The Daily Gardener

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

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

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

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

1869 Birth of Charlotte Mary Mew, English poet.

In her poem, In Nunhead Cemetary, she wrote,

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

And in The Sunlit House, she wrote,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In The Unlimited Dream Company, James wrote,

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

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

And in The Garden of Time, James wrote,

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

Understanding her request, he nodded slowly.

James once wrote,

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

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

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

The publisher writes,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The last little bit goes like this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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