaria. William Jack was twenty-seven years old. His work did not vanish with him. His name lives on in plant taxonomy — including the genus Jackia — one of the quiet ways botany remembers its own. 1834 David Douglas reached the summit of Mauna Loa in Hawaiʻi. Douglas is easiest to remember by the tree that bears his name — the Douglas fir. But his life was far larger than a single species. He crossed oceans. Traveled thousands of miles on foot. Climbed mountains. Collected relentlessly. Just weeks after that summit, Douglas would be dead. He had arrived at the northern tip of Hawaiʻi with his faithful traveling companion — his small Scottish terrier, Billy. One morning, as he often did, Douglas and Billy set out to explore after breakfast. By noon, his body — and an enraged bull — were found in one of the deep pits used to trap feral cattle. Billy was discovered above the pit, sitting beside his master's pack. Whether Douglas fell accidentally or was pushed has never been resolved. What we do know is that he identified and introduced more than two hundred plant species to European science — more than any other botanist of his time, despite having no formal training. A memorial in Honolulu reads: "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." Unearthed Words In today's Unearthed Words, we hear an excerpt from Henry David Thoreau, writing on this day in 1856. He writes of Miss Minott: "Miss Minott has been obliged to have some of her locusts about the house cut down. She remembers when the whole top of the elm north of the road close to Dr. Heywood's broke off — when she was a little girl. It must have been there before eighteen hundred." What Thoreau is noting here is the particular kind of grief that follows the loss of a tree. Remember, the year was 1856, and Thoreau points out that Miss Minott's loss of her beautiful locusts had called to mind an earlier loss, more than fifty-six years before. She had been a child when a great elm fell. She remembered it still. In the days after trees leave us, our eyes often refuse to accept the loss of their form against the sky. You can still see their shape in the void. Still expect their shadow on the ground. And then one day, you look in the place where it stood and you see nothing. You accept they are gone. The tree's ghost finally slips from your mind's eye. That's the final cut. Book Recommendation My Garden by Jacqueline van der Kloet It's time to grow the Grow That Garden Library, with today's book: My Garden by Jacqueline van der Kloet, published in 2025. Jacqueline is a Dutch garden designer known for her naturalistic style and her extraordinary use of bulbs — layered so they feel like light moving through the year. This book unfolds month by month. Not as a transformation story, but as a record of continuity. She shows the same views again and again, so you can watch the garden change with the seasons. Late January is when we start imagining. And this book is a good companion for that — because it doesn't push you to do more. It teaches you to look longer. To notice what improves when you stay with it. Botanic Spark And finally, here's something sweet to ignite the little botanic spark in your heart. 1850 Ebenezer Howard was born — the founder of the Garden City movement. Howard believed people shouldn't have to choose between opportunity and nature. He wrote: "There are not only two alternatives — town life and country life — but a third alternative, in which

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes Late January can feel like a long-held breath. Not dramatic. Just persistent. The garden is still. But it isn't idle. It's watching the light. Measuring the cold. Noticing — quietly — the most minute shifts in temperature and day length. And sometimes, winter leaves us a story that feels almost unbelievable. On this day in 1887, at the Coleman ranch near Fort Keogh (KEY-oh), Montana, snowflakes were reported so large they were described as "bigger than milk pans." Some were said to measure nearly fifteen inches across and eight inches thick. A mail carrier, caught in the storm, later confirmed what he saw. Whether that was careful measurement or frontier astonishment, the image holds. Winter, briefly, made something ordinary feel impossible. And that sense of scale shifting, of attention sharpening — carries through today's stories. Today's Garden History 1884 Leslie Young Correthers (kuh-RETH-ers) was born in Springfield, Illinois. His friends called him Reggie. And if his name isn't familiar, that's part of the story. Some writers don't disappear because they lack talent. They disappear because their work was small — and the world has a way of misplacing small things. Reggie wrote tiny books of garden poems. Pocket-sized volumes — the kind you could hold like a seed packet or slip into a coat pocket. Their titles read like plant labels tied gently to stems: These Shady Friends. These Blooming Friends: A Little Book of Garden Scandal. These Blooming Hedgerows: A Little Book of Wayside Gossip. More Blooming Friends. These Blooming Visitors. These Garden Minstrels. These Blooming Gypsies. These Blooming Rascals: A Little Gossip about Troublesome Plants. These Blooming Debutantes. These Blooming Herbs: A Book of Aromatic Gossip. Over his lifetime, Reggie cultivated a small bouquet of these books — each one a careful arrangement. Reggie didn't just describe plants. He noticed them. And gardeners always know the difference. In one poem, lemon verbena becomes an evening ritual — its scent arriving at the close of day, laid out like something precious on silver and glass. In another, foxglove stands quietly, eyes lowered — and then the poem turns, and you glimpse her mischief. Even monkshood — dark, hooded, poisonous — is allowed to be fully itself. Beautiful. Dangerous. Not pretending otherwise. There's something bracing in that honesty. In late January, we're not asking the garden to entertain us. We're asking it to tell the truth. And Reggie's gift was writing the garden the way gardeners know it — full of charm, yes, but also full of secrets. 1995 Catherine Hauberg Sweeney (HOH-berg SWEE-nee) died at the age of eighty. She has been called a botanical fairy godmother — and she is remembered as the woman who saved The Kampong (kam-PONG) — the historic tropical garden in Coconut Grove, Florida. The Kampong had been created by plant explorer David Fairchild (FAIR-child) and his wife Marian Bell Fairchild — daughter of Alexander Graham Bell — as a living collection of tropical plants gathered from across the world. After the Fairchild era ended, the garden's future was uncertain. It could have been subdivided. Developed. Lost. Instead, Kay and her husband purchased the property in 1963 and quietly held it together. Their generosity kept it safe. Kay's vision helped it mature. She understood what The Kampong needed. Not reinvention. Not spectacle. Time. To grow in place. To become an anchor for the study of tropical plants. In 1984, she donated The Kampong to what is now the National Tropical Botanical Garden — ensuring it would remain a place for study, for visiting scientists, for students, for living plants to keep teaching. Kay once called herself "just a lady gardener." But that kind of understatement often marks the people doing the most lasting work. It's easy to admire beauty. Harder to protect it. Harder still to provide care year after year without applause. Catherine's legacy isn't a monument. It's a place — The Kampong — still growing, still gathering people, still doing good work. Unearthed Words In today's Unearthed Words, we hear an excerpt from Dorothy Wordsworth (WORDZ-worth), who on this day, January 28, in 1802, opened her journal and recorded a single, quiet passage: "William raked a few stones off the garden. [It was] his first garden labor [of the] year." That's all. No declaration of spring. No certainty. Just the first small act of readiness. And if you garden, you recognize this moment. The return to the garden after a long pause. The day your hands do something — anything — that admits the season has started to turn. Book Recommendation A Year in the Life of Beth Chatto's Gardens by Fergus Garrett It's time to grow the Grow That Garden Library, with today's book: A Year in the Life of Beth Chatto's Ga

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes Late January has its own kind of quiet. Not the hush of fresh snow, but the steady, unshowy silence of things holding their shape. In the garden, this is a month of endurance. Roots working without applause. Branches imperceptibly changing. The outdoor world takes in the smallest shifts in light and temperature, preparing to awaken and grow. Today's stories carry that feeling forward: a composer who needed the country to write, a nurseryman who made abundance from stripped ground, and a flower so strange that it took science nearly two centuries to decide where it belonged. Today's Garden History 1901 Giuseppe Verdi died. Verdi is remembered for opera houses — for thunder and tenderness, for music that fills a room long after the last note has gone. But he did not live his life in velvet seats and gaslit foyers. He chose his beloved countryside. After success came early, Verdi returned again and again to the land near his birthplace, settling at Villa Sant'Agata — a working estate, not a retreat. There, he became a farmer. He supervised orchards and fields. He planted trees. He worried over the weather and the water. He wrote letters about crops with the same seriousness he brought to composition. He once said he did all his writing in the country — that there, somehow, everything arrived at once, and he was more contented. At the villa, he woke at dawn and walked his land like a daily litany, checking fields, minding irrigation, lavishing attention on his horses. Some mornings included a small sailboat on the water. Then back to the piano — kept close, in his bedroom — and back again to the garden, the rhythm interrupted only by black coffee and the occasional visitor in the evening. Someone once marveled that he could practice agriculture and composition with equal intensity. Verdi's answer was simple: one restored him for the other. In his operas, nature is never decoration. It is moral ground. In La Traviata, the camellia becomes a fragile marker of time — cultivated beauty already beginning to fade, a bloom that must be read before it is gone. Forests shelter the outcast. Gardens suggest an order that can collapse. Storms arrive without permission. Human lives unfold inside these landscapes, never above them. Verdi also moved through public life — civic roles, patriotism, the complicated work of nationhood — but he never disowned his farming origins. If anything, he cherished them. When he died in Milan, the city turned his private wish for simplicity into public grief. Crowds gathered. Bulletins were posted hourly. The procession felt like the passing of a head of state. And today, in gardens, Verdi is remembered another way; in the tulip that bears his name. Tulip 'Giuseppe Verdi,' a Kaufmanniana tulip sometimes called a waterlily tulip, opens wide in the sun and closes again at evening, as if keeping its own small hours. Low to the ground. Early to bloom. Yellow lit with crimson markings. Foliage that looks lightly brushed or spotted — a compact flame of spring arriving before the season thinks it is ready. 1908 Felix Gillet died in Nevada City, California. Felix arrived in America in the 1850s — French-born, sea-traveled, a man who began with a barbershop and ended with a nursery that helped shape the West. In 1871, he established Barren Hill Nursery, a name that admitted what the land had become: barren, scraped down, unforgiving. The ground had been stripped to bedrock by hydraulic mining. No softness. No easy fertility. And still, Felix planted. He imported scion wood and young trees — walnuts, filberts, chestnuts, figs, prunes — and then he watched, tested, and trialed. Neighbors were astonished by how he irrigated, carrying water in bucket by bucket. Not romantic. Just devoted. His nursery stock traveled everywhere — into the Santa Clara Valley, into Oregon's Willamette Valley, into farms and homesteads that would feed generations. His introductions and selections still echo through agriculture today, in walnuts and hazelnuts, in grapes and prunes, in orchards that keep bearing long after their planters are gone. Felix wrote constantly as well. His catalogs were filled with detail, questions answered, practical knowledge offered plainly, as if his work belonged to everyone. In Nevada City, traces remain: street names, old stone gates, plaques, and fruit trees — fruit trees now more than a century old — still doing what they were planted to do. Unearthed Words 1941 Poet Jean Kilby Rorison died in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Her family and friends called her Jennie. In her poem "Flower Bells," she wrote: Spring will bring her floral bells She'll set them all ding-donging, The erythronium on the hills, The gaily dancing daffodils, The wild blue hyacinth that fills All English hearts with longing. Spri

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes January has a way of making everything feel more honest. The garden is not performing. It is resting. This is the month of silhouettes — hedges reduced to outline, paths only faintly visible beneath the snow, branches writing their thin handwriting against the sky. It is a fitting day for stories like these: of people and gardens shaped by patience, of beauty made to endure, and of the quiet satisfaction that comes from bringing something living safely home. Today's Garden History 1864 Alister Clark was born in Brighton, Victoria. Australia would come to know him as one of its most influential rose breeders, but Alister Clark's story begins with land and with loss. His father, Walter Clark, built a homestead called Glenara, with gardens set high above Deep Creek near the township of Bulla. It was the kind of property that seemed to declare permanence. But Alister's mother died when he was just one year old. And in 1873, his father was violently killed. Alister, still young, was sent away — back to Scotland — and raised by relatives, separated from the country that would later become the center of his life. He followed the expected path: Cambridge, a law degree, a formal education meant to steady him. But when Alister married a wealthy New Zealand heiress, he returned to Australia and bought Glenara back from his father's estate. The place became not just an ancestral property, but a devotion. Alister lived the life of a gentleman of his era. He was a huntsman, a polo player, a racehorse owner, a golfer, and a photographer. But his most consuming passion was roses. He maintained a ten-hectare garden once described as "a place of great charm and beauty," a phrase that somehow understates the seriousness of his work as a rosarian. A newspaper described Glenara in 1928 as an "old-world garden," with spreading lawns and sheltering trees, and roses gradually taking over the orchard — encroaching on grapes and vegetables, as though beauty, once established, refuses to be contained. At first, Alister ordered roses from England. But imported roses often failed to meet expectations once climate and growing conditions had their say. So Alister began to breed. He wanted roses that could live honestly in Australian conditions — hot, dry summers, mild winters, drought that does not negotiate. The key to his work was Rosa gigantea, vigorous, heat-tolerant, and resilient. His first great success was 'Jessie Clark,' named for his niece. Then came others — names that still feel like people passing through a garden gate: Lorraine Lee, Nancy Hayward, Sunny South, Black Boy, Squatter's Dream. Alister did not breed roses as trophies. He bred them to be companions. His roses were meant to climb, to ramble, to flower continuously, and to hold their own. Many were released for philanthropic purposes, passed on to societies and organizations for propagation and sale, as if the point of a new rose was not ownership, but circulation. After his death in 1949, many of his roses were lost. Labels fade. Gardens change hands. Names slip away. But decades later, people went looking. Some of Alister Clark's roses were found again. Today, near Bulla, the Alister Clark Memorial Rose Garden holds the surviving collection, maintained by volunteers. A life's work still blooming, because of one man's devotion to creating living beauty that could endure. 1883 J. Henry Chesterton died on a riverbank in Colombia. Henry began as a valet traveling through South America, an unlikely start for a plant collector. But gardens have always made room for unlikely beginnings. Somewhere along his journey, Henry fell hard for orchids. Not a mild appreciation, but a hunger. After building an impressive collection, he wrote to Sir Harry Veitch in England with one urgent question: how do you pack living plants for a long voyage by sea? Help was arranged. Months later, Henry Chesterton arrived unannounced at the Chelsea nursery gates, carrying orchids so carefully tended they survived the journey. The Veitch nursery bought the entire collection, and Henry was sent back to South America — not as a valet, but as a plant hunter. His task was to find the "scarlet Odontoglossum," an orchid long rumored, often found, and rarely delivered alive. Henry succeeded. The plant flowered in Chelsea in 1873 — a flower long whispered about, opening at last under glass, thousands of miles from where it grew. Plant hunting carried a cost. Henry Chesterton died in 1883, still a young man, after leaving his hotel sickbed too soon, believing he had recovered enough to travel. His obituary called him reckless. But sometimes reckless simply means unwilling to turn back from something you love. And Henry loved hunting orchids. Unearthed Words 1905 Landscape architect Eloise Ray was born. Speaking of t

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes January is a month that strips things back. The garden shows us structure instead of spectacle. Paths without flowers. Trees without leaves. Design without distraction. That makes today's stories especially fitting, because they are about people who believed gardens should hold meaning, even when nothing is in bloom. Today's Garden History 1866 Peter Joseph Lenné died at the age of seventy-six. Lenné was one of the most important landscape architects of the nineteenth century, though you will not find him quoted on mugs or calendars. He left behind something far more lasting than aphorisms. He left parks. Born into a family of working gardeners, Lenné learned early that gardens are not decorations. They are systems. He trained in Paris and Vienna, studied botany and architecture, and eventually became Director General of the Royal Prussian Parks in Potsdam and Berlin. What Lenné believed, and showed, was this: a garden should feel inevitable, as though it had always been there. He embraced the English landscape style — long sightlines, borrowed views, gentle transitions — and rejected rigid formality. Baroque gardens impressed. Lenné's gardens rested the eye. As his career matured, so did his sense of responsibility. He believed green space mattered not only to kings but also to ordinary people. That parks were not luxuries. They were relieved. Places where the city could soften, where people could breathe. Today, many of the landscapes Lenné shaped — Sanssouci, Glienicke, and Babelsberg — are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. But perhaps his truest legacy is quieter: the idea that a garden can be a conversation between nature, design, and the human spirit. 1866 Gertrude Penfield Seiberling was born. She was blessed in many ways, but she never took her gifts for granted. One of the ways she kept herself grounded was by gardening. Gertrude grew up in Ohio and later married F. A. Seiberling, the founder of Goodyear. In Akron, Ohio, they created a home together known as Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, a place shaped not only by architecture, but by intention. Gertrude was never simply the lady of a great house. She helped shape the gardens herself, walking them, imagining them, living into them season by season. In 1924, she founded the Akron Garden Club, helping to build a community around the shared pleasure of growing things. She was also a musician, a singer who once performed at the White House, and later in life, a painter who returned again and again to landscapes: streets edged by trees, buildings softened by green. Above the entrance to Stan Hywet is a motto carved in stone: Non Nobis Solum — Not for Us Alone. It feels like something a gardener would choose, because Gertrude understood that gardens are never only personal. They are gifts. They outlast grief. They hold joy and memory at the same time. Her family once described the Seiberlings as a clan — loud at holidays, together often, constantly bustling — a world of people who made their own warmth. Gertrude understood that gardens are not possessions. They are gifts. They gather people. They outlast us. She died in 1946 at Stan Hywet, surrounded by the beauty she helped bring into being. Unearthed Words 1945 Elizabeth Lawrence wrote a letter that opened in the heart of winter. Her salutation sets the scene simply: she was enjoying thin toast, wild strawberry jam, and tea by the fire in her studio. She wrote about food shared with friends, conversations that wander, and people quietly doing their work in the world. The letter moved gently, the way winter days do — nothing rushed, nothing forced. Then, just before she signed off, she added this wonderfully human line: "I must put the puppy to bed before he chews up all the files of Gardening Illustrated." It is such a small moment, but it tells us everything. Even the most thoughtful garden writers lived among interruptions. That is winter gardening in a sentence: not grand plans, just warmth, memory, and something alive nearby doing exactly as it pleases. Book Recommendation The Unsung Season: Gardens and Gardeners in Winter by Sydney Eddison This is a book written for gardeners who live where winter is real. Sydney Eddison writes about what happens when the garden goes quiet, and how gardeners adapt. Some strap on snowshoes to check beds. Others turn to winter crafts, seed sorting, or garden planning. Some bring the garden indoors. Others design landscapes meant to shine in the coldest months — bark, berries, structure, and light. What makes The Unsung Season special is its tone. It does not rush winter away. It does not treat it as a problem to solve. Instead, it honors winter as part of the gardening life — a season of observation, patience, and faith. It is a book that understands January. Botanic Spark And finally,

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes Before we step fully into today's garden history, a brief note from the weather ledger: 1985 A deep cold wave swept through Florida, destroying nearly ninety percent of the state's citrus crop. Years of growth, lost in a single night. It is a reminder gardeners understand well: abundance is always provisional. Today's Garden History 1561 Francis Bacon was born. He gave us one of the most enduring garden essays ever written: Of Gardens. Bacon did not treat gardening as a pleasant aside. He called it "the purest of human pleasures" and "the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man." He imagined the truly learned life as one that required more than books: a garden, a library, a laboratory, and a cabinet of curiosities — a place for wonder, objects, and close observation. Bacon had the kind of sensibility gardeners recognize instantly: learning is not just what you read. It is what you notice, what you tend, what you return to day after day. Bacon also understood something gardeners know instinctively: tending living things disciplines the mind. He wrote, "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed." So today, if winter has you feeling a little cramped indoors, Bacon is essentially giving you permission to treat green things like medicine. 1831 Francis Guthrie was born. He is remembered for asking a deceptively simple question in 1852 while coloring a map: what is the minimum number of colors needed so that no neighboring regions touch? That curious question became known as the Four Colour Problem, and it puzzled mathematicians for more than a century, until computers finally confirmed Guthrie's solution in 1976. But Guthrie himself never saw the resolution. He published little. He moved to South Africa. He taught. He collected plants. He lectured on botany. He lived a life of attention rather than acclaim. Plants were later named in his honor — living things carrying forward the memory of a man who noticed patterns, boundaries, and relationships. Guthrie's story begins the way so many garden insights do: with someone looking closely, noticing edges, adjacency, and pattern. The same habits gardeners practice every day. So today's history gives us two companions: Bacon, who argued that green space restores the spirit, and Guthrie, who shows how careful looking can quietly reshape how we understand the world. Unearthed Words 2015 The Guardian shared winter garden design wisdom from David Jordan, the assistant head gardener at Anglesey Abbey. Jordan's advice was simple and bracing: the winter garden succeeds not by excess, but by clarity. Start with a tree whose bark holds the light. Add a shrub that offers scent or color when little else does. Let the ground rest. At Anglesey, one of the most powerful sights is a stand of West Himalayan birches — pale trunks against dark earth, nothing competing, nothing hurried. Winter, like good design, rewards restraint. Book Recommendation People With Dirty Hands by Robin Chotzinoff Published in 1996, this book by Robin Chotzinoff is built from portraits of gardeners, gardens, and moments rather than instructions. Chotzinoff is a journalist by training, and the book quietly reveals why people keep gardening long after logic says they should stop. Chotzinoff writes: "Gardening is all there is, while you're doing it." And: "There are no child prodigy gardeners." The book reinforces garden wisdom through a series of intimate profiles. One of the most memorable is Zelma, who spends her days at a picnic table beneath a grape arbor — shelling peas, writing letters, and refusing to move indoors as she ages. As Chotzinoff puts it: "The older she got, she said, the less she wanted to be inside." People With Dirty Hands reminds us of something gardeners already know: you cannot rush a garden. You cannot dominate it. You must grow alongside it, season after season. Botanic Spark And finally, here's something sweet to ignite the little botanic spark in your heart. 1953 British television aired the very first episode of Bill and Ben — The Flower Pot Men. The premise was simple, almost impossibly so. There was a little house, and around the little house, a beautiful garden. While the gardener stepped away for his dinner, two terracotta flower pots at the bottom of the garden came quietly to life. Bill. And Ben. Between them grew their small companion, Little Weed — a smiling, nodding presence who never moved far, rooted firmly in place, watching everything. Bill and Ben did not roam. They whispered. They muddled through small mishaps. They blamed one another gently. And when footsteps returned, they slipped back into stillness just in time. What made Bill and Ben endure was not the story. It was the faith it placed in the garden. The idea that a garden has its own inner life. That when we turn our back

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes This is the season when gardeners live a little more in the imagination. We watch winter light move across bare branches, notice the architecture of trees, and make plans we can't quite act on yet. So today feels right for honoring people who worked quietly — not as household names, but as steady hands who loved the natural world and served it with patience, consistency, and craft. Today's Garden History 1846 Charles Edward Faxon was born in Massachusetts. If you've ever fallen in love with a botanical book because of its illustrations, there's a good chance you already understand Faxon's gift. He trained as a civil engineer, but plants pulled him in. He taught botany and eventually joined the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, where he helped develop the herbarium and library. Faxon's lasting legacy is drawing. He possessed a rare combination: an artist's eye, a botanist's discipline, and the patience to sit with a specimen until its truth came through. Leaves. Flowers. Fruit. Seed. The parts that matter when you're trying to really know a tree. He illustrated major works with Charles Sprague Sargent, including the great American tree books that helped people recognize their own forests. Hundreds and hundreds of drawings — not decorative, but instructive. The kind of art that teaches you how to see. Faxon never chased the spotlight. He served the work, the collection, the record. If you've ever pressed a leaf into a book, carefully labeled a seed packet, or taken a photo just so you'd remember what something looked like — you're part of that same tradition. 1913 William Roy Genders was born. Genders lived more than one life. As a young man, he played first-class cricket after the war. Alongside that, he wrote extensively about gardening. His book titles alone tell you who he was writing for: Soft Fruit, The Epicure's Garden, works on mushrooms, scent, old-fashioned flowers, and practical plants for everyday use. He wrote from experience, not from a pedestal. And there's a small, telling detail tucked into one of his books, The Scented Wild Flowers of Britain. It's dedicated simply, "To the memory of my parents." That's a gardener's dedication. A lineage acknowledgment. A quiet recognition that what we love is often inherited. Faxon drew plants so people could recognize them. Genders described plants so people could live with them. Two different kinds of devotion. Same root. Unearthed Words In today's Unearthed Words, we hear from Christian Dior: "After women, flowers are the most divine creations." Whatever you think of fashion, that sentence is pure gardener. Because if you've ever stood in a winter garden and remembered the roses — or opened a seed catalog like it was a devotional — you know exactly what he meant. Book Recommendation A Year of Garden-Inspired Living: Season by Season by Linda Vater This is a book for gardeners who want to live seasonally even when the garden itself is quiet. A Year of Garden-Inspired Living offers ideas for carrying the feeling of the garden into daily life — through the whole year. It's less about productivity and more about presence: how to notice, arrange, celebrate, and mark time when there's nothing to harvest and nowhere to dig. It's the kind of winter reading that doesn't make you feel behind. It makes you feel accompanied. Botanic Spark January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day. If you want to think of squirrels as fellow gardeners, you can. They plant trees one forgotten nut at a time. So it feels right to end with Emily Dickinson's poem "The Squirrel." Whisky Frisky, Hippity hop, Up he goes To the tree top! Whirly, twirly, Round and round Down he scampers To the ground. Furly, curly, What a tail! Tall as a feather Broad as a sail Emily understood something simple — and so do squirrels. Not everything that looks promising is worth the effort. A nut can be hollow. What matters is what's inside. Emily ends her poem this way: Experiment to me Is every one I meet. If it contain a kernel? The figure of a nut Presents upon a tree, Equally plausibly; But meat within is requisite, To squirrels and to me. Squirrels test. They choose. And they move on if there's nothing there. It's a quiet lesson the garden keeps offering us again and again: be discerning. Tend what sustains you. Final Thoughts Wherever you are, whatever season you're in, may you find something today worth tending. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember, for a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes In the garden, January is a month of plans more than action. Seed catalogs pile up. Lists are made. Dreams are revised. So it's a fitting day to remember the people who made gardens possible — not always by planting them, but by supporting, studying, and sometimes stubbornly defending them. Some legacies grow slowly. Some arrive as books. Some are simply the decision to protect a piece of ground so others can learn from it. Today's Garden History 1644 Henry Danvers, the 1st Earl of Danby, died. Danvers is remembered by gardeners not for the plants he grew, but for the garden he made possible. In 1621, he founded what would become the Oxford Botanic Garden — the oldest botanic garden in Britain. At the time, the land he donated lay opposite Magdalen College and had once served as a Jewish burial ground. Danvers conveyed five acres to the University of Oxford "for the encouragement of the study of physic and botany." It was an act of vision rather than speed. The garden wasn't fully planted until the 1640s, and Danvers did not live to see it flourish. But he ensured its future — having the ground raised, enclosed by high stone walls, and endowed through his will so it could be maintained long after his death. Gardeners understand this kind of legacy. Not every garden is planted for the present. Some are planted for people we will never meet. The gateway of the Oxford Botanic Garden still bears an inscription dedicating the space to the glory of God, the honor of the king, and the use of the academy and the republic — a reminder that gardens have long stood at the intersection of science, belief, and public good. 1907 Thomas Serle Jerrold died. Jerrold was trained as a gardener at Chatsworth, under Sir Joseph Paxton — the same Paxton who would later design the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851. During Jerrold's apprenticeship, Paxton was sketching ideas that would change architecture, while teaching young gardeners how to grow things well. Jerrold went on to become a writer who believed gardens should be practical as well as beautiful. His books carried titles that gardeners immediately understood: The Garden That Paid the Rent, Our Kitchen Garden, and Household Horticulture. He spent years living in Canada, returned to England late in life, and left behind not only books, but a philosophy — that gardens are meant to sustain households, not just impress visitors. Unearthed Words 1985 Eliot Wadsworth II of White Flower Farm offered one of those lines gardeners tend to repeat forever. "My appetite for new plants is like most people's appetite for macadamia nuts." Every gardener understands this. You don't need another plant. But somehow, you always have room for just one more. Book Recommendation The Winter Garden by Richard Rosenfeld The Winter Garden is a thoughtful, seasonal book that invites gardeners to slow down and notice what winter reveals: structure, light, patience, and the quieter forms of beauty that don't announce themselves in bloom. It's a perfect January companion — a reminder that winter isn't an interruption, but part of the cycle. When flowers are gone, the garden shows its bones: the lines of paths, the rhythm of trunks and branches, the way low sun changes everything. The book meets you there, in that pared-back landscape, and makes you feel less like you're "waiting" and more like you're watching. For gardeners who keep walking outside even in cold weather, it's the kind of book that sharpens attention. It helps you notice what's still happening — what's holding, what's resting, what's quietly preparing — and it leaves you with a steadier, calmer sense that the garden is still very much alive. Botanic Spark 1820 Napoleon Bonaparte, exiled on the island of Saint Helena, was reported to have taken up gardening. It makes sense. Confined, restless, and stripped of power, he turned to the small control a garden allows — arranging paths, directing plantings, taking an interest in what grew and where. Gardening gave him something immediate and living to tend. But the story doesn't end peacefully. That same day, Napoleon reportedly shot Count Bertrand's goat after the animal wandered into the garden and ate his plants. Even in exile, even in reflection, Napoleon remained… Napoleon. The episode is funny, yes — but it's also revealing. Gardens ask for patience. They ask for restraint. And not everyone, even great historical figures, is equally suited to those lessons. Final Thoughts Wherever you are, whatever you're planning, may you find something today worth tending. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember, for a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today's Show Notes January is a quieter season in the garden. The beds are resting. The work is mostly invisible. This is the time of year when gardeners turn to stories — to the people who noticed plants closely, saved what mattered, and carried knowledge forward, even when it would have been easier to let it go. Today is full of those stories. Today's Garden History 1859 Alice Eastwood was born. Alice Eastwood would become one of the most important botanists in American history — not because she sought attention, but because she understood how easily plant knowledge can be lost if no one tends it. Her early life was unsettled. After her mother died, Alice and her sister were placed in a convent while her father moved west. What steadied her was learning — and later, walking. When Alice began studying plants seriously, she did so the way many gardeners do: by going where plants grow naturally and paying attention. In Colorado, she climbed into the Rocky Mountains, collecting alpine plants and learning which species thrived in exposure and which needed protection. Her careful work brought her to California, where she met Katherine Brandegee, curator of botany at the California Academy of Sciences. Together with her husband, Townshend Brandegee, Katherine edited a journal called Zoe, named for the Greek word meaning life. Zoe was a working journal, not a polished one. It gave field botanists a place to publish discoveries about western plants at a time when much of that flora was still being named and understood. New species. Corrections. Observations. This was where the real work appeared. Alice Eastwood did not just write for Zoe. She helped sustain it. 1893 When the Brandegees retired, Alice became curator of botany at the Academy, a position she would hold for more than fifty years. Then came the 1906 earthquake. The Academy burned. Cabinets collapsed. Thousands of specimens were nearly lost. Alice climbed the damaged stairways herself, rescuing what she could — and then rebuilt the herbarium almost from scratch, traveling tirelessly to restore what had been destroyed. Gardeners understand that instinct. When something precious is lost, you do not abandon the garden. You begin again. 2000 The botanist G. Ledyard Stebbins died at the age of ninety-four. Stebbins helped explain something gardeners observe every season: that plants change gradually, shaped by environment, variation, and time. His work gave botanists a way to understand plant evolution not just as theory, but as something visible in fields, hillsides, and gardens themselves. He once said he simply pointed out what plants had been showing us all along. Unearthed Words In today's Unearthed Words, we explore the etymology of the word January, which takes its name from Janus, the Roman guardian of thresholds — the figure who looks both backward and forward at once. It is a fitting image for the garden at this time of year. January's birth flower is the snowdrop, one of the first blooms to appear while winter still holds firm. In folklore, the soft green markings on its inner petals are said to be a promise — a sign that warmth will return. Here is a snowdrop verse to hold onto: "The snowdrop, in purest white array, First rears her head on Candlemas Day." The gardening year does not begin with abundance. It begins with courage. Book Recommendation The New Romantic Garden: Classic Inspiration, Modern Mood by Jo Thompson If you are gardening mostly by imagination right now, this is a winter-perfect recommendation. The New Romantic Garden celebrates gardens shaped by feeling as much as function. These are gardens built for atmosphere, reflection, and beauty — places where restraint matters as much as abundance. It is a book to read slowly, perhaps by the fire, letting it influence how you think about gardens long before you step back into the soil. Botanic Spark And finally, here's something sweet to ignite the little botanic spark in your heart. 2001 The Detroit Free Press shared the story of Harris Olson, a man whose personal mission was to turn everyone he met into a gardener — preferably, a daylily gardener. With his warm smile and battered gray truck, license plate reading "Mr. Daylily," Harris was widely known in the Detroit area for his volunteer work and his plant breeding. He hybridized daylilies and peonies, naming varieties for the people he loved. For forty-five years, he served as volunteer head gardener at the Congregational Church of Birmingham. Under his direction, the nine-acre grounds became an arboretum-like landscape filled with peonies, daylilies, roses, hostas, and other perennials. Even when his health declined, Harris refused to stop gardening. When he could no longer weed himself, he sat in a lawn chair while others worked the beds, offering commentary an

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1854 Danske ["DAN-sker"] Dandridge, poet, historian, and garden writer, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1937 Julia Wilmotte [will-MOT] Henshaw, Canadian botanist, geographer, writer, and political activist, died. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Outside In by Sean A. Pritchard Buy the book on Amazon: Outside In by Sean A. Pritchard Today's Botanic Spark 2021 Author and blogger Amy Baik ["Beck"] Lee captured the bittersweet moment every gardener knows - the annual closing of the garden. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1793 Archibald Menzies, the Scottish surgeon-botanist, reluctantly departs Santa Barbara aboard the HMS Discovery during Vancouver's expedition. 1810 Asa Gray is born. He was a figure who would become America's preeminent botanist and one of the most influential scientists of the 19th century. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of New Nordic Gardens by Annika Zetterman Buy the book on Amazon: New Nordic Gardens by Annika Zetterman Today's Botanic Spark 1916 Renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand (FAIR-rand) creates a visionary rose garden plan for the New York Botanical Garden. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1806 William Wordsworth received a life-changing invitation from Lady Margaret Willes Beaumont to design and build a winter garden at her estate in an old gravel quarry. This unique request would lead to what Wordsworth later called "the longest letter I ever wrote in my life" - a detailed garden design that merged poetry with horticulture. 1887 Georgia O'Keeffe was born - an artist who would revolutionize how we see flowers through her bold, modernist vision. Over her remarkable career, O'Keeffe created more than 900 works of art, but it's her dramatic, large-scale flower paintings that have become her most recognizable legacy. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Around the House and In the Garden by Dominique Browning Buy the book on Amazon: Around the House and In the Garden by Dominique Browning Today's Botanic Spark 1985 On this day, a phenomenal piece of botanical history changed hands at Sotheby's auction house: Empress Josephine's personal copy of Pierre-Joseph Redouté's (pee-AIR zho-ZEFF reh-doo-TAY) botanical watercolors for "Les Liliacées" (lay lee-lee-ah-SAY) - "The Lilies." Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1687 Eleanor "Nell" Gwynn, died at the age of 37 in her Pall Mall house in London. Known as "pretty, witty Nell" by diarist Samuel Pepys, she was one of the most celebrated figures of the Restoration period and a long-time mistress of King Charles II. 1749 John Custis IV, an American planter, politician, government official, and military officer, died. His garden legacy has recently captured headlines as archaeologists uncover what was once colonial America's most lavish ornamental garden. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Gardens for the Soul by Sara Bird and Dan Duchars Buy the book on Amazon: Gardens for the Soul by Sara Bird and Dan Duchars Today's Botanic Spark 1805 Robert Buist, florist and nurseryman, was born near Edinburgh, Scotland. Trained at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Buist emigrated to Philadelphia in 1828 at age 23, where he would become one of America's most influential early nurserymen. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1849 A most extraordinary presentation took place at Windsor Castle. Imagine, if you will, standing in the grand halls of Windsor Castle as Joseph Paxton (PAX-ton) presented a massive leaf and exquisite blossom of the Victoria Amazonica (vik-TOR-ee-ah am-uh-ZON-ih-kuh) to the Queen. The moment was so moving that Her Majesty enthusiastically declared, "We are immensely pleased." 1909 The Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson (WIL-sun) sent what seemed like a routine notification to the plant industry office in Seattle. Little did anyone know this simple message would set in motion one of the most delicate diplomatic situations in early 20th-century American-Japanese relations. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Paul Rees Buy the book on Amazon: The Kew Gardener's Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Paul Rees Today's Botanic Spark 1989 The Sarasota Herald-Tribune published a story that lifted the veil on the shadowy world of rare orchid trading. The article focused on Limerick Inc. and an alleged smuggling operation of endangered Chinese orchids to Florida - but the real story runs much deeper into the heart of orchid obsession. The tale of Kerry Richards and his nursery, Limerick Inc., reads like a botanical thriller. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1840 Auguste Rodin (oh-GOOST roh-DAN), the great French sculptor, was born. A man who found the divine in both marble and flowers - Auguste Rodin would ultimately earn the title of the father of modern sculpture. Today, we gardeners might better remember him as a kindred spirit who understood that true beauty grows wild and free. 1850 Princess Therese of Bavaria (teh-RAY-zuh of buh-VAIR-ee-uh), was born. This remarkable woman found her true calling not in the gilded halls of Bavaria's royal palaces but in the wild gardens of the world. T Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Habitat Creation In Garden Design by Catherine Heatherington and Alex Johnson Buy the book on Amazon: Habitat Creation In Garden Design by Catherine Heatherington and Alex Johnson Today's Botanic Spark 1818 Clarissa Tucker Tracy, a passionate botanist and the Mother of Ripon (RIP-un) College, is born. Clarissa was a remarkable woman who found her life's purpose in both plants and people, and her story reminds us that sometimes the most beautiful gardens we cultivate are the ones we plant in others' hearts. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1872 William Copeland McCalla, Canadian botanist and photographer, is born. McCalla would become one of Alberta's most influential botanists, combining his passion for photography with his love of plants to create an extraordinary legacy in Canadian botanical history. 1922 Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald, Canadian poet, died. Her poetic voice still echoes through the gardens of Maritime Canada. Her garden legacy continues to bloom in the hearts of those who tend both soil and verse. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of A New Cottage Garden by Mark Bolton Buy the book on Amazon: A New Cottage Garden by Mark Bolton Today's Botanic Spark 1900 Margaret Mitchell, the American southern writer of Gone with the Wind, is born. Through Mitchell's pen, flowers and beauty became essential to her epic tale. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1783 General George Washington penned his historic Farewell Address to his troops at Rockingham, marking a pivotal moment in American history. Today, this historic site continues to tell its story not just through its architecture, but through its meticulously maintained period gardens that offer visitors a living connection to our nation's past. 1860 Warren Manning, a visionary landscape architect, is born. His birth was commemorated by his father with the planting of an elm tree - a fitting tribute for a man who would dedicate his life to transforming America's landscapes. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of The Landscape of Home by Edmund Hollander Buy the book on Amazon: The Landscape of Home by Edmund Hollander Today's Botanic Spark 1897 On this day, Ruth Pitter, a remarkable British poet whose deep connection to nature, primarily through her beloved Hainault Forest, was born. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1868 The botanist and garden writer Alice Lounsberry is born in New York City. 1885 The renowned British botanist and explorer Frank Kingdon-Ward was born in Manchester, England. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Favorite Poems for the Garden by Bushel & Peck Books Buy the book on Amazon: Favorite Poems for the Garden by Bushel & Peck Books Today's Botanic Spark 1836 Martha Turnbull, mistress of Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville, Louisiana, penned the first entry in what would become a remarkable 59-year chronicle of life and gardening in the antebellum South. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1801 On this day, America lost one of its pioneering botanists, Humphry Marshall, the "Father of American Dendrology." 1869 Ellen Shipman, a woman who found her voice in the whispers of flowers and her strength in the structure of garden walls, is born. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Garden Favorites by Warren Schultz, Rebecca Atwater and Rick Darke Buy the book on Amazon: Garden Favorites by Warren Schultz, Rebecca Atwater and Rick Darke Today's Botanic Spark 1857 Ida Tarbell is born - a woman who would become known for exposing Standard Oil's monopolistic practices but who found her greatest peace tending to her beloved Connecticut farm. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1745 The English botanist John Bradby Blake [BRAD-bee BLAKE] is born. Though he lived a tragically short life - dying at just twelve days after his 28th birthday - John left behind an extraordinary legacy that bridges East and West through botanical art and discovery. 1877 William Rickatson Dykes [RICK-et-sun DYKES] is born in Bayswater, London. Though he began his career as a classics teacher at Charterhouse School, it was his passion for irises that would ultimately define his legacy. 1884 Harry Ferguson is born near Dromara [droh-MAR-ah] in County Down, Ireland. While we often think of gardening in terms of hand tools and intimate connections with the soil, Ferguson revolutionized how we cultivate the earth on a grand scale. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of My Favorite Plant by Jamaica Kincaid Buy the book on Amazon: My Favorite Plant by Jamaica Kincaid Today's Botanic Spark 1994 Garden writer Barbara Pleasant just finished writing her article about extending summer's joy through winter by bringing our beloved bedding plants indoors. The article appeared in the Montgomery Advertiser in Montgomery, Alabama, the following day on November 5th. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1857 John Joly (pronounced "JOLLY") was born on this day in Hollywood House near the village of Bracknagh (pronounced "BRACK-nuh") in County Offaly, Ireland. Joly was an Irish polymath whose profound connection to nature led him not only to groundbreaking scientific discoveries but also to poetry about fossils and gardens. 1636 Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (pronounced "nee-koh-LAH bwah-LOH day-pray-OH") was born on this day in Paris. Boileau was a French poet and critic whose garden became a sanctuary for some of the greatest literary minds of the 17th century. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Adventures in Eden by Carolyn Mullet Buy the book on Amazon: Adventures in Eden by Carolyn Mullet Today's Botanic Spark 1826 Maude Jeannie Fuller Young was born on this day in 1826. Though she would become known for many accomplishments, it's her groundbreaking contribution to botanical education that particularly interests us as gardeners. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1795 John Keats is born into a world he would later capture through some of the most vivid botanical imagery in English poetry. 1895 Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman, the popular American writer, is born in Randolph, Massachusetts. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Seedtime and Harvest by Christie Purifoy Buy the book on Amazon: Seedtime and Harvest by Christie Purifoy Today's Botanic Spark 1804 Gardener Edward Ward laid down his trowel for the last time. He was 92. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1763 Heinrich Cotta [HINE-rick COT-ah] is born beneath the open sky of Kleine Zillbach [KLINE-eh TSIL-bock], Germany. 1897 Evelyn Mary Booth is born in Annamoe [AN-ah-moh], County Wicklow, Ireland. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby Buy the book on Amazon: The Cottage Garden by Claus Dalby Today's Botanic Spark 1839 Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley, is born in Paris. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1811 Texas botanist Charles Wright is born on this day in Wethersfield, Connecticut. 1972 The Berkshire Eagle published a revealing article about Henry David Thoreau [pronounced: THOR-oh] titled "Thoreau: The Amateur Botanist." Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of A Home in Bloom by Christie Purifoy Buy the book on Amazon: A Home in Bloom by Christie Purifoy Today's Botanic Spark 1830 Plant science pioneer Effie Almira Southworth Spaulding is born in North Collins, New York. Her story illuminates both the challenges and triumphs of women in early American botanical science. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1798 Count Hippolyte François Jaubert, a fascinating figure who bridged the worlds of politics and botany in 19th century France, is born. 1871 South African plantsman Harold Basil Christian [KRIS-tee-un] is born. His journey into botany began with an "unsightly rock" and turned into one of the world's most important aloe collections. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of Growing Your Own Tea Garden by Jodi Helmer Buy the book on Amazon: Growing Your Own Tea Garden by Jodi Helmer Today's Botanic Spark 1744 Sarah Sophia "Sophie" Banks is born. Sophie, as her family and friends referred to her, reminds us that behind every great gardener often stands an equally remarkable helper, supporter, and collaborator. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1776 Patrick Neill, British printer and horticulturalist, is born. 1840 Joseph Hetherington McDaniels, Classical Scholar, is born. 1909 Tyge Wittrock Böcher [TEE-guh VIT-rock BER-ker], Danish botanist, evolutionary biologist, plant ecologist and phytogeographer, is born. Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of The Healing Garden by Juliet Blankespoor Buy the book on Amazon: The Healing Garden by Juliet Blankespoor Today's Botanic Spark 1973 An AP Newspaper Article shared the latest rare plant sensation from the two postal workers who founded the Siskiyou Rare Plant Nursery Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1830 Marianne North, the Victorian Artist Who Painted the World's Flora, is born. 1843 Learning from History: Vermont's Snowy October Surprise 1875 Cora Older, the Horticulturist and author known as the Pink Lady, is born. 2014 Remembering Margaret Owen, the Snowdrop Queen Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of A Life in the Garden by Barbara Damrosch Buy the book on Amazon: A Life in the Garden by Barbara Damrosch Today's Botanic Spark 1874 Henry Arthur Bright shares musings on his October garden. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1796 William Casson, English botanist, seed merchant, and local historian, was born. 1854 Annie Lorrain Smith, British lichenologist and textbook author, was born. 1865 Neltje Blanchan, American scientific historian and nature writer, was born. 1905 Katharine Stewart wrote in her garden journal featured in A Garden in the Hills Grow That Garden Library™ Read The Daily Gardener review of A Life in the Garden By Bunny Williams Buy the book on Amazon: A Life in the Garden By Bunny Williams Today's Botanic Spark 1813 Ludwig Leichhardt, German explorer and naturalist, was born. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1801 William Henry Seward "Sue-erd", an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, is born. He was also featured in the book by Doris Kearns Goodwin called Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, in which she wrote about William as a naturalist. He loved his garden. This little passage offers so many insights into William as a nature lover. As a gardener and just to set this up, this is taking place during the civil war when there's a little break in the action for Seward, and he accompanies his wife Frances and their daughter, back to Auburn, New York, where they were planning to spend the summer. Seward accompanied Frances and Fanny back to Auburn, where they planned to spend the summer. For a few precious days, he entertained old friends, caught up on his reading, and tended his garden. The sole trying event was the decision to fell a favorite old poplar tree that had grown unsound. Frances could not bear to be present as it was cut, certain that she "should feel every stroke of the axe." Once it was over, however, she could relax in the beautiful garden she had sorely missed during her prolonged stay in Washington. Nearly sixty years old, with the vitality and appearance of a man half his age, Seward typically rose at 6 a.m. when first light slanted into the bedroom window of his twenty-room country home. Rising early allowed him time to complete his morning constitutional through his beloved garden before the breakfast bell was rung. Situated on better than five acres of land, the Seward mansion was surrounded by manicured lawns, elaborate gardens, and walking paths that wound beneath elms, mountain ash, evergreens, and fruit trees. Decades earlier, Seward had supervised the planting of every one of these trees, which now numbered in the hundreds. He had spent thousands of hours fertilizing and cultivating his flowering shrubs. With what he called 'a lover's interest," he inspected them daily. Then I love what Doris writes next because she's contrasting Seward with Abraham Lincoln in terms of their love of working outside. [Seward's] horticultural passion was in sharp contrast to Lincoln's lack of interest in planting trees or growing flowers at his Springfield home. Having spent his childhood laboring long hours on his father's struggling farm, Lincoln found little that was romantic or recreational about tilling the soil. When Seward "came into the table," his son Frederick recalled, "he would announce that the hyacinths were in bloom, or that the bluebirds had come, or whatever other change the morning had brought." 1809 Martha Ballard recorded her work as an herbalist and midwife. For 27 years, Martha kept a journal of her work as the town healer and midwife for Hallowell, Maine. Today Martha's marvelous journal gives us a glimpse into the plants that she regularly used and how she applied them medicinally. And as for how Martha sourced her plants, she raised them in her garden or foraged for them in the wild. As the village apothecary, Martha found her own ingredients and personally made all of her herbal remedies. Here's what the writer, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Wrote about Martha's work back in May of 1809. Martha's far more expansive record focused on the mundane work of gardening, the daily, incremental tasks that each season exacted. In May of 1809, she "sowed," "sett," "planted,' and "transplanted" in at least half dozen places, digging ground "west of the hous" on May 15 and starting squash, cucumbers, muskmelons and watermelons on "East side house" the same day. She planted "by the hogg pen" on May 16 and 18 on May 23 sowed string peas "in the end of my gardin," and on May 26, planted "south of the hous." The plots she defined by the three points of the compass were no doubt raised beds, rich with manure, used for starting seeds in cool weather. The garden proper had a fence, which Ephraim mended on May 12. Whether it included the plot near the "hogg pen," we do not know. All of these spots, managed by Martha, were distinct from the "field." which Jonathan plowed on May 15, and DeLafayette and Mr. Smith on May 27 and May 31. Martha's was an ordinary garden, a factory for food and medicine that incidentally provided nourishment to the soul. "I have workt in my gardin, she wrote on May 17, the possessive pronoun the only hint of the sense of ownership she felt in her work. The garden was hers, though her husband or son or the Hallowell and Augusta Bank owned the land. "I have squash & Cucumbers come up in the bed East side the house," she wrote on May 22. The garden was hers because she turned the soil, dropped the seeds, and each year recorded in her diary, as though it had never happened before, the recurring miracle of spring. 1899 Luigi Fenaroli, the

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1497 John Cabot, the Canadian Explorer, set sail from Bristol, England, on his ship, Matthew. He was looking for a route to the west, and he found it. He discovered parts of North America on behalf of Henry VII of England. And in case you're wondering why we're talking about John Cabot today, it's because of the climbing rose named in his honor. And it's also the rose that got me good. I got a thorn from a John Cabot rose in my knuckle and ended up having surgery to clean out the infection about three days later. It was quite an ordeal. I think my recovery took about eight months. So the John Cabot Rose - any rose - is not to be trifled with. 1519 Leonardo da Vinci, the mathematician, scientist, painter, and botanist, died. Leonardo once said, We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot. He also wrote, The wisest and noblest teacher is nature itself. And if you're spending any time outdoors, we are learning new lessons in spring. Isn't that the truth? There's always some new development we've never encountered - and, of course, a few delights. Leonardo continued to study the flower of life, the Fibonacci sequence, which has fascinated them for centuries. You can see it in flowers. You can also see it in cell division. And if you've never seen Leonardo's drawings and sketches of flowers, you are missing a real treat, and I think they would make for an awesome wallpaper. Leonardo once wrote about how to make your own perfume. He wrote, To make a perfume, take some rose water and wash your hands in it, then take a lavender flower and rub it with your palms, and you will achieve the desired effect. That timeless rose-lavender combination is still a good one. I think about Leonardo every spring when I turn on my sprinkler system because of consistent watering. Gives such a massive boost to the garden. All of a sudden, it just comes alive. Leonardo said, Water is the driving force in nature. The power of water is incredible, and of course, we know that life on Earth is inextricably bound to water. Nothing grows; nothing lives without water. Leonardo was also a cat fan. He wrote, The smallest feline is a masterpiece. In 1517 Leonardo made a mechanical lion for the King of France. This lion was designed to walk toward the king and then drop flowers at his feet. Today you can grow a rose named after Leonardo da Vinci in your garden. It's a beautiful pink rose, very lush, very pleasing, with lots of lovely big green leaves to go with those gorgeous blooms. It was Leonardo da Vinci who wrote, Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple, or more direct than does nature because in her inventions, nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous. 1803 On this day, Napoleon and the United States inked a deal for the Louisiana Purchase and added 828,000 square miles of French territory to the United States for $27 million. This purchase impacted the Louis and Clark Expedition because they had to explore the area that was bought in addition to the entire Pacific Northwest. To get ready for this trip, Meriwether Lewis was sent to Philadelphia. While there, he worked with a botanist, a naturalist, and a physician named Benjamin Smith Barton. He was the expert in Philadelphia, so he tutored Meriwether Lewis to get him ready because Lewis did not know natural history or plants. So he needed to cram all this information to maximize what he saw and collected. Now, in addition to all of this homework, all of this studying about horticulture and botany and the natural world, Meriwether made one other purchase for $20. He bought himself a big, beautiful Newfoundland dog, and he named him Seaman. It's always nice to have a little dog with you while exploring. 1806 The garden writer John Abercrombie died. The previous day, John had fallen down some steps. He had broken his hip a few weeks earlier, and so this last fall is what did him in. John was a true character. He loved to drink tea. He was a vegetarian. He was Scottish, and he was a lifelong gardener. His most significant success was his book, Every Man His Own Garden. John would go on to write other books on gardening like The Garden Mushroom, The Complete Wall and Tree Pruner (1783), and The Gardener's Daily Assistant (1786), but none of them rose to the level of popularity as Every Man His Own Garden. John and his wife had 17 children, and they all died before him - with his last child dying about ten years before he died on this day in 1806. 1867 Thomas Hanbury bought a property in the French Riviera that he called La Mortola. In 1913, The Botanical Journal shared the story of Thomas and his brother Daniel, and it also described the moment that Thomas saw his property for the first time. It had been the dream of Thomas Hanbury from

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1772 Karl Friedrich von Gaertner, German botanist, is born. Karl Friedrich von Gaertner had a fantastic last name; Gaertner translates to mean gardener. Karl was a second-generation gardener. His dad was Joseph Gaertner, the great German botanist and horticulturist, so Karl essentially stepped in his father's footsteps. Karl's claim to fame was his work with hybrids with hybridizing plants. Along with other botanists, he laid the foundation for Gregor Mendel, who discovered the basic principles of heredity through his experiments with peas in his garden at the Augustinian monastery he lived in at Brno ("BURR-no") in the Czech Republic. 1890 Phebe Holder's poem, A Song of May, appeared in newspapers this month. In addition to her religious poems, Phebe wrote about the natural world. Gardeners delight in her poems for spring and fall. Phebe is a fabulous New England Victorian poet and gardener I love and admire. She loved the delicate plants of springtime and wrote a poem called A Song of May. What song hast thou, sweet May, for me, My listening ear what song for thee? A song of life from growing things, The life thy gentle presence brings; The tender light of budding spray. The blooming down on willow grey, The living green that earth overspreads, The creamy flowers on mossy beds. From blossoms pure with petals white As pressed from out the moonbeam's light. The fragrant lily of the vale, The violet's breath on passing gale: Anemones mid last year's*leaves, Arbutus sweet in trailing wreaths, From waving lights of forest glade The light ferns hiding neath the shade. A song of joy from wood and plain, From birds in old-time haunts again; The silvery laugh of tuneful rill O'er rocky bed, down craggy hill; Soft coming of warm dropping showers, The sighing wind in piney bowers; The music breathed by low-voiced waves, For listening, from ocean caves, A plaintive strain doth memory sing, A breathing of departed Spring: An unseen Presence in the home, A spirit voice-"The Master's come!". While hearts in tender sorrow wept O'er one beloved who silent slept, Who in the May-time long ago Passed the pearl gates of glory through. A grateful song, our God, to Thee For treasures of the earth and sea; For all the beauty Thou hast given; A dream to loving hearts, of heaven; A song of life, of joy, of love, Of trust, of faith in light adore This offering on thy shrine I lay; This song hast thou for me, sweet May. Phebe's A Song of May recalls the flowers of spring. In the second verse, she's touching on many great spring beauties: the Lily of the Valley, violets, anemones, The Mayflower (also known as the trailing arbutus), and then, of course, ferns. In May, fern fronds cover the woodlands and understories. All of these spring plants emerge very quickly once they get growing. The ground transforms from leaf-littered - brown, drab, and dreary - to excellent with beautiful little blossoms. 1822 Thomas Hoy, English gardener, horticulturist, and botanist, died. Thomas was a dedicated gardener and head gardener for the Duke of Northumberland for over four decades - so he worked with plants his entire life. Thomas was a fellow of the Linnaean Society and liked to show his work at various plant societies And outings. Thomas is remembered as an experienced botanist and a capable cultivator. He was very good at his job. In fact, he was so good that the botanist Robert Brown named a popular plant genus for Thomas Hoy. Can you guess what it is? Well, if you were thinking Hoya, you are correct. The Hoya is a beautiful way to be remembered and honored. I love Hoyas. I picked up a couple of variegated Hoyas over the winter, and I'm so excited to see what the flower looks like. Overall the Hoya is a gorgeous plant named for the intelligent, thoughtful, and dedicated gardener Thomas Hoy, who died on this day when he was 72. 1867 Ralph Waldo Emerson inscribed a copy of his book, May Day, to Sophie Thoreau, the devoted sister of Henry David Thoreau. May Day is a collection of Emerson's writing and poems and includes the line, "Why chidest thou the tardy spring?" from his May Day poem. Why chidest thou the tardy Spring? The hardy bunting does not chide; The blackbirds make the maples ring With social cheer and jubilee; The redwing flutes his o-ka-lee, The robins know the melting snow; The sparrow meek, prophetic-eyed, Her nest beside the snow-drift weaves, Secure the osier yet will hide Her callow brood in mantling leaves; And thou, by science all undone, Why only must thy reason fail To see the southing of the sun? In other words, why be upset that spring is late? Spring has everything in hand. Don't be angry about nature's timing. A library first shared this inscription with Ralph Waldo Emerson's beautiful handwriting. About a decade after receiving the book, So

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1766 John Mulso writes to his friend English naturalist, Gilbert White, in Selborne Gilbert White was born in 1720, So he was 46 when he received this letter from John. At the time. Gilbert had been keeping a journal about the goings on in his garden. Gilbert kept a journal for about three decades, and it was eventually published to the delight of readers everywhere. Today people still love reading through Gilbert White's notations, drawings, and comments. Gilbert had a knack for observing the natural world and describing in a relatable way all the goings on outdoors. Gilbert was very curious. He was also really personable. When John Mulso begins his letter with a comment on the garden, he finds a point of agreement. Vegetation thrives apace now, and I suppose you are quite intent on your new study. You will not perhaps relish a Prospect the worse when we force you to look up, as presume you will go with your eyes fixed on the ground most part of the summer. You will pass with country folks as a man always making sermons, while you are only considering a Weed. John makes a very astute observation - Gilbert liked gardening more than anything else on Earth. Gilbert was like many pastors or reverends of his time who also pursued their hobbies as naturalists or gardeners. During the growing season, it was coming for a naturalist parson to get distracted by their gardens. 1809 A retired Thomas Jefferson enjoyed spending most of his time in his garden. (Finally!) In the spring of this year. Thomas was no longer consumed with the duties of being president. We know that in the last year of his presidency, he spent many hours pining for his garden and accumulating plants from his friend Bernard McMann and other plantsmen. So in April of 1809, Thomas Jefferson was living his dream and his best life as a gardener. He wrote to his friend, Etienne Lemaire, on this day, I am constantly in my garden or farms. And am exclusively employed out of doors as I was within doors when I was at Washington. I find myself infinitely happier in my new mode of life. Isn't that an interesting observation? Comments like that may pass unnoticed, but this change in seasons, the warmer weather, and getting outdoors is powerful medicine. Spending time outdoors plays a role in our attitudes and our moods. We get more vitamin D we feel more energy. This time of year, we eat the fresh green offerings from our gardens, whether microgreens or asparagus. The rhubarb is popping. You can even eat some hosta leaves, little tiny rolled-up cigars, as they emerge from the Earth. You can cut and fry them up in a pan the same way you would asparagus. (If they're good enough for the deer, they're good enough for us.) They're pretty tasty. The key is to harvest them early - just like you would the fiddleheads. The joys of spring... 1851 George Herbert Engleheart, English pastor and plant breeder, was born. Like Gilbert White, George Herbert Engleheart was a gardener and a pastor. In 1889, George began breeding daffodils - some 700 varieties in his lifetime. Sadly many of them have been lost to time, but we know that some survived. Fans of 'Beersheba,' 'Lucifer,' or 'White Lady' owe a debt of gratitude to Reverend Engleheart. Engleheart spent every spare minute breeding, and his parishioners would often find a note tacked to the church door saying, "No service today, working with daffodils." Engleheart's charming note reminds me of the little notes that gardeners hang on their porches or somewhere on their front door saying something sweet, like, " in the garden." And if you don't have one of those signs, you can grab a little chalkboard and a little twine And make your own. 1905 On this day, David Fairchild, the great botanist, married Marian Graham Bell, the daughter of Alexander Graham Bell. Marian and David Fairchild had a long and happy marriage. When David went on his plant explorations, Marian would often accompany him. Together the couple had three children. David Fairchild is considered American botanical royalty for all his collecting and the sheer quantity of his plant introductions, including items like pistachios, mangoes, dates, soybeans, flowering cherries, and nectarines. Without David Fairchild, we would not have cherry trees blooming in Washington, DC. We also might not have kale at Trader Joe's. (David Fairchild is the man who brought kale to the United States.) David also got the avocado here as well. David Fairchild had a fair amount of luck in his life. He had a generous benefactor in a wealthy woman named Barbara Latham, who funded many of his adventures. Of course, by marrying Marian, David had access to the connections of his famous father-in-law. Today you can continue to learn about David Fairchild and see his legacy at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic G

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1575 Birth of Jakob Böhme, German original thinker. Jakob Böhme did a great deal of thinking and writing, not only about theology and Christianity but also about the natural world. Here's what Mary Oliver wrote about Böhme. I read Jacob Boehme and am caught in his shining web. Here are Desire and Will that should be (he says) as two arms at one task; in my life they are less cooperative. Will keeps sliding away down the hill to play when work is called for and Desire piously wants to labor when the best season of merriment is around me. Troublemakers both of them them. And another writer I admire and enjoy is Elizabeth Gilbert. Elizabeth wrote about Jakob Böhme in her book, The Signature of All Things. The title of her book is from something that Jakob Böhme had written. Jacob Boehme was a sixteenth-century cobbler from Germany who had mystical visions about plants. Many people considered him an early botanist. Alma's mother, on the other hand, had considered him a cesspool of residual medieval superstition. So there was considerable conflict of opinion surrounding Jacob Boehme. The old cobbler had believed in something he called the signature of all things"- namely, that God had hidden clues for humanity's betterment inside the design of every flower, leaf, fruit, and tree on earth. All the natural world was a divine code, Boehme claimed, containing proof of our Creator's love. 1766 Robert Bailey Thomas, founder, editor, and publisher of The Old Farmer's Almanac, is born. Robert made his first edition - his very first copy of The Old Farmer's Almanac -back in 1792. 1889 Paul George Russell, American botanist, is born. Paul George Russell was born in Liverpool, New York. He worked as a botanist for the United States government for over five decades. Paul George Russell went on collecting trips in Northern Mexico. He's remembered in the names of several different plants, including the Verbena russellii, a woody flowering plant that is very pretty. And he's also remembered in the naming of the Opuntia russellii, which is a type of prickly pear cactus. Now during his career, Paul George Russell could identify plants based on what their seeds looked like. One of the ways that he developed this skill is he compiled a seed bank of over 40,000 different types of sources. Today Paul George is most remembered for his work with cherry trees. He was a vital part of the team that was created to install the living architecture of Japanese cherry trees around the Washington Tidal Basin. Paul George Russell put together a little bulletin, a little USDA circular called Oriental Flowering Cherries, in March 1934. It was his most impressive work. His guide provided all kinds of facts and detailed information about the trees just when it was needed most. People were curious about the cherry trees and fell utterly in love with them once they saw them blooming in springtime. Paul George Russell passed away at the age of 73 after having a heart attack. On a poignant note, he was supposed to see his beloved cherry trees in bloom with his daughter. They had planned a trip to go to the tidal basin together. But unfortunately, that last visit never happened. So this year, when you see the cherry trees bloom, raise a trowel to Paul, George Russell, and remember him and his fine work. And if you can get your hands on a copy of that 72-page circular he created in 1934, that's a find. It's all still good information. 1841 Charles Sprague Sargent, American botanist, is born. He was the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum. Charles was known for being a little curmudgeonly. He was pretty stoic. One of my favorite stories about Charles was the day he went on an exploration of mountains. The botanist accompanying him could hardly contain himself when they stopped at a spot of singular beauty. The botanist was jumping around and shouting for joy, and he looked over at Charles Sprague Sargent and said something to the effect of "How can you stand there and say and do nothing amidst this incredible beauty?" That's one of my favorite stories and a glimpse into the personality of Charles Sprague Sargent. 1914 James M. Bates observed a deep violet patch of blooming flowers in an alfalfa field in Arcadia Valley County in Nebraska. James wrote about the experience in a publication called The American Botanist. The plant that James was writing about was Chorispora tenella, which is in the mustard family. It is known by several common names, including purple mustard, Musk mustard, or the cross flower - because it's a crucifer meaning the flowers are in a cross shape. Now the name Musk flower has to do with the fragrance, the smell;, on a website for Colorado wildflowers, the author wrote, I think they smell of Crayola crayons, warmed and melting in the

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1597 On this day, The Herbal, by the English herbalist John Gerard, was first published. Today the book is considered a plagiarization of Rembert Dodoens's herbal published over forty years earlier. In his book, John shared over 800 species of plants and gorgeous woodcut illustrations. His descriptions were simple and informative. For instance, in his description of Self-heal or Brownwort (Prunella Vulgaris), he wrote, There is not a better wound herb to be found. In other instances, his descriptions gave us a glimpse into life in the 17th century. Regarding Borage blossoms, which he called Boragewort, he wrote, Those of our time use the flowers in salads to exhilerate and make the mind glad. During his life, John was allowed to garden on land at Somerset House, and for a time, he served as the herbalist to King James. In 1578, John was the first person to record and describe the Snakeshead fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris "mel-ee-aye-gris") thought to be native to parts of Britain but not Scotland. Today John is remembered in the botanical genus Gerardia. Today, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust sells Christmas cards featuring John Gerard's woodcuts of Holly, Pears, and Mistletoe. The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust cares for Shakespeare's family homes and shares the love of Shakespeare from his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. Anyway, if you'd like to support a great organization and enjoy the John Gerard Christmas cards and gift wrap, head on over to https://shop.shakespeare.org.uk/. 1826 Birth of Sereno Watson, American botanist & curator of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University in Boston. He's remembered for succeeding Asa Gray at the herbarium and continuing much of his work from 1873 until his death. A great master of botany in the American west, he also wrote Botany of California. Modern botany students easily identify Sereno for his extremely impressive beard. Sereno was admired and respected by his peers for his great attention to detail. For instance, in 1871, Sereno named a new plant genus Hesperochiron for two little wildflowers only found in the western part of the United States. Hespero means west, and Chiron is a nod to the Centaur and the first herbalist who taught humanity about the healing powers of plants. When Sereno named this genus, he rejected the classification of these plants as members of the snapdragon family. But, after dissecting them, Sereno was convinced they belonged with the gentians. This type of due diligence and careful study made Sereno Watson a great botanist. Today, Sereno is remembered with a very cool plant: the saw palmetto or the Serenoa repens palm. This small palm which only grows to 8-10 feet tall, is the only species in the genus Serenoa. 1833 Birth of Ellsworth Jerome Hill, Presbyterian minister, writer, and American botanist. When Ellsworth was only 20 years old, one of his knees stopped working. A doctor attempted to help him figure out a way to make a living and suggested he study botany. Ellsworth pursued the suggestion and crawled from his house to the orchard, where he would pick a few flowers and then crawl back to the house to identify them. The following year, Ellsworth was using canes to walk, and he moved to Mississippi, where the climate was warmer. After Ellsworth met and married a young woman named Milancy Leach, she became his daily helpmate. When Ellsworth felt especially lame or lacked strength, Milancy would step in and finish the work for him. When Ellsworth was 40, he somehow put his lameness behind him. In the back half of his life, he seemed to be better able to manage his physical challenges and cope with the symptoms. In a touching tribute to Ellsworth after his death, the great botanist and grass expert Agnes Chase wrote: Most of these collections were made while Ellsworth walked on crutches or with two canes. Ellsworth told me that he carried his vasculum over his shoulder and a camp stool with his crutch or cane in one hand. To secure a plant, he would drop the camp stool, which opened of itself, then he would lower himself to the stool and dig the plant. Ellsworth recovered from his lameness but often suffered acute pain from cold or wetness or overexertion. But this did not deter him from making botanical trips that would have taxed a more robust man. In the Dunes, I have seen him tire out more than one able-bodied man. Ellsworth recognized the value in revisiting places that had been previously botanized. It was Ellsworth Jerome Hill who said, In studying the flora of a restricted region, no matter how carefully it seems to have been explored, one is frequently surprised by new things... No region can be regarded as thoroughly explored until every acre of its wild areas at least has been examined. Some plants are SO rare or local or grow under such p

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1791 On this day, Martha Ballard recorded her work as an herbalist and midwife. For 27 years, Martha kept a journal of her work as the town healer and midwife for Hallowell, Maine. In all, Martha assisted with 816 births. Today, Martha's marvelous journal gives us a glimpse into the plants she regularly used and how she applied them medicinally. As for how Martha sourced her plants, she raised them in her garden or foraged them in the wild. As the village apothecary, Martha found her ingredients and personally made all of her herbal remedies. Two hundred twenty-nine years ago today, Martha recorded her work to help her sick daughter. She wrote, My daughter Hannah is very unwell this evening. I gave her some Chamomile & Camphor. Today we know that Chamomile has a calming effect, and Camphor can help treat skin conditions, improve respiratory function, and relieve pain. 1835 Birth of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (known by his pen name Mark Twain), American writer and humorist. Samuel used the garden and garden imagery to convey his wit and satire. In 1874, Samuel's sister, Susan, and her husband built a shed for him to write in. They surprised him with it when Samuel visited their farm in upstate New York. The garden shed was ideally situated on a hilltop overlooking the Chemung ("Sha-mung") River Valley. Like Roald Dahl, Samuel smoked as he wrote, and his sister despised his incessant pipe smoking. In this little octagonal garden/writing shed, Samuel wrote significant sections of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Life on the Mississippi, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Prince and the Pauper, A Tramp Abroad, and many other short works. And in 1952, Samuel's octagonal shed was relocated to Elmira College ("EI-MEER-ah") campus in Elmira, New York. Today, people can visit the garden shed with student guides daily throughout the summer and by appointment in the off-season. Here are some garden-related thoughts by Mark Twain. Climate is what we expect; the weather is what we get. It was a soft, reposeful summer landscape, as lovely as a dream and as lonesome as Sunday. To get the full value of joy You must have someone to divide it with. After all these years, I see that I was mistaken about Eve in the beginning; it is better to live outside the garden with her than inside it without her. 1874 Birth of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian writer and author of the Anne of Green Gables series. Lucy was born on Prince Edward Island and was almost two years old when her mother died. Like her character in Ann of Green Gables, Lucy had an unconventional upbringing when her father left her to be raised by her grandparents. Despite being a Canadian literary icon and loved worldwide, Lucy's personal life was marred by loneliness, death, and depression. Historians now believe she may have ended her own life. Yet we know that flowers and gardening were a balm to Lucy. She grew lettuce, peas, carrots, radish, and herbs in her kitchen garden. And Lucy had a habit of going to the garden after finishing her writing and chores about the house. Today in Norval, a place Lucy lived in her adult life, the Lucy Maud Montgomery Sensory Garden is next to the public school. The Landscape Architect, Eileen Foley, created the garden, which features an analemmatic (horizontal sundial), a butterfly and bird garden, a children's vegetable garden, a log bridge, and a woodland trail. It was Lucy Maud Montgomery, who wrote, I love my garden, and I love working in it. To potter with green growing things, watching each day to see the dear, new sprouts come up, is like taking a hand in creation, I think. Just now, my garden is like faith, the substance of things hoped for. 1875 Birth of Frank Nicholas Meyer, Dutch-American plant explorer. Frank worked as an intrepid explorer for the USDA, and he traveled to Asia to find and collect new plant specimens. His work netted 2,500 new plants, including the beautiful Korean Lilac, Soybeans, Asparagus, Chinese Horse Chestnut, Water Chestnut, Oats, Wild Pears, Ginkgo Biloba, and Persimmons, to name a few. Today, Frank is most remembered for a bit of fruit named in his honor - the Meyer Lemon. Frank found it growing in the doorway to a family home in Peking. The Lemon is suspected to be a hybrid of a standard lemon and mandarin orange. Early on in his career, Frank was known as a rambler and a bit of a loner. Frank once confessed in an October 11, 1901, letter to a friend, I am pessimistic by nature and have not found a road which leads to relaxation. I withdraw from humanity and try to find relaxation with plants. Frank was indeed more enthusiastic about plants than his fellow humans. He even named his plants and talked to them. Once he arrived in China, Frank was overwhelmed by the flora. A be

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1627 Birth of John Ray, English naturalist and writer. In 1660, he published a catalog of Cambridge plants. John developed his own system for classifying plants based on their observed similarities and differences. So he was clearly thinking about ways to distinguish one plant from another. And in his book, History of Plants, John was the first scientist to use the terms petal and pollen. John also wrote a Collection of English Proverbs. In one for summer, John wrote: If the first of July be rainy weather, It will rain, more or less, for four weeks together. 1799 Birth of Amos Bronson Alcott, American teacher, writer, Transcendentalist and reformer. In most aspects of his life, Amos was ahead of his time. He was also an abolitionist and an advocate for women's rights. He also advocated a plant-based diet. Amos once wrote, Who loves a garden still his Eden keeps, Perennial pleasures, plants, and wholesome harvest reaps. In 1830, Amos married pretty Abigail May, and together they had four daughters; the second-oldest was Louisa May, born on this day in 1832. 1832 Birth of Louisa May Alcott, American writer, and poet. She grew up in the company of her parents' friends and fellow Transcendentalists like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry David Thoreau, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow In 1868, she wrote Little Women. In it, she wrote, Jo had learned that hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally... Louisa could be witty. She once wrote, Money is the root of all evil, and yet it is such a useful root that we cannot get on without it any more than we can without potatoes. 1978 Death of Edward C. Hummel, American plantsman and hybridizer. Edward and his wife Minnie ran Hummel's Exotic Gardens of southern California for 43 years. They specialized in cacti, succulents, bromeliads ("brow·mee·lee·ads"), and orchids. In 1935, Edward and Minnie were featured in a Quaker State Motor Oil advertisement. The young Hummel family is in their home cactus garden. Edward is examining a cactus specimen while his daughter Marquetta and son Edward gather around. Mother Minnie is standing behind them, looking on. The ad garnered plenty of attention, and soon Edward was fielding requests from American gardeners for more information about his cactus garden. The letters gave Edward and Minnie the idea to start a mail-order business for their plants. In 1943, during WWII, Edward published Hummel's Victory Picture Book. The cover featured a photo of two 6-foot-tall Barrel cacti at the base, leaning away from each other at the top in a perfect V formation for victory. The book was a smash hit, and subsequent editions were quickly put together. In the first edition, Edward wrote a note to his customers in the forward. Perhaps you will wonder at receiving this free picture book which contains no prices of plants. If you enjoy a few minutes of interest and relaxation in looking it over, it will have fulfilled its obvious purpose. If your interest and curiosity are stirred to the point that you write us for further information, it will have fulfilled its hidden purpose. After the War, the fumes from LAX drove the Hummels to find a new home for their nursery. They settled in Carlsbad and purchased an existing nursery after the founder Dr. Robert W. Poindexter, died unexpectedly. The nursery was a perfect fit. Robert Poindexter shared the Hummel's passion for cacti and succulents. Robert's son John finalized the sale. Edward was especially interested in propagating and selling drought-resistant plants in his nursery. He won many awards for his plants and was primarily known for his work with Bromeliads ("brow·mee·lee·ads"). Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Flower Flash by Lewis Miller This book came out in 2021, and Lewis Miller is a celebrated floral designer and "Flower Bandit." The publisher writes, Before dawn one morning in October 2016, renowned New York-based floral designer Lewis Miller stealthily arranged hundreds of brightly colored dahlias, carnations, and mums into a psychedelic halo around the John Lennon memorial in Central Park. The spontaneous floral installation was Miller's gift to the city an effort to spark joy during a difficult time. Nearly five years and more than ninety Flower Flashes later, these elaborate flower bombs - bursts of jubilant blooms in trash cans, over bus canopies, on construction sites and traffic medians - have brought moments of delight and wonder to countless New Yorkers and flower lovers everywhere, and earned Miller a following of dedicated fans and the nickname the "Flower Bandit." After New York City entered lockdown, Miller doubled down, creating Flower Flashes outside hospitals to express gratitude to frontline health workers and throughout the city to raise spir

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

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1714 Birth of William Shenstone, English poet, and landscape gardener. In the early 1740s, Shenstone inherited his family's dairy farm, which he transformed into the Leasowes (pronounced 'lezzoes'). The transfer of ownership lit a fire under Shenstone, and he immediately started changing the land into a wild landscape - something he referred to as an ornamented farm. Shenstone wisely bucked the trend of his time, which called for formal garden design (he didn't have the money to do that anyway.) Yet, what Shenstone accomplished was quite extraordinary. His picturesque natural landscape included water features like cascades and pools and structures like temples and ruins. What I love most about Shenstone is that he was a consummate host. He considered the garden's comfort and perspective from his visitors' standpoint. When he created a walk around his estate, Shenstone wanted to control the experience. So, Shenstone added seating every so often along the path to cause folks to stop and admire the views that Shenstone found it most appealing. Then, he incorporated signage with beautiful classical verses and poems, even adding some of his own - which elevated the Leasowes experience for his guests. After his death, his garden, the Leasowes, became a popular destination - attracting the likes of William Pitt, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin. It was William Shenstone who said, Grandeur and beauty are so very opposite, that you often diminish the one as you increase the other. Variety is most akin to the latter, simplicity to the former. 1806 Birth of Charles Leo Lesquereux, Swiss botanist. Leo was born with a naturalist's heart. A self-described dreamer, Leo loved going out into the forest, collecting all kinds of flowers and specimens for his mother. Sadly, when Leo was seven years old, he fell off the top of a mountain. He was carried back to his home completely unconscious, with multiple injuries to his body and head trauma. He remained motionless and unconscious for two weeks. His survival was a miracle, yet the fall resulted in hearing loss that would eventually leave Leo utterly deaf by the time he was a young man. Despite the fall, nature still ruled Leo's heart. As Leo matured, he tried to provide for his family as a watchmaker. But, he found himself returning again and again to the outdoors. Eventually, Leo began to focus his efforts on peat bogs, and his early work protecting peat bogs attracted the attention of Louis Agassiz of Harvard, who invited Leo to bring his family to America. When he arrived, Leo classified the plants that Agassiz had discovered on his expedition to Lake Superior. Then, on Christmas Eve, 1848, Asa Gray summoned Leo to help William Starling Sullivant. Asa predicted the collaboration would be successful, and he wrote to his friend and fellow botanist John Torrey: They will do up bryology at a great rate. Lesquereux says that the collection and library of Sullivant in muscology are magnifique, superbe,and the best he ever saw. So, Leo packed up his family, traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and settled near the bryologist, William Starling Sullivant. Bryology is the study of mosses. The root, bryos, is a Greek verb meaning to swell and is the etymology of the word embryo. Bryology will be easier to remember if you think of the ability of moss to expand as it takes on water. Mosses suited Leo and Sullivant's strengths. They require patience and close observation, scrupulous accuracy, and discrimination. Together, Leo and Sullivant wrote the book on American mosses. Sullivant funded the endeavor and generously allowed Leo to share in the proceeds. In 1873, Sullivant contracted pneumonia - ironically, an illness where your lungs fill or swell with fluid - and died on April 30, 1873. Leo lived for another 16 years before dying at the age of 83. It was Leo Lesquereux who said, My deafness cut me off from everything that lay outside of science. I have lived with Nature, the rocks, the trees, the flowers. They know me. I know them. 1810 Birth of Asa Gray, American botanist. As a professor of botany at Harvard University, Asa interacted with the top scientific minds of his time, including Charles Darwin. In 1857, Asa Gray received a confidential letter from Charles Darwin. In the letter, Darwin confided: I will enclose the briefest abstract of my notions on the means by which nature makes her species....[but] I ask you not to mention my doctrine. Darwin revealed his concept of natural selection two years later in his book, On the Origin of Species. Asa and Darwin mutually admired each other. Although Asa's masterwork, Darwiniana, deviated from Darwin's because Asa purported that religion and science were not mutually exclusive. Asa was a prolific writer. His most famous work was his Manual of the Botany of

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1771 On this day, heavy rains caused the ancient raised peat bog known as the Solway Moss to burst over its earthen banks and flowed down into a valley covering four hundred acres of farmland. The next day, Solway Moss covered the surrounding land with 15 feet of thick feculent mud. Solway Moss was a one-by-two-mile-long moss land growing since the end of the last Ice Age. The raised bog was an estimated 50 feet higher than the surrounding farmland. The living surface of the Solway Moss was a unique mix of bog cotton, sphagnum, and heather. The porous soupy surface hosted a few shrubs and standing pools of water. But the rotting vegetation created a dangerous predicament that no man or cattle would dare traverse throughout the year. Over two hundred years before the Solway Moss burst, the English and the Scots fought over the land surrounding the bog in the Battle of Solway Moss. After the English victory, hundreds of Scots drowned in the bog as they tried to return home by crossing the moss hillside. Like a sponge, peat expands to absorb moisture when it gets wet. And, during wet months like November of 1771, the peat swells; in this case, the peat swelled until it bursts. The incredible event was recorded in a journal: A farmer who lived nearest the moss was alarmed with an unusual noise. The crust had at once given way, and the black deluge was rolling toward his house. He gave notice to his neighbors with all expedition; others received no other advice but... by its noise, many by its entrance into their houses.... some were surprised with it even in their beds. [while some] remaining totally ignorant…until the morning when their neighbors with difficulty got them out through the roof. The eruption burst… like a cataract of thick ink... intermixed with great fragments of peat... filling the whole valley... leaving... tremendous heaps of turf. 1785 Birth of Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg, American Lutheran Pastor and botanist. He was always referred to by his second name Heinrich. The Muhlenberg family was a founding family of the United States, and Heinrich came from a long line of pastors. His father, Pastor Heinrich Melchior Mühlenberg, was known as the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America. His brother was a major in the Revolutionary War, and his other brother was a Congressman. Muhlenberg's journals are a treasure trove of his thoughts on botanical self-improvement. He would write: How may I best advance myself in the knowledge of plants? And Muhlenberg would set goals and reminders to challenge himself, writing: It is winter, and there is little to do . . . Toward spring I should go out and [put together] a chronology of the trees; how they come out, the flowers, how they appear,. . . . I should especially [take not of] the flowers and fruit. The grass Muhlenbergia was named for Heinrich Muhlenberg. Muhly grasses are beautiful native grasses with two critical strengths in their plant profile: drought tolerance and visual punch. In addition, Muhly grasses are easy-going, growing equally well in harsh conditions and perfectly manicured gardens. The Muhly cultivar 'White Cloud' offers gorgeous white plumes. When the coveted Pink Muhly blooms, people often stop and ask the name of the beautiful pink grass. Lindheimer's Muhly makes a fantastic screen, and Bamboo Muhly commands attention when it is featured in containers. All Muhly grasses like well-drained soil and full sun. If you plant them in the fall, be sure to get them situated and in the ground at least a month before the first frost. And here's an interesting side note: Muhlenberg also discovered the bog turtle. In 1801, the turtle was named Clemmys muhlenbergii in his honor. 1818 Death of England's Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III. Charlotte is remembered as the patroness of the arts, an amateur botanist, and a champion of Kew Gardens. In addition to the astounding fact that Charlotte gave birth to 15 children, she was a fascinating royal. Born in Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany, Charlotte was the first person in England to bring a Christmas tree indoors to celebrate the holiday season. Charlotte had gotten the idea from her home country of Germany. In December 1800, Charlotte selected a yew which was brought inside Windsor Castle and festively decorated. Charlotte and her husband, King George, both loved botany. After his mother died, George gained control of Kew and Charlotte set about expanding Kew Gardens. On the property, Charlotte had a little cottage installed along with a rustic cottage garden. Her daughter Elizabeth likely painted the attic room ceiling with nasturtium and morning glory. Charlotte was quite serious in her pursuit of botany. She collected plants and had a personal herbarium to help with her studies. The President of the Linn

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1643 Birth of Sir Jean Chardin, French jeweler and traveler. Jean is remembered for his ten-volume work, The Travels of Sir John Chardin, which is considered one of the most important early accounts of Persia and the Near East. In Travels, Jean wrote about the Persian love language of tulips. When a young man presents a tulip to his mistress he gives her to understand, by the general color of the flower that he is on fire with her beauty, and by the black base of it that his heart is burnt to a coal. 1845 Death of Elizabeth Fox, also known as Baroness Holland, English political hostess and flower lover. When she was 15, Elizabeth married Sir Godfrey Webster, who was twenty years her senior. After having five children in six years, Elizabeth began an affair with a Whig politician named Henry Fox, the 3rd Baron Holland. When she had his child, she divorced Godfrey and quickly married Mr. Fox. Together they had six more children. Elizabeth is remembered for her strong will and domineering nature. She was a zealous socialite and highly passionate about flowers. In garden history, Elizabeth is remembered for introducing the Dahlia to England. In 1804 during a visit to Madrid's Royal Botanic Gardens, Elizabeth received Dahlia pinnata seeds from the botanist Antonio José Cavanilles ("Cah-vah-nee-yes"). When she returned to England, the little seeds were successfully cultivated in her gardens at Holland House. Twenty years later, Elizabeth's beloved second husband, Henry Fox, was so proud of her effort to share the Dahlia with England that he wrote these words in a little love note: The dahlia you brought to our isle Your praises forever shall speak; 'Mid gardens as sweet as your smile, And in color as bright as your cheek. 1964 Death of Denys Zirngiebel, Swiss-born naturalist, florist, and plant breeder. After establishing a home in Needham, Massachusetts, Denys sent for his wife and little boy. Denys and Henrietta had four children. Their only daughter (also named Henriette) married Andrew Newell Wyeth, and their son was NC Wyeth, the Realistic Painter. During the 1860s, Denys worked for the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. He later bought a 35-acre tract of land along the Charles River in Needham and started his floral business. An excellent businessman, Denys expertly marketed his inventory. Denys shipped flowers to the White House and the State Department each week. In a nod to his Swiss heritage, Denys was the first person in America to cultivate the Giant Swiss Pansy successfully. Denys's Needham nursery grew so many Giant Swiss Pansies that the town adopted the flower as their floral emblem, and Denys became known as the "Pansy King." 2001 On this day, the French Film Amelie was released in the United States. In the movie, Amélie steals her father's garden gnome to help him escape his depression after losing his wife. Amélie gives the gnome to an airline stewardess. Her father starts receiving photos of his garden buddy visiting iconic travel destinations like Monument Valley, The Empire State Building, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, The Blue Mosque in Instanbul, and The Sphinx in Cairo, Egypt. In the end, Amélie's plan works. In the last scene, her dad sets off on his own adventure inspired by a little garden gnome. On a historical note, one of the earliest mentions of garden gnomes I could find was from July 9, 1928, in the Liverpool Echo. The article announced: Quaint Garden Ornaments... a quaint littie tribe of people - garden gnomes, sixty in number - [were] sold by auction, in Liverpool. They were imported from the Continent. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Revolutionary Genius of Plants by Stefano Mancuso This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is A New Understanding of Plant Intelligence and Behavior. The Wall Street Journal raved about this book in their review: In this thought-provoking, handsomely illustrated book, Italian neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso considers the fundamental differences between plants and animals and challenges our assumptions about which is the 'higher' form of life. The editor wrote, ...world-renowned scientist Stefano Mancuso reveals the surprisingly sophisticated ability of plants to innovate, to remember, and to learn, offering us creative solutions to the most vexing technological and ecological problems that face us today. Despite not having brains or central nervous systems, plants perceive their surroundings with an even greater sensitivity than animals. They efficiently explore and react promptly to potentially damaging external events thanks to their cooperative, shared systems; without any central command centers, they are able to remember prior catastrophic events and to actively adapt to new ones. Stefano introduced the controversial topic of plant memory this

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1791 On this day, Australia's first thriving grapevine was planted. The First Fleet's Captain Arthur Phillip brought grape cuttings from South America and South Africa and produced a small vineyard at Farm Cove. Today, Farm Cove is the location of the Sydney Botanical Gardens. When the plants did not bear, they were transplanted to Parramatta. Arthur Philip served as the first Governor of New South Wales when his Crimson Grapes flourished in the warm Australian fertile soil. Today Crimson Grapes can also be found in Victoria and southeastern Queensland. Australian Crimson Grapes enjoy a long harvest period from November to May. 1869 Birth of Charlotte Mary Mew, English poet. In her poem, In Nunhead Cemetary, she wrote, There is something horrible about a flower; This, broken in my hand, is one of those He threw it in just now; it will not live another hour; There are thousands more; you do not miss a rose. And in The Sunlit House, she wrote, The parched garden flowers Their scarlet petals from the beds unswept Like children unloved and ill-kept But I, the stranger, knew that I must stay. Pace up the weed-grown paths and down Till one afternoon ... From an upper window a bird flew out And I went my way. 1887 Birth of Georgia O'Keeffe, American modernist artist. During her incredible career as a painter, Georgia created over 900 works of art. She is remembered for her iconic paintings of skulls and flowers. In 1938 Georgia's career stalled. Yet she was approached by an advertising agency about creating two paintings for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole Food Company) to use in their advertising. Georgia was 51 years old when she took the nine weeks, all-expense-paid trip. Georgia never did paint a pineapple. And gardeners will enjoy this obscure fact: Of all the floral paintings that O'Keeffe created in Hawaii, exactly NONE were native to the island. Instead, Georgia loved the exotic tropicals imported from South America: Bougainvillea, Plumeria, Heliconia, Calliandra, and the White Bird of Paradise. It was Georgia 0'Keeffe who said all of these quotes about flowers - a subject for which she held strong opinions. Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time ...like to have a friend takes time. I hate flowers. I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move! If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for a moment. I decided that if I could paint that flower on a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty. 1930 Birth of James Graham Ballard (pen name J.G. Ballard), English novelist. James was part of the New Wave of science fiction in the 1960s. Yet, he is most remembered for his 1984 war novel, Empire of the Sun. In The Unlimited Dream Company, James wrote, "Miriam - I'll give you any flowers you want!' Rhapsodising over the thousand scents of her body, I exclaimed: "I'Il grow orchids from your hands, roses from your breasts. You can have magnolias in your hair... In your womb I'll set a fly-trap!" And in The Garden of Time, James wrote, "Axel," his wife asked with sudden seriousness. "Before the garden dies ... may I pick the last flower?" Understanding her request, he nodded slowly. James once wrote, I believe in madness, in the truth of the inexplicable, in the common sense of stones, in the lunacy of flowers. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake This book came out in 2021, and the subtitle is How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. This book has won all kinds of recognition: The Wainwright Prize, the Royal Society Science Book Prize, and the Guild of Food Writers Award • Shortlisted for the British Book Award Longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. The publisher writes, In Entangled Life, the brilliant young biologist Merlin Sheldrake shows us the world from a fungal point of view, providing an exhilarating change of perspective. Sheldrake's vivid exploration takes us from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that range for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that link plants together in complex networks known as the "Wood Wide Web," to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision. Entangled Life is a fascinating read. Merlin's passion for fungi (fun-ghee) knows no bounds. Fungi are often referred to as a neglected kingdom of life. Compared to other kingdoms like plants and animals, we know very little about fungi, and only six percent has thus far been described. And Fungi are more closely related to animals than to plants. Today most plant life depends on relationships with mycorrhizal fungi or fungi that live in their roots. These fungi help plants acquire water and nutrients. They also protect the plants from dis

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1771 Birth of Xavier Bichat ("bee'shah"), French anatomist and pathologist. Remembered as the father of modern histology, or the study of tissues. In his work, Xavier did not use a microscope and still discovered 21 distinct types of tissues in the human body. His work accelerated and transformed the way doctors understood disease. Sadly, Xavier died accidentally in his early thirties in 1802 after falling down the steps of his hospital. Today, Xavier Bichat's name is one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower. A lover of nature, Xavier's work was grounded in observations from the natural world. Charles Darwin quoted Xavier in his book The Descent of Man. The great botanist Bichat long ago said, if everyone were cast in the same mould, there would be no such thing as beauty. If all our women were to become as beautiful as the Venus de' Medici, we should for a time be charmed; but we should soon wish for variety; and as soon as we had obtained variety, we should wish to see certain characteristics in our women a little exaggerated beyond the then existing common standard. The beauty of nature and the secret to that beauty is in nature's diversity and the ephemeral nature of all things - the seasons, flowers, the weather, etc., Xavier also wrote, Life is the sum of forces resisting death. 1776 Birth of Henri Dutrochet, French physician, botanist, and physiologist. After studying the movement of sap in plants in his home laboratory, Henri discovered and named osmosis. Henri shared his discovery with the Paris Academy of Sciences on October 30th, 1826. Like the cells in our human bodies, plants don't drink water; they absorb it through osmosis. Henri also figured out that a plant's green pigment, chlorophyll, is essential to how plants take up carbon dioxide. Hence, photosynthesis could not happen without chlorophyll. It turns out chlorophyll helps plants gather energy from light. And if you've ever asked yourself why plants are green, the answer is chlorophyll. Since it reflects green light, chlorophyll makes the plant appear green. As for Henri, he was a true pioneer in plant research. He was the first to examine plant respiration, light sensitivity, and geotropism (How the plant responds to gravity, i.e., roots grow down to the ground.) Geotropism can be confusing at first, but I think of it this way: The upward growth of plants - fighting against gravity - is called negative geotropism, and the downward growth of roots, growing with gravity, is called positive geotropism. And there's a tiny part of the plant at the very end of the root that responds to positive geotropism, and it's called the root cap. So, what makes the roots grow downward? The small but mighty root cap - responds to positive geotropism. 1907 Birth of Astrid Lindgren, Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. Astrid is remembered for several children's book series, including Pippi Longstocking. She wrote more than 30 books for children and has sold 165 million copies. In January 2017, Astrid's prolific work made her the fourth most translated children's author trailing Enid Blyton, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm. Astrid was a flower lover. In her book, Mio, My Son, Astrid wrote, He turned to the Master Rose Gardener and said something even more peculiar, "I enjoy the birds singing. I enjoy the music of the silver poplars." In her book, Most Beloved Sister, Astrid wrote, Then the flowers stopped singing and the trees stopped playing, and I could no longer hear the brook's melody. "Most Beloved Sister," said YlvaLi. "When Salikon's roses wither, then I will be dead.' And in Astrid's story Bullarbyn, the maid Agda tells a group of girls that if on Midsummer night, they climb over nine fences and pick nine different flowers in complete silence, without speaking a single word, and then return home to put the flowers under their pillow, they will dream of their future husband. On Social Media, there's a marvelous photograph of Astrid climbing a pine tree. In the photo, Astrid is 67 years old. She apparently climbed the tree in her front yard after being dared by her 80-year-old friend Elsa. Astrid later quipped, There's nothing in the Ten Commandments forbidding old ladies to climb trees, is there? Astrid once wrote, In our unknown past we might have been creatures swinging from branch to branch, living in trees. Perhaps in the deepest depths of our wandering souls we long to return there... perhaps it is pure homesickness that makes us write poems and songs of the trees... 1908 Birth of Harrison Salisbury, American journalist. After World War II, Harrison became the first regular New York Times correspondent in Moscow. He went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for his work. Harrison once wrote, My favorite word is 'pumpkin.' You are a pumpkin. Or

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1802 Birth of George Pope Morris was an American editor, poet, and songwriter. George co-founded the daily New York Evening Mirror with Nathaniel Parker Willis. George and Nathaniel also started Town and Country magazine. Nathaniel once wrote that George was "just what poets would be if they sang like birds without criticism." In 1837, George wrote his popular poem-turned-song Woodman, Spare that Tree! The verse resonated with conservationists. Woodman, woodman, spare that tree Touch not a single bough For years it has protected me And I'll protect it now Chop down an oak, a birch or pine But not this slipp'ry elm of mine It's the only tree that my wife can't climb So spare that tree 1825 On this day, the English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, Nature is a wary wily long-breathed old witch, tough-lived as a turtle and divisible as the polyp. The polyp Coleridge refers to is the water plant discovered by Abraham Trembley in 1740. That year, Abe was walking along a pool of water and saw what he called a polyp or a hydra. Abe was astonished to see the organism's response to being chopped into pieces; it would simply regenerate into a new whole organism. 1895 Birth of Lin Yutang, Chinese inventor, writer, and translator. Yutang's English translations of Chinese classics became bestsellers in the West. Yutang once wrote, I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its tone is mellower, its colours are richer, and it is tinged with a little sorrow. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and its content. 1900 Birth of Helen Hayes MacArthur, American actress. Remembered as the "First Lady of American Theatre," she was the first person to win the Triple Crown of Acting - an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, and a Tony Award. In her spare time, Helen was also a gardener. Regarding wildflowers, she said, They won't bow to one's wishes. They don't want to be tamed. That must be the reason these darling, lovely, little things won't cooperate. While most people credit Helen's success with her passion and inner drive, Helen found the time she spent in her garden as restorative. She wrote, All through the long winter I dream of my garden. On the first warm day of spring I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Garden as Art by Thaïsa Way ("Ty-EE-sah") This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is Beatrix Farrand at Dumbarton Oaks. If Thaïsa's name sounds familiar to you, it is because she is the director of garden and landscape studies at Dumbarton Oaks and her book is one of two new books this year as part of the centennial celebrations at Dumbarton. As this garden enters its second century, I see Thaïsa's book as a commemorative book, which features the beautiful garden photography of Sahar Coston-Hardy ("Sah-har Cost-in Hardy"). Along with the photography, there is a wonderful selection of essays that were handpicked to reveal the history of design in the garden and the significance of those gardens from a variety of different voices. So, this is an extraordinary book. If you're a fan of Dumbarton Oaks, then this book is an absolute must-have. And what I find especially wonderful about this book are the seasonal glimpses of Dumbarton Oaks that are offered by Sahar's photography and seeing the transformation at Dumbarton throughout the year is really quite special. If you're a fan of Beatrix and her work, then you know that Dunbarton is regarded as her crowning achievement and this book is definitely a testament to that. Harvard published this book, and they write that, The book invites the reader to contemplate the art of garden design and the remarkable beauty of the natural world. There are archival images of the garden that offer a chronicle of evolving design concepts. And the book also illustrates how gardens change over time as living works of art. And so that brings us to the title Garden as Art. Garden as Art offers an inspiring view of a place that has been remarkably influential in both design and the art of landscape architecture. This is a very special book and would make a wonderful Christmas present for yourself as a gardener or for a gardener in your life. This book is 312 pages of one of our country's most beautiful gardens with a beautiful story to tell featuring Beatrix Farrand and Dumbarton Oaks. You can get a copy of Garden as Art by Thaïsa Way and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $42. Botanic Spark 1817 On this day, the garden of a Mr. Pringuer

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1747 Birth of Antoine Nicolas Duchesne ("do-Shane"), French botanist, gardener, and professor at Versailles. A specialist in strawberries and gourds, Duchesne was a student of Bernard de Jussieu at the Royal Garden in Paris. A plant pioneer, Duchesne recognized that mutation was a natural occurrence and that plants could be altered through mutation at any time. And when he was a young botanist, Duchesne began experimenting with strawberries. Ever since the 1300s, wild strawberries have been incorporated into gardens. But, on July 6, 1764, Duchesne created the modern strawberry - the strawberry we know and love today. Strawberries are members of the rose family, and their seeds are on the outside of the fruit. Just how many seeds are on a single strawberry? Well, the average strawberry has around 200 seeds. Now, if you're wondering whether to cut your strawberry plants back for winter, you should cut your plants back about three inches after your final harvest. As you tidy up your strawberry plants for winter, you can remove all dead leaves and trimmings. Right about now, strawberry growers are winterizing their plants, which is pretty straightforward. Simply cover your plants with 6-8 inches of mulch. Then when spring returns, remove the winterizing mulch as your strawberry plants wake up and start growing. 1817 On this day, James Madison, America's fourth President, was elected to serve as the President of his local Agricultural Society. James had just retired from his presidential duties and quickly resumed his passion for cultivating the land. James spent many hours every day working in his four-acre Montpelier garden. The horse-shoe-shaped bed was assumed to be an homage to the floor of the house of representatives. The following May, James spoke to his fellow farmers and gardeners in the Agricultural Society about some of the latest discoveries in agriculture, such as the benefits of incorporating manure to leverage nitrogen and optimizing the water for plant uptake. James Madison was one of America's earliest conservationists. He was primarily concerned with preserving the land and wise stewardship of natural resources. 1817 Birth of Joseph Stayman, Kansas horticulturist. His obituary announcement said, Dr. Stayman is dead at Leavenworth. He came to Kansas in 1859 and brought a half million fruit grafts with him, from which he started the fruit industry of the state. The doctor was well-named, and lived true to the name as his fruit trees were. Joseph helped establish the Kansas State Horticultural Society in 1866. He dropped his medical practice to pursue horticulture and bred new varieties of apples, strawberries, and grapes at his orchards, which hosted over 3,000 trees. Joseph specifically worked to cultivate varieties best suited to the Kansas soil and climate. Joseph was a renaissance man and developed skills across a spectrum of skills and science. He bred the famous Clyde strawberry and established himself as an outstanding botanical artist (many of his drawings are at the Smithsonian). And Joseph was one of the country's best checker players. Some games lasted months to a year since Joseph played many matches by correspondence. 1849 Birth of James Whitcomb Riley, American writer and poet. In his poem, The Ripest Peach, he wrote, The ripest peach is highest on the tree -- And so her love, beyond the reach of me, Is dearest in my sight. Sweet breezes, bow Her heart down to me where I worship now! She looms aloft where every eye may see The ripest peach is highest on the tree. In the US, over thirty states grow peaches. The peach season varies by state, but it usually ends by early October. Peaches are a member of the rose family and are rich in vitamins A and C. Freestone peaches are the type of peaches that we buy whole and eat raw. The Clingstone peach is canned commercially. Clingstone peaches get their name because Cling peaches have stones that cling to the peach flesh. By extracting the stone, the fruit is damaged yet still tasty, so processing and canning are ways to redeem the damaged fruit. And although Georgia is known for its peaches, California produces more peaches every year. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Growing Joy by Maria Failla ("Fy-ELL-ah") This book came out in 2022, and the subtitle is The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants). And Maria says her book is full of planty practices to grow your way to a happier and more peaceful life. Well, this is another garden book that was conceived during the early days of the pandemic. And if you remember that time, so many of us were feeling disconnected and stressed and anxious - and we were looking for ways to feel more anchored, healthy, stronger, and positive. And this was definitely the case with Maria. In fact, she

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events Today is Garlic Lovers Day Garlic, or stinking rose, is a member of the lily family. Onions, leeks, and shallots are also in the family. All alliums are reactive to the amount of daylight they receive, so a great way to think about the garlic life cycle is that it matures during the longest days in the summer. This is why Autumn is garlic-planting time in most areas, and many gardeners wait until after the fall equinox in the back half of September. (This year's autumnal equinox is Thursday, September 22, 2022). By planting garlic in the fall, your garlic gets a headstart on the growing season, which means that when spring arrives, your little garlic shoots will be one of the first plants to greet you in the April rain. Garlic has antibiotic properties and helps reduce blood pressure and cholesterol. Herbalists recommend garlic as a remedy for colds. And Gilroy, California, is known as the World's Garlic Capital. Most of us know and love garlic as a culinary staple - a must-have ingredient for most savory dishes. Alice May Brock, American artist, author, and former restaurateur, once wrote, Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good. And Anthony Bourdain, in Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, wrote: Garlic is divine. Few food items can taste so many distinct ways, handled correctly. Misuse of garlic is a crime...Please, treat your garlic with respect...Avoid at all costs that vile spew you see rotting in oil in screwtop jars. Too lazy to peel fresh? You don't deserve to eat garlic. 1794 Birth of Charles Wilkins Short, American botanist and doctor. A Kentuckian, Charles wrote a flora of Kentucky in 1833. He had one of the largest, most valued private herbariums with 15,000 plant samples, and his massive garden covered several acres. Charles was honored in the naming of many plants, including the Oconee bell named the Shortia galacifolia. The location of the plant became a mystery during the 1800s. In 1863, Charles Short died, and at the time, the Shortia plant still could not be found. But finally, in May of 1877, a North Carolina teenager named George Hyams sent an unknown specimen to Harvard's top plant expert, the knowledgeable Asa Gray, who could be heard crying 'Eureka' when he finally saw the Shortia specimen. Two years later, Asa and his wife, along with his dear friend, the botanist John Redfield, the director of the Arnold Arboretum Charles Sprague Sargent, and the botanist William Canby got to see the Shortia in the wild in the spot where George Hyams knew it was growing. The scientists all stood around the little patch of earth where the Shortia grew in oblivion, and the long search to find the Shortia, named for Charles Wilkins Short, was over. 1799 Death of the English botanist geologist, physician, and chemist William Withering. William was a doctor and the first person to study Digitalis - most commonly known as Foxglove. The story goes that one day, he noticed a person suffering from what was then called dropsy, an old word for a person suffering from congestive heart failure. William observed that the patient in question showed remarkable improvement after taking an herbal remedy that included Digitalis or Foxglove. Today William gets the credit for discovering the power of Digitalis because after he studied the various ingredients of this remedy, he determined that Digitalis was the key ingredient to addressing heart issues. In 1785, William published his famous work, An Account of the Foxglove and Some of its Medical Uses. Foxgloves are a beautiful plant often seen in ornamental or cottage gardens. Foxgloves produce beautiful tall flower spikes, and each spike can contain 20 to 80 purple to pink tubular blossoms that are whitish on the inside. Foxgloves are toxic, and eating any part of the plant can result in severe poisoning. And this is important to know because when Foxglove first emerges from the ground, it can be confused for Comfrey or Plantain. Since both of those plants are used as edible plants by many people - it's important to distinguish them and remember where you're planting Foxglove in your garden. Foxglove is actually in the Plantain family. Before flowering, Foxglove can also be confused with Great mullein (Verbascum thapsus). In addition to the Foxglove common name, Digitalis has many adorable common names, including Fairy Fingers, Fairy Thimbles, Rabbits Flower, and Scotch Mercury. And there are many delightful stories about the Foxglove. One foxglove origin story says that fairies gave blossoms to a Fox who needed to put the flowers on his toes to muffle the sound of his feet as he hunted for prey. This would account for the

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1852 On this day, Henry David Thoreau writes in his journal. The maples are reddening, and birches yellowing. The mouse-ear in the shade in the middle of the day... looks as if the frost still lay on it. Bumblebees are on the Aster... and gnats are dancing in the air. The Mouse Ears that Thoreau mentions in this excerpt is actually a species of forget-me-not (Myosotis laxa) known as the tufted forget-me-not, bay forget-me-not, or just the small-flower forget-me-not. Mouse Ears like to grow in wet areas, so I can believe there was still frost on this forget-me-not when Thoreau looked at it - especially since it was probably in a low-lying or damp area. Now Thoreau himself went into a little more detail about the Mouse Ears forget-me-not. He wrote. It is one of the most interesting minute flowers. It is the more beautiful for being small and unpretending; even flowers must be modest. Thoreau underscores this point of agreement that I have with longtime gardeners: the longer we garden, we come to appreciate some of the more subtle, more minor details in a much bigger way than we did when we were first starting out. We mature in our perspective on our garden - or on different plants or species of plants in our gardens. Our thinking evolves and changes - and what we love about our garden grows as we mature as gardeners. 1921 Death of Mary Hiester Reid (books about this person), American-born Canadian painter, and teacher. A painter of floral still lifes, Mary was a tonalist - passionate, poetic, and subtle - and her works have been called "devastatingly expressive." In her career, Mary was both an impressionist and a realist. Mary produced over 300 oil paintings. In her prime in 1890, Mary was regarded as the most critical flower painter in Canada. Mary often painted trios - so her paintings would feature three flowers or three trees, for example. The author, Molly Peacock, offers additional insight into Mary's work with trios and triangulation as a reflection of what was going on in her own life. Molly points out that, Mary and her husband lived in a loose menage with a talented younger artist named Mary Evelyn Wrinch... Mary Evelyn Wrinch was both Mary Hiester Reid's friend and rival and 24 years her junior. When Mary died, in her will, she specified that her husband should be given to Mary Evelyn Wrinch. Mary's death so moved the Canadian newspaperman Duncan Sutherland Macorquodale that he felt compelled to write a memorial poem in her honor. The verse refers to Mary's Wychwood home. (Wychwood was an artist's enclave of sixty homes tucked in the rolling wooded hills of the Davenport Ridge in Toronto.) Here's an excerpt of Duncan's tribute to Mary. Free from the thrall called life, Palette and brush laid down; Off with achievement's strife, Donned the immortal's crown; Yet hovers she near 'neath the Wychwoodtree, This, the roses she painted, tell to me. In September of last year, Molly Peacock's fabulous book on Mary Hiester Reid was published. It's called Flower Diary: In Which Mary Hiester Reid Paints, Travels, Marries & Opens a Door. 1926 On this day, the Dahlia was officially designated as San Francisco's city flower. The Dahlia Society of California had been founded almost a decade earlier, and the club was responsible for getting the city to embrace the beautiful Dahlia as its own. A newspaper account of their efforts to persuade city leaders was shared in a local newspaper: The... desks in the headquarters of the Board of Supervisors burst into bloom yesterday when the Dahlia Society of California ... presented a petition asking for the dahlia's "appointment" as the official flower of San Francisco. The petition...pointed out that... nowhere else in the world is such favorable soil for the Dahlia found. As the city's official flower, [the Dahlia] will win worldwide notice for San Francisco in the same manner [that the rose has for] Portland. [As the petition was read, women], armed with great bouquets of giant dahlias, distributed the colorful blossoms among the listening Supervisors. Supervisor James B. McSheehy, presiding over the meeting, was surrounded by a bower of enormous blooms. So that is how the Dahlia became San Francisco's official flower. Since 1926, Dahlias are generally in peak bloom at the Dahlia Dell in Golden Gate Park in early August - a month known as the foggiest, grayest month of the year in San Francisco. The Dahlia Dell just inside Golden Gate Park. To get to the Dahlia Dell, head east past the Conservatory of Flowers. Volunteers from the Dahlia Society of California still maintain the garden - and hold an annual Dahlia & Tuber Sale and an annual two-day Dahlia show. As for the beautiful Dahlia, it's the official flower of Seattle, the city of destiny and goodwill. And it may surprise you to learn th

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day Look at the Leaves Day 1877 Birth of Otto Emery Jennings, former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and devoted scientist. In 1904, Jennings started as the custodian at the Carnegie Museum, where, over the next 41 years, he held almost every position before becoming the director of the Museum in 1945. Today, the Jennings Nature Reserve near Butler, Pennsylvania, is named for Otto Jennings. Otto worked to protect the 20-acre area because it was a natural habitat for the native Blazing Star (Liatris spicata "Ly-at-truss Spah-cah-tah"). The Jennings Reserve was expressly established to ensure that the Blazing Star could spread and multiply. The Blazing Star is native to North America and is known by other common names, including the Gayfeather or Prairie Star. The Blazing Star is a late-bloomer and features majestic plumes in purple or white. Blazing Star is a gardener favorite, easy to grow and propagate, it's low maintenance, makes excellent cut flowers, and pollinators love them (Monarchs go crazy for Blazing Star). The Blazing Star grows up to 16 in tall, but if you want something more elevated, its cousin, the Prairie Blazing Star, can grow five feet tall. 1891 Birth of Lewis Stiles Gannett, American journalist, and author. Lewis wrote The Living One, Magazine Beach, The Siege, and two Millennium novels: Gehenna and Force Majeure. In Cream Hill: Discoveries of a Weekend Countryman (1949), Lewis wrote: But each spring . . . a gardening instinct, sore as the sap rising in the trees, stirs within us. We look about and decide to tame another little bit of ground. Lewis also wrote, Gardening is a kind of disease. It infects you, you cannot escape it. When you go visiting, your eyes rove about the garden; you interrupt the serious cocktail drinking because of an irresistible impulse to get up and pull a weed. 1895 Birth of Sergei Yesenin (books about this person), Russian lyric poet. One current biographical account of Sergei's life said, "his poems [became] the people's songs." Today, the Yesenin Monument graces the Tauride Garden in the center of Saint Petersburg. The likeness of Sergei Yesenin, seated in a thoughtful pose, is made of solid white marble. There are words that are difficult to translate ie Russian because there is no English equivalent. For instance, there is a word that translates to "mushroom rain." A mushroom rain is a gentle, fragrant rain that wets the forest floor in a steady, lazy fashion. It's the kind of rain that is perfect for mushroom cultivation. In terms of his use of language, Sergei Yesenin was not averse to adding new words to the Russian lexicon. He once created a Russian word to describe how sand ripples across the surface when blown by the wind - something Sergei would have seen daily growing up along the banks of the Oka river near the birch forests in his hometown. Sergei's first poem Beryoza (The Birch Tree), was published in a children's magazine in January of 1914. Today Sergei's Birch tree poem is still taught in Russian schools. Birch trees are a powerful symbol in Russia, where folklore held that planting birches around a village had the power to ward off cholera. A beloved tree in Russia, Birch trees can be found growing across the breadth and depth of the country. In addition to the birch, Sergei wrote about the maple, willow, fir, lime tree, poplar, and bird cherry. Here's an excerpt from The Birch Tree: Under my own window White is birch's hue • Snowy blanket-shadow, Silver patterned too. On its fluffy branches With a snowy hem Tassels' blossom blanches Fringe's icy gem. Standing, birch is yearning, Silent, sleepy spire, Falling snow is burning In its golden fire. Lazy dawn in wrinkles, Circling all around, Now its branches sprinkle Newly silver-crowned. Sergei once wrote, In this world you can search for everything, except Love and death. They find you when the time comes. All will pass like the smoke of white apple trees Seized by the gold of autumn. I will no longer be young. 1900 Birth of Thomas Wolfe (books by this author), American novelist. Thomas once wrote, All things on earth point home in old October: sailors to sea, travelers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken. He also wrote, And the flowers grew in rioting glory... Garden and Gun magazine once shared this quote about Thomas Wolfe: Thomas Wolfe may have said 'You can't go home again,' but I can. Just give me some vinegar and red pepper and I'm there. Today, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Garden in Chapel Hill is a living memorial to Thomas. Thomas attended the University of North Carolina and remained one of their most famous alumni. And there is, at Chapell Hill, a wonderful sculpture of

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1757 On this day, Horace Walpole wrote a letter to his friend John Chute Esquire about the heat wave coursing through Europe. July of 1757 set many records for heat. At the time, it was the hottest month ever recorded in Paris history and for the country of England. The English physician John Huxham, a provincial doctor remembered for his study of fevers, noted that the heat caused many health issues for people. Horace's letter from his home at Strawberry Hill ended with these words, I say nothing of the heat of this magnificent weather, with the glass yesterday up to three quarters of sultry. In all English probability this will not be a hinderance long; though at present... I have made the tour of my own garden but once these three days before eight at night, and then I thought I should have died of it. For how many years we shall have to talk of the summer of fifty-seven! 1817 Birth of Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. National Simplicity Day is observed on July 12th in his honor. Thoreau advocated for living a life of simplicity, and he is best known for his book Walden, a reflection on simple living in natural surroundings. A leading Transcendentalist, his essay, Civil Disobedience, was an argument for disobedience to an unjust state. Thoreau said all of these things: The bluebird carries the sky on his back. God made ferns to show what he could do with leaves There are moments when all anxiety and toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature. I know because I read...Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating. Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders. Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion. Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of each. We can make liquor to sweeten our lips Of pumpkins and parsnips and walnut-tree chips. I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. 1895 Birth of Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in the musical theater. Oscar Hammerstein II was born into a show business family who lived in New York. His father and uncle, Willie and Arthur Hammerstein were successful theater managers, and his grandfather, Oscar Hammerstein I, was a famous opera impresario. Oscar's career spanned almost four decades, during which time he won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. For Carousel, Oscar famously wrote his most famous lyric, June is bustin' out all over. The last song Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together before his death in August of 1960 was Edelweiss, Captain von Trapp's poignant farewell to his beloved homeland. Oscar used the flower to symbolize Captain von Trapp's loyalty to Austria. Nine months after The Sound of Music opened on Broadway, Oscar Hammerstein II died from stomach cancer. 1895 Birth of Richard Buckminster Fuller, American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor, and futurist. Richard styled his name R. Buckminster Fuller for his writing. He wrote over thirty books and coined or popularized terms such as "Spaceship Earth," "ephemeralization," and "synergetics." In 1960, he also popularized the geodesic dome, and he installed one called the "Climatron" in the Missouri Botanical Garden. Richard predicted it would last for a while but was not a permanent structure. The word Climatron is a blend of the Greek words for climate and machine. The magnificent dome was also the world's first fully air-conditioned greenhouse. The Climatron ranges from 64°F at night to a high of 85°F — the perfect temperature range for keeping the rainforest plants happy and healthy. Today, some sixty years after its debut, the Climatron is still standing and is home to nearly 3,000 plants covering almost 200 different plant species, including one that produces the largest tree-born fruit in the world: the Jackfruit. The Climatron also hosts at least three varieties of coffee plants. And every January, the Climatron closes for tree trimming of the tallest trees as they reach the edges of the geodesic dome. Trimming allows the trees to continue actively growing and lets sunlight filter in to reach ground-level plants. Richard wrote, Nature does have manure and she does have roots as well as blossoms, and yo

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1788 On this day, Horace Walpole wrote about the powerful impact of rain on the garden. He wrote, My verdure begins to recover its bloom.. in this country, nobody pays his debts like rain. It may destroy your flowers, but you cannot complain of want of fruit; cherries, apples, walnuts, are more exuberant than their leaves. 1893 Birth of Dorothy Thompson, American journalist and radio broadcaster. She is remembered as the First Lady of American Journalism. In 1934, Dorothy was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany. In her final book, The Courage to Be Happy (1957), she wrote: I am inclined to think that the flowers we must love are those we knew when we were very young, when our senses were most acute to color into smell, and our natures most lyrical. 1933 Birth of Oliver Sacks, British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. I once watched a video featuring Dr. Oliver Sacks, who practiced medicine in NYC across from the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). In the video, Oliver reflected on the garden and its meaning. I've cobbled together a few of his inspiring thoughts. Here's what he said: I think of this garden as a treasure. First, it's a haven. In a noisy, crowded New York, we need a haven; we wander around, and time doesn't matter too much. When I worked at the hospital opposite the garden, I used to come in every day. Specifically, I would come in after seeing my patients but before writing up my notes. And, I would walk around the garden and put everything out of consciousness except the plants and the air. But, by the time I got back, the patient's story would have crystallized in my mind [and then] I could then write it straight away. But I needed this sort of incubation in the garden, and to go for a walk in the garden; that sort of thing is an essential thing for me in writing. I think nature has a healing effect; the garden the closest one can come to nature. The garden has affected me and does affect me in various ways; it's not just the pleasure of walking around but [also] the very special virtues of the library and the museum and the fact that, in some ways, this is a university as well as a garden. I just feel very comfortable in the garden, and whenever people come to New York from out of town or out of the country, I say let's go to the garden. I would like to quote a couple of lines from a TS Eliot poem: Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit. In his book, The River of Consciousness, Oliver wrote, While most of the flowers in the garden had rich scents and colors, we also had two magnolia trees, with huge but pale and scentless flowers. The magnolia flowers, when ripe, would be crawling with tiny insects, little beetles. Magnolias, my mother explained, were among the most ancient of flowering plants and had appeared nearly a hundred million years ago, at a time when "modern" insects like bees had not yet evolved, so they had to rely on a more ancient insect, a beetle, for pollination. Bees and butterflies, flowers with colors and scents, were not preordained, waiting in the wings—and they might never have appeared. They would develop together, in infinitesimal stages, over millions of years. The idea of a world without bees or butterflies, without scent or color, affected me with a sense of awe. 2021 On this day, India's first cryptogamic garden, with nearly fifty different species, is opened. Cryptogams are non-seed-bearing plants. These primitive plants do not reproduce through seeds, for example, algae, bryophytes (moss, liverworts), lichens, ferns, fungi, etc. The garden is located in the Deoban area of Dehradun in Uttarakhand and is situated at 9000 feet and spread over three acres. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Botany for the Artist by Sarah Simblet ("Sim-blit") This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is An Inspirational Guide to Drawing Plants. In this book, Sarah Simblet takes you on an inspirational journey of creativity and botanical art as she demonstrates how to draw virtually every type of plant. As Sarah writes in the forward, This book was inspired by my love of gardening, a desire to know more about the structures, forms, and lives of plants, and an opportunity to spend a whole year exploring wild landscapes and the fabulous collections of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Oxford University Herbaria. These collections generously gave or lent me hundreds of pieces of plants to draw or have photographed for this book. Botany for the Artist features around 550 species, chosen to represent almost every kind of plant and habitat on Earth. Gorgeous, unfamiliar exotics are celebrated alongside more common plants, to show the beauty and wonder of the bird-of-paradise flower and the pavement milk thistle, trop