The Daily Gardener

Today we celebrate the decoupage botanical artist that left her mark on botanical history. We'll also learn about a Louisiana botanist, naturalist and author who lived in a home called Briarwood. We salute the English poet who was killed in WWI - he appreciated the pure beauty of flowers. We also recognize one of Canada's leading botanists - he was 90 years old when he died on this day 100 years ago. We honor July with a beautiful poem called Keeping July. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that inspired kids to cook with their garden harvest, and it's part of the best-selling American Girl cooking series. And then we'll wrap things up with the Landscape Architect who fought to have a tree instead of a parking meter in front of his office building. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Ann-Marie Powell talks lockdown and sharing her garden. "No one is more surprised at the success of her lockdown project than Ann-Marie Powell. The popularity of her daily Instagram Live posts from her garden is, she says, simply astonishing. Begun on day one of lockdown and broadcast every day since, the My Real Garden account now has more than 9,500 followers, making it more successful than her official design Instagram feed. In fact, it's become such a part of her life she's planning to keep it going even as lockdown eases. Ann-Marie has turned a corner of her garden into a studio. The award-winning designer and RHS judge started the My Real Garden feed after being inundated with requests for gardening advice from friends as Britain went into lockdown. Someone suggested she put the advice online and base it on her own Hampshire garden, which had been sadly neglected while her house was done up. 'My garden was literally full of weeds because it had not been looked after for two years. I like to be doing so I thought it'll motivate me, it'll be like a bit of a diary and if I put it out there that I've got to do it. I didn't realize that so many people would be interested!' Broadcast live every lunchtime, My Real Garden followed Ann-Marie, who trained at Capel Manor, as she shaped her lawn, planted fruit and chose plants for shady spots. There's been advice on watering and deadheading to keep summer displays going." My Real Garden reaches its 100th consecutive broadcast today, July 1, and will now become a twice-weekly rather than daily event with the Sunday Social at 12.30 BST and the new Wine and Water Wednesday at 7 pm when followers will join Ann-Marie to water their gardens with wine in hand. 'My Real Garden' will continue twice a week on Instagram Live Although she's done television in the past, it's the freedom of the Instagram Live that Ann-Marie has loved: 'It's been really lovely just being in charge of what I say. I can be as silly as I want, have a bit of a laugh, and God knows, haven't we needed to have a laugh.' And she's made virtual friends from as far away as Canada, Belgium and Detroit. 'It's just been amazing to just have this nurturing, lively, thriving community of like-minded people.' You can follow My Real Garden on Instagram at @myrealgarden, and there's more information on the website." What's the Difference Between Oregano and Marjoram? If you've grown both, you know they look quite similar, and they are often confused for one another. But, when it comes to flavor and taste, it is easy to tell them apart. Oregano tends to be earthy, pungent, and spicy. It can easily overpower the other flavors in a dish. To subdue the pungency, cooks recommend using the dried form of oregano. On the other hand, marjoram is milder. Use that alliteration to help you remember, Mild Marjoram. Marjoram's flavor is more refined; it's floral and woodsy. Because marjoram is sweeter and milder, chefs recommend using fresh marjoram instead of dried marjoram for cooking. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1744 On this day, the botanical tissue paper decoupage artist Mary Delany wrote to her sister about her garden. Mary Delaney had an extraordinary life. Her family had forced her to marry a sixty-year-old man when she was 17. He was an alcoholic. To make matters worse, when he died, he forgot to include

Today we celebrate the English naturalist who kept a journal for almost three decades. We'll also learn about the famous English novelist who loved to garden. We salute the father of American landscape architecture and his trip to Gettysburg on this day in 1863. We also recognize the Spanish woman who pioneered a system of organic gardening known as synergistic gardening. We'll hear a classic poem for gardeners. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book devoted to the ecology, evolution, and life history of solitary bees - a must-read for gardeners dedicated to learning more about our precious pollinators. And then we'll wrap things up with a Maxfield Parrish Print that is beloved by gardeners ever since it appeared on the cover of Collier's Magazine. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News This Five-Minute Exercise Will Make You a Better Gardener | Mary-Kate Mackey "Phyllis Helland has a simple process for doing that. Phyllis is a friend of mine who is a home gardener, and also an artist by profession. Every day she spends a few minutes observing and drawing the growth on a single plant. This is an exercise in seeing, not producing a recognizable sketch. She advises: 'If you think you don't draw well, simply switch to your non-dominant hand. I always see more when I do that because it slows me down. Or use a phone camera instead. That's more of a broad stroke, but it still helps me see. It's like being a little kid again. Kids notice things, and the adults are astonished.' Now, why would doing this simple exercise help your gardening? Phyllis says it will raise your awareness of what's growing around you—whether it's those previously unnoticed predacious bugs on the beans or a glorious unplanned flower combination. The daily observations can also deepen your knowledge." Recently, I've started collecting cuttings from my garden to make my own potpourris and sachets. Here's is a quote from Eleanor Sinclair-Rhode about this lovely garden pastime: "No bought potpourri is so pleasant as that made from one's own garden, for the petals of the flowers one has gathered at home hold the sunshine and memories of summer, and of past summers only the sunny days should be remembered." Do a summer check of all your irrigation systems and repair anything broken. I sooo wish I would have done this last summer. By the time I discovered a leak, we had a big water problem to address. In the garden, too much water can be just as harmful as too little. Throw in temperature extremes, and you have a perfect storm - inviting fungal and other diseases, pests, and other problems. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1720 Today is the birthday of the English naturalist, Gilbert White. Gilbert kept a journal for almost three decades, where he recorded observations of his garden. Gilbert's observations were eventually published as a Calendar of Flora and the Garden. Then they were woven into a book called the Naturalist's Journal. People immediately recognized Gilbert had a gift for observation and for describing with vivid clarity the natural world. Here's a little of what Gilbert wrote in his journal on this day in 1781; his 61st birthday: "Farmers complain that their wheat is blighted. In the garden at Dowland's,... stands a large Liriodendrum tulipifera ("LEER-EE-OH-den-drum TOO-lip-IF-er-ah"), or tulip-tree, which was in flower. The soil is poor sand but produces beautiful pendulous Larches. Mr. R's garden... abounds in fruit, and in all manner of good and forward kitchen-crops. Many China-asters this spring seeded themselves there... some cucumber-plants also grew-up of themselves from the seeds of a rejected cucumber thrown aside last autumn. Mr. R's garden is, at an average, a fortnight before mine." Gilbert White's journals are a treasure, and luckily we can read them for ourselves online at one of my favorite websites: NaturalhistoryofSelbourne.com. 1817 Today is the anniversary of the death of the author and gardener Jane Austen. Jane loved gardens. She had a heart for ornamentals, herbs, and kitchen gardening. And, her family always had a garden - growing their food and beautifying their homes with flowers. In

Today we celebrate one of Alabama's first botanists and the poet who went by the pseudonym AE. We'll also learn about Wood Expert and xylotomist ("xy·lot·o·mist") who solved the crime of the century. We celebrate one of the 20th century's leading landscape architects. We also celebrate the Dog Days of summer through poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about plant passion and inspiration in order to "Cultivate Green Space in Your Home and Heart." And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a touching 2014 botanical art installation around the Tower of London. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News New National Wildflower Network Opens Major Routes Across UK for Pollinating Insects | The Independent "A national network of linked wildflower highways has been launched this week to provide more habitat for the UK's vital pollinating insects, including bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and moths. The newly completed B-Lines network for England has been launched by conservation charity Buglife with support from Defra. The scheme will create a vast interconnected web of potential and existing wildflower habitats across the whole country. Catherine Jones, pollinator officer at Buglife, said: "A complete England B-Lines network is a real landmark step in our mission to reverse insect declines and lend a helping hand to our struggling pollinators. We hope that organizations and people across England will help with our shared endeavor to create thousands of hectares of new pollinator-friendly wildflower habitats along the B-Lines." Buglife is asking people to grow more flowers, shrubs, and trees, let gardens grow wild and to mow grass less frequently, not to disturb insects, and to try not to use pesticides. Almost 17,000 tonnes of pesticides are sprayed across the British countryside each year. The country has lost 97 percent of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s and 87 percent of its wetlands. Both of these habitats support a huge array of wildlife." Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1901 Today is the anniversary of the death of botanist Charles Theodore Mohr. Although he was born in Germany and educated in Stuttgart, Charles became one of Alabama's first botanists. He emigrated to the United States in 1848. A trained pharmacist, Charles traveled the world before settling in Alabama, and he especially enjoyed collecting plant specimens in Surinam. Charles's travel log shows that he even participated in the California gold rush and lived Mexico, Indiana, and Kentucky before settling in Alabama. In 1857, Charles started Chas. Mohr & Son Pharmacists and Chemists in Mobile, Alabama. Charles spent his entire life collecting and organizing his specimens. In fact, by the time his book on the plants of Alabama was published, Charles was seventy-seven years old. After Charles died, his herbarium specimens were donated to the University of Alabama Herbarium (15,000 specimens) and the United States National Herbarium (18,000 specimens). 1935 Today is the anniversary of the death of the poet George William Russell, who went by the pseudonym AE. Russell attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. There he met a lifelong friend - the poet William Butler Yeats. Russell became the editor of The Irish Homestead. His famous quotes include the following: "Our hearts were drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see." "You cannot evoke great spirits and eat plums at the same time." 1967 Today is the anniversary of the death of Wood Expert and xylotomist Arthur Koehler. Xylotomy is preparing little pieces of wood and then examining them under a microscope or microtome. Koehler worked as a chief wood technologist at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. Koehler's expertise led him to become one of the very first forensic botanists. When the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in 1932, a homemade ladder was used to access the nursery. Koehler, along with 38,000 others, sent letters to the Lindbergh's offering prayers and assistance. Yet Koehler's expertise would become the linchpin to convicting the man accused of the crime, making Koehler one of the world's first official forensic botan

Today we celebrate an English poet who was good friends with Alexander Pope. We'll also learn about the French painter, famous for his landscapes. We celebrate the co-creator of a new hybrid of popcorn called "snowflake." We also celebrate some of the flowers of the July garden with some poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us explore the world of botanical fragrance. And then we'll wrap things up with a story about a legendary Indiana botanist. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News 9 Hanging Garden Ideas That Will Turn Any Small Space Into a Lush Indoor Jungle | Tehrene Firman | WellandGood.com If you're living in a small apartment, there's really not a whole lot of room to make your greenery dreams come true. Unless you take things vertically, that is. 1. Plant wall 2. Hanging Bottles 3. Kokedama 4. Upcycled Stick 5. Wall Containers 6. Above-the-Bed Shelf 7. Doorway Garden 8. Wire Wall Grid 9. Scrap Wood Did you know Tarragon is an artemisia? Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1730 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English writer and poet Elijah Fenton. His tomb is ornamented with a pair of sleeping angels. Alexander Pope composed his epitaph. The first two lines are inspired by the poet Richard Crashaw. At Easthamstead, Berks, 1729 THIS modest stone, what few vain marbles can, May truly say, Here lies an Honest Man; A Poet blessed beyond the Poet's fate, Whom Heav'n kept sacred from the proud and great; Foe to loud Praise, and friend to learned Ease, 5 Content with Science in the vale of peace. Calmly he looked on either life, and here Saw nothing to regret, or there to fear; From Nature's temperate feast rose satisfied, Thank'd Heav'n that he had lived, and that he died. Elijah Fenton is remembered for working with Alexander Pope and William Broome to translate the Greek epic poem The Odyssey. Pope had specifically asked Elijah for his help with the major undertaking. Elijah is credited with many wonderful verses: Wedded love is founded on esteem. Beware of flattery, 'tis a weed Which oft offends the very idol--vice, Whose shrine it would perfume. O blissful poverty! Nature, too partial to thy lot, assigns Health, freedom, innocence, and downy peace. In a book about Elijah Fenton, it says, "It is late justice, to Fenton, to point out how often the footsteps of the greater poet may be tracked to his garden plots; how the tones, and something more, of his verses, are echoed in strains which give them their best chance of immortality. Pope was accustomed to say that Fenton's "Ode to Spring" addressed to Lord John Gower, was the best Ode in the English language since Dryden's Cecilia." O'er winter's long inclement sway, At length the lusty Spring prevails; And swift to meet the smiling May, Is wafted by the Western gales. Around him dance the rosy Hours, And damasking the ground with flowers, With ambient sweets perfume the morn; With shadowy verdure flourished high, A sudden youth the groves enjoy, Where Philomel laments forlorn. — Elijah Fenton, Ode to Spring Nature permits for various gifts to fall On various climes, nor smiles alike on all. The Latian eternal verdure wear, And flowers spontaneous crown the smiling year; But who manures a wild Norwegian Hill To raise the Jasmine or the coy Jonquil? Who finds the peach among the savage sloes Or in black Scythia sees the blushing Rose? Here golden grain waves over the teeming fields And they're the vine her racy purple yields; Rich on the cliff the British Oak ascends Proud to survey the seas her power defends; Her sovereign title to the flag she proves Scornful of softer India's spicy Groves. — Elijah Fenton, Variety of Nature 1796 It's the birthday of the artist Camille Corot ("CAH-MEEL CAH-row"), born in Paris. Corot was a French painter, famous for his landscapes, and he inspired the landscape painting of the Impressionists. Corot's quotes about painting are inspiring to gardeners. Here's a little sample of his sensitive perspective on the natural world: "Beauty in art is truth bathed in an impression received from nature. I am struck upon seeing a certain place. While I strive for conscienti

Today we celebrate St. Swithin's Day. We'll also learn about the English architect who brought classical Roman architecture and the Italian Renaissance to gardens. We celebrate the botanist who attempted to sell his cow to buy a botany book by Robert Morison. We also celebrate the birthday of a botanist and a teacher of Emily Dickinson. We learn about the grand opening of Niagra Falls. Today's poems feature insects. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about making gardening and yard work less work and more enjoyable. And then we'll wrap things up with a heart-warming story about a beloved gardener and journalist from Ireland. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News New research pinpoints which of the world's trees are climate change-ready | The Global Plant Council "Botanists from Trinity College Dublin have discovered that "penny-pinching" evergreen species such as Christmas favorites, holly and ivy, are more climate change-ready in the face of warming temperatures than deciduous "big-spending" water consumers like birch and oak. Remarkably, we found that with rising CO2 evergreen trees and shrubs are more efficient in using water than deciduous plants in cooler climate locations. Still, there is no evidence for such a pattern in parts of the world with warmer climates. The reason for the detected differences in the evergreen and deciduous plant responses to climate change lies in their leaf texture. The leaves of evergreens are generally thicker and sturdier than deciduous plants in colder climates, while they are mostly similar in texture between the two groups in the warmer climates." St. Swithin's Day (Click to read this original post) Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1573 Today is the birthday of the English architect, Inigo Jones. Inigo introduced classical Roman architecture and the Italian Renaissance to Britain. He left his mark on London building designs, such as the classically styled Queen's House for Anne of Denmark. Today, gardeners remember that Inigo designed the layout for Covent Garden square ("Cuv-int"). The Duke of Bedford asked Inigo to build a residential square using the Italian piazza for inspiration. The Duke felt he had to include a church, but he told Inigo to put up something simple like a barn. Inigo's famous response was that the Duke would have "the finest barn in Europe." And Covent Garden became the excellent setting for London's farmer's market for over three centuries. 1751 It's the anniversary of the death of the botanist John Wilson. It was John Wilson who first attempted a systematic arrangement of the plants of Great Britain in the English language. From a professional standpoint, John was a shoemaker and then a baker. There is a little story that is often told about John with regard to his love of botany. Apparently, John was so intent on learning about botany that he almost sold his only cow to buy a book written by the Scottish botanist and taxonomist Robert Morison. The transaction would have almost certainly caused John's financial ruin had a neighbor lady not purchased the book for him. And there's another story that reveals John's self-taught botanical expertise and personality. John had traveled to the county of Durham, where he met a man who enjoyed growing rare plants. Confident he could beat John, the man challenged him to a plant-naming contest. To his shock and dismay, John was able to name all of the rare specimens in his garden. When it was John's turn, he looked about and grabbed a wild herb growing nearby, which the man simply dismissed as a weed. John stated that the word "weed" was not sufficient, and he said that the man's answer proved he was merely a gardener and not a botanist. And that's how John Wilson ended up winning the contest. 1793 Today is the birthday of Almira Hart Lincoln Phelps. Almira wrote about nature, and her textbook, Familiar Lectures on Botany, was first published in 1829. Almira taught at Amherst Academy, and her textbook was undoubtedly known and used by Emily Dickinson, who was a student there. The following quotes show us that Almira was hip to the idea of mindfulness over 200 years ago. Her

Today we celebrate the botanist who climbed Pikes Peak and discovered the Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris). We'll also learn about the man who is remembered for the Boysenberry. We celebrate a 1978 entry from John T. White's Country Diary. We also celebrate the environmentalist who fell in love with Maine. We hear the poem written by the Scottish children's author that celebrates grasshoppers. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about gardening on one and a half acres - featuring unexpected plant combinations, beautiful photography, garden inspiration, and a testament to the power of microclimates in a garden. And then we'll wrap things up with the night-blooming plant that caused a sensation in 1933. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News 26 Ideas for a Summer Garden Party | Janet Loughrey | Garden Design When summer heats up, it's time to sit back and relax in your yard. After all that hard work of weeding, planting, and mulching, what better way to enjoy the season than to throw a garden party? Celebrate with these festive tips. 1. Cozy Up The Back Yard Get the yard ready by updating your accessories for a fresh look. 2. Accessorize With Containers Dress up the yard with decorative containers brimming with colorful plants. 3. Pick A Theme Host a party based on a flower that's in season—such as sunflowers. 4. Set The Mood Nothing says magic and romance more than twinkling lights at night. 5. Create A "Happy Hour" Garden Grow a medley of herbs, fruits, and vegetables, and make refreshing drinks with ingredients fresh from your garden. 6. Grow Your Own Party Food Use fresh ingredients from your garden to whip up a delicious meal. 7. Play Games After drinks and appetizers with your guests, set up some outdoor games, and get active. 8. Take The Bite Out Of Bugs Keep pests off your guests without using chemical bug sprays. Get the party started and celebrate summer in the garden with family and friends. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1820 Today the botanist Edwin James, along with two companions, made the first ascent of Pikes Peak, Rocky Mountains, Colorado. Interested in plants from a very young age, James botanized extensively in his home state of Vermont, and he compiled the very first Flora of Vermont plants. James left his mark on the botanical world when he went on one of the first expeditions of the American West - traveling from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. On the way of Pikes Peak, James came across the mountain Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea, which ultimately became known as the Colorado Blue Columbine and the State Flower of Colorado. James' account of his climb up Pikes Peak stated: "A little above the point where the timber disappears entirely commences a region of astonishing beauty . . . covered with a carpet of low but brilliantly flowering alpine plants. . ." And James' words, "a region of astonishing beauty," became the title of a 2003 book on the botanical history of the Rocky Mountains by Roger Lawrence Williams. After the expedition, James married and settled in Burlington, Iowa. In a sidenote that reveals his loving heart, James' home was part of the Underground Railroad. James died in 1861 after an accident. There is a monument to James on Pike's Peak, and the Des Moines County Medical Society planted Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine on his grave in the Rock Springs Cemetery in Iowa. Newspaper accounts say the location of Edwin James' grave was in the most picturesque part of southeastern Iowa. 1918 Bastille Day was celebrated in Paris. Accounts say it was a clear day. The skies over Paris were filled with French airplanes. Flowers covered the streets, and the air was fragrant, sweetly scented with strawberries. 1950 Today is the anniversary of the death of the plant hybridizer Rudolph Boysen. In the 1910s and '20s, Boysen had been playing around with plant genetics. He worked on an 18-acre farm owned by John Lubbens in Napa Valley. On one June morning, Boysen took a walk along a creek bank to inspect some of his new berry creations. Boysen was astonished when he saw that one of the vines bore fruit that was almost two inches long. The fruit would beco

Today we celebrate the Roman leader who is still honored with flowers. We'll also learn about one of the best botanical writers of all time. We celebrate the man remembered with the naming of the Cottonwood. We also celebrate the life of a beloved English poet through his poetry - every year on this day, he is still remembered with flowers. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a teacher from the Bronx who germinated an idea and started a movement, changing his life and the lives of his students. And then we'll wrap things up with the inspiring story of the Fairchild Tropical Garden. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Jennifer's Pesto Resources (During the Pandemic) Pine Nuts from Amazon Curated News 12 front garden ideas – inviting designs to boost your curb appeal | Real Homes These front garden ideas will transform your home, creating a smarter and more individual look 1. Keep The Route To The Front Door Simple 2. Choose Big Plant Pots To Create An Impactful Look 3. Choose Sympathetic Materials For The Path 4. Highlight Your Front Door 5. Hide The Bins In A Bin Shed 6. Pay Attention To Paintwork In A Small Front Garden 7. Paint Your Front Gate An Inviting Colour 8. Choose Cost-effective Gravel To Cover Ugly Surfaces 9. Parking Or Garden? 10. Choose A Planting Structure For Year-Round Interest 11. Pick A Front Garden Colour Scheme 12. Consider Front Garden Security Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 100BC Today is the birthday of the Roman leader Julius Caesar. On this day, Romans lay a wreath at his statue and throw flowers in the Forum where Caesar was murdered. 1858 Today is the anniversary of the death of Jane Loudon, who married the prolific garden writer and publisher: John Claudius Loudon. Jane was a fantastic writer in her own right, but she also possessed an inner determination; she was a survivor. When her father lost the family fortune and died penniless when Jane was only seventeen, it marked the beginning of her career writing Science Fiction. In her books, Jane wrote about cultural and technological advancements that eventually came to pass. For instance, the women in her books wore pants. In any case, her successful book, The Mummy was published anonymously, in 1827, in three parts. Now, in one of her books, Jane featured something she imagined would come to pass: a steam plow. And that concept attracted the attention of John Claudius Loudon - her future husband. Loudon wrote a favorable review of her book, but he also wanted to meet the author. Loudon didn't realize Jane had written the book using a nom de plume of Henry Colburn. Well, long story short and much to Loudon's delight, Henry was Jane; they fell in love and married a year later. The Loudons were considered high society, and they called Charles Dickens, a friend. As John and Jane grew old together, John's arms stopped working as he grew older, after an attack of rheumatic fever. As a result, Jane became John's arms, and she handled most of his writing. And, when his arms got so bad that surgeons needed to amputate his right arm, they found him in his garden, which he said he intended to return to immediately after the operation. Two weeks before Christmas in 1843, John was dictating his last book to Jane, and the book was called, A Self Instruction to Young Gardeners. Around midnight, he suddenly collapsed into Jane's arms and died. To honor John's memory, Jane completed the book on her own. 1890 Today is the anniversary of the death of the American explorer, soldier, and the first Presidential candidate of the Republican Party, John Charles Frémont. Frémont is remembered as "The Pathfinder" after helping many Americans who were heading West by creating documents and maps of his expeditions. In fact, John and his wife, Jesse, created an entire map of the Oregon Trail. Now, when Frémont saw Nebraska for the first time, he didn't see merely an endless prairie; he saw beauty. To Fremont, the entire state was one big garden, accentuated with fertile soil, swaying grasses, and wildflowers as far as the eye could see. Fremont was one of the first explorers to write about cottonwood trees. He discovered them n

Today we celebrate the man who inspired National Simplicity Day (It's dedicated every July 12th). We'll also learn about the tragic death of a Scottish botanist and prolific plant collector. We celebrate the friendship between Charles Darwin and his mentor. And, we also celebrate a woman who started botanizing late in life, yet made a significant impact on the world of horticulture. In Unearthed Words, we celebrate the fern. By this time in July, you are either loving them or digging them out of your garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a grilling guide for gardeners. And then we'll wrap things up with a sweet little story about the botanical name for San Francisco. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings Wedding Tulle from Amazon To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News I feel as if my garden has finally come of age | Nigel Slater | The Guardian The title of this post definitely caught my eye: I feel as if my garden has finally come of age. I thought Nigel did such an excellent job of capturing why he felt that way and what that meant in terms of the evolution of his garden. I wanted to give you a few excerpts that I thought were particularly touching and relatable. "Getting rid of the rectangle of mown grass that passed for a garden was almost the first thing I did when I moved into my new home on a bitterly cold New Year's Day, 20 years ago. I learned quite quickly that every disaster in the garden is an opportunity in disguise. Then, he writes about how he uses the Chelsea Chop in his garden. This is just a technique where you cut back your perennials to delay bloom time, and you also make the plant a little less leggy. Of late, the garden has settled into a gentle rhythm. Once a year, on a dry spring day shortly after the Chelsea Flower Show, everything gets a serious trim – the "Chelsea Chop" as it is known. Hedges are clipped, topiary is shaped, and overhanging branches of the fig and medlar tree are pruned. A tidy-up that might appeal to the sort of gardener who power-washes their flagstones and scrubs the moss from their pots, but, to me, it feels as if a much-loved and elegantly aging friend has gone in for a round of cosmetic surgery. Not unrecognizable, but slightly cold and distant and, to my mind, a little dishonest. For a couple of weeks a year, the garden doesn't quite feel like mine." I love Nigel's description of how Chelsea Chopping his garden makes him feel. It can be tough for gardeners to Chelsea Chop their gardens. New gardeners, especially, will feel a pang of uncertainty as they cut back perfectly good plants for the first time. I know it seems counter-intuitive. I thought it was hilarious that Nigel likens it to a round of cosmetic surgery. Now, I will forever think of the Chelsea Chop through Nigel's eyes. Finally, I wanted to share Nigel's perspective on his garden today. I found it particularly touching: I would like to say that the garden I have now will probably be my last. Twenty years on from digging up the lawn, I have a space that is more inspirational and restful than I could have ever imagined. I feel the garden has come of age. Yet the space still refuses to stand still. Even now, there are changes afoot. This year I reintroduced the vegetables and sweet peas that I missed so much. Tomatoes and calendulas now grow in huge terracotta pots on the kitchen steps, and there is an entire table of culinary herbs. There are tubs of marigolds and stands of bronze fennel. Next year there may be more. The garden will never be "finished." I have no idea what will happen next. All I know is that there won't ever be a lawn." July is the month of the lotus in China. This reminded me of a video I shared last year in the Facebook Group for the Show from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which shows Senior Horticulturist, Pat Clifford, teaching their intern Hazel, how to remove the older leaves of the Giant Water Lily, so the pond does not get overcrowded. Using a pitchfork, Pat carefully folds the giant lily pad first in half, then quarters, and then once more. Then he stabs the large folded pad with the pitchfork, hoists it in the air to let the water drain out, and then flops the beast down on the edge of the pond. The camera zooms in to reveal the most savage thorns that grow on the underside of the lily pad and all down the stem of the plant. It was so surprising to see how vicious the thorns are - rivaling the thorniest rose. Propagate Pelargoniums Through Cutting If you've never taken cuttings of your pelargoniums before, you will be delighted with the results. Pelargoniums are also known as cranesbills or hard

Today we celebrate National Rainier Cherry Day. We'll also learn about the Scottish Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Calcutta and Kew. We celebrate a journal entry from this day in 1938 by one of Canada's most-beloved naturalists. We also celebrate a rare orchid breeder from Denver. We honor the discovery of a very unusual dwarf Amaryllis species. Today's poetry features a beloved mid-summer tree: the Linden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that will inspire you to decorate your outdoor space for comfort and beauty, and for coaxing us all to enjoy our gardens as a space for breakfasts, lunchtime picnics, and even dinners by candlelight. And then we'll wrap things up with the 103rd birthday of a Danish botanist. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News How to Harvest and Dry Flowers & Herbs From Your Garden | The Nerdy Farm Wife This is an excellent post by Jan Berry. Here's an excerpt: "Learn how to harvest and easily dry flowers and herbs from the garden. Also included is a list of common flowers and herbs along with ideas for using them! An ideal time to collect fresh flowers and herbs from your garden is on a dry, sunny day, after morning dew has evaporated, but before the midday sun is out in full force. Some flowers, such as dandelion, chamomile, calendula and lavender can be dried whole. The petals from larger flowers, such as roses and hollyhocks, should be separated from the flower head before drying. An exception to this is if you're drying small rosebuds. They can also be dried whole, just be sure to turn a few times a day so one side doesn't dry flatter than the other. I dry flower clusters, like elder flowers and lilacs, upside down on a towel as shown above, to help preserve some of the shape. Small branches of leaves that easily lay flat when placed on a surface, such as elderleaf, can stay together while drying. Leaves that cluster together, like lemon balm and mint, often do best if you detach each leaf before drying." It's National Rainier Cherry Day. Rainier cherries were bred at Washington State University by crossing Vans and Bings. They are one of the most delicate and challenging cherries to grow because of one big drawback: their thin red-yellow skin. This makes them super sensitive to the elements, and they bruise easily. Even if a grower can address these challenges, they still must contend with the birds. Birds LOVE Rainiers and can eat as much as 1/3 of the cherry crop before the harvest arrives. Watch what happens if you add a few Rainier Cherries to your bird feeder. Deadhead to Encourage More Blooms What happens if you don't deadhead? You might miss out on valuable time that your plant could use to create that second flush of blooms. Plants to deadhead include coreopsis, blue and white clips, geraniums, and dianthus. Another reason is to encourage more blooms the following year. Dead flower heads become seed pods, and that takes energy from the plant. So be sure to deadhead peonies, roses, iris, and lilies. As a general rule, when any plant looks leggy, it will benefit from deadheading or plain ol' pruning. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1857 On this day in Fettercairn Scotland, the amateur botanist David Prain was born. He would ultimately become the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Calcutta and Kew. In 1887, David was sent to Calcutta to be the curator of the herbarium. While he was there, he researched Indian Hemp along with crops like Wheat, Mustard, Pulses, and Indigo. But, David's most crucial work involved Cinchona plantations. The bark of Cinchona trees contains quinine, which is used to treat malaria. In David's obituary, it said that he set up a system with the local post offices to send quinine to every Indian village and undoubtedly saved countless lives. After David returned to England, he became the director at Kew. During his tenure, David implemented many notable changes. David oversaw the effort to have the medicinal garden installed at Cambridge Cottage, and he acquired the Japanese gateway for the 1910 Japan-British exhibition. In terms of promotional efforts, David also reinstated the Kew Bulletin. David's

Today we celebrate the man who established the science of botany in America. We'll also learn about the botanist who survived a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness - an incredible story. We celebrate a presentation from 1977 that encouraged, "Take a pill if you will; I say take a plant to cope with everyday stress." We also learn about the little orchid that halted road construction in Louisiana and the British Plant Explorer that uncovered the orchid black market. Today's poetry features poems about summer. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about infusing your garden with more color. And then we'll wrap things up with an adorable story about a botanically-inspired episode of an old TV show. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Migratory Birds Like Native Berries Best | Audubon "Even when fruits of invasive plants are abundant, migratory songbirds seek out native berries, according to new research. As winter approaches and the food supply dwindles, birds move south and devour fall fruits along the way to fuel their trip. But they don't eat just any fruit on their autumnal journeys: Birds are after native berries, according to a study published in Biological Conservation in January. Even in late autumn, when fruits of invasive plants like Japanese barberry and multiflora rose dominate the landscape, migratory songbirds traversing New England seek out native blueberries, black cherries, and raspberries instead. North American birds evolved alongside North American plants for many thousands of years, so these are the berries they're most familiar with. But that's not the only reason to choose one fruit over another: Previous research has found that native fruits are more nutritious than their invasive counterparts. 'They can't be eating fast food before they take off on really long migrations,' says ecologist Amanda Gallinat at the Utah State University, who led the new study. 'They need something with high energy.'" Our Favourite Garden Blogs..... | Sitting Spiritually The Blackberry Garden Leicester-based 'amateur and somewhat obsessed gardener' Alison Levey opens the gates to her own garden, as well as inspirations and things about gardening that make her happy. Her Instagram is definitely worth a follow to Instagram @blackberrygarden Dig Delve| Dig Delve features the writing of garden and landscape designer Dan Pearson and includes stories about gardens, horticulture, plants, landscape, nature, food ...all with stunning photography by Dan's partner Huw Morgan. The Patient Gardener Helen Johnstone is the Patient Gardener and she says, "the title 'Patient Gardener' is quite aspirational as I'm not a particularly patient person… You will find that my posts are my own thoughts and ramblings mainly about my garden, my trials, and tribulations as well as my triumphs." The Anxious Gardener David Marsden writes about his life as a full-time, working gardener in East Sussex, England. He tends two, large private gardens and shows them, and their wildlife, through the seasons. Sally Nex A garden writer based in Somerset, in the glorious countryside of the south-west of England. Mr Plant Geek Mr Plant Geek is Michael Perry, who brings over 18 years of experience in the horticultural industry to his blog … if you're looking for shortcuts to gardening success, his blog is where to find uncomplicated tips – 'I'm here to clear the fog, and help people enjoy easy gardens again!' The Middle-Sized Garden Alexandra Campbell uses her blog to cover everything from how to use a garden fertilizer, growing vegetables, and how to improve your pruning. Do you have a middle-sized garden? If your garden is bigger than a courtyard but smaller than an acre, this is the one for you. The Curious Gardener Caleb Melchior describes himself as "a plant geek, writer, and designer. I believe in presence - being close, paying attention" Plant Your Shade Trees Wisely. Today's chore was featured in The South Bend Tribune out of South Bend, Indiana, on this day in 1952. Here's what it said, "Don't plant your shade tree so that It shades your neighbor's yard Instead of your own. If you set the tree on the eastern border of your property, it will shade your neighbor's yard instead of your own garden during the hottest part of the day, in the afternoon. ...Consider your plantings as a permanent investment in beauty and comfort that is worth real thought." Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the

Today we celebrate the man who named the lipstick tree and was known as Florida's Burbank. We'll also learn about the incredible work of an extraordinary Russian botanist who was tragically sentenced to death on this day in 1941. And we honor the life of the "Father of Hybrid Corn." Today's poetry is all about a favorite summer crop: tomatoes. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a witty and poetic book about Gardening and Life. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a Marvel character near and dear to gardener's hearts. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News What is Cottage Garden Style? And How to Achieve It... | The Middle-Sized Garden "And, as for garden plants – well, it has been difficult to source exactly the plants we want. We have had to compromise on color and style. Friends have been saying things like 'I wouldn't normally buy scarlet pelargoniums, but they were the only ones I could find.' In theory, cottage garden style started when low paid farm workers filled their gardens with vegetables, herbs and fruit trees for their own use. What are the rules of cottage garden style? There aren't any. That's the whole point. There's no need to plant in threes and fives, or in drifts or to think about color combinations – unless you want to." The Middle-Sized Garden: if your garden is bigger than a courtyard but smaller than an acre. Sowing Biennial Flower Seeds In June And July | Higgledy Garden "The biennials in the Higgledy Seed Emporium have all be chosen to be admirable in the vase. We also have a strong leaning to the old fashioned. *Honesty (Common name) or Lunaria (so named because it's pale seed pod discs resemble the moon). *Sweet William. Sweet Williams just rock! That's all there is to it. They smell amazing…look amazing and are all-round good eggs. Like all biennials, they are a piece of cake to grow from seed. *Foxgloves. Once again, a white foxglove 'Alba 'is a pretty essential bit of kit for the home florist... Don't be without it. *Hesperis. I love this flower…one of my favorites of all the flowers I have ever grown. Simple…pretty…easy to grow…" Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1926 The Green Bay Press-Gazette posted an article titled, "Ice Cream Grown on Vine in the yard of Former Kentuckian." The article was about the fabulous Colonel Henry Wallace Johnston, who, until the age of 50, had operated a hardware store in Lebanon, Kentucky. At midlife, he moved to Homestead, Florida. And, in 1912, Henry created a 20-acre estate he called Palm Lodge Tropical Grove. Henry was a character. He enjoyed dressing the part of a tropical explorer, wearing a tropical outfit complete with a white helmet, and looking as if he had just finished playing Jumanji. Henry became known as the Wizard of Palm Lodge or Florida's Burbank (a nod to California's Luther Burbank), and he added over 8,000 incredible specimens of tropical fruits and flowers - many not found anywhere else in America. Truly, Palm Lodge gained Henry worldwide recognition. And, although Henry never traveled outside the United States, he was a natural marketer, and Palm Lodge's impressive reputation brought the plants to him. Henry's story includes the following spectacular facts: He grew almost all of his plants from seed. He coined the name "lipstick tree". He grew a rare flower that produces a perfume called the "Scent of Lilith." He grew the Dumb Cane tree or dieffenbachia from Cambodia. He would tell folks that if they bit into the leaves, their tongue would be paralyzed for six weeks. He successfully cultivated rubber plants. Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford brought back rubber plants from Madagascar, but only Henry's plants had survived. He grew the Palestine Tree, and he wrapped the fruit in cellophane while on the tree to protect against insects. The fruit was used in religious rituals by rabbis, and Henry would send it to them. He grew the Gingerbread Palm, and the palm's fruit tasted of gingerbread. He furnished almost all of the plants for the State of Florida's tropical exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair. He produced nearly 300 different types of fruits and jellies and packaged all of them at Palm Lodge

Today we celebrate the preeminent botanist of North American deserts. We'll also learn about a beloved botanist and librarian with the Missouri Botanical Gardens. We celebrate the Canadian Landscape artist, who was a member of Canada's treasured Group of Seven. We also celebrate a genuinely great English-Kiwi botanist. We honor summer gardening and garden life with today's poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about "Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City" - and this book is loaded with ideas and inspiration for anyone interested in urban agriculture and permaculture. And then, we'll wrap things up with a sickness caused by Snakeroot. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Enveloped In American Gardens | Landscape Architecture Magazine "Showcasing the diversity of American landscapes, past legacies of cultural stewardship, and the skills of generations of landscape architects, the U.S. Postal Service recently released the "American Gardens" stamp series, commemorating ten landmark gardens across the nation. The gardens, many of them created by historically significant designers and makers, raise the visibility of landscape design in the American cultural realm by putting them into our hands and mailboxes every day, everywhere. The stamps were designed by Ethel Kessler and feature photos by Allen Rokach, a former director of photography at the New York Botanical Garden. The stamps are a reminder of the vital role the outdoors offers during the COVID-19 quarantine, says U.S. Postal Service Director of Stamp Services Bill Gicker. "Time spent in nature, especially a beautiful and cared for garden landscape, can be very uplifting and rejuvenating—just what many people can use at this time," he says." Finding Chaucer's true love growing in the woods is a buzz | The Guardian "Herb Paris is the truelove herb of Chaucer's Miller's Tale, combining an aphrodisiac with qualities of piety from medieval plant lore." Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1878 Today is the birthday of the American botanist Forrest Shreve. We owe such a debt of gratitude to Shreve. Shreve was THE preeminent botanist of North American deserts during the first half of the twentieth century. Shreve worked out of a laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, and the lab was ideally situated for his research of the western United States and northern Mexico. Shreve relished telling the origin story of his lab: "Of course, you're familiar with the story of Andrew Carnegie, the immigrant boy who became one of America's wealthiest steel magnates... Before he died, Carnegie had established an institution that divided its scientific investigations into twelve departments into widely separated parts of the country." Shreve's Desert Laboratory was part of Division of Plant Biology and was created thanks to the Carnegie gift - which all in - totaled about $25,000,000. In July of 1908, Shreve climbed the Santa Catalina Mountains for the very first time. The group he was with rode on horses to climb the 6,000 feet from Mount Lemmon's desert base to the summit, which is 9,100 feet above sea level. During that climb, Shreve noticed what he called "a continually shifting panorama of vegetation." And it was Shreve's astuteness that helped him realize the most fantastic aspect of desert mountains - which is the changes in vegetation. Those changes are drastic and abrupt, and they are compressed into a few thousand feet of elevation. And you can almost imagine yourself there with Shreve. As you go up the mountain, you begin with seeing desert scrub; then it transitions to grassland, then oak woodland... and then finally pine-oak woodland and forest, then the pink forest, the montane fir forest, and finally subalpine forest - at the very top of the mountain. And I love how Shreve described that change: "a continually shifting panorama of vegetation." Thanks to Shreve's mastery of the North American Desert, he was able to clearly describe and define the four distinct desert regions in the United States. Today, each year, in Shreve's honor, the Forrest Shreve Student Research Award ($1000-200

Today we celebrate a bishop botanist whose love of plants was second only to his love of God. We'll also learn about the botanist daughter of a key botanist in England. We celebrate the botanical entrepreneur and the creator of the influential Curtis Botanical Magazine. We also celebrate the writer who lived and worked in his incredible home called Abbotsford - complete with impressive gardens - on the banks of the River Tweed in the beautiful Scottish borders. In today's Unearthed Words, we honor an English author and poet. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about Gardening in Your Front Yard - it's packed with ideas and projects for big and small spaces. It's an idea of Gardening in Your Front Yard is gaining popularity and acceptance - one of the positive effects of dealing with the pandemic. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a famous mystery writer who loved gardening and roses. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Rhodds Farm | National Garden Scheme "The garden at Rhodds Farm was started from scratch in 2005 by Cary Goode. It is a challenging site with overhanging woods on the north side and open pasture to the south. A fabulously peaceful spot with a natural garden where plants are allowed to self-seed. There are lots of mixed borders around a pond for wildlife, a formal garden leading to a brick dovecote, a courtyard garden around a water sculpture, a large gravel garden, wild-flower meadows, woodland planting and a large pond with a boardwalk at the end of the woodland. There are many unusual plants and lots of color and interest throughout the summer with an extensive range of interesting plants. The formal garden with dovecote houses 50 white doves while glorious mixed borders, double herbaceous borders of hot colors, large gravel garden, several ponds, arboretum, wildflower meadow, and 13 acres of woodland. A natural garden on a challenging site that fits the setting with magnificent views. There are also interesting and unusual trees, shrubs, and perennials in this pesticide-free haven." Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1713 Today is the anniversary of the death of the passionate plantsman Bishop Henry Compton. Compton was famous for his substantial garden at Fulham Palace, which was home to more than a thousand exotic plants. Naturally, Compton was drawn to rare plants and new specimens. And, his position as a bishop gave him access to the botanical discoveries that were being sent to England from the American colonies. For instance, we know from his correspondence, that Compton was especially intrigued about the swamp honeysuckle from Virginia. Compton sent a young priest and botanist named John Bannister to Virginia to botanize for him. Banister went on to help found the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. Bannister proved to be an excellent contact for Compton. He sent him seeds to grow at Fulham Palace, along with detailed notes about his discoveries. Sadly, Banister's life was cut short when he was accidentally shot during an expedition. Like any avid gardener, Compton sometimes felt a little guilty about the amount of money he spent on gardening. So, as penance, he not only collected plants for his own garden, but he also was a patron to prominent botanical figures - like the Tradescants. 1794 Today is the birthday of the botanist Frances Stackhouse Acton. Frances was the daughter of Thomas Andrew Knight, who served as the second president of the Royal Horticultural Society. Thomas assumed the position at the urging of his friend Joseph A Banks. Now, Knight's inclination was always to turn inward - he was a little introverted. Banks helped him overcome that. Thomas Knight had inherited 10,000 acres of land, and he used the property to conduct all kinds of experiments on plants like strawberries, cabbages, and peas. Frances' father encouraged her to pursue her education, and she often recalled that, "the hours spent with [my father] in his study, or in his garden, as amongst [my] happiest recollections". A born pragmatist like her father, Frances assisted him with his breeding efforts, which were always designed to help make better plants

We'll also learn about the botanical illustrator and collector who established a worldwide reputation for his incredible herbarium. We celebrate the great Himalayan and Alpine mountain climbing and writer - he was also a botanist. We also honor bees with today's poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book gardening in a humane way - helping you create a garden that is healthy and harmonious for all living things. And then we'll wrap things up with an Ode to Basil - my favorite summer crop. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News The hidden gardens of lockdown | The Guardian "As some of the UK's best-loved gardens prepare to reopen to the public, we ask the head gardeners what has been happening behind their closed gates." Gardener Jess Evans: "I can't lie, it's been amazing, and so peaceful," she says. "It's very easy to stick your head down and just crack on and get things done, but this has given us an opportunity to take stock and look at the garden properly." She has also enjoyed the chance to get her hands dirty. "I'm doing more outdoor work than I have done in ages. Usually, I'd be in the office at least two or three days a week, and yet now I've had the perfect excuse not to be." Hollyhocks | Gardenista "Hollyhocks are designed to give easy access to quantities of pollen, through the open funnels of the single varieties. Just watching a less svelte bee (like a bumblebee) climbing around a hollyhock illustrates how double flowers can be problematic. Aesthetically, the simple singles are very desirable but have been out-marketed by the doubles. The best way to procure singles, in the best colors, is through a generous friend." What's Green and Sings? (Click to read this original post) Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1706 Today is the anniversary of the death of Leonard Plukenet, who had served as the botanist to Queen Mary II. When he died (like almost every plant-lover of his era), he left his collections and herbarium to Sir Hans Sloane, which is how his collections have become one of the oldest still existing at the Natural History Museum in England. As the royal botanist, Plukenet was an important part of botanical society during the 1600s. Along with George London and William Sherard, Plukenet assisted the zealous botanical aspirations of Mary Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort. Her next-door neighbor was Sir Hans Sloane. When she died, she, too, left her herbarium and other valuable botanical items to Sir Hans Sloane. This is how Hans Sloane became a one-man botanical repository, and that repository ultimately became the Natural History Museum. Plukenet played an unforgettable role in the history of the sacred lotus. And in 2011, Corinne Hannah wrote an exceptional piece about Plukenet's name for the sacred lotus. Here's an excerpt from Corinne's marvelous article, which appeared in the Calgary Herald. "[The] English botanist Leonard Plukenet christened the sacred lotus in 1696 as: Nymphaea glandulifera indiae paludibus gardens foliis umbilicatis amplis pediculis spinosis flore rosea-pupureo, ("nim-fay-EE-ah-gland-you-LIFF-er-AH-in-die-EE-pall-ooh-duh-bus-gardens-fol-ee-ice-umb-Bill-ah-CAY-tis-AMP-YOU-lis-ped-DIC-YOU-lis-spin-OH-sis-flora-row-SAH-poo-PURR-EE-oh") or "the marsh-loving, nut-bearing Indian water lily with large, navel-centered leaves, prickly stalks, and rose-purple flowers. Thank heavens for Carl Linnaeus and his invention of binomial nomenclature, which decreed each plant could only be identified with two names! But Linnaeus was not infallible. He, too, initially identified the sacred lotus as being closely related to the water lily family (Nymphaea). Recent genetic testing has confirmed that sacred lotus belongs to a genus unto itself, Nelumbo nucifera. This aquatic plant is not even remotely related to water lilies. In fact, it is far more closely allied to woody plants such as plane trees or banksias. " 1785 Today is the birthday of the great Sir William Jackson Hooker. Hooker was both a botanist and a botanical illustrator, and he was a great friend of Joseph Banks. Thanks to his inheritance, Hooker was wealthy; he didn't need a patron to fund his w

Today we celebrate the man remembered in the genus name for Crape Myrtle. We'll also learn about the botanist who served as the physician to George Washington. We celebrate the man remembered in the name of the largest flower in the world. And we also celebrate the practical gardener and journalist who helped change the English landscape from formal to much more relaxed and attainable for the masses. We honor the beautiful Rose, queen of the garden, with today's poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that shares "Age-Old Advice and Tips for the Garden." And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a botanist who wanted to make orchids possible to grow in the "average man's garden." But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Quiz: Are you a flower whizz? | Kew "How clued up are you on flowers? Take our 15-question quiz to find out (scroll down for the answers). Good luck!" Hamilton For Gardeners (Click to read the Post) Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1759The naturalist, and Director of the Swedish East India Company, Magnus von Lagerstrom died. In his work, Magnus was a friend and patron of Carl Linnaeus. During his travels, he supplied Linnaeus with plants, and in return, Linnaeus named the genus for Crape Myrtle after him - Lagerstroemia. Before we get into the plant details of the Crape Myrtle, we need to talk about the spelling controversy. In the South, the spelling is Crepe, as in crepe paper. This spelling supposedly came about because the flowers resemble crepe paper. But, everywhere else, it is spelled Crape like Grape. Now, botanists have recorded close to 50 known species of Crape Myrtle. Crape Myrtles are a member of the loosestrife family. Their size can vary significantly from one foot to a hundred feet tall. Crape myrtles are robust and can put up with severe growing conditions - like high heat, humidity, and drought. (Basically, what many parts of the country are putting up with right now) Their hardiness in sweltering conditions gives us a clue as to their origins; Crape Myrtles are native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia, and parts of Oceania. In China, the Crape Myrtle is known as the "Monkey Tree." Crape Myrtle trunks are slippery, which means the monkeys have a tough time climbing them. The Chinese also called the Crape Myrtle "The Tree of 100 days" in reference to the long bloom time. Gardeners especially appreciate the Crape Myrtle's extraordinarily long bloom time. Once the plant starts blooming in the middle of the summer, it will continue to produce blossoms well into fall. Medicinally, Crape Myrtle is used for constipation. The leaves, bark, and even the blossoms are high in fiber. And, herbalists know how to make a purgative decoction with Crape Myrtle leaves. 1817 Today is the anniversary of the death of the American doctor, professor, and naturalist Adam Kuhn. Adam was exceptionally well-trained for his time. His father had been a physician - his parents were German immigrants - and Adam grew up in Germantown, Pennsylvania. At some point, his family sent him to Sweden, where he studied at Upsala University. He's believed to be the only American student of Carl Linnaeus. Linnaeus wrote to Adam's father with rare praise, saying: "[Adam] is unwearied in his studies and daily and faithfully studies materia medica with me. He has learned the symptomatic history of diseases in an accurate and solid manner. In natural history and botany, he's made remarkable progress." Linnaeus clearly liked Adam, and he named the plant Kuhnia (Kuhnia Eupatorioides), commonly known as False Boneset, in Adam's honor. Adam began teaching at the medical school of the College of Philadelphia, where he became the first professor of medicine for the 13 colonies. He's remembered for being the physician for George Washington. He's also recalled as a somewhat rigidly formal man - some historical texts have used the word "pompous" to describe him. One doctor recalled Adam this way: "He was by far the most highly and minutely furnished specimen of old-school [medicine] I have ever beheld. He wore a fashionable curled and powdered wig; his breech

Today we celebrate what I'm calling Dependence Day for Gardeners. We'll also learn about the gutta-percha pioneer - it's a fascinating story. We celebrate the California botanist who is remembered with a plant name and the name of a Canyon - and she was a tremendous conservationist. We also celebrate a botanist who is a sentimental favorite of mine - she died while collecting samples in the Western Himalayas almost eighty years ago today. We honor National Meadows Day - an annual celebration of the wildflower meadows of England - with some poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a fiction book that was the Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize, and the main character finds "solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of [the] Cameron Highlands," and she also meets some incredible gardeners. And then we'll wrap things up with the flowers for the birthday of President Calvin Coolidge - in 1924 one newspaper headline said, "Cal's Cool and 52". But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Just moved? Build a Temporary Garden at Your New Home by Shawna Coronado "It's a smart plan to set up a temporary garden at your new home when you have just moved because you don't really understand the "lay of the land" in your garden yet. Understanding your garden takes at least a year. A YEAR!?!?! Yes. A year. An example of this is that the sunshine changes throughout your garden. In the winter, you might have the direct sun in some places, creating micro-climates, while in the summer, you could have the opposite. Understanding your sun, water, and other conditions on your property take a while." No Independence Day for Gardener (Click here to read my original blogpost) Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1804 Today is the birthday of the gutta-percha pioneer Henry Bewley who was born on this day in Dublin, Ireland. A trained chemist, Bewley began work manufacturing soda water. Bewley's work with soda got him in touch with Charles Hancock, who was eager to develop a stopper for bottles. Hancock's solution came to him in the form of gutta-percha - a tough, rubber-like substance that had been discovered in the sap of Malayasian trees and brought to England in the mid-1840s. After Hancock showed Bewley the gutta-percha, he set about inventing the machine that would extrude the gutta-percha into tubing, which would ultimately find a purpose in dentistry and as an insulator for electrical wiring. Although their partnership would not last, Bewley and Hancock formed the Gutta Percha Company in London on February 4, 1845. Twenty years later, Bewley's company was swept up in the merger that created The Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company. Until the mid-1900s, it was gutta-percha that protected the transatlantic cables used for communication. The resin from gutta-percha was used to make all kinds of items like buckets and mugs, soles for shoes, bands for heavy equipment, buoys, and so forth. Early on, the uses for gutta-percha seemed endless - but its original use as tubing (thanks to Bewley) was vital for scientists and engineers working with wiring, liquids, and gases. Gardeners owed a debt of gratitude to Bewley. His gutta-percha tubing was perfect for this in-demand item called a garden hose. I thought you might enjoy hearing a little excerpt from this 1854 advertisement for gutta-percha. It features a testimony from a Mr. J. Farrah, the gardener to a successful attorney who lived on the estate known as Holderness House near Hull. "I have 400 feet of your gutta-percha tubing in lengths of 100 feet each [and I have used them] for the past 12 months for watering these gardens, and I find it... better than anything I have ever yet tried. The pressure of the water is very considerable, but this has not the slightest effect on the tubing. I consider this tubing to be a most valuable invention for gardeners, as much as it enables us to water our gardens in about half the time and with half the labor formerly required." 1976 On the 4th of July in 1976, a very hot day to go hiking, botanist Mary Dedecker made her way back to a spot in the desert of California where she had discovered a new plant earli

Today we officially welcome the Dog Days - they start on this day and last for the next 40 days. We'll also learn about the Landscape Architect who invented the term "landscape architecture." We celebrate the market gardener from Isleworth, who exhibited the first large-scale cultivated strawberry at the Royal Horticultural Society on this day over two hundred years ago. We also celebrate one of America's best-known florists. We honor the life of the English poet William Henry Davies - he loved the natural world, especially birds and butterflies. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about flowers - their "History, Culture, Biology, and How They Change Our Lives." And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a preeminent botanist and plant explorer with the USDA. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News 5 ways to adopt a more water-efficient approach to gardening 1. Install a water butt 2. Switch to watering plants in the morning 3. Don't water your lawn 4. Use a watering can 5. Train your plants to drink more slowly by giving them less Let the Dog Days Begin (Click to read this original post) Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1796 The Landscape Architect Gilbert Laing Meason was born. Laing Meason was a friend of Sir Walter Scott, and he invented the term' landscape architecture' in his 1828 book, "The Landscape Architecture of the Great Painters of Italy." Not many copies of his book were printed, but somehow the prolific garden author, John Claudius Loudon, secured a copy. He shared the term with American horticulturist Andrew Jackson Downing, who, in turn, shared it with Frederick Law Olmsted. And Olmsted was the first professional to describe himself as a 'landscape architect,' and he is regarded as the founder of landscape architecture. Now, Meason was very balanced in his perspective on architecture. He valued both function and beauty. In terms of his property, Meason was a romantic, and his personal estate was known as Lindertis House. It is no surprise that he surrounded it with ornate gardens. Over time though, the cost of maintaining the elaborate gardens, in addition to the household management of the estate as a whole, brought Lindertis to total financial ruin. Today, barely a trace of the mansion exists. When Meason died, he had no idea that his notion of 'landscape architecture' would be his legacy. 1806 On this day, Michael Keens, a market gardener from Isleworth, exhibited the first large-scale cultivated strawberry at the Royal Horticultural Society. Now when it came to strawberries, Michael combined two crucial variables: flavor and appearance. It's hard to imagine, but large garden strawberries, as we know them today didn't exist before the 1800s. In his wonderfully illustrated book, The Complete Strawberry, Stafford Whiteaker takes us through the strawberry's development over the past two hundred years; sharing how strawberries were harvested from the foot of the Andes and brought to France by a French spy named Amédée François Frézier. Frézier's strawberry story is one of triumph. He cared for five little strawberry plants from the Andes during the six-month journey home to France, and he shared his own precious supply of water with the strawberries to keep them alive. And, in a strange coincidence, Frézier's surname is derived from Fraise - the French word for strawberry. It seems that Frézier's ancestor, Julius de Berry, had presented the French Emperor with a gift of strawberries, and in return, he was honored with the name Frézier as his gift. For clarification, the name "strawberry" does not refer to mulching the berries with straw. Instead, it is from the Old English term straw, which means "to spread' referring to the way the runners grow. On 30 Apr 1859, The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser offered a little advice about growing Keen's strawberries, saying, "For edgings, nothing is more profitable than parsley or a line of Keens's seedling strawberry." 1939 On this day, the Asbury Park Press reported that Lambertus Bobbink, one of the country's best-known florists, was honored at the New York Botanical Gardens. In fact, the author, Pearl

Today we celebrate a female botanist who fought to get recognition for women by the Linnaean Society. We'll also learn about the German poet who loved trees. We'll celebrate the Welsh garden-marker extraordinaire and also one of the all-time greats - a botanist from California. And, we'll also honor the life of The Bird Woman of Ellsworth, who helped us to better understand birds and their individual uniqueness. We will also celebrate the month of July with some poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about gardening in shade. (Shade gardens don't have to be dark and boring.) And then we'll wrap things up with the story of an attempted murder that happened during a commemoration ceremony for one of Vienna's beloved botanists. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Barcelona Opera House Opens With Packed Audience — of Plants "As lockdown measures lift in Spain, Barcelona's opera house recently played to a sold-out crowd of some very unorthodox music lovers. On Monday, a string quartet at the Gran Teatre del Liceu opera house in Barcelona did a performance in front of 2,292 plants, CNN reported." You Can't Plant Flowers If You Haven't Botany (Click to read my original post) Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1846 The British naturalist, and women's rights activist, Marian Farquharson was born. As a botanist, Marian had specialized in ferns and mosses. As an activist, it took Marian and other women four years of petitioning the all-male Linnaean Society to finally allow women to become members. In 1904, when the issue was put to the vote, 83% of the Society voted to allow women members. But then a great injustice happened. When the first fifteen women were nominated to the Society, Marian Farquharson was overlooked. It took four more years for Marian to be elected to the Society, and it finally happened in March 1908. This moment happened to come at a difficult time for Marian. In fact, she was too ill to attend the Society's meeting to officially sign the register. Four years later, Farquharson died from heart disease, in Nice, in 1912. 1877 Today we wish a happy heavenly birthday to Herman Hesse, who was a German poet, novelist, and painter. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1946. Hesse had a special appreciation for trees, and I thought I'd share some of his thoughtful and reverent prose with you today: "Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth." "A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail." 1893 The Welsh landscape gardener, architect, and author, Ralph Hancock, was born. Hancock was a garden-maker extraordinaire, and he created several famous Gardens across Wales, England, and the United States. One of his most famous works was the rooftop garden at the Rockefeller Center in New York. Hancock designed his rooftop garden in 1934, and it was cutting-edge at the time. In an interview, Hancock predicted: "The days of penthouse gardening in boxes are over - and miles and miles of roof space in every metropolis in this country remain to be reclaimed by landscape gardening." (Well, it's 2020, and Hancock's vision has yet to be realized. There's still plenty of concrete jungle to conquer, although the pandemic has turned more people than ever into gardeners, most rooftops go underutilized. But I have to say that it is refreshing that so many people are gardening now. Even my own mother is gardening - and giddily reporting on her progress - so there's that.) Now, Hancock's rooftop garden at Rockefeller Center was called The Garden of Nations, and it featured gardens for eight different countries around a central, old English tea house and cottage garden. It was quite something to behold. To create it, Hancock's Garden of Nations required 3,000 tons of earth, 100 tons of natural stone, and 2,00

Today we welcome the new month - July - and we remember the first meeting of the Vale of York Field Naturalists Club. We'll also learn about the Illinois State Flower, which was adopted on this day. We'll usher in the new month with some July poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about how gardens and growing food help people maintain their culture. It's a personal favorite of mine. And then we'll wrap things up with a newspaper story from 1932 called "Plant Explorer Finds Adventure." But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Before & After: An Urban Oasis - Flower Magazine Dwight Brown of Father Nature Landscapes wanted to honor his client's wishes for a garden that would remind him of his European travels. Brown aged the exterior with a creeping fig (Ficus pumila) for a climber on the side of the house. He also added an Oakland holly, a 'Shi-Shi Gashira' camellia, and a shaped boxwood hedge that edged a gorgeous group of 'Limelight' hydrangea. Brown says, "Much like English ivy, the creeping fig with boxwoods, mondo grass, and hydrangeas helped create the classic cottage look I wanted. We love working edibles into the ornamental landscape. Our goal was to bring back memories of the homeowner's travels to Europe, especially Italy..." Welcome July in the Garden Welcome July and all that you may bring us! For gardeners, July hosts a riot of color in our gardens. History tells us that many flowers have claimed to be the birth flower for the month of July - which, by the way, the Roman Senate named to honor Julius Caesar by. In China, July's birth flower is, fittingly, the water lily. In the rest of the world, other top July blooms for the month include the Larkspur, the Delphinium, the Sweet Pea, and the Rose. Thinking about all of these gorgeous summer blossoms that claim July's top spot reminded me of a sweet verse from the Maud poem by Tennyson. It goes like this: She is coming, my dove, my dear; She is coming, my life, my fate; The red rose cries, "She is near, she is near;" And the white rose weeps, "She is late;" The larkspur listens, "I hear, I hear;" And the lily whispers, "I wait." — Alfred Lord Tennyson, English poet, Maud (Part I) The Rose, the Larkspur, and the Lily; many of July's favorite flowers are in that little verse. Truly, July is a month of abundance and extremes. On the one hand, there's the heat, and on the other, there are the storms. In 2001, the year my daughter was born, it was mighty hot in Minnesota - well over 100 degrees for weeks on end. As a result, she ended up wearing all of the ridiculous outfits people tend to give you when you have a little baby girl; things like little halter tops and itty bitty bikini tops, teeny tiny little skorts and sundresses. Now, I always preferred to have my babies properly covered - dressed in layers and bundled. But the summer Emma was born, I changed my tune. Suddenly those little outfits seemed mighty appropriate, and I have many pictures of her - san's blankets and sweaters - keeping cool in her summer barbie-inspired clothes. In reality, the average temperature in most places in America during the month of July is a very pleasant 70 degrees. That said, just don't ask about the range - which can vary wildly. And, July is traditionally known as the month to make hay. It's been called Haymonth or Maed month, referring to haymaking and the flowering of the meadows. By July, most gardens are set, and gardeners tend to get their work done in the mornings when it is cooler and less buggy. Still, experienced gardeners know that July's biggest challenge, outside of the heat, is thunderstorms. I remember the summer a dear friend of mine had a garden tour planned for the middle of July. Sadly, it was a tour that never happened. The night before her big day, a huge storm whipped through the area, taking down trees and pelting the garden with hail. There was nothing to do but clean up. And I remember sitting on her patio after we had righted her table and chairs eating one of the little radish and cucumber sandwiches that were supposed to be for the guests that day. That day was as sour as the lemonade we sipped in the chopped salad that was my friend's garden. It's no wonder that the folk sayings of July reflect her temperature extremes. For example: If the first of July be rainy weather, 'Twill rain more or less for four weeks together. Despite the storms, we seem to remember mainly the heat of July and the vibrant blooms in the garden. It's a glorious month for ornamentals and cut flowers. One of my personal favorites is Martagon

Today we celebrate the French botanist and explorer who christened the Begonia, the Magnolia, and the Fuchsia. We'll also learn about one of the best and earliest botanical collectors and artists in Holland - and she was a woman to boot. We celebrate the American naturalist born into one of our country's botanical founding families. We also celebrate the life of one of America's greatest garden writers, Louise Beebe Wilder. We honor the life of a Spanish artist who equated his work as a painter and sculptor to that of a gardener. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about Gardening in Your Front Yard - it's packed with ideas and projects for big and small spaces. It's an idea that is gaining popularity and acceptance thanks to stay at home orders and physical distancing - one of the few positive effects of dealing with the pandemic. And then we'll wrap things up with a delightful dessert that continues to impress, and that is having it's a special day today - and we've been making and enjoying it in this country for well over 100 years now. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News The 7 Best Indoor Herb Gardens by Scarlett James | Bustle "Fresh herbs are an undeniable delight, even if you don't channel Ina Garten on a daily basis. But they often end up half-used or forgotten in the back of the fridge. The best indoor herb gardenwill bring bold, fresh flavor to your kitchen in just the amount you need." Garden Shopping in the Produce Aisle Did you know that you can regrow or grow many items from your produce aisle in the supermarket? It's true. Two of the many gardening books I brought with me to the cabin when I came up here to quarantine were No-Waste Kitchen Gardening: Regrow Your Leftover Greens, Stalks, Seeds, and More by Katie Elzer-Peters and Don'tThrow It, Grow It!: 68 windowsill plants from kitchen scraps by Deborah Peterson With seeds being harder and harder to source, these books are a great reminder that we shouldn't be tossing out our kitchen scraps — we can use them to grow! Right now, thanks to books like these, I'm growing onion, garlic, spring onions, carrots, and even radish greens - all of them from food scraps. What's more, I'm discovering that the possibilities are really endless. You'll be amazed at all of the options for utilizing pieces and parts of produce from the grocery store to regrow food you never thought possible. This practice of growing and gardening from produce scraps is a great way to reduce food waste and even help your family to understand the power of gardening and the powerful cycle of growing and harvesting. Botany really is an exciting and wonderful area of science that you can easily study in your own kitchen. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1646 Today is the birthday of the French priest and botanist Charles Plumier. He was born in Marseille. Regarded as one of the most important botanical explorers of his time, Plumier served as a botanist to King Louis XIV of France, and he traveled many times to the New World documenting many plant and animal species. During his third expedition to the Greater Antilles, Plumier discovered the Fuchsia triphylla on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), and he named the fuchsia plant after the 16th-century German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. Sometimes Charles Plumier is referred to as the Father of the Fuchsia. Also known as ladies eardrops, the Fuchsia has colorful upside-down blossoms that hang from the stems. That drooping habit is reflected in the Irish name for Fuchsia - Deora Dé - meaning God's Tears. The fruit of all the species of Fuchsia is edible. Although many Fuschia fruits are bland and have a bad aftertaste, the Fuschia variety splendens has flavorful fruit and can be used to make jam. In addition to the Fuchsia, Plumier discovered and named both the Begonia and the Magnolia. Plumier named the Begonia after Michel Begon, who was the governor of the French Antilles for three years from 1682 to 1685. In fact, it was Begon who recommended Plumier for the position of plant collector in the Caribbean to King Louis XIV. Plumier named the Magnolia for the botanist Pierre M

Today we celebrate the German artist who painted botanicals with extraordinary detail. We'll also learn about the botanist who left his mark on the anatomy of the human eye. We celebrate the Spanish botanist who spent his life in Columbia, where, among other things, he studied the cinchona tree and used the quinine to treat malaria. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about April. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that will help you become more self-sufficient one square foot at a time. And then we'll wrap things up with a celebration of the California State Flower. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Vegetable Seeds Are the New Toilet Paper by Alex Robinson | Modern Farmer "...Home gardeners are preparing to grow their own vegetables in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting around March 16, online seed stores saw a huge spike in orders for vegetable seeds, as fears emerged that the pandemic could threaten food security. The increase in demand was so dramatic for Wayne Gale and his Canada-based business, Stokes Seeds, that they temporarily closed down their online store for home gardeners, in order to ensure they could fill all of their requests for commercial growers. Gale's business received around 1,000 orders from home gardeners during the weekend before March 16, a period of time it would usually receive around 350 such orders. "And this is not our peak season. Usually, our peak season is the second week of February," Gale says. Ken Wasnock, the CEO of Harris Seeds, says that the majority of his company's new demand has come from urban areas. The company has seen high volumes of sales to neighborhoods in New York City, where historically it hasn't sold much seed. Wasnock says earlier in the spike, a lot of the orders were coming from doomsday preppers, who purchased sprouting kits that don't require natural light. In the weeks since, he's seen an increase in children's gardening products, as parents try to plan activities and projects. Wasnock says that a high percentage of seeds people are buying are organic. Some of the more popular types of vegetable seeds ordered have included squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and beans." Dreams For Your 2020 Garden It's decision time in the garden. What will your projects be this year? Often, we have no idea if our dreams for our gardens will come true. Gardeners may dream bigger dreams than emperors, but we can often get stuck, too. We put plants in the wrong spot. We buy the wrong thing. We spend too much money. We overdo. But, every now and then we get it completely right. I waited for years to put paths in around my front garden. Why did I wait so long? No reason, really. But, once it was in, I knew it was the perfect thing my garden had been missing. Up at the cabin, we had a sprinkler system installed. The soil here is sandy, and without regular watering, the plants would really struggle. After getting some ¼" tubing stubbed up to the deck, I've waited a year to install a kitchen garden on my deck. This spring, that's my big dream. I'll share the elevated bed system I selected and the evolution of this garden in upcoming Episodes. Whatever you're dreaming of and planning for your garden this season, I hope you get it completely right and that your dream comes true. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1528 Today is the anniversary of the death of the German painter, engraver, printmaker, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg, Albrecht Dürer. Dürer's work was extraordinary, and by the time he was in his 20's, he was already quite famous. While he was known for his calm demeanor and introversion, his work conveyed profound emotion. During Dürer's lifetime, explorers were collected exotic plants and bulbs and bringing them home to the Old World, where they caused a sensation. The botanical focus began to shift away from plants as medicine to plants as ornamentation and beauty. Dürer was not immune to the artistic perspective on plants, and his work captured plants with an incredible amount of detail that was unmatched by previous drawings. If you're looking for bunny art, you should check out Dürer's watercolor called Yo

Today we celebrate the birthday of a Russian Count who funded an expedition that led to the discovery of the California poppy. We'll also learn about one of the country's most beloved naturalists. We celebrate the life of the second woman to be professionally employed as a botanist in the United States. She died 100 years ago today. We also celebrate a nurseryman whose passion for plants was sparked with the gift of a Fuschia. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about rainy, windy April. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a little cottage that you might find inspiring as you spruce up your own nest this season. And then we'll wrap things up with a little poem about trillium - which is also known as Wake Robin. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Gardening for Resilience By Lysa Myers "If you've ever tried to grow a garden, you'll know that your first efforts are seldom as successful as you'd hope. Conditions are seldom ideal, no matter how carefully you plan. You will mess up seemingly simple things; even experts do. However, there are ways to approach gardening that will improve your ability to weather those mistakes. Good soil is crucial Dirt is dirt, right? Sadly, no. If I had it to do over again, I'd have spent that first year amending the heck out of the soil. Choose some plants for quick wins Grab something quick like an herb garden, a planted lettuce bowl, or a strawberry planter from your local gardening center, so you can get those first nibbles right away. There's a psychological factor to getting an immediate reward that will help you be more resilient in the face of inevitable garden setbacks. Look for what grows well in your area Not all plants grow well everywhere. Some of the things that struggle in your climate might surprise you. It certainly did me! Grow plants you love to eat Whatever happens with our current crisis, I hope that more people take up gardening as a means of self-care and... I also hope that if this sort of advice can help make early gardening experiences more enjoyable, more people will take this on as a long-term hobby or lifestyle change rather than a stop-gap measure. I want you to love working with plants as much as I do!" Today's to-do is to add a magnifying glass to your garden tote. The best gardeners throughout our history have looked closely at their plants - often using magnifiers of some fashion. Get up close and personal with your plants and increase your intimacy with your garden by looking at it through the lens of a magnifying glass. Now's the perfect time to add one to your garden tote. As with every garden tool - you won't use it if it's not handy. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1754 Today is the birthday of a man who was the foreign minister of Russia, Count Nikolay Rumyantsev. In 1815, he funded the round the world scientific voyage of the Rurik which included the poet and botanist Adelbert von Chamisso ("Sha-ME-So") and a doctor/surgeon named Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz. Two years later, in 1817, the Rurik ended up in the San Francisco Bay area where it planned to reprovision. During their stay in San Francisco, Chamiso discovered the California poppy, which he named Eschscholzia californica after his friend Johanns Friedrich Von Eschscholzia. In 1903, the botanist Sarah Plummer Lemmon put forth a successful piece of legislation that nominated the golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica) as the state flower of California. And here's what the botanist Alice Eastwood once said about the poppy: "The Eschscholzia so glows with the sunbeams caught in its chalice that it diffuses light upon the other flowers and the grass. This poppy will not shine unless the sunbeams on it, but folds itself up and goes to sleep." 1837 Today is the birthday of the Naturalist, poet, and philosopher John Burroughs (books by this author) was born on a dairy farm in Roxbury, outside of Boston on this date in 1837. He was sent to the local school, where his desk was next to that of Erie Railroad Robber Baron, Jay Gould (the son of a nearby neighbor). When Burroughs struggled in school, Gould would bail him out. Called "John o' Birds" for h

Today we celebrate the discovery and naming of the state of Florida. We'll also learn about one of the best botanical illustrators ever born as well as the man who introduced goldfish to Holland. We celebrate the publication of the first successful agricultural journal. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about April. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about trees that was released a year ago today - and it won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. And then we'll wrap things up with the fascinating story of the German artist who found surreal inspiration in the natural world. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage saved for the nation "The success of the campaign will enable Art Fund to purchase Prospect Cottage from the Keith Collins Will Trust and to fund a permanent public program, the conservation and maintenance of the building, its collection, its contents, and its renowned garden. Before Art Fund's appeal, Prospect Cottage had been at risk of being sold privately, its contents dispersed, and artistic legacy lost. Art Fund's director Stephen Deuchar announced today that the appeal to save artist and filmmaker Derek Jarman's Prospect Cottage for the nation has successfully reached its £3.5-million target in just ten weeks, with a final total of £3,624,087. Over 8,100 donations have been made by the public – nearly 2,000 of them in the past week alone, despite the significant changes happening to people's lives - and further funding has come from leading charities, trusts, foundations, and philanthropists. The campaign was supported by major grants of £750,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, £500,000 from Art Fund and £250,000 from the Linbury Trust, as well as significant support from the Luma Foundation, the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust, the John Browne Charitable Trust, and the Ampersand Foundation. Tilda Swinton said, 'When Derek initiated the project of making of this little house on the shingle the unique and magically empowering space it has come to be, not only for him but for so many of us, it was at a time of intense uncertainty and fragility in his own life. That our casting the net of our appeal to keep this project alive has coincided with the phenomenal global challenge to the community with which we are currently faced - and that that net has still come in so full of bounty - has only served to prove how invaluable this vision of future is to us all." Goals For Your 2020 Garden What are you curious about in your garden? What are you hoping to learn this season? How will your gardening change during the pandemic? Your greatest accomplishment might be the result you didn't plan to learn. Maybe you've always been a flower gardener, but this year you feel compelled to grow some edibles, and you discover the joy of growing your own garlic. Last year, you grew your own tomatoes to great success and ended up sharing some with neighbors. This year you want to help out the food shelf. Maybe you didn't like pulling weeds for your mom, but now with the pandemic, you suddenly find that tending to the yard is calming and anchoring. Now you want to have a garden of your own. Our gardens are classrooms. And those classrooms are filled with many teachers or Upah Gurus. Upah Guru is the Hindu word for the teacher next to you at any moment. The Upah Gurus in your garden this year might be the seeds you just ordered, a mystery plant that you inherited, the hydrangea that refuses to flower, the rose that won't give up. This year, they say there will be more new gardeners than ever as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions. Calling All Gardeners: Share Your Expertise Don't consider yourself an expert? Think again. One of the things that can happen to gardeners is that we can underestimate our own expertise or experience in the garden. But any experience is helpful to a gardener just starting out. To new gardeners, you can be a gardening Upah Guru. New Gardeners Need Encouragement Remind new gardeners that their primary job this year is to simply be a good student of gardening. They don't need to get straight A's in the garden. Let them know that no one is putting that pressure on them to replace the produce section of the grocery store. One of the biggest commitments new gardeners can make is simply to learn more about gardening. Encourage them to focus on the teaching - whether that is from books or podcasts or neighbors - because the teaching is what makes us better gardeners. The Benefits of Gardening go beyond food: physical, mental, spiritual Any ga

Today we celebrate the one year anniversary of the show and the man who wrote a flora of the Middle East. We'll learn about the German botanist who discovered mitosis and chloroplasts. We celebrate the 93rd birthday of an English-Australian gardener who learned to garden and survived during World War II. We'll honor the tremendous work of Kenya's garden activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about April. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that was released 16 years ago today. And then, we'll wrap things up with the fascinating story of a whiskey baron who used his wealth to create an arboretum that is home to America's largest collection of Holly trees. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners Around the World and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings Well, it's hard to believe that the show is already a year old. I started the show on April 1st because this month's name came from the Latin word aperio, meaning "to open [bud]," - so it was the perfect time to start something new. Plants outside and in are really beginning to grow now. Daisy and Sweet Pea are this month's birth flowers. To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News In chaotic times, gardening becomes therapy | Cleveland.com "As spring's arrival in the Northern Hemisphere coincides with government stay-at-home orders, the itch to get outside has turned backyard gardens into a getaway for the mind in chaotic times. Gardeners who already know that working with soil is a way to connect with nature say it helps take away their worries, at least temporarily. "I love to see things grow," Lindsay Waldrop said. "It's incredibly therapeutic." Families, too, are discovering that gardening gives cooped-up kids something to do, builds their self-esteem and brings variety to what has suddenly become a lot of time spent together. This home-grown attitude goes back to World War II when millions of people cultivated victory gardens to protect against potential food shortages while boosting patriotism and morale. Hollie Niblett, who lives near Kansas City, Kansas, hopes the victory gardens come back. Niblett, who has a degree in horticultural therapy, tends to a kitchen garden near her backdoor, perennial flowers, flowering trees and shrubs, and upper and lower grassy yards connected by a path through an area left in its natural condition. "There are so many things about it that feed my soul," she said. "Right now, more than anything, my garden gives me hope, gives me purpose, and provides a sense of connection to something bigger than myself." 811 - Call Before You Dig - And, right now - Don't. Add 811 in your phone contacts. Save it under "Digging." In the notes, add a reminder to call at least three days before you dig. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1838 Today is the birthday of George Edward Post. We remember George because he wrote a Flora of the Middle East. Westerners were delighted because, for the first time, it was written in English, and they could understand it. George botanized in Syria, which is where he lived most of his life. He was in Syria, serving as a missionary and doctor. In his spare time, he would be off collecting plants and working on his Flora. George was a man who had tremendous energy and stamina. He worked long hours, and many colleagues acknowledged that he accomplished more than most folks in a 24-hour period. In his personal life, it turns out that George had the ability to fall asleep quickly, which no doubt helped him recharge on-demand and as needed. One account of George's tremendous lust for life and for plant collecting relayed that he would go off into the mountains on horseback. The story goes that George was such a good horseman, he could collect specimens without getting off his horse. He was allegedly able to lean below his saddle and reach way down to cut and collect a specimen. Then, he'd just sit back up and go on his way. At the end of his life, George was aware that his body was worn out, and he said something to that effect in the days before he died. Around that same time, he received a visitor who knew just how to revive his spirits. The guest placed a few pieces of ripe wheat in his hand as a symbol of the harvest and of the spe

Today we celebrate the man who invented the cottonseed huller. We'll learn about a Canadian legal eagle who loved gardening and one of Oregon's pioneer botanists. We'll celebrate the work of a female biochemist who made some remarkable discoveries about bloom color by studying snapdragons. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about March. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that was released 11 years ago today. And then we'll wrap things up with the fascinating story of a garden activist who was teaching gardening on this day in NYC two years ago. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Starting Seeds: Use What You Have - Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden | Jonah Holland "If you have seeds that are less than three years old, at least some of them should be viable. You could also use avocado seeds, citrus seeds, seeds from dates. You could try anything you happen to have — peppers, squash, beans, or maybe even pineapple! Mail ordering seeds is another option. We asked our horticulturist some of their favorite seed sources, and here are a few of our favorites: Johnny's Select Seeds, White Flower Farm, Peace Tree Farm and Prairie Moon Nursery. You might even have a really fun time exploring the Seed Saver Exchange." My COVID-19 Renee's Garden Seed Order for the Cabin I share the seeds I ordered after planning to ride out the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic at the cabin. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1814 Today the inventor and agricultural pioneer John Lineback received a patent for the first cottonseed hulling machine. He was based in Salem, North Carolina. Today, cottonseed hullers are known as disc hullers, and they not only dehull oilseed shells like cottonseed and peanuts, but they also crush oilseeds such as soybeans. Cotton is neither a fruit or a vegetable. The fibers of the cotton plant are made of cellulose. The seed of the cotton plant attaches to the fibers after emerging from the fruit. After maturing and left to its own devices, the cotton plant seed would simply blow off the plant in the wind - which is how the plant would get distributed. Cotton seeds are exactly what you might deduce: the seeds of the cotton plant. They are egg-shaped and are 3.5-10 mm long. The Latin name for the Cotton Plant is Gossypium ("Gah-SIP-EE-UM), and the seeds are richly covered with white or rusty-colored, long, woolly hairs, called lint. It is actually the lint on the outer part of the seed that is the main product used to make cotton textiles. Lineback's machine dehulled the seeds. The hulls are the outer coverings of cotton seeds. Dehulling makes it possible to extract cottonseed oil from the seeds. The process of dehulling is pretty straight forward: after removing the lint, the hull is removed from the kernel by screening. Cottonseed hulls are fibrous, and they also get used and incorporated into food for livestock like cattle and sheep. There's one final note about whole cottonseed worth mentioning: Cottonseed is toxic to humans and most animals. 1840 Today is the birthday of William Ralph Meredith. Meredith was a Chief Justice in Ontario, and he's remembered as the founding father of workers' compensation in Ontario. His work helped shape worker's compensation for the rest of Canada and the United States. his principals regarding workers' compensation became known as the Meredith principles. The Meredith Principles allowed that workers would give up their right to sue employers in exchange for income security if they were injured at work. In turn, employers would receive business loss protection while paying for the system. Meredith came from a large family in Westminster Township in Upper Canada with eight sons and four daughters. William was the oldest boy, and all the men in the family became quite successful in the legal community. The Meredith brothers were known as 'The Eight London Merediths' - a reference to the family's London Ontario homeplace. London is just north of Lake Erie and the U.S. border. As Chief Justice, Meredith was known among his legal colleagues simply as "The Chief." And, on more than one occasion, Meredith found himself presiding over cases wher

Today we celebrate the man who introduced tulips to Holland and the botanist who was supposed to become Carl Linnaeus's son-in-law — but didn't. We'll also learn about the botanist who loved New Brunswick. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about winter - and bees in winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps you recognize elements of good garden design. I'll talk about a garden item in high demand this time of year. And then we'll wrap things up with the birthday of a distinguished gardener and garden writer - and she backfilled Vita Sackville-West as the garden columnist for The Observer. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles How to Make a Teepee for Your Climbing Beans | Mother Earth News "Use a garbage can lid, position canes at 12, 3, 6 & 9 o'clock, then fill in between. Then tie a string to the canes, near the top. Repeat for each cane until they're all secured." Dan Gill: Protect mature trees from damage during construction projects | Home/Garden | nola.com Here's a Great Post from Dan Gill: "The root system of trees is much shallower than most people imagine. The overwhelming majority of a tree's feeder roots (the roots that absorb water and mineral from the soil for the tree) are located in the upper 12 inches of soil. You can see this when a tree blows over, and the exposed root system is shallow and flat like a plate. This makes the root system far more prone to damage during construction than most people realize." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1526 Today is the birthday of the Flemish botanist and founder of the Botanical Garden at Leiden, Charles de l'Écluse ("day-lay-clues"). Charles was an important 16th-century horticulturalist who, like many scientists of his time, translated his name into Latin, and was also known as Carolus Clusius. Clusius is remembered as the botanist who introduced tulips to Holland. Around 1560, Clusius wrote that the first tulips appeared in Antwerp & Mechelen ("MEK-lin"). A merchant had gotten a hold of some, and, assuming they were a new kind of onion, he ate a few of the bulbs and then planted the rest. To his surprise, the onions grew into the beautiful blooms we know today as tulips. In 1593, after a trip to Turkey, Clusius finally obtained some tulips for himself from the Ottoman Sultan Suleyman. Clusius planted them at his botanical garden at the University of Leiden in Holland. Hoping to study their medicinal properties, he was stunned when neighbors crept his garden, stole the bulbs, sold them for ridiculous sums, and launched the Dutch tulip trade. Within decades, Leiden's tulips gave rise to the Tulipmania that still fascinates garden historians to this day. Today, the tulip has become a national icon of Holland. And, one of the best places to see tulips is at the Keukenhof("GO-KEN-hof") in Lisse ("LISS-ah"), and the best time is generally about halfway through April. Not surprisingly, Clusius wrote the first major book on tulips. And, Clusius also left his mark on many flowering bulbs. He named the popular Portuguese squill, Scilla peruviana, after a ship christened 'Peru' and not Peru the country. And, Clusius planted the first Crown Imperial. One of his last major written works was a flora of Spain and Portugal that featured 233 botanical woodcuts. It was published in 1576. The tropical genus Clusia was named by Carl Linnaeus to honor Charles de l'Écluse. 1773 Today is the birthday of the Swedish-English botanist and star pupil of Carl Linnaeus, Daniel Solander. More than his protégé, Linnaeus had hopes that Solander might become a future son-in-law. From there, Linnaeus hoped he had found his successor as Professor of Botany at Uppsala. Linnaeus had a daughter named Lisa Stina. Although Solander had fallen for her, Linnaeus lined up an opportunity for Solander to be the chair of botany at St Petersburg in Russia. Linnaeus was putting Solander through the same gauntlet he had experienced before getting married: go out and establish yourself, and then come back here and settle down. Solander took Linnaeus completely aback when he wrote that he would be staying in England. Solander's letters to Linnaeus became less frequent, and Lisa Stina ended up unhappily married to a grandson of Rudbeck - the family name, after which Rudbeckia or Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are named. Although Solander dashed Linnaeus's hopes, he became a champion of botanical exploration and left his own considerable mark in the field of botany. After some time in London, Solander met Joseph Banks at the British Museu

Today we celebrate a man who wrote one of the most influential herbals in history and the French botanist who created the modern strawberry. We'll learn about the Father of Paleobotany and the sweet little Orchid known as the moccasin flower. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with the diary of a fabulous nurserywoman and garden designer. I'll talk about a garden item to get hung up on... and then we'll wrap things up with the fascinating birth flowers for the month of February. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Plant of the Month: The Sensitive Plant | JSTOR Daily JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. Aw... it's The Sensitive Plant! Whenever you touch it, the leaves fold up like a fan along its stem. "At first glance, Mimosa pudica ("poo-DEE-cah") is a plant that most people would consider a weed. It grows close to the ground, with countless delicate leaflets, puffy pinkish balls of flowers, and small bunches of legumes. So it makes sense that Mimosa pudica would be known as the "Humble Plant," but what about its association with other names, like "Herb of Love" and "Sensitive Plant"? When Linnaeus considered what separated living from non-living things he wrote, "Stones grow; plants grow and live; animals grow, live, and feel." With the Mimosa's apparent ability to feel, many people felt that the Sensitive Plant took on animal characteristics with its strong reaction to touch. The Sensitive Plant fascinated 18th-century botanists, scientists, and poets who often compared the plant to animals because of the reaction of the plant; contracting after being touched. In 1791, Erasmus Darwin wrote about the Sensitive Plant in a poem called The Botanic Garden. Weak with nice sense, this chaste Mimosa stands From each rude touch withdraws her timid hands; Oft as light clouds o'er-pass the Summer-glade, And feels, alive through all her tender form, The whisper'd murmurs of the gathering storm; Shuts her sweet eye-lids to approaching night, And hails with freshen'd charms the rising light. Honey Plant Growth Stimulator - Using Honey To Root Cuttings This post is from Gardening Know How. "Many people have found success with using honey to root cuttings. It is, after all, a natural antiseptic and contains anti-fungal properties — allowing the little cuttings to remain healthy and strong. Some people have even added honey to willow water to aid in rooting." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1515 Today is the birthday of Valerius Cordus. Cordus was the author of one of the most influential herbals in history. In fact, centuries later, the botanist Thomas Archibald Sprague re-published "The Herbal of Valerius Cordus" with his older sister, who he considered to be the best botanist in his botanist family. After the book was published, Sprague gifted her with a personal and gorgeous bound copy. He had the book dedicated to her in Latin: "M. S. Sprague praeceptrici olim hodie collaboratrici d.d. T. A. Sprague" - basically, thanking her for all that she had taught him and collaborated with him. Valerius Cordus died young, at the age of 29. He had contracted malaria. In 1544, Valerius had spent the summer botanizing in Italy with two French naturalists. At some point, he had waded into marshes in search of new plants. When he became sick a short time later, his friends brought him to Rome, and then, they continued on to Naples. When they returned for him, they found their friend, Valerius, had died. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Swiss botanist Konrad Gesner who had the sense to collect Cordus' prolific writings and preserve and publish them. One expert once said, "There was Theophrastus; there was nothing for 1,800 years; then there was Cordus." The genus Cordia is named in honor of Valerius Cordus. Cordia's are in the borage family, and many cordias have fragrant, showy flowers. Some cordias also produce edible fruits with strange and fascinating names like clammy cherries, glue berries, sebesten, or snotty gobbles. 1827 Today is the anniversary of the death of the French botanist, gardener, and professor at Versailles, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne ("do-Shane"). 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. As a young botanist, Duchesne began experimenting with strawberries. Ever since the 1300s, wild straw

Today we celebrate one of Britain's great explorers and the first apple parer. We'll learn about the wonderful willow, and we'll celebrate the very first field trip of the Philadelphia Botanical Club, which happened 128 years ago today. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems from the author of Anne of Green Gables. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that essentially offers an herb seasoning master class in between its pages I'll talk about a garden item that comes in handy for gifting natural elements from the garden along with a whole host of other uses... and then we'll wrap things up with the story of a woman who married a botanist and then wrote about her adventures with him. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles 10 Ideas For What To Do With Broken Plant Pots | Joy Us Garden Don't toss that old, broken pot out just yet! Whether you nestle it, fill it with herbs, stack it, lay it sideways, create a layered planting, or add cacti/succulents, the options are endless! 10 Benefits of Growing Chives | Great Post @GrowForCookFerm: 10 Benefits of Growing Chives in the Spring Garden! They are perennial with a long growing season and are the perfect garnish. They also attract pollinators, have edible blossoms, tasty greens, and are high in Vitamins K & A. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1779 Today is the anniversary of the death of one of the great British explorers, and he commanded a vessel called The Endeavor, Captain James Cook. At the age of 26, Cook joined the Royal Navy later than most, at the age of 26. He drew attention with his Superior map-making skills, which helped the British Launch a successful attack in Quebec. Later, when Cook took command of his own ship, he was usually accompanied by artists, scientists, astronomers, and botanists like Sir Joseph Banks - who accompanied Cook on the first successful voyage to Australia. A year later, Cook sailed again, but this time Banks would not be going. Instead, a German, Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg—would be the botanists for his next voyage. Cook's death on this day in 1779 in Hawaii was gruesome. Angered when Hawaiian natives stole one of his cutter ships, Cook ordered the bay sealed off. Cook went ashore at the North end of the bay and asked the King and his sons to come away as hostages. The King's wife broke down, crying and begged him not to go with Cook. The King's people suddenly rose up and defended him and threw stones at Cook. Meanwhile, on the South end of the bay, a high-ranking chief had tried to break through the barricade. Cook's men shot him. A battle started that swept up the bay just as Cook was attempting to leave the King. Cook signaled for boats to come and get them off the beach. As Cook was making his way to the shore to escape, a native clubbed him with a piece of fencing and ran off. As Cook attempted to rise, another native stabbed in the back of the neck with a dagger. Cook's head was held under the water as he was killed with clubs and stones. Afterward, the islanders prepared a Royal Funeral for him, removing his hands from his body and preserving them in salt. The rest of his body was roasted in a pit so that his bones could be picked clean. Last year, the Australian government announced they were budgeting $50 million to redevelop Cook's 1770 landing place. The plans include turning the area into a major tourist attraction and include the addition of a $3 million statue of Cook himself. Australia Treasurer Scott Morrison said it would be, "a place of commemoration, recognition, and understanding of two cultures and the incredible Captain Cook." The redevelopment is slated to be ready this year, 2020, in time to mark the 250th anniversary of the landing. 1803Today a patent for an Apple Paring Machine, was given to Moses Coates of Downington, Pennsylvania. Over the next hundred years, 150 different patents would be issued for apple parers - and most would be variations in improvements on Coates's original machine. The parer that Moses created was a cranked wooden gadget that had a metal blade and prongs that would hold the apple. If you're able to find one of Moses Coates apple parers today, you will pay between $200 and $400. Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was named by Moses Coates. And, Moses patented a number of pieces of equipment, including a machine that was used to cut straw. Before the invention of the apple parer, people used to host apple harvest festivals where are all the apples would be gathered in paired in a paring spree. All the apples would be pared by hand. T

Today we celebrate the botanist who sailed with Captain James Cook on the Endeavor and the man regarded as the father of North American mycology. We'll learn about the man who patented the first practical lawnmower 198 years ago today. Today's Unearthed Words feature a poet and writer who used the names Flora or Florilla as her pseudonyms. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about one man's adventures with bumblebees. I'll talk about a flexible and tough garden item to help you plant your seedlings, and it is reusable to boot. And then, we'll wrap things up with the story of a woman who knew the botanical world of Nantucket like the back of her hand. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Curated Articles 2020 Wildflower of the Year – North Carolina Botanical Garden The 2020 North Carolina Wildflower of the Year: marsh-pink (Sabatia angularis "Sah-BAY-tee-ah ANG-you-LARE-iss) @NCBotGarden aka: rose gentian, rose pink, or bitter-bloom. A biennial - Native to US (South & East), Grows in low, wet meadows, woods & along roadsides. Marsh-pink grows best in moist soil in full to partial sun and is infrequently offered in nurseries because of its biennial habit. It seemingly disappears in years of drought, Vita Sackville-West on her garden at Sissinghurst (1950) | House & Garden Wow. Great share from @_houseandgarden archive: Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst (1950). If you are renovating or starting from scratch - read this & be inspired! "The place had been in the market for three years since the death of the last farmer-owner... Brambles grew in wild profusion; bindweed wreathed its way into every support; ground-elder made a green carpet; docks and nettles flourished; couch­ grass sprouted; half the fruit trees in the orchard were dead; the ones that remained alive were growing in the coarsest grass; the moat was silted up and so invaded by reeds and bulrushes that the water was almost invisible; paths there were none, save of trodden mud. It had its charm. It was Sleeping Beauty's castle with a ven­geance — if you liked to see it with a romantic eye. But, if you also looked at it with a realistic eye, you saw that Nature run wild was not quite so romantic as you thought, and entailed a great deal of laborious tidying up. The most urgent thing to do was to plant hedges. We were extravagant over this, and planted yew, and have never regretted it. Everybody told us it took at least a century to make a good yew hedge, but the photographs will, I think, disprove this: the hedge is now only seventeen years old, a mere adoles­cent, and, at the end where the ground slopes and it has been allowed to grow up in order to maintain the top-level, it is 16 feet high. At the end of all this is the herb garden, which always seems to allure visitors, no doubt because it is a secret, senti­mental little place. "Old world charm" is the phrase I always expect to hear, and nine times out of ten, I get it. But, less romantic­ally, the herb garden does supply very useful things to the kitchen. One needs years of patience to make a garden; one needs deeply to love it in order to endure that patience. One needs optimism and foresight. One has to wait. One has to work hard oneself, sometimes, as I had to work hard, manually, during the war years, cutting all those hedges with shears in my spare time. I hated those hedges when I looked at my blistered hands, but at the same time, I still felt that it had been worthwhile planting them. They were the whole pattern and design and anatomy of the garden, and, as such, was worth any trouble I was willing to take." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1743 Today is the birthday of Joseph Banks. Banks is best known for his study of Australian flora and fauna and his role as the botanist on board the Endeavor with Captain James Cook. When they landed in Australia, neither Cook nor Banks realized that the quartz reef where they planted the British Flag contained gold. The area would remain untouched by Europeans for almost two more decades. Before returning to England, Cook worried the Endeavor wouldn't make it around the Cape of Good Hope. In a fateful decision, Cook had brought the ship to Batavia, a Dutch colony, to fortify his boat. Batavia was a dangerous place where malaria and dysentery were rampant. As a result of his stop, Cook lost a staggering 38 members of his crew. Banks, and a fellow botanist Daniel Solander, managed to survive the stop, although, at one point, they were both gravely ill. Even as they battled back from illness, they still went out to collect specimens.

Today we celebrate the Dutch botanist who figured out the king bee was actually a queen and the poet gardener who preferred curves over straight lines. We'll learn about the evolutionist who started out as a staunch Christian and who once wrote, "I did not in the least doubt the strict and literal truth of every word in the Bible." Today's Unearthed Words feature thoughts about February, our shortest month. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that is brand new - just released officially today - and it encourages you to grow your fruit and vegetables in pots. I'll talk about a garden item that is just the coolest little gadget for growing seeds. And then we'll wrap things up with the backstory on a Clematis you probably have in your garden, or your neighbor has it - or both. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Curated Articles How to Eat Edible Flowers | FoodUnfolded How to Eat Edible Flowers? One bite at a time. "Chamomile tastes like apples; Begonia has a sharp citrus flavor, Calendula goes peppery to bitter, Daylilies - a melony, cucumber taste & Nasturtium is sweet and peppery." Penelope Hobhouse - SGD Awards 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner - YouTube Take a moment & watch this - an EXCELLENT video featuring Penelope Hobhouse - (Society of Garden Designers) SGD Awards 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner She says: "My feelings about good design are, first of all, the skeleton - the architecture. If you get the architecture right, you can fill it in with the plants you love. I was 82 - or something like that - when I came here. I knew it was my last garden. That's really what made me plant this as an architectural garden - with flowers in between green architecture. I only wanted plants I really loved, and that's what I've done. That's what is so lovely is living here - almost as a recluse - getting old. I think I'm very lucky people remember me at all. That's just luck and chance, I think." Sarah Morgan, SGD Chair, said: "Penelope Hobhouse has influenced and inspired garden design for decades. Self-trained in practical horticulture and design, she nevertheless forged a hugely successful career, thanks to her love and knowledge of plants and instinctive design talent." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1637Today is the birthday of the Dutch biologist and entomologist Jan Swammerdam (Yahn SWAH-MER-dam). Before Jan's work, people believed that insects created spontaneously. Jan proved that insects were born from eggs laid by the female of the species and that the larva, pupa, and adult, were just different forms of the same species. After Jan dissected a female bee and discovered it had ovaries, he pronounced the head of the colony to be a queen bee "hitherto looked upon as a king." And here was Jan's description of the male bees: "[The hive] tolerates, during summer days of abundance, the embarrassing presence in the hive of three or four hundred males, from whose ranks the queen about to be born shall select her lover; three or four hundred foolish, clumsy, useless, noisy creatures, who are pretentious, gluttonous, dirty, course, totally and scandalously idle, insatiable, and enormous." Jan's description of the hive's survival abilities is still as vibrant and relevant today as it was when he wrote: "Should disaster befall the little Republic; should the hive or the comb collapse; should man prove ignorant or brutal; should they suffer from famine, from cold or disease, and perish by thousands, it will still be almost invariably found that the queen will be safe and alive beneath the corpses of her faithful daughters. For they will protect her and help her escape; their bodies will provide both rampart and shelter; for her will be the last drop of honey, the wholesomest food. Break their comb twenty times in succession, take twenty times from them their young and their food, you still shall never succeed in making them doubt of the future." 1724Today is the birthday of the poet and gardener William Mason. The Reverend William Mason was also a writer, artist, and garden designer. Mason is remembered for creating the romance of the country house garden. Here's how he did it: In 1775 at Nuneham ("NEW-Num"), near Oxford, England, Mason designed a flower garden for his friend Lord Harcourt. To many, this garden was a turning point and marked the beginning of what came to be known as romantic flower gardening. What Mason accomplished was a radical change; straight lines in borders and beds were out. Circular beds were in. With new elements in gardens like island beds, this meant that th

Today we celebrate a woman who was once the wealthiest woman in England, and she happily spent a fortune on plants. We also celebrate the man who transformed his family farm into a glorious garden. And, we'll learn about the Oxford professor who is remembered by a flower known as the "Jewel of the Desert." Today's Unearthed Words feature thoughts on winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that will help you develop a botanist's vocabulary. I'll talk about a garden item you can buy that I use all the time. And then, we'll wrap things up with some sweet February folklore. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Penelope Hobhouse wins Lifetime Achievement Award | @TEGmagazine Bravo for Penelope Hobhouse - awarded the 2020 Society of Garden Designers (SGD) Lifetime Achievement Award! Past winners: Piet Oudolf, Beth Chatto & Christopher Bradley-Hole. The award recognizes her outstanding contribution to landscape & garden design. Get inspired & grow with her many books on garden design & garden history. Fertilizer Numbers: What They Mean and How to Use Them to Grow Better Excellent Comprehensive Post on Fertilizer @savvygardening @JessicaWalliser Know Your Numbers: What they mean and how to use them to grow better! NPK stands for "nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium," the three nutrients that comprise complete fertilizers. The description of the fertilizer may not expressly say "NPK," but you will at least see a series of three numbers. How do plants use N, P, & K? Nitrogen promotes shoot & leaf growth. Adding it to a green, leafy vegetable plant, such as spinach or lettuce, makes sense. Phosphorous generates fruit, flower, & root production. It's great for root crops, like beets, carrots, and onions, as well as for encouraging flower and fruit production. Potassium affects a plant's heartiness and vigor. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1715 Today is the birthday of the British aristocrat, naturalist, plant lover, and botanist Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland. Her family and friends called her Maria. Maria married when she was 19 years old. Together, she and William Bentinck had five children; one of their sons became prime minister twice. When William died after their 27th anniversary, Maria threw herself into her many passions. As the wealthiest woman in England, Maria could acquire virtually any treasure from the natural world - and she did. She cultivated an enormous collection of natural history, which was tended by two experts she hired to personally attend each item: the naturalist Reverend John Lightfoot and the Swedish botanist Daniel Solander. Maria's home in Buckinghamshire was referred to by society as the hive - it was the Hub of activity for Solander and Lightfoot and the other people who helped process her acquisitions. At one point, Maria had reached out to Captain James Cook and had secured some shells from his second expedition to Australia. Daniel Solander was focused on cataloging Maria's massive shell collection but sadly left to the work unfinished when he died in 1782. Maria had an enormous appetite for curation and collecting. In addition to her Botanic Garden on her property, Maria opened a zoo, kept rabbits, and had an aviary. A constant stream of scientists, explorers, socialites, and artists visited her to exchange ideas and to inspect her collections. And, think about the limitless ambition she must have had as Lightfoot wrote that Maria wanted, "Every unknown species in the three kingdoms of nature described and published to the world." Now, Maria had a special love for collecting plants and flowers from far off places from around the world. She retained the botanist and the incomparable botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret as a drawing instructor. Struck by the luminescence of his work, Maria bought over 300 of his paintings. Maria also became friends with the botanical artist Mary Delaney. Mary made botanical paper mosaics, as she called them. Mary was essentially creating flower specimens out of tissue paper. Mary was exacting - dissecting real flowers and then replicating what she saw with tissue paper. To gather more material for her work, Maria and Mary loved to go out into the fields and collect specimens together. As the Duchess of Portland, Maria shared her specimens with the public, and she displayed her various collections from around the globe in what she called her Portland Museum. Once, in 1800, Maria received a rose from Italy, which became known as the Portland Rose in her honor. The rose was a beautif

Today we celebrate the man who suggested naming the Twinflower for Linnaeus and the botanist who gave Meriwether Lewis a crash course in botany. We'll learn about the English writer who wrote, that, "God once loved a garden we learn in holy writ and seeing gardens in the spring, I well can credit it." And we also tip our hats to the British botanist who loved the common spotted orchid. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about the white stuff covering our gardens right now: snow. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a family who settled in the Florida frontier. The book was honored as the "Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel." I'll talk about a tool that will help you spruce up a number of items in your garden (I love these things!) and then we'll wrap things up with a pioneer naturalist who wrote books that became a beloved part of many modern childhoods. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Curated Articles Alan Titchmarsh: The stunning midwinter trees whose bark is better than their bite - Country Life Here's a great post by Alan Titchmarsh in Country Life about the fabulous book Winter Gardens by Cedric Pollet. Pollet is a shutterbug who captures plants in their dormancy: "the best varieties of dogwoods, willows, maples, and birches, plus a smattering of brambles and bamboos." "We are none of us too old to discover new plants and new ways of using them." Plant health resolutions: Pippa Greenwood Botanist and broadcaster @PippaGreenwood wants to see more funding for research into pests and pathogens, and the breeding of plants better able to resist new diseases. "You could say that plant health is the most important thing – we, as the human race, cannot survive long-term without plants; in fact, we couldn't survive for long at all. Plants are fundamentally important to everything. Increased movement of people, food, and other goods has played a significant part in the spread of pests and pathogens, often with a very serious impact on plant health. Quite simply, we have to take steps to ensure plant health is seen as a top priority." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1686 Today is the birthday of the Dutch botanist Jan Gronovius. Gronovius's story is inextricably bound to the Virginia botanist John Clayton. Clayton botanized Virginia. In the early 1700s, Clayton sent specimens to Gronovius both directly and indirectly through the English naturalist Mark Catesby. Gronovius was a little in over his head as he attempted to make sense of the overwhelming amount of specimens from Clayton. So, he did what most of us would do; he asked for help - and he got it from Carl Linnaeus. In a brazen move, Gronovius used Clayton's specimens and documentation to put together a Flora of Virginia in 1739. He published the work without notifying Clayton, and he certainly didn't seek his permission before he started the endeavor. Other than the Clayton situation, Gronovius is remembered for the many plants that he named. After seeing the Twinflower, it was Gronovius who suggested naming the plant after Linnaeus. Without Gronovius, Linnaeus probably wouldn't have had a plant named for him during his lifetime; Linnaeus was very modest. And, bless his heart, Gronovius was sensitive to Linnaeus's need to keep the honorary naming low key. So Gronovius wrote that, "[The Twinflower was] "a plant of Lapland; lowly, insignificant, disregarded, flowering but for a brief space - after Linnaeus who resembles it." Thus, the Twinflower is the only plant named for the Father of Taxonomy, Linnaeus, and has the botanical name is Linnea Borealis. Another plant that Gronovius named was the genus Gerbera which was named after the German botanist Traugott Gerber. Finally, in 1739, It was Gronovius, who combined the words for water and jug - hydro and angeion; put them together, and you get hydrangea, which translates to water jug. 1766 Today is the birthday of the American botanist, naturalist, and physician Benjamin Smith Barton. Barton worked as a professor of natural history and botany at the University of Pennsylvania, where he authored the very first textbook on American botany. In 1803, Barton tutored Meriwether Lewis to get him ready for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lewis had little knowledge of natural history and plants. Barton's expertise made it possible for him to be quite effective on the expedition. Barton was supposed to create a book describing all of the plants that were found on the expedition. But, for some reason, he never began writing. The job ultimately fell to Barton's assistant, Frederick P

Today we celebrate the botanist who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York and the first American female botanist in America. We'll learn about the man who changed agriculture forever with his invention. Today's Unearthed Words feature the English Victorian author born today. He loved geraniums. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that features Thomas Jefferson's revolutionary garden at Monticello. I'll talk about a garden item that will heat things up... And, then, we'll wrap things up with a fantastic honor for a modern plant explorer and ethnobotanist - a daughter of the great state of Wisconsin and a senior curator of the Missouri Botanical Garden. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Curated Articles Yes, Native Plants Can Flourish After Bushfire. But There's Only So Much Hardship They Can Take While Australian plants and ecosystems have evolved to embrace bushfires, there's only so much drought and fire they can take... Poetic Botany: A Digital Exhibition Poetic Botany: Have you explored the 'Poetic Botany' exhibition from @NYBG yet? This interactive digital exhibition illuminates the cross-section between art, science, and poetry through nine plant species. Check it out here: Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1688 Today is the birthday of the Scottish-American physician, Scientist, botanist, and Lieutenant Governor of New York, Cadwallader Colden (CAD-wah-LIDDER). When Colden arrived in America in 1718, he began a family dynasty that would eventually settle in Queens, New York. Aside from his political endeavors and his many interests, Colden was interested in botany and the new Linnaean system. The family lived on an estate called Coldenham, and it was often visited by famous New World botanists like John Bartram. Now, Colden and his wife had ten children, and they actively encouraged each of them to pursue their education. Colden's 5th child was a daughter named Jane. Jane was born in 1724, and she followed in her father's footsteps and is regarded to be the first American woman to have become an official botanist. Peter Collinson suspected as much when he wrote to John Bartram about Jane saying, "Our friend, Colden's daughter, has, in a scientifical manner, sent over several sheets of plants - very curiously anatomized after Linnaeus's method and I believe that she is the first lady that has the tempted anything of this nature." A proud dad, Colden wrote to his friend Jan Gronovius, "I (have) often thought that botany is an amusement which may be made greater to the ladies who are often at a loss to fill up their time… Their natural curiosity and the pleasure they take in the beauty and variety of dress seems to fit it for them (far more than men). The chief reason that few or none of them have applied themselves to (it)… is because all the books of any value are (written) in Latin. I have a daughter (with) an inclination... for natural philosophy or history… I took the pains to explained her Linnaeus's system and put it in English for her to use by freeing it from the technical terms - which was easily done by using two or three words in the place of one. She is now grown very fond of the study… she now understands to some degree Linnaeus's characters. Notwithstanding that, she does not understand Latin. she has already (written) a pretty large volume in writing of the description of plants." Cadwallader was able to give his daughter personal instruction on botany. He gave her access to his impressive botanical library; he even shared his personal correspondence with her and allowed her to interact with the many botanists that came to visit the family's estate. In 1754 at Coldenham, when Jane was 30 years old, she met a young William Bartram who was less than half her age at just 14 years old. She also met the Charleston plantsman Alexander Garden who was just 24 years old. In 1753, on the land around her family's home, Jane discovered marsh St Johnswort (Hypericum virginicum). Alexander sent it to her the following year, and Jane wanted to name it gardenia in his honor. Unfortunately for Jane, the gardenia name had been used by John Ellis, who had given the name to the Cape Jasmine. Since Ellis used the name first, Jane could not. So gardenia is reserved for the strongly scented Cape Jasmine (Gardenia jasminoides). They are fabulous cut flowers. With their beautiful foliage, they also make effective screens, hedges, borders, or ground covers. In 1758, Walter Rutherford wrote to a friend after visiting Coldingham, and he described Cadwallader, his home and his 34-year-old daugh

Today we celebrate the Italian botanist who introduced coffee and bananas to Europe and the botanist who described new varieties of mums from China on this day in 1822. We'll learn about the man who could see the capabilities of a landscape In the botanist who wrote encouraging letters to one of his students. Today's Unearthed Words Feature sayings and poems about the winter mindset. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps you encourage different types of wildlife into your garden. I'll talk about a garden item you'll use every spring if you like to grow plants from seed and then we'll wrap things up with a cute little story that involves loganberries. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles The Scent Of Fear – The Aphid Alarm Pheromone Great Post on The Scent of Fear – the aphid alarm pheromone via @Entoprof "Aphids, when perceiving a threat to their neighbors by a predator or parasite, flee the scene rapidly, by flight, if winged, on foot if not, or even by leaping from their host-plant to the ground below. " A Growing Concern: Is It Ever OK To Steal Plant Cuttings? | Life And Style | The Guardian A growing concern: is it ever OK to steal plant cuttings? "At Potted Elephant, the thief cut tendrils of Philodendron, Variegated Monstera and Scindapsus from live plants in his greenhouse – some from Jarrell's personal collection of rare plants." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1617 Today is the anniversary of the death of the 17th-century Italian botanist Prospero Alpini. Alpini introduced coffee and bananas to Europe. Alpini was also the first person to make observations about sexual differences in plants. The male and female flowers of the date palm, for instance, are borne on separate plants. This knowledge allowed Alpini to become the first person to fertilize the female flowers of the date palms artificially. Date palms were popular garden plants in Roman gardens. The fruit is very useful and is the basis for syrup, alcohol, vinegar, and liquor. The genus "Alpinia", belonging to the order Zingiberaceae (Ginger Family), is named for Alpini. Alpinia is also known as the ginger lily. Ginger lilies are perennials and the blooms have a gardenia fragrance. Ginger lilies are a wonderful cut flower. 1822 On this day in 1822, Joseph Sabine ("Suh-BEEN") gave a presentation to the London Horticultural Society. He was describing some new varieties of Chinese chrysanthemums. Eleven different kinds of mums had been imported two years earlier, in 1820, and had been thriving in the society's garden at Chiswick. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus, renowned Swedish botanist, combined the Greek words chrysos, meaning gold with anthemon, meaning flower. Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora) is the birth flower for November. In Japan, the highest Order of Chivalry is the Imperial Order of the Chrysanthemum. And National Chrysanthemum Day, aka the Festival of Happiness, has been celebrated in Japan since 910. Chrysanthemum Day is always celebrated September 9th - the ninth day of the ninth month because, in terms of numerology, that day, September 9th, is regarded as an auspicious day. Now, when Joseph Sabine described the Quilled Pink Chrysanthemum in detail for the London Horticultural Society, members had only heard about the Quilled Flamed Yellow variety. The Quilled Pink was exciting. Sabine, would not even recognize modern mums. Although some mums still look like their sister flowers, daisies, mums are being bred to be showier. Regardless of their appearance, mums belong to the Compositae, or daisy, family. And, there's another highlight for Joseph Sabine. He was serving as the Secretary of the Horticultural Society and is remembered for sending David Douglas on his 6-month expedition to North America. Douglas named the Digger Pine, Pinus Sabiniana, in honor of Joseph Sabine. 1783 Today is the anniversary of the death of the renowned landscape gardener Lancelot Capability Brown. In the 1730s, Lancelot ended up at Stowe, working for the great William Kent - the eminent painter and Landscape Architect. The garden at Stowe was a landscape garden with lots of straight lines and formality. The end result was a garden that looked like a painting with an 11-acre lake. The main area of the garden was the Elysian Fields ("uh·li·zhn"); 40 acres featuring buildings and monuments that flank two narrow lakes called the River Styx. The monuments in the garden honor virtuous men of Britain. The time Lancelot spent with Kent at Stowe transformed not only the land but also Lancelot - from a gardener

Today we celebrate the savior of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, and the fir tree described by Meriwether Lewis as "Fir No. 5." We'll learn about the man who discovered a plant that was called "the ugliest yet most botanically magnificent plant in the world" by Joseph Dalton Hooker. And, we celebrate the 124th birthday of the founding of the New England Botanical Club as well as the Landscape architect who helped create the New American Garden. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems about February We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that reveals the Ingenuity of Animal Survival - in and out of our gardens. I'll talk about a lovely gift for a gardener - something that will likely become an heirloom in your garden family. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the Happy Huntsman's Tree. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Turn To Turnips For Early Vegetables Gardening: Turn to turnips for early vegetables Nancy Szerlag, master gardener and @detroitnews freelance writer, had a chance to try Burpee Gardening @burpeegardens new turnip, 'Silky Sweet'! Terrace Garden Of A Townhouse In Bruges By Piet Blanckaert | House & Garden The magnificent terrace garden in Bruges ("Brooj") by @_houseandgarden Piet Blanckaert says: "Small gardens are a puzzle in 3D. You need all the pieces, big & small, & every centimeter counts. You need less of everything so that you can choose top-quality materials." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1799 Today is the birthday of the British botanist, pomologist, pioneer orchidologist, and flower show organizer, John Lindley. Lindley's dad was a nurseryman, and he ran a commercial nursery in England. Despite his array of botanical talents and knowledge, the family was constantly under financial duress. Growing up in his father's nursery, helped Lindley acquire the knowledge to land his first job as a seed merchant. This position led to a chain of events that would shape Lindley's life. First, he met the botanist William Jackson Hooker. And, second, Hooker introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks. Lindley worked as an assistant in the Banks herbarium. In 1938 after Banks died, when the fate of Kew Gardens hung in the balance, it was Lindley who recommended that the gardens belonged to the people and that they should become the botanical headquarters for England. The government rejected Lindley's proposal and decided to close the garden. But, on February 11, 1840, Lindley ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. His advocacy brought the matter to the people; the garden-loving public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, so, Lindley saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as the new director. From his humble beginnings to his incredible standing in English Botanical History, Lindley is remembered fondly for so many accomplishments. For 43 years, Lindley served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society, which is why the RHS Library is called the Lindley Library. And, there are over 200 plant species named for Lindley. There is "lindleyi", "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides". Lindley once told his friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, "I am a dandy in my herbarium." Without question, Lindley's favorite plants were orchids. Before Lindley, not much was known about orchids. Thanks to Lindley, the genus Orchidaceae was shortened to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce. And, when he died, Lindley's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew. Lindley's friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, wrote a touching tribute after his Lindley died. He wrote, "We cannot tell how long Botany, how long science, will be pursued; but we may affirm that so long as a knowledge of plants is considered necessary, so long will Lindley's name be remembered with gratitude." And here's a little-remembered factoid about Lindley - he was blind in one eye. 1806 Today Meriwether Lewis described a tree he referred to in his journal as "Fir No. 5." The tree in question was the Douglas-fir. Later, on February 9, Lewis added more details about the fir and sketched the distinctive bract of the cone in his journal. On their way back across the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana, Lewis and Clark would encounter the inland variation of the species, the Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. The Douglas-Fir gets its name from the botanist David Douglas, who was the first to grow the tree in England successfully. When Douglas met an early death, his friend and teacher, the botanist John Goldie,

Today we celebrate the Swiss botanist who started a botanical Dynasty and the man who coined the term osmosis. We'll learn about the American landscape architect who made England his home and cheered on so many gardeners with his book Successful Town Gardening. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about hunting for medicinal plants in the Amazon. I'll talk about a garden item to help you get growing and then we'll wrap things up with the early spring warm-up of 1931 - it was extraordinary. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles American Gardens: An American Garden In Bath American gardens: an American garden in Bath by Gardens Illustrated @gdnsillustrated What is an American garden? Discover more with our focus on the new garden at the American Museum and Garden in Bath Gardens: Weeds To Love And Loathe | Life And Style | The Guardian Weeds to love and loath, an excerpt from Wild about Weeds by @JackWallington Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1778Today is the birthday of the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. Candolle named hundreds of plants. His seven-volume monumental work, Prodromus, was an effort to characterize all of the plant families and establishing the basis for the science of botany. He only finished two volumes. Augustin's Candolle descendants would finish Prodromus after extensive and detailed research. His famous son, Alphonse, was born the year Linnaeus died. In 1855, Alphonse was awarded the Linnean gold medal. Augustin's grandson, Casimir, was devoted to the study of the pepper plant family or the Piperaceae ("PIE-per-aye-see-ee"). The most commonly-known species in the family is Piper nigrum ("PIE-purr NYE-grum") - a flowering vine that gives us peppercorns that are ground to become black Pepper. The biggest consumer of Pepper, at almost 20% of the world's total Pepper crop, is the United States. During the middle ages, pound for pound peppercorns was worth more than silver. Augustin de Candolle's great-grandson, Richard Émile, was also a botanist. He died unexpectedly at the age of 51. After his death, the enormous Candolle family herbarium and Library - built over four generations was donated to the city of Geneva. Augustin's great living legacy is the Botanical Garden of Geneva. 1847Today is the anniversary of the death of the French botanist and physiologist Henri Dutrochet. After studying the movement of sap in plants in his home laboratory, Dutrochet discovered and named osmosis. Dutrochet shared his discovery with the Paris Academy of Sciences on October 30th, 1826. Like the cells in our own human bodies, plants don't drink water; they absorb it by osmosis. Dutrochet also figured out that the green pigment, chlorophyll, in a plant is essential to how plants take up carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis could not happen without chlorophyll, which helps plants get energy from light. And chlorophyll gives plants their color. Have you ever asked yourself why plants are green? Long story short, chlorophyll reflects green light, which makes the plant appear green. Dutrochet 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, ie, roots grow down to the ground.) The upward growth of plants against gravity is called negative geotropism, and downward growth of roots is called positive geotropism. The plant part that responds to positive geotropism is at the very end of the root, and it is called the root cap. So, what makes the roots turn downward as they grow? The root cap - responding to positive geotropism. 1879Today John H. Heinz received a patent for an improvement to Vegetable-Assorters - the machines used for sorting produce like fruits, vegetables, etc. I, myself, have created some excellent vegetable sorters - their names are Will, Emma, PJ, & John. 1912Today is the birthday of the American landscape architect, consummate plantsman, and writer who made England his home - Lanning Roper. When Vita Sackville-West read Lanning's book Successful Town Gardening she wrote, "The book I have been reading, and which has cheered me up so much as to the answers I can in future return, is called Successful Town Gardening by Lanning Roper." Today, Lanning's book is regarded as a classic garden book. Many people use the wintertime as a chance to reconnect with the garden and dream about the following season as they read or reread Successful Town Gardening. Lanning's grandfather was William Hartley Evelet

Today we celebrate the man who wrote the Flora of North America from across the pond in London much to the chagrin of American botanists. We'll learn about the Dutch botanist who discovered the phalaenopsis orchid and the coleus on the island of Java. Today's Unearthed Words review some sayings about the month of February in the garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us grow African violets. I'll talk about a decorative item for your garden, deck, or porch, and then we'll wrap things up with National Carrot Cake Day and the history and recipes of this favorite dessert. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Hello Yellow Milkweed/Butterfly Flower, View All Flowers: Botanical Interests @botanicalseeds "Bring sunny color into the pollinator garden with 'Hello Yellow' milkweed! Asclepias tuberosa (ah-SKLEE-pee-iss TOO-burr-OH-sah) is usually orange, but this yellow beauty was found in Colorado." Columbus'Carnivorous Collectibles from The Lantern @TheLanterns "A single organism of Sarracenia purpurea, collected by botanist/bryologist William Sullivant - 1840 - one of the few documented pitcher plants that grew in central Ohio." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1814 The English botanist Aylmer Lambert wrote to his peer, and the President of the Linnean Society, Sir James Edward Smith. Lambert was giving Smith a heads up that Frederick Pursh's Flora Americana was published. Five years earlier, Frederick had been working for Benjamin Smith Barton in America. Barton was supposed to process the plants from the Lewis & Clark expedition and prepare a catalog for publishing. For some unknown reason, Barton never got around to doing the work. When Meriwether Lewis realized that Barton hadn't started much of anything, he hired his employee Frederick to do the work. By May of 1808, we know that Frederick had completed all of the tasks that Meriwether Lewis had assigned him. He was eager to get paid the $60 he been promised by Lewis, and the $80 Barton owed him for helping with his herbarium. He was also excited to keep going with the Lewis & Clark project. It seems the mission of sharing the botanical discoveries of the expedition with the public had captured his heart. This is where Frederick's story gets a little murky. It's not clear if he was ever fully paid by Lewis or by Barton. It's not entirely clear why Lewis & Barton couldn't seem to keep the project moving forward. But records do show, that over the next 18 months, two key things happened that caused Frederick to leave America with the Lewis and Clark specimens in tow: Meriwether Lewis died and Frederick Pursh began to despise his boss, Benjamin Smith Barton. For his part, Barton may have grown tired of Pursh's drinking. He wrote of Pursh, "Drinking is his greatest failing." When Frederick Pursh arrived in England at the end of 1811, he reached out to both Sir James Edward Smith and Alymer Lambert about putting together the Flora of North America. Lambert became his botanical fairy godfather; he had a huge personal botanical library, herbarium, and funding. That said, Lambert also provided something Pursh desperately needed: discipline. Pursh was kind of a rough and tough guy with a swarthy complexion and reputed alcohol addiction. Historians say that Lambert made arrangements in the attic of his house, creating a workspace for Frederick. Once he got Frederick up there, Lambert would lock him in for stretches at a time to keep Frederick focused on the project. It was an extreme way to deal with Frederick's demons, but it worked. Now, Smith and Lambert didn't do all of this out of the goodness of their heart. They were enormously interested and what Pursh had brought with him from America: portions of the specimens from the Lewis and Clark expedition. Even with Lambert's resources and lock-ins, it took Frederick two years to complete the Flora of North America. The whole time he was racing to get it published before Thomas Nuttall, who was working on the exact same project back in America. American botanists felt Pursh had pulled the rug out from under them when he took the expedition specimens to England. On December 21st, 1813, Pursh won the race when his 2-volume masterpiece describing all of the plants of North America was presented to the Linnaean Society. In the introduction, Frederick was forthright about his time in America and how he had come to possess the expedition specimens. Giving credit to the work of Lewis and Clark, Frederick created two new genera - Lewisia (loo-WIS-ee-ah) and Clarkia (CLAR

Today we celebrate the man who found a splendid crabapple growing in his nursery and the anniversary of a society that celebrates the flower of the rainbow, We'll learn about the "Grand Lady of Canadian Horticulture" and a Colorado State botanist who fought to protect the Columbine. Today's Unearthed Words, we hear simple poems from a Quaker poet. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds. I'll talk about a garden item that will help you get creative with words in your garden, And, then we'll wrap things up with the incredible story of a gardener who gardened for nine years in a place most gardeners would deem un-garden-able, and he transformed it into a haunting paradise. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Calendula Tincture Recipe - Health and Wellness - Mother Earth Living Here's a Great Calendula Tincture Recipe from Mother Earth Living @mthrearthliving Start simple on your home apothecary with this multi-purpose calendula remedy. This calendula tincture is easy to make and perfect in teas, baths, and astringent solutions. Artichoke: Sow and Grow Guide, Articles & Blogs: Botanical Interests Artichoke: Sow and Grow Guide from Botanical Interests@botanicalseeds: By sowing artichokes early, the plants can be subjected to vernalization (a cold period) of at least two weeks growing at 40°-50°F, which triggers artichokes to form in the season. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1906 Today is the birthday of the nurseryman Melvin Bergeson who, ironically, lived in Fertile, Minnesota. After World War II, an employee of Melvin's named Norris Oftedahl was walking along a row of trees at the nursery. As expected, all of the trees in the row had succumbed to winterkill… except for one. It stood out and caught Norris's attention. It was a little crabapple tree. Norris thought the tree might be a mutant variety and told Melvin to keep his eye on it. Melvin did, and over the years, Melvin took note of the little crab's continued hardiness - which was tremendous - and also the beautiful fruit. Melvin's instincts told him the tree was something special. Melvin christened the tree Red Splendor in honor of the gorgeous fruit. Melvin sold some Red Splendors to customers, and he also sent some Red Splendors to other nurserymen so that it could be trialed. Sadly, when Melvin applied to patent the Red Splendor, he was denied. The government claimed the tree was already in the public domain. Once it was on the market, the Red Splendor captured people's hearts. One of the best features of a Red Splendor Crab is that it doesn't drop fruit over the summer. Instead, the fruit holds on until the following spring. This habit allows the birds and animals to eat from the tree all winter long - which makes for way less clean up of dropped apples (one of the main gripes of apple tree owners.) With all of the Red Splendor's marvelous features, it's not surprising to learn that the University of Minnesota once regarded the Red Splendor Crab as the best plant ever created in the state of Minnesota. Melvin also deserves personal recognition; he was a natural-born marketer and salesman. He came up with clever slogans that were splashed across the cover of his annual nursery brochures like "Let's get it done in '71." The hype around Red Splendor opened opportunities for the tree to appear in venues like the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. And, a Red Splendor even accompanied President Nixon on his trip to China, where it was presented as a gift from America. It's hard to believe after the thrill of the Red Splendor, that Melvin and his wife Olga started their humble nursery during the Great Depression in 1937. Their customers were mostly farmers, and their main product was trees - especially windbreak trees and fruit trees. Today, 83 years later, Melvin's Nursery is run by his grandson, Joe Bergeson. The nursery offers a diverse selection of trees, shrubs, and plants. However, Joe's passion is hybridizing roses. As far as trees are concerned, one of the nursery's top-selling trees is the Ohio buckeye tree, which is grown from a nut. 1920 Today marks the hundredth anniversary of the American Iris Society. The Society started with about 60 eager members. A year later, membership had climbed to nearly 500 members. Today, you can join the Iris Society online at Irises.org. "The Mission of The American Iris Society is to organize and disseminate knowledge of the genus Iris while fostering its preservation, enjoyment and continued development." Iris takes

Today we celebrate the botanical illustrator who was wrongfully fired from his first job and the French botanist who spent a month in California with a boatful of Russians. We'll learn about the botanical name of the city where people leave their hearts, and we'll fall in love with a classic garden writer from Bronxville, New York. Today's Unearthed Words feature an English poet who loved gardens and wrote many poems about them. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that talks about the revolution that will save our food. I'll talk about a garden item that I have WAY too many of - but, then again, can you really have too many? I digress. And, then we'll wrap things up with the story of the woman who wrote a flora dictionary anonymously - signing her work very mysteriously with the words "by a Lady." But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Good Decisions by @papaver Good Decisions in the garden -Alison Levey ("Lee-Vee") - The Blackberry Garden " I planted them and whispered to the nearby ants 'when you wake up, take the seeds and spread them throughout the garden.'" The Plight of the African Violets — In Defense of Plants The Plight of the African Violets — In Defense of Plants — "their numbers in captivity overshadow a bleak future for this genus in the wild. Many African violets are teetering on the brink of extinction." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1708 Today is the birthday of the botanist and the incomparable botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret. Georg was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to Ferdinand Christian Ehret, who was a gardener and also had a talent for drawing. He taught his son both skills- gardening and drawing - before he died. Georg made his way to Regensburg. There, he met an apothecary who hired him to draw of specimens from his herbarium and garden. Georg earnestly took on the job, creating over 500 pieces in one year. Taking advantage of his young employee, the apothecary fired Georg and told him he should have completed 1,000 drawings. It was basically the apothecary's way of avoiding paying Georg. After this dreadful experience, Georg made his way to England and worked at the significant botanical gardens - Including Chelsea Physic. Isaac Rand, the first director of the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, told Georg to paint the rare plants in the garden. The uniqueness of the specimens added to the demand for Georg's work. As a result, Georg was on friendly terms with the plant collectors and naturalists of his time. Chelsea was formative professionally and personally for Georg; He married the head gardener's sister-in-law, Susanna Kennet. In The Art of Botanical Illustration, Wilfrid Blunt noted that, "By the middle of the century he had become a popular figure in London society: the highest nobility in England clamored to receive instruction from him," Indeed, the wealthiest woman in England, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (the Duchess of Portland), gladly retained Georg as a drawing instructor. Struck by the luminescence of his work, and ultimately she would buy over 300 of his paintings. In 1737, Georg was hired to draw by Sir Charles Wager, First Lord of the Admiralty. In August of that year, Wagner's personal garden is where Georg first observed the Magnolia grandiflora flowering. The bloom was so inspiring that Georg walked for an hour each way, from Chelsea to Wagner's house (in Fulham), to see and sketch every stage of the Magnolia grandiflora; from bud to full flower. Georg's work provided the world with the first Magnolia to be illustrated in England. Beyond his work in England, Georg traveled throughout Europe in pursuit of his craft. He met Linnaeus in Holland when he was visiting the botanical garden in Leiden. Linnaeus taught Georg exactly how he wanted plants to be dissected and drawn. By this time, Georg felt that his drawings were already aligned with Linnaeus, but the calibration didn't hurt; Georg's work made it possible for Linnaeus to show the differences between plants for his books. When Linnaeus released his catalog of rare plants, "Hortus Cliffortianus," in 1737, it featured 20 meticulous plates made by Georg. As a result of partnering with Linnaeus, Georg understood plant structure on a level that rivaled most botanists. Georg's style of drawing is referred to as the Linnaean style. Ehret's father could have never predicted the impact of teaching his son both gardening and drawing, but the two skills had come together in Georg in an extraordinary way. One expert wrote that, "[Ehret] was the greatest artist-illustrator

Today we celebrate the German-American botanist who saved the French wine industry and the very first Iris-breeder who urged other hybridizers to "be bold." We'll learn about the woman who sparked significant legislative change after birds and insects were killed in her garden and the man who fought to protect habitat for the Blazing Star. In Unearthed Words, we celebrate two award-winning American poets and review their poems about the garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that shows how growing and gardening has changed the way we eat. I'll talk about a garden item that will get your garden or porch party-ready. And, then, we'll wrap things up with a story within a story about a man who loved apples and a man who helped settle the West. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Seeds and Berries "As a wildlife gardener, you can help wildlife have a year-round bounty by leaving the seed heads and berries intact, while still weeding or clearing some lower branches and leaves as needed. Seed-eating birds such as juncos and goldfinches enjoy the dried flower heads of asters, coneflowers, and other native plants. Winter wildflower stalks also provide wildlife with places to seek refuge from storms and predators, and insects pass the winter in the dead stalks. These stalks and seed pods also add texture and visual interest on an otherwise barren landscape in a garden habitat." Rare ghost orchid has multiple pollinators, the groundbreaking video reveals Rare ghost orchid has multiple pollinators, the groundbreaking video reveals: "Deep in remote Florida swamps, a team of researchers and photographers have made a new discovery that upends what we thought we knew about the ghost orchid, one of the world's most iconic flowers, and how it reproduces. These rare, charming orchids were long thought to be pollinated by a single insect: the giant sphinx moth. " Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1879 On this day, Dorothea Engelmann, the wife of the physician and botanist George Engelmann, died. Dorothea was also his cousin, and the couple married in their native Germany before immigrating to the United States. Engelmann had settled in St Louis, Missouri. George and Dorothea had one son, George Jr - who became a noted gynecologist. George persuaded Henry Shaw to develop the gardens around his estate outside of St Louis. When Asa Gray indicated that he thought Engelmann should run Shaw's garden, Engelmann replied that he wasn't interested; that Shaw was a man who had "no real scientific zeal." Yet, Engelmann continued to interact with Shaw, and he encouraged him to name his garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden. Today, the Missouri Botanical Garden is sometimes still referred to as Shaw's Garden. George Engelmann became the Missouri Botanical Garden's first botanist. Among his many accomplishments as a botanist, at the top of the list is the time George rescued the French wine industry. During the 1870s, the grapes in French Vineyards were under attack by phylloxera. Without intervention, the old European vines would never survive the little aphid-like pest that sucked the sap out of the roots of the grapevines. By the time the French government dispatched a scientist to St. Louis, Engelmann had been studying grapes for over 20 years. Engelmann offered a simple solution when he suggested replacing the European vines with American ones. Engelmann had already determined that the American vines were naturally resistant to phylloxera. The simple substitution of vines would eliminate the problem. Both sides agreed, and George personally arranged for millions of grapevines as well as grape seeds to be sent to France. And voila! The French wine industry was saved. As a person, George was quite cheerful and always working - either as a physician or pursuing his botanical and other scientific work. But, after Dorothea died on this day in 1879, George was distraught. Dorothea had been his partner in all of his endeavors - she was his sounding board, editor, and chief encourager. George threw himself into his botanical work, but by himself, he could find no relief from his grief. George's way back to life came when an invitation arrived from a friend and colleague. Harvard's Charles Sprague Sargent requested that George join him on an assessment of the forests of the Pacific Coast on behalf of the Forestry Division of the United States Census. George was Charles's top choice; he had long admired George's mastery of trees. By the summer of 1880, George Engelmann was 71 years old. Life wasn't d

Today we celebrate an eighteenth-century man who was a friend of many famous gardeners. And, the Danish surgeon associated with many wonderful plants from the Himalayas. We'll learn about the Swedish botanist who had a thing for algae and the man who started the only arboretum between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems and prose about winter's cold. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a wonderful book about weird plants. I'll talk about a beautiful item that would make the perfect Valentine's gift for a gardener or a special gift for a loved one, And, then we'll wrap things up with the story of the man who made the poinsettia a harbinger of Christmas. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Hidden women of history: Maria Sibylla Merian, 17th-century entomologist and scientific adventurer Here's a great post about Maria Sibylla Merian. Click to read all about her. Brassica Oleracea 'January King' From @GWmag 'January King' is a fantastic variety of savoy cabbage. Here's how to grow it. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1694 Today is the birthday of a Fellow of the Royal Society, an avid gardener, and a friend to many scientific leaders in the mid-18th century in the city of London, Peter Collinson. Peter Collinson introduced nearly 200 species of plants to British horticulture - importing many from his friend John Bartram in America. When the American gardener John Custis learned that Collinson was looking for the mountain cowslip (Primula auricula), he happily sent him a sample. Auricula means ear-shaped, and the mountain cowslip is Commonly known as a bear's ear from the shape of its leaves. The cowslip is a spring-flowering plant, and it is native to the mountainous areas of Europe. Custis also sent Collinson a Virginia Bluebell Or Virginia cowslip ( Mertensia virginica). This plant is another Spring Beauty I can be found in Woodlands. The blue about Virginia Bluebell is so striking, and it's an old fashioned favorite for many gardeners. The Virginia Bluebell is also known as lungwort or oyster wort. The plant was believed to have medicinal properties for treating lung disorders, and the leaves taste like oysters. Virginia bluebells bloom alongside daffodils, so you end up with a beautiful yellow and blue combination together in the garden - something highly coveted and absolutely gorgeous. Collinson was not the only gardener in search of Virginia bluebells. Thomas Jefferson grew them at Monticello and loved them so much that they were often referred to as Jefferson's blue funnel flowers. Monticello ("MontiCHELLo") Collinson once wrote, "Forget not me & my garden." Given Peter's influence on English gardens, he would be pleased to know that, after all these years, he has not been forgotten. In 2010, the author Andrea Wulf popularized Collinson in the book The Brother Gardeners: A Generation of Gentlemen Naturalists and the Birth of an Obsession- one of my favorite books, by one of my favorite authors. 1786 Today is the birthday of the Danish surgeon and botanist Nathaniel Wallich. Nathaniel served as the Superintendent of East India Company's Botanical Garden in Calcutta, India. Wallich's early work involved writing a Flora of Asia. The palm Wallichia disticha ("wall-IK-ee-uh DIS-tik-uh") was named in Wallich's honor. The name of the species - disticha - comes from the Greek "distichos" ("dis" means two and "stichos" means line). Distichos refers to the leaves of this palm, which emerge in two rows on opposite sides of the stem. The Wallinchia disticha is a very special palm, and it is native to the base of the Himalayas. The trunk is quite beautiful because it is covered in a trellis of fiber mat - simply gorgeous. This palm can grow to 30 feet tall, but it is a short-lived palm with a life span of just 15 years. In 1824, Wallich was the first to describe the giant Himalayan Lily (Cardiocrinum giganteum) - the largest species of Lily. It is hardy in USDA Zones 7-9. The giant Himalayan Lily can grow up to 12 feet tall. Once it is finished blooming, the mother Lily bulb dies, but luckily, numerous offsets develop from the parent bulb. This dying off is common among plants that push a bloom many feet into the air. It takes enormous energy to create a towering and flowering stalk. If you decide you'd like to grow giant Himalayan Lilies, (and who wouldn't?) expect blooms anytime after year four. Today, the Nathaniel Wallich Memorial Lecture takes place every year at the Indian Museum in Kolkata on Foundation Day. Wallich founded

Today we celebrate the King whose dream castle incorporated 1,200 varieties of tulips and the man who is regarded as the greatest channeler of the English rural landscape. We'll learn about the mathematician who wrote a book inspired by the Oxford Botanic Garden and the relatively young Botanic Garden that was started in the 90s for the Northern California region. Today's Unearthed Words feature a beloved American poet who wrote a poem about Flowers in Winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that dives deep into the behind-the-scenes of Sissinghurst - sharing all of Vita's plant choices and how she created her masterpiece. I'll talk about a garden item that can help you keep your phone clean and useable during the garden season - no more dirty or smudged screens! And then we'll wrap things up with the anniversary of an important antibiotic discovery from a soil sample taken in the great state of Indiana. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Moths And Butterflies Shift Their Symmetry To Improve Camouflage - Discover Wildlife Using predation experiments and image analysis, this new study provides insights into how camouflaged prey have evolved. A symmetrical midline makes the animal more noticeable to predators who can compare closer symmetrical patterns more easily. For The Love Of Peat - By John Walker Peat-free compost for carnivorous plants..."David Morris now grows his cobra lilies and sarracenias successfully in a basic mix of equal parts of Melcourt Growbark Pine, perlite and lime-free grit." (from John's article). Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1679 Today is the birthday of German King Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach. In 1715, Karl founded the city Karl's Ruhe or Charles' Repose after he actually had a dream about building the city. At Karl's castle in Durlach, there was a large flower garden with nearly 1,200 varieties of tulips. He also had over 7,000 orange trees. In 1738, Karl died while he was working in his tulip bed. After his death, The Karlsruhe Pyramid was installed between 1823–1825 over his grave. 1805 Today is the birthday of the English painter, etcher, and printmaker Samuel Palmer. Samuel Palmer is regarded as the greatest artist of the English rural landscape. Palmer's landscapes exude a strong connection with the land and nature. Samuel was one of the lead members of an artist group called The Ancients who followed the visionary artist William Blake in the final years before his death in 1827. The Ancients often expressed their work with a mystical view of nature. For instance, Palmer painted trees with as if they had individual personalities. It was Samuel Palmer who said, "The visions of the soul, being perfect, are the only true standard by which nature must be tried." With regard to the garden, Palmer built a studio in for himself in his garden. He would access it by exiting the house through a secret door that looked like a bookcase. 1832 Today is the birthday of the English mathematician and writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson also known as Lewis Carroll. Lewis had worked as a librarian at Christ Church College in Oxford. His office window had a view of the Dean's Garden. Lewis wrote in his diary on the 25th of April in 1856 that he had visited the Deanery Garden, where he was planning to take pictures of the cathedral. Instead, he ended up taking pictures of children in the garden. The children were allowed in the Deanery Garden But not in the Cathedral Garden, which was connected to the Deanery Garden by a door. The Oxford Botanic Garden inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland. The same garden also inspired the authors JRR Tolkien and Philip Pullman. In Lewis Caroll's Through the Looking-Glass is this favorite passage among gardeners: "In most gardens," the Tiger-lily said, "they make the beds too soft-so that the flowers are always asleep." 1888 Today the National Geographic Society was officially incorporated. The National Geographic Society was founded by a group of elite scholars, explorers, and scientists. National Geographic celebrates the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling. It was founded to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources." "Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved." –Jane Goodall 1992 The Humboldt Botanical Garden was incorporated in the State of California. Organized by a small group of volunteers, the goal was to create an ed

Today we celebrate a man who was an avid gardener and a friend of John Bartram's, and we learn about the founder of bacteriology and modern microbiology. We'll learn about The impact of Wardian Cases on plant exploration and the American playwright who designed her own garden on her estate. Today's Unearthed Words feature winter poems from the author of Anne of Green Gables. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a memoir from a modern scientist whose unique commentary on the natural world challenges our thinking, our responsibilities, and our actions. I'll talk about new tech to help you listen to podcasts - no matter where you are, and then we'll wrap things up with a moving editorial about Skunkweed. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Ruskin Elwood by Fieldwork | HomeAdore You guys - this is still quite the house. Aside from the seamlessness with nature - check out the hidden bar, the light fixtures, the bathroom - basically all of it! This original three-story residence designed in 2017 by Fieldwork is situated in Melbourne, Australia. Feed birds in winter: best food to choose - The English Garden What should you feed birds in winter? Now is the time of year when gardeners can expect to see lots of visiting birds in their gardens. Great post from @tegmagazine Kate Bradbury: "Birds need fat, and plenty of it: peanuts, suet, and sunflower seeds are ideal, while grated cheese, chopped apples, and cake-crumbs help ground-feeding species such as the song thrush and wren." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1735Today Peter Collinson wrote to John Bartram after receiving Skunk Weed (Symplocarpus foetidus). My good friend, John Bartram: I am very sensible of the great pains and many toilsome steps [you took] to collect so many rare plants scattered at a distance. I shall not soon forget it; ...in some measure to show my gratitude… I have sent thee a small token: a calico gown for thy wife and some odd little things that may be of use amongst the children and family. They come in a box of books… with …. waste paper which will serve to wrap up seeds, etc [You cannot believe] how well the little case of plants survived the [journey], being put under the captain's bed, and not [exposed to any] light [until I received them]. The warmth of the ship [caused] the Skunk-weed to put forth two fine blossoms - very beautiful - it is of the Arum genus. As I hope to make a present of part of the seeds, to a very curious person, Lord Petre, I hope to procure thee some present for thy trouble of collecting. I am thy very sincere friend, P. Collinson. Skunk Weed was one of Bartram's favorite flowers. It is also known as Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), and it's a low growing wetland or marsh plant from eastern North America. The bruised leaves of Skunk Weed release a fragrance reminiscent of Skunk. The botanist William Niering wrote about the odor of Skunk Cabbage in the National Audubon Society's Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: "It's strong, and fetid odor resembles decaying flesh." Skunk Cabbages are thermogenic, meaning they have the ability to generate temperatures up to 15–35 °C (27–63 °F) above the surrounding air temp so that it thaws the frozen ground and snow as it grows in the early spring. Thanks to its ability to thermoregulate, Skunk Cabbage emerges out of the earth and looks like a little teepee of leaves. Inside that teepee, the Skunk Cabbage is warm and working on sending up a bloom. Once it does - on a 42-degree day - you can reach under the hood of a Skunk Cabbage flower, and the spadix will feel warm to the touch. As Collinson mentioned in his letter, the Skunk Cabbage is a member of the Arum family, which makes it a cousin to Jack-in-the-pulpit. In the Pacific Northwest, Skunk Cabbage leaves are still called "Indian wax paper," because the leaves were used to line baskets. And, the leaves were used in steaming pits and in food preservation. In the great Japanese bogs of Hokkaido, 10,000 visitors a day stop to see the emerging Skunk Cabbage in bloom. The visit is a traditional celebration of spring. 1828 Today is the birthday of the Prussian biologist, botanist, and writer Ferdinand Cohn. Regarded as one of the founders of bacteriology and modern microbiology, Ferdinand recognized bacteria as plants. Thanks to Ferdinand, we understand the life cycles of bacteria as well as their metabolic limitations. And, we learned that microbes could be classified by their shape (round, short rods, threads, and spirals). 1842 Today the botanist John Smith wrote a let

Today we celebrate the amateur botanist who was a two-time governor of South Carolina and the birthday of a French modernist painter who left peonies. We'll learn about the man who brought European grapes to California and the most important Prussian garden-artist of the 19th century. Today's Unearthed Words feature a poem about January. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us truly see plants. I'll talk about a garden item that is absolutely adorable, and they come in a six-pack so you'll have plenty for gifts, and then we'll wrap things up with a charming journal entry from one of my favorite garden writers. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show: Out of This World | Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens | Pittsburgh PA Check out this post featuring a preview of the Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show. How to sow micro-leaves & sprouting seeds - The English Garden The English Garden @tegmagazine shared this great post about growing sprouts. Want a quick, tasty crop any time of year? Micro-leaves and sprouting seeds are the answer. You don't even need any special equipment! This is an excellent introduction to microgreens from @tegmagazine. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1822Today is the anniversary of the death of a two-time Governor of South Carolina, the founder of the University of South Carolina, a writer, and a botanist John Drayton. Drayton grew up in Charleston, a hub of botanical activity. He knew the French royal gardener Andre Michaux and his son, who had settled in the area. The Michaux's introduced the camellias and Indian azaleas; Joel Roberts Poinsett, the man who discovered the Poinsettia, was also a son of Charleston. And, the gardener Chancellor Waddy Thompson and Benjamin Perry also helped to shape the horticulture scene in the Greenville area. Drayton is remembered for his 1807 unpublished book "The Carolinian Florist." Drayton listed almost a thousand plants, when they flowered, and where they could be found. Drayton presented his work to the South Carolina College library in 1807. The University South Carolina Society published it in 1943. Drayton explored Paris Mountain and the Greenville Area. He discovered the fragrant yellow honeysuckle (Lonicera flava Sims "Lah-NISS-er-ah FLAY-vah") - commonly known as yellow honeysuckle - growing on the south side of Paris Mountain. The name Lonicera was derived from the name of the German herbalist Adam Lonitzer (1527-1586). The specific epithet "flava" and variations all reference the yellow ('flavus') or yellowish '(flavescens') color of the flowers. Honeysuckle is also known as woodbine or goat's leaf. 1832 Today is the birthday of the French modernist painter Édouard Manet ("Mah-nay"). His painting, 'Music in the Tuileries Gardens,' ("TWEE-luh-Reehs"), was his first significant work depicting modern city life. Manet grew peonies in his garden at Gennevilliers ("Jen-vill-EE-aye"). They were reportedly his favorite flower. Manet's paintings of peonies were the perfect marriage of his skill and the subject. Manet's loose brushwork was perfect for the petals and leaves. When the explorer Marco Polo saw peonies for the first time, he wrote that they were, "Roses as big as cabbages." In Chinese, the peony is known as the sho-yu, which means "most beautiful." Traditionally, peonies are used to celebrate the 12th wedding anniversary. If you planted one on your Anniversary, the peony could outlive you. Peonies can live for over 100 years. 1862Today, the Hungarian vintner, Agoston Haraszthy, brought 1,400 varieties of grapevines from Europe to California and planted the first vineyard in the Sonoma Valley in California. Haraszthy's family was Hungarian nobility. Haraszthy had gotten hold of a book that reported the Wisconsin territory offered the finest land in America. So, in 1840, he immigrated to the United States. He quickly discovered Wisconsin was not the place for growing grapes. In short order, Haraszthy made his way to San Francisco during the Gold Rush. But San Francisco was not a fit with the grapes, either. It was foggy and cold. But then, in 1857, Haraszthy found the Sonoma Valley - called the "Valley of the Moon" by the writer Jack London. After a dozen years of searching, Haraszthy had found a place suitable for growing purple gold. The Sonoma Valley was the perfect place to grow European grapes - which were more delicate and finicky than North American wild grapes. Giddy with hope, Haraszthy built a white villa for his wife and six children on a proper

Today we celebrate the birthday of the English Statesman who created "Garden walks" and the birthday of a man who is remembered by Muhly grass. We'll learn about the man memorialized by a plant name that misspells his last name, and we'll also learn about the disastrous freeze for Florida growers that happened in the mid-1980s. Today's Unearthed Words feature poetry and quotes that teach the lessons we can learn from winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that shares terrific essays on the benefits of gardening. I'll talk about a garden item that can definitely come in handy for gardeners, and then we'll wrap things up with the story of a botanist who recognized that new species can always be discovered, even in areas previously explored. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles The Wardian case: Botany game-changer | Kew From @kewgardens The Wardian case: Botany game-changer: It's incredible to think that the Wardian case was invented by British doctor and amateur naturalist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in 1829 by complete accident... Gardens: Winning ways for winter Oodles of great tips for designing a Winter Garden from Anglesey's assistant head gardener David Jordan: One of Jordan's favorite combinations is the shaggy-barked paperbark maple teamed with the variegated evergreen shrub Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' and the pink, scented blossoms of Viburnum x bodnantense 'Dawn.' At Anglesey, the euonymus is cloud-pruned in summer to create a sinuous shape, but as Jordan points out, "It has adventitious roots, so you could grow it up the walls of a house and have it as a backdrop." Jordan also recommends the crab apple tree Malus 'Evereste' as a centerpiece to a winter border. "You get long, persistent fruit, and you can underplant with dogwood in red or orange that works with the color of the fruit. Underplant with snowdrops, then daffodils, and this takes you through to May when you get the flowers – that gives you a long window of interest." The winter garden recipe runs something like this: a tree with colorful or tactile bark – try Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula), paperbark maple (Acer griseum) or Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree – acts as an anchor for the rest of the planting; then add a mid-level shrub with scented flowers, colored stems or attractive leaves (dogwoods, euonymus, daphnes, viburnums or sarcococcas); finally, there's the option of a low-growing ground cover (snowdrops and hardy cyclamen, or foliage such as bergenias or pulmonarias). Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1561 Today is the birthday of the English philosopher and statesman Francis Bacon. Francis wrote a splendid essay called "Of Gardens." The essay contains many quotable thoughts on gardening - although the opening line is the most quoted. "God Almighty first planted a garden. And indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures. It is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man; without which, buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks; and a man shall ever see, that when ages grow to civility and elegancy, men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely; as if gardening were the greater perfection. I do hold it, in the royal ordering of gardens, there ought to be gardens, for all the months in the year, in which several things of beauty may be then in season." In 1606, Francis introduced "Garden Walks" as a concept at Gray's Inn field. Bacon lived at Gray's Inn, and during that time, the Inns were putting gates and fencing around their land to provide greater privacy and security. It was in the gated field at Gray's Inn where Bacon created his walk. People were enthralled with the idea. Along the walk, Bacon added flowers and trees like Violets and Primroses, Cherry Trees, and Birch. This whole notion of strolling through a pleasure garden was the 16th century equivalent of the modern-day habit of walking in a shopping mall for exercise. In 1594, Francis Bacon said a learned man needs a garden, library, laboratory -- and a "goodly, huge cabinet" (of curiosities). And, Bacon said, "As is the garden - such is the gardener. A man's nature runs either to herbs or weeds." 1785Today is the day the American Lutheran Pastor and botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg was made a member of the American Philosophical Society. 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 Luthera

Today we celebrate a man known as "The Pathfinder" and the birthday of a man who impoverished himself writing a book in tribute to Carl Linnaeus. We'll learn about the woman who was as passionate about botany as she was assisting with the war effort and today's National Day that celebrates a garden creature. (Hint: it has a bushy tail) Today's Unearthed Words feature a riddle from an English-American writer and poet. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us understand the language of flowers. I'll talk about a garden item that comes in handy if you grow houseplants, and then we'll wrap things up with the birthday of a botanist who had an incredible love story and wrote beautiful poetry. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles A Winter Greenhouse: A Productive Way To Harvest Vegetables All Winter | @savvygardening Have you ever dreamt of harvesting fresh vegetables year-round?! Get inspired by @savvygardening - a winter greenhouse is a project worth thinking about... AND, they share this great tip: Keep a heat-generating compost pile INSIDE the greenhouse. 10 Unusual Vegetables For Adventurous Gardeners | Mother Earth News | @MotherEarthNews The list includes Cardoon, Shiso Perilla ("SHE-so per-ILL-ah"), Oca tubers, Celeriac ("sell-AIR-ee-ack"), Malabar Spinach, Kohlrabi, Seakale, Amaranth, Winter Radish, and Salsify & Scorzonera ("score-zah-NEAR-ah"). Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1813 Today is the birthday of the American explorer, soldier, and the first Presidential candidate of the Republican Party, John Charles Frémont. Frémont is remembered as "The Pathfinder" after helping many Americans who were heading West by creating documents and maps of his expeditions West. John and his wife, Jesse, created an entire map of the Oregon Trail. When Frémont saw Nebraska, he didn't see merely an endless prairie; he saw beauty. To Fremont, the entire state was one big garden, accentuated with fertile soil, swaying grasses, and wildflowers as far as the eye could see. Fremont was one of the first explorers to write about cottonwood trees. He discovered them near Pyramid Lake in Nevada on Jan 6, 1844. Years later, botanists would name the cottonwood in his honor, calling it the "Populus fremontii." Cottonwoods are the fastest growing trees in North America. After all of the beautiful elm trees at my childhood home succumbed to Dutch elm disease, my parents selected cottonwoods because they knew they would grow quickly - Up to six feet or more each year. They couldn't stand how naked the house looked without the beautiful large elm trees. In truth, there's no comparison between a cottonwood tree and an elm tree, which is regarded as one of the most beautiful trees by landscape painters. In addition, because the Cottonwood tree grows so quickly, it often has weak wood that can easily be injured or damaged. Cottonwood trees are in the Poplar species. Only the female trees produce the fluffy cotton seeds that float through the air and collect in your garden and garage in June. 1837 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English physician and botanical writer Robert John Thornton. Robert adored Carl Linnaeus. He was a huge fan. When Robert wrote his book called "The Temple of Flora," he dedicated it to Linnaeus. Robert wanted his book to be the very best illustrated botanical book ever made, and his goal was that it would be a memorialization of Linnaeus' work. Robert's idea was to have 70 large plates of exotic plants that would be organized according to Linnaeus's classification system. Another unique aspect of Robert's illustration concept was that the plants would appear in their native environment. Unfortunately, after working with the very best illustrators of his time, Robert had to stop production on the Temple book after only twenty-eight plant illustrations. He ran out of money, and the project stalled. Yet, even in its unfinished state, it remains one of the most excellent compilations of botanical illustrations that has ever been created. Although Robert was overly ambitious with his goals for the "Temple of Flora," the work is still considered to be arguably one of the loveliest botanically Illustrated books in the world. The most famous engraving in the book is of a night-blooming cereus cactus plant. The bloom takes up almost the entire width of the image, and in the background (in the dark), you can see the ruins of a castle. The night-blooming cereus is known as "The Queen of the Night." The flowers of the night-blooming cereus don't last long, but t

Today we celebrate the German botanist who's 1542 book is one of the most historically significant works of all time and the birthday of a man who discovered the rutabaga. We'll learn about the man known as "The Father of English Botany" and the man known as the "Father of American Horticulture." Today's Unearthed Words celebrate the sleeping winter landscape. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us create a spa experience in our own homes using herbs from the garden. I'll talk about a garden item that can turn your plants into wall art, and then we'll wrap things up with the story of a man who came up with the idea for a magazine for gardeners who read and readers who garden. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Great Dixter's Head Gardner, Fergus Garrett, On Conifers | House & Garden Great post from @_houseandgarden about "Why the Conifer is Having a Comeback." "Conifers do not have to be plonked in island beds with gaudy heathers, or peppered around Seventies-style rockeries like missiles... Their range is mouth-watering, adding form and texture with a twist." Best Plants To Paint For Beginners | Kew Pick up your brushes - Here's Kew's list of the best plants to paint for beginners | @kewgardens Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in The Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1501 Today is the birthday of the German botanist Leonhart Fuchs. Leonard and his wife had ten children. The genus Fuchsia is named after Fuchs. Leonhart published the first drawing of a corn plant. He also drew one of the first illustrations of the pumpkin plant. It took Leonard 31 years to write his herbal masterpiece called Historia Stirpium. In the book, he describes 497 plants and 500 illustrations. In 1542, the book was published, and the medicinal uses for each plant were included in the descriptions. His goal was to make the knowledge of herbs accessible to the people. The fact that his book contained so many illustrations definitely helped him achieve his goal. Leonard's book described over a hundred plants that had never been written about - like Pumpkins, Chili Peppers, Corn, and Squash. Leonard's Historia Stirpium is regarded as one of the most historically valuable and significant books of all time. Now, I wanted to share that the cover of the book - which is beautiful - was a bit of a mystery to me. It shows a tree with a coffin in its branches. It turns out it was a printer mark of the printer, Michael Isingrin, who was the printer of Historia Stirpium. The image of the coffin in a tree forms a Christian cross, and the tree holding the coffin was a holly tree. The inscription "Palma Ising" (i.e., by the hand of Isingrin) is the mark that identifies Michael Isingrin, the printer. " The depiction of a holly tree (Ilex spp. ) was deliberate. Holly is a symbol of eternal life. So essentially, the image represents life and death - the coffin in the tree. Incidentally, the holly tree is regarded as the evergreen twin of the oak. 1560 Today is the 460th birthday of the Swiss botanist Gaspard Bauhin. Gaspard spent his life classifying plants, and he ordered plants in a way that's familiar to us today - using binomial names, one name for the genus, and one name for the species. Gaspard was also the first to document a vegetable he named the napobrassica, the vegetable we know today as the rutabaga. Gaspard's name for the rutabaga was prophetic because DNA testing has proven that the rutabaga is the result of a turnip crossing with a cabbage. Gaspard mentioned in his work that the rutabaga was grown in the northern fields of Bohemia, where the people simply called it "root." Can you survive on rutabaga's or Swedish turnips, as they are sometimes called? Yes. Yes, you can. Rutabagas can grow to be as big or bigger than a bowling ball. Almost a year ago, Helen Rosner wrote an article called, "What Rutabaga Does Better Than Anything Else." It turns out; the rutagaba is perfect for making neutral-tasting, nicely-textured vegetable noodles. Use turnips and the noodles are too spicy. Use zucchini, and the noodles are meh. Use carrots, the noodles are too sweet. But, rutabaga noodles are just right. Rosner's favorite restaurant in Brooklyn makes rutabaga noodles using a Japanese slicer resulting in perfect paper ribbons of rutabaga. If you look at the finished dish, you'd never know they weren't real pasta. Gaspard wrote, "Pinax Theatri Botanici" ("An Illustrated Exposition of Plants"). In his book, he described thousands of plants, and he classified them using binomial nomenclature. Naturally, his work is considered a forerunner t

Today we celebrate the Spanish Enlightenment priest and botanist who named the Dahlia and the glamorous movie star who traded in her star sapphire collection for a tractor. We'll learn about the item vintners were selling during prohibition and the woman who became the most widely read American Garden author in the United States. Today's Unearthed Words feature thoughts on the blackest month of the year: January. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a new book written by a 20-year Fellow of the Linnaean Society - he's the man who began his career as a forensic botanist after getting a phone call from the authorities. I'll talk about a garden item that comes in so handy - especially if you're going to hang things in trees. And then we'll wrap things up with thoughts on the lengthening days - we gain about two minutes of sunlight a day right now. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Planting Hope by Debi Holland | Richard Jackson's Garden Here's an inspiring post from Debi Holland @RJGarden: "I work with people who have experienced bereavement or long-term illness. Gardening has been a tremendous respite, an escape from the house, provided achievable goals with visible results from a few hours toil when other aspects of life may not be so straightforward." Marks Hall Arboretum and walled garden in Essex - Gardens Illustrated Marks Hall Arboretum is absolutely gorgeous in the winter. The Arboretum sits on a 2,200-acre estate in Essex. You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but the soil there is clay. The beautiful thing about this garden is that it has been organized into geographic zones, so from an inspiration standpoint, it's splendid. There's a beautiful 3-acre lakeside garden. This garden beautifully compliments the rest of the estate offers five interlinked gardens. There are hedges and walls, groupings of ornamental grasses, and long flowering perennials. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1745 Today is the birthday of the Spanish Enlightenment priest and botanist Antonio José Cavanilles ("Cah-vah-nee-yes") Antonio was a prolific botanist and probably Spain's first expert botanist. He was born in Valencia - Spain's third-largest city. When Antonio struggled to find a job at the university, he moved to France. In Paris, he was influenced by Andre Jussieu ("Juice You")and André Thouin (pronounced "too-ah"). By the time he was 36, he had decided to focus on botany. Antonio named over a hundred genera. He gave the name Cosmos to the Mexican Aster. Cosmos comes from a Greek word meaning harmonious or orderly. When Alexander Von Humboldt sent seeds of a beautiful plant to Antonio, he suggested that the plant should be named after Antonio called Cavenillesia. But, Antonio declined the honor named it the Dahlia after the botanist Andrew Dahl, instead. Dahl was Swedish and a student of Carl Linnaeus. Ironically, Dahl never had anything to do with the Dahlia. The plant's botanical name is Dahlia pinnata ("pin-AYE-tah"). Pinnata refers to the fact that the leaves are divided in a feathery manner. Now, around the same time, dahlia seeds arrived in Germany, and a botanist there decided to name the plant Georgina after a Russian explorer by the name of Professor Georgie. For decades, Germans refused to call it the Dahlia and stuck with the name Georgina. However, in 1834, London Gardeners Magazine settled the matter once and for all, declaring that the name would be Dahlia and not Georgina. German gardeners capitulated. And, despite being the first to grow the Dahlia, no Dahlia variety has ever been named after Antonio José Cavanilles. The French Revolution caused him to return to Spain. Antonio was 45 years old when he returned home, and he had already established himself as a respected botanist. At the turn of the century in 1801, Antonio was promoted to be the director of the Royal Botanic Garden. The garden was created by King Fernando VI in 1755 (10 years after Antonio was born.) In 1774, three staggered terraces were added to the botanic garden along with an iron gate that surrounds it. A greenhouse was constructed. Decades later, it would become Antonio's professional home. During Antonio's lifetime, botanists were beginning to classify plants using Carl Linnaeus's classification method. Not every botanist agreed with this, but Cavanilles was quick to jump on the bandwagon. Under his direction, the Madrid Botanical Garden became the center of botany for Spain and Europe. Antonio died three years after becoming the director of the garden. His early death prevented Cavanilles from

Today we celebrate a bryologist who Asa Gray called, "a noble fellow" and the botanist who, along with his wife, helped found the New York Botanic Garden in the Bronx. We'll learn about one of the first and most prolific professional female garden photographers and the female botanist with a mountain named in her honor. Today's Unearthed Words feature poetry that's all about using our imagination and memory when it comes to our gardens in the dead of winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us appreciate our garden through our senses during all four seasons. I'll talk about a garden item that is cute and functional and can be used outside of the garden as well, and then we'll wrap things up with the anniversary of the opening of the museum that was started with the estate of the botanist Sir Hans Sloane. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Gardening with Dave Allan: Scent in the winter garden | HeraldScotland Here are some great suggestions from Dave Allan about sweetly scented flowering shrubs for your Winter Garden: Take the small cream flowers of shrubby Lonicera fragrantissima(Common Name: sweet breath of spring): They suffuse the air with compelling fragrance. You know they're frustratingly close but sometimes must act as a sniffer dog to track them down, hidden in a tangle of leaf-stripped twigs. I can't see beyond Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn.'It's always a joy to have a whiff every time I pass by on the way up to the duck run. A flush of little buds readily replaces any that have been blasted brown by frost and snow. Viburnum farreri and V. tinus also faithfully flower from November to February. I'm thinking of shrubs like Mahonia japonica and M. x media (Common Name: Oregon grape-holly). These evergreens do boast highly scented sprays of the tiniest yellow buttons, so don't banish them to the gloomiest corner just because they're tough woodland edge plants. Why not plant them where you'll actually see them? 6 must-visit garden shows for 2020 From House Beautiful (ww.housebeautiful.com) | @hb: "What are the best British garden shows to visit in 2020? From the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show to fringe events like Seedy Sunday, these gardening events are perfect for the green-fingered horticultural lover, regardless of whether you're a budding beginner or a seasoned pro." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1803Today is the birthday of William Starling Sullivant. Sullivant was born to the founding family of Franklinton, Ohio. His father, Lucas, was a surveyor and had named the town in honor of the recently deceased Benjamin Franklin. The settlement would become Columbus. In 1823, William Sullivant graduated from Yale College. His father would die in August of that same year. Sullivant took over his father's surveying business, and at the age of thirty, he began to study and catalog the plant life in Central Ohio. In 1840, Sullivant published his flora, and then he started to hone in on his calling: mosses. Bryology is the study of mosses. The root, bryōs, is a Greek verb meaning to swell. It's the etymology of the word embryo. Bryology will be easier to remember if you think of the ability of moss to swell as it takes on water. As a distinguished bryologist, Sullivant not only studied and cataloged various mosses from across the United States, but also from as far away as Central America, South America, and from various islands in the Pacific Ocean. Mosses suited Sullivant's strengths, requiring patience and close observation, scrupulous accuracy, and discrimination. His first work, Musci Alleghanienses, was: "exquisitely prepared and mounted, and with letterpress of great perfection; ... It was not put on sale, but fifty copies were distributed with a free hand among bryologists and others who would appreciate it." In 1864, Sullivant published his magnum opus, Icones Muscorum. With 129 truly excellent illustrations and descriptions of the mosses indigenous to eastern North America, Icones Muscorum fixed Sulivant's reputation as the pre-eminent American bryologist of his time. In 1873, Sullivant contracted pneumonia - ironically, an illness where your lungs fill or swell with fluid - and he died on April 30, 1873. During the last four decades of his life, Sullivant exchanged letters with Asa Gray. It's no wonder, then, that he left his herbarium of some 18,000 moss specimens to Gray's beloved Harvard University. When Sullivant was still living, Gray summoned his curator at Cambridge, Leo Lesquereux, (pronounced "le crew"), to help Sullivant, he wrote

Today we celebrate the Father of Paleobotany and the botanical illustrator honored by King Charles X. We'll learn about the botanical painter who got sick of painting flowers (he'd painted 800 of them) and the botanical illustrator who worked for Curtis's Botanical Magazine and Kew Gardens. Today's Unearthed Words feature the hidden (and often unappreciated) transformations happening in our garden during January. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us understand plant physiology through an intimate and entertaining memoir. I'll talk about a garden item that can help you propagate your house plants, and then we'll wrap things up with the birth flowers of January. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Horniman Museum's gardener Wes Shaw - Gardens Illustrated Horniman Gardens, Forest Hill, London - Spotlight: Wes Shaw "The last place that blew me away was GARDENS BY THE BAY in Singapore. Amazing conservatories, landscaping & planting - taking horticulture to a new level. While I was there, I saw gardeners abseiling down the side of green walls and volunteers using tweezers to pick over the beds. Gardens should continuously change and evolve. I never see the point of keeping something looking the same as it did at some point in the past. What's the next big project task you'll be tackling in the garden? We are planning a Winter Garden for an area of the Horniman Gardens that needs a bit of a refresh." High Society: The Expert's Guide To Alpines Here's a great post from @AlysFowler featuring Richard Wilford - an alpine lover and head of design and collection support at the Royal Botanic Gardens @KewGardens. "What Richard doesn't know about alpines isn't worth knowing. 'We've got a very tall house to grow some very small plants' he jokes. Alpines are surprisingly easy and hardy and perfect for tricky corners and small plots. As their name suggests, alpines are from areas of high elevation, so they love full sun, cool roots, and cold nights." Check out Richard Wilford's Five Easy Alpines: Sempervivum: will grow on sunny rocks, cracks in walls, and stony places. Put a little compost into the niches first, then nudge them in. Alpine pinks Dianthus alpinus: a tiny mat-forming evergreen with bright pink flowers. It likes free-draining conditions and suits pots, gravel path edges, and window boxes. Erinus alpinus, or alpine balsam: forms neat rosettes of narrow leaves and loves crevices. Campanula cochlearifolia (fairy thimbles or ear leaf flowers): Nodding blue flowers - Keep its feet well-drained. Phlox douglasii: A low-growing perennial - it grows in dry woodlands. It needs a dry winter, but good drainage and a sheltered spot by a wall will work. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1801 Today is the birthday of the French botanist and the Father of Paleobotany Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart ("Bron-yahr"). Adolphe-Théodore was born in Paris. His father, Alexander, was a geologist. There's no doubt his father's work helped Adolphe-Théodore become a pioneer in the field of paleobotany. A paleobotanist is someone who works with fossil plants. Plants have been living on the planet for over 400 million years. So, there are plenty of fossil plants to study and catalog. As one of the most prominent botanists of the 19th century, Adolphe-Théodore worked to classify fossil plant forms, and he did so even before Charles Darwin. Adolphe-Théodore's work provided content for his book on the history of plant fossils in 1828. Adolphe-Théodore published his masterpiece when he was just 27 years old. Adolphe-Théodore's writing brought him notoriety and gave him the moniker "Father of Paleobotany." He was also called the "Linnaeus of Fossil Plants." Adolphe-Théodore was not so much a fossil plant discover as he was a fossil plant organizer. He put fossil plants in order and applied principles for distinguishing them. In 1841, at the age of 40, Adolphe-Théodore received the Wollaston Medal for his work with fossil plants. It is the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London. It must have made his father, Alexander, very proud. Adolphe-Théodore was a professor at the Paris Museum of Natural History. He was the backfill for Andre Michaux, who had left to explore the flora of North America. Adolphe-Théodore's wife died young. They had two boys together, and when Adolphe-Théodore died, he died in the arms of his eldest son. 1825 King Charles X honored the Belgian botanical illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté with the Legion of Honor. To this day, Redouté is one of the most renowned