The Daily Gardener

Today in botanical history, we celebrate an Irish physician and botanist, an English poet and critic, and an African-American poet. We'll hear an excerpt from Elin Hilderbrand. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that tells the story of 3,500 acres of land and its return to the wild. And then we'll wrap things up with an Australian-English writer, gardener, and traveler. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Curated News A Native Super-Edible on the Rise | gardencentermag.com | Jolene Hansen Important Events September 28, 1793 Birth of Thomas Coulter, Irish physician, botanist, and explorer. He founded the herbarium at Trinity College, Dublin. He spent a year and a half studying with the great Swiss botanist Augustin de Candolle before exploring Mexico and the American Southwest in the early 1900s. Today he is remembered in the names of several plants. The Romneya coulteri or the Coulter poppy is a white-blossomed flower native to southern California and Baja California. Also called the California tree poppy, the Coulter poppy has the largest flower of any poppy. Another Southern California specimen, the Coulter pine, is known for creating the largest pine cones in the world. Called "widowmakers" by the locals, each pinecone can weigh up to ten pounds. September 28, 1824 Birth of Francis Turner Palgrave, English poet and critic. He compiled The Golden Treasury (1861), which featured English Songs and Lyrics. The popular anthology is still published with new editions under Francis Palgrave's name. In Eutopia, Francis wrote, There is a garden where lilies And roses are side by side; And all day between them in silence The silken butterflies glide. I may not enter the garden, Though I know the road thereto; And morn by morn to the gateway I see the children go. They bring back light on their faces; But they cannot bring back to me What the lilies say to the roses, Or the songs of the butterflies be. September 28, 1867 Birth of James Edwin Campbell, African-American dialectic poet. In his poem, A Night in June, he wrote, "What so rare as a day in June?" O poet, hast thou never known A night in rose-voluptuous June? And in When The Fruit Trees Bloom, James wrote, When the fruit trees bloom, Pink of peach and white of plum, And the pear-trees' cones of snow In the old back orchard blow -- Planted fifty years ago! And the cherries' long white row Gives the sweetest prophecy Of the banquet that will be, When the suns and winds of June Shall have kissed to fruit the bloom -- Then Falstaffian bumble-bees Drain the blossoms to the lees. When the fruit trees bloom. Unearthed Words The Herb Farm reminded Marguerite of the farms in France; it was like a farm in a child's picture book. There was a white wooden fence that penned in sheep and goats, a chicken coop where a dozen warm eggs cost a dollar, a red barn for the two bay horses, and a greenhouse. Half of the greenhouse did what greenhouses do, while the other half had been fashioned into very primitive retail space. The vegetables were sold from wooden crates, all of them grown organically before such a process even had a name- corn, tomatoes, lettuces, seventeen kinds of herbs, squash, zucchini, carrots with the bushy tops left on, spring onions, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, strawberries for two short weeks in June, pumpkins after the fifteenth of September. There was chèvre made on the premises from the milk of the goats; there was fresh butter. And when Marguerite showed up for the first time in the summer of 1975, there was a ten-year-old boy who had been given the undignified job of cutting zinnias, snapdragons, and bachelor buttons and gathering them into attractive-looking bunches. ― Elin Hilderbrand, The Love Season Grow That Garden Library Wilding by Isabella Tree This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is The Return of Nature to a British Farm. In this book, Isabella (whose last name - Tree - is perfect for a book on nature) guides us through the result of a massive rewilding project in West Sussex known as the Knepp ("Nep") experiment because it took place on the Knepp Estate. Isabelle and her husband Charlie bought the estate in the 1980s from Charlie's grandparents. After recognizing that intensive farming on heavy clay was economically unsustainable, they decided to step back and let nature take over. To mimic the large animals that roamed Britain in the wild, they introduced free-roaming cattle, ponies, pigs, and deer and let nature dictate the outcome on 3,500 acres. The animal activity turns out to be the key to kickstarting diversity in flora and fauna. They removed the infrastructure of traditional farming like drains and fencing. In a little over a decade, wildlife and plant diversity returned. Knepp became home to turtle doves, nightingales, peregrine falcons, and lesser spotted woodpeckers. The beauty of a functioning ecosystem is that it sustains and encourages life all by itself. This book is 384 pages of a personal memoir and a nature memoir - it's hopeful, inspirational, and above all, doable. You can get a copy of Wilding by Isabella Tree and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $9 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 28, 1885 Birth of Clara Coltman Rogers Vyvyan, Australian-English writer and gardener. She used the pen names C. C. Rogers and C. C. Vyvyan. After working in the slums of East London as a social worker and a nurse in WWI, Clara married the 10th Vyvyan baronet, who was 27-years her senior and lived on a 15th-century estate known as Trelowarren. The two were quite compatible and shared eleven happy years together. Both of them enjoyed nature. One of Clara's dearest friends was Daphne du Maurier, who used Clara's centuries-old home and gardens as the setting for her novels Frenchman's Creek and Rebecca. In Friends and Contemporaries, Clara's friend A L Rowse recognized the use of the Trelowarren landscape and wrote, The colonnade of trees in Rebecca, by the way, is the avenue of over-arching ilexes there, like a cathedral aisle. When Daphne visited Trelowarren for the first time, she fell in love with its rugged landscape and timeless quality. She described it as "the most beautiful place imaginable." After her visit, Daphne wrote in her diary, I simply hated leaving Trelowarren. Few places have made such a profound impression on me. Trelowarren similarly inspired Clara, and when her husband died, she started market gardening and writing to help financially maintain her West Cornwall estate. She wrote over twenty books during her life of adventure and beauty. When she was 67, she traveled to the Alaskan Klondyke and embarked on a 400-mile walk with the aid of two guides. The result was her book Down the Rhone on Foot. Most of her books were about her beloved Cornwall and, of course, her gardens. In her Letters from a Cornish Garden (1972), she shared a collection of delightful essays about gardening. Her friend Daphne du Maurier wrote the forward. Clara wrote, As one grows older, one should grow more expert at finding beauty in unexpected places, in deserts and even in towns, in ordinary human faces, and among wild weeds. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today in botanical history, we celebrate a Spanish botanist, a Swiss poet and diarist, and an American industrialist. We'll hear an excerpt from a best-selling book where the main character is a 12-year-old girl named September. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that offers a year of fantastic wild flower paintings and notes. And then we'll wrap things up with a lab girl - a scientist whose incredible book was released just five years ago. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Curated News New books: how designers see the world | Wallpaper.com | Jonathan Bell Important Events September 27, 1777 Birth of Simón de Rojas Clemente, Spanish botanist, intellectual, politician, and spy. He is regarded as the father of European ampelography (the identification and classification of grapevines). Today a statue of Simón overlooks the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid. In the early 1800s, Simón taught Arabic. One of his students, Domingo Badía Leblich, invited Simón on an extensive trip through Africa from the Atlas Mountains to the Nile. Anticipating resistance from locals, Domingo and Simón disguised themselves as Muslims and even changed their names. Simón became Mohamad Ben-Alí. And at some point after joining the expedition, Simón learned the true reason for the trip: spying on North Africa for Manuel Godoy, the First Secretary of State of Spain. Simón went on to explore Andalusia before returning to Madrid, where he served as the director of the Royal Botanical Garden library. In 1820, Simón planted a collection of grapevines at the Madrid Royal Botanic Garden. To this day, Simón's grapes are among the wine and table grapes grown in the garden since the 18th century. Simón's herbarium contained 186 specimens of grapes, which remain in excellent condition. They are especially prized because they are the oldest collection of grapevines and because Simón collected them before phylloxera arrived in Spain. Today Simón's grapevine specimens have been genetically analyzed thanks to modern DNA testing. September 27, 1821 Birth of Henri Frederic Amiel, Swiss philosopher & poet. He is remembered for his Journal Intime, which he kept from 1847 until twenty-two days before he died in 1881. On August 26, 1868, he wrote, Say to yourself that you are entering upon the autumn of your life; that the graces of spring and the splendors of summer are irrevocably gone, but that autumn, too, has its beauties. The autumn weather is often darkened by rain, cloud, and mist, but the air is still soft, and the sun still delights the eyes, and touches the yellowing leaves caressingly: it is the time for fruit, for harvest, for the vintage, the moment for making provision for the winter. My life has reached its month of September. May I recognize it in time, and suit thought and action to the fact! He also wrote, A modest garden contains, for those who know how to look and to wait, more instruction than a library. September 27, 1877 Birth of James Drummond Dole, American industrialist. Known as the "Pineapple King," he founded the pineapple industry in Hawaii. His Hawaiian Pineapple Company (HAPCO) later became the Dole Food Company. In 1899, James made his way to Hawaii after graduating from Harvard. After realizing that the native Kona pineapple could not be grown commercially, he started growing a Florida variety known as Smooth Cayenne on sixty acres. The local newspapers scoffed at his idea. James persisted and hired help to create a machine that could process one hundred pineapples every minute. He also aggressively marketed pineapple in mainland America. Within twenty years, Hawaiian pineapples dominated the market. In the first half of the 20th century, the popularity of the pineapple upside-down cake further helped the pineapple become mainstream. In terms of their makeup, pineapples contain an enzymatic protein called bromelain - a chemical that prevents gelatin from setting. Once a pineapple is heated for canning, the bromelain is destroyed, which is why canned pineapple can be used successfully with jello. Today, Hawaii produces only .13 of the world's pineapple. Unearthed Words She liked anything orange: leaves; some moons; marigolds; chrysanthemums; cheese; pumpkin, both in pie and out; orange juice; marmalade. Orange is bright and demanding. You can't ignore orange things. She once saw an orange parrot in the pet store and had never wanted anything so much in her life. She would have named it Halloween and fed it butterscotch. Her mother said butterscotch would make a bird sick and, besides, the dog would certainly eat it up. September never spoke to the dog again — on principle. ― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making Grow That Garden Library Wild Flowers of Britain by Margaret Erskine Wilson This book came out in 2016, and the subtitle is Month by Month. Here's what the publisher wrote about this book: Margaret Erskine Wilson, late President of Kendal Natural History Society, was a keen amateur botanist and watercolorist. In 1999, she donated to the Society 150 sheets of water-colour paintings representing a thousand British and Irish plants in flower and fruit, painted in situ over many years and in various places. At the time she donated the paintings to Kendal Natural History Society, she wrote: Begun in 1943/4 for a friend who said, 'I might learn the names of flowers if you drew them for me, in the months they're in flower'! The result is this beautiful, previously unpublished book of all her accurate and informative illustrations, painted over a period of 45 years. Over a thousand British and Irish flowers are represented in this book, and it still today serves Margaret Erskine Wilson's original purpose - it is an easy way to learn the names of our delicate and beautiful wild flowers. This book is 176 pages of a year's worth of Margaret Erskine Wilson's extraordinary paintings, notes, the English common names, and the scientific names. You can get a copy of Wild Flowers of Britain by Margaret Erskine Wilson and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $12 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 27, 1969 Birth of Hope Jahren, American geochemist and geobiologist. In her work at the University of Oslo in Norway, she analyzes fossil forests dating to the Eocene. Her popular book Lab Girl (2016) is part memoir and part ode to nature. In Lab Girl, she wrote, There are botany textbooks that contain pages and pages of growth curves, but it is always the lazy-S-shaped ones that confuse my students the most. Why would a plant decrease in mass just when it is nearing its plateau of maximum productivity? I remind them that this shrinking has proved to be a signal of reproduction. As the green plants reach maturity, some of their nutrients are pulled back and repurposed toward flowers and seeds. Production of the new generation comes at a significant cost to the parent, and you can see it in a cornfield, even from a great distance. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today in botanical history, we celebrate a British Spy/American Farmer, a social reformer and poet, and an American writer. We'll hear an excerpt from a book written by the beloved Canadian writer Lucy Maud Montgomery. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about homestead life - from growing great produce to canning and preserving. And then we'll wrap things up with a look back at Minnie Hite Moody's garden column from this day in 1980. She made a bouquet of weeds and then wrote about it. Curated News The Complete Fall Garden Checklist | Garden Therapy | Stephanie Rose Important Events September 24, 1789 Death of Metcalf Bowler, British-American merchant, and politician. As a young man, Metcalf came to America with his father. He successfully marketed a local apple known as the Rhode Island Greening Apple as part of his business. The apple later became the official state fruit of Rhode Island. A gentleman farmer, Metcalf himself was an avid horticulturist, and he was purported to have the most beautiful garden in the state. Metcalf was a successful merchant until the revolutionary war, which ruined him financially. In the 1920s, after stumbling on letters and examining handwriting, historians accidentally learned Metcalf had spied for the British. His love of nature may have inspired his code name: Rusticus. After the war, Metcalf wrote a book called A Treatise on Agriculture and Practical Husbandry(1786). Metcalf, the spy, sent a copy to George Washington, who wrote him back and tucked the copy away in his library. September 24, 1825 Birth of Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, African-American suffragist, social reformer, abolitionist, writer, and poet. Her famous quote is, "we are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity." Her writing was mostly dedicated to her work for justice, but occasionally she would write about nature. Here's an excerpt from her poem The Crocuses: Soon a host of lovely flowers From vales and woodland burst; But in all that fair procession The crocuses were first. September 24, 1913 Birth of Wilson Rawls, American writer. His embarrassment caused him to burn his manuscripts so his fiancee, Sophie, wouldn't see them. Later she implored him to re-write one of the five stories from memory, which resulted in Where the Red Fern Grows (1961). The red fern was not an actual plant, but it served as the centerpiece of the novel. In the book, Wilson wrote, I had heard the old Indian legend about the red fern. How a little Indian boy and girl were lost in a blizzard and had frozen to death. In the spring, when they were found, a beautiful red fern had grown up between their two bodies. The story went on to say that only an angel could plant the seeds of a red fern and that they never died; where one grew, that spot was sacred. Unearthed Words There were several things concerning which Miss Cornelia wished to unburden her soul. The funeral had to be all talked over, of course. Susan and Miss Cornelia thrashed this out between them; Anne took no part or delight in such ghoulish conversations. She sat a little apart and watched the autumnal flame of dahlias in the garden and the dreaming, glamorous harbor of the September sunset. Mary Vance sat beside her, knitting meekly. Mary's heart was down in the Rainbow Valley, whence came sweet, distance-softened sounds of children's laughter, but her fingers were under Miss Cornelia's eye. She had to knit so many rounds of her stocking before she might go to the valley. Mary knit and held her tongue but used her ears. "I never saw a nicer-looking corpse," said Miss Cornelia judicially. "Myra Murray was always a pretty woman—she was a Corey." ― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rainbow Valley Grow That Garden Library Welcome to the Farm by Shaye Elliott This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is How-to Wisdom from The Elliott Homestead. Shaye lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest. She's the founder of the blog, The Elliott Homestead. She is a beekeeper, gardener and enjoys preserving a variety of foods for the winter larder. This book is truly a welcome to the Elliott Farm, and Shaye shares everything she's gleaned about growing the good food right in her own backyard. Shaye teaches a ton in this book - how to harvest organic produce, plant an orchard, build a greenhouse, winter sowing and growing, make cider and wine, can jams and jellies, raise chickens and bees, and even milk a dairy cow (and make butter). , This book is 336 pages of jam-packed goodness from a mini-farm to help homesteaders and urban farmers alike. You can get a copy of Welcome to the Farm by Shaye Elliott and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $10. Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 24, 1980 On this day, Minnie Hite Moody wrote in her garden column about her bouquet made of weeds: Somehow or other I failed to get any flower seeds planted this past summer. June brought its plague of groundhogs, and what with replanting my beans and other necessities. July was here before I had caught up with myself, and then came the storms and rain. It was even too wet for me to go seeking Queen Anne's lace and daisies in the fringes of the golf course, though what with mechanical mowers and weed sprays, I would have had to search far and wide for the simple weed-blossoms once so familiar. So all through July and August I had to skrimish for enough blooms to enliven what in the Deep South is spoken of as the "eating table." I am used to flowers on the table, and while I receive more than my share of elegant hothouse flowers, they do not suit Grandma's plain white ash table with which she went to housekeeping in 1872. September, however, kindly improved my situation. Along my property frontage where the Ohio Electric railroad tracks predated the WPA sidewalk, the pale lavender blooms of soap-wort, commonly called Pretty Betty, began to peep out. Now soapwort, which the books call Saponaria, a genus of hardy annual and perennial Old-World herbs of the Pink Family, is regarded as just an old weed and not very special. Believe me, it was special in our great-grandmothers' day, for bar soap and detergents were far in the future, unless she made her own soap with grease and lye.l tried washing with soapwort myself one time, just to see how it worked, and was pleasantly sur prised. But I'm careful to call it Pretty Betty when I have it in a table bouquet. My friends seem to react to that name better than they do to soapwort. In some sections of the country, the name seems to be Bouncing Bet, which I mention as an alternate. The books say that soapwort (alias Pretty Betty or Bouncing Bet) comes in clusters of pink, white or red flowers. The only ones I ever have seen are pale lavender-blues, white, or pinkish. By themselves they don't make an especially stunning bouquet, so it is fortunate that ironweed blooms at the same time of year. Ironweed blossoms are purple, and I know Garden Club ladies who would swoon at the sight of the bouquet right now gracing my eating table, for it has purple ironweed, Pretty Betty of a questionable shade, maybe blue, maybe lavender, along with some bright yellow Rudbeckia blossoms and a spray or two of Eupatorim per-foliatum, which is acceptable by that name, but not as plain old good-for-nothing boneset. As a matter of fact, boneset used to ease aches and pains fully as well as some of the costly arthritis and rheumatism pills of the present. All the "old wife" of bygone days had to do was gather the herb when the bloom was brightest, tie it into a bunch and hang it from the ceiling beams. The late Euell Gibbons in his books claimed that he simply laid boneset for drying on newspapers placed on his attic floor. When the boneset is thoroughly dry. stalks and stems are discarded, and the dried leaves crumbled into airtight jars. If you don't need boneset tea for rheumatic ailments, it is said to be good for fevers, colds, catarrh, dropsy, general debility, dyspepsia, and "trouble arising from intemperance." In other words, hangover. Rudbeckia is that golden September bloom named in honor, of Swedish botanist Olaus Rud-beck (1830-1702). Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today in botanical history, we celebrate an English earl, an English poet, a forgotten garden, and a national floral emblem. We hear a floral excerpt from a best-selling fiction book - it's a little love story about an extraordinary woman who gave birth to a painter who became the Father of Impressionism. We Grow That Garden Library™, with a book that came out in 2015 and seems to grow ever more relevant. And then we'll wrap things up with an American poet and some of his garden-inspired work. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Curated News Small Flowering Shrubs with Big Impact | Garden Gate Magazine | Susan Martin Important Events September 23, 1717 Birth of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, English writer, art historian, and Whig politician. His father served as the first British Prime Minister. As an adult, he designed a picturesque summer home for himself in southwest London, which he called Strawberry Hill. Horace's little castle caused a sensation, and he opened his home to four lucky visitors each day. An 1842 admission ticket spelled out rules for tourists: The House and Garden are never shown in an evening; and persons are desired not to bring children with them. The Gothic Revival architecture complete with a round tower was a nod to his accomplished ancestry and is gorgeous inside and out. The stained glass and the library are two favorite aspects among visitors. Horace was a hardworking writer and a serious scholar. Horace coined the word serendipity after he finally located a painting he wanted for his home. He wrote the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764), ten years later. In addition to his other works, Horace wrote The History of the Modern Taste in Gardening (1771). A fan of natural gardens, he famously observed that his garden hero William Kent was the first garden designer to "[leap] the fence, and [see] that all of nature was a garden." Horace immensely enjoyed his five-acre romantic garden at Strawberry Hill, which he affectionately called his "enchanted little landscape" and his "land of beauties." In addition to a grove of lime trees, the garden featured a sizeable Rococo shell seat with a back designed to look like an enormous shell. Today the one-of-a-kind bench has been recreated, and copies are available for gardeners to place in their own gardens. The oldest tree on the grounds is called the Walpole Oak, and a servant is said to have hung himself from the tree after stealing silver. In 2019, the first Strawberry Hill House Flower Festival offered local florists a chance to share their creations inside Horace's Gothic masterpiece. The event is now an annual celebration of flowers. Today Strawberry Hill House hosts a community garden. Rose lovers can enjoy their own nod to Horace Walpole with the bubblegum-pink David Austin rose Strawberry Hill. As for Horace, this industrious man often found inspiration in gardens, and he once wrote, One's garden... is to be nothing but riant, and the gaiety of nature. Horace was also a fan of greenhouses and, in particular, the control they afforded gardeners. In a letter to William Mason on July 6, 1777, he wrote, Don't let this horrid weather put you out of humour with your garden, though I own it is a pity we should have brought it to perfection and [then] have too bad a climate to enjoy it. It is strictly true this year, as I have often said, that ours is the most beautiful country in the world, when [it is] framed and glazed... Finally, it was Horace Walpole who wrote, When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles. September 23, 1861 Birth of Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (pen name Anodos), English writer, polyglot, and poet. She was the great-grandniece of the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In her poem September, she wrote, Now every day the bracken browner grows, Even the purple stars Of clematis, that shone about the bars, Grow browner; and the little autumn rose Dons, for her rosy gown, Sad weeds of brown. Now falls the eve; and ere the morning sun, Many a flower her sweet life will have lost, Slain by the bitter frost, Who slays the butterflies also, one by one, The tiny beasts That go about their business and their feasts. She also wrote an utterly charming little garden poem called Gibberish. Many a flower have I seen blossom, Many a bird for me will sing. Never heard I so sweet a singer, Never saw I so fair a thing. She is a bird, a bird that blossoms, She is a flower, a flower that sings; And I a flower when I behold her, And when I hear her, I have wings. September 23, 1958 On this day, the Dayton Daily News (Ohio) shared a little article about an old park that had been created to teach botany students. Back in 1930, Brother William Beck, a member of the University of Dayton biology department, filled two purposes with one park. The campus green needed re-landscaping and botany classes needed nearby, well-stocked gardens to study. [William] set to work on his project, with the aid of local nurseries, and collected over 200 varieties of plants and shrubs in the central campus park, labeling all of them with their Latin names and English derivatives. Since that time, the University of Dayton… tended such out-of-the-ordinary plants as a Logan elm (a transplanted sprout from the famous tree); a coffee tree; pyramidal oaks; black alders; and ginkgo trees, to name a few. Brother Beck's well-worked-out plan seems to have been practically forgotten through the years. Botany classes no longer wind among the shrubbery... September 23, 1986 On this day, Congress selected the rose as the American national flower. The Journal News (White Plains, New York) reported that, The House, brushing aside the claims of marigolds and dogwood blossoms, corn tassels and columbines, ended decades of indecision Tuesday and crowned the rose, that thorny beauty, America's national flower. The voice-vote decision... [ended] a debate over an appropriate "national floral emblem" for the United States that had flickered off and on since the late 19th century. Unearthed Words Even now, as the graves of these women went untended and their passings unmourned, the seeds they had scattered turned the hillsides red and orange from May to September. Some called the pirates' bounty flame trees, but to us, they were known as flamboyant trees, for no one could ignore their glorious blooms, with flowers that were larger than a man's open hand. Every time I saw them, I thought of these lost women. That was what happened if you waited for love. ― Alice Hoffman, The Marriage of Opposites Grow That Garden Library Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening by Will Bonsall This book came out in 2015, and the subtitle is Innovative Techniques for Growing Vegetables, Grains, and Perennial Food Crops with Minimal Fossil Fuel and Animal Inputs. In this book, Maine farmer and homesteader Will Bonsall shares his expertise in self-reliance. In this aspect of living (along with energy), Will is a master. As Will likes to say, "My goal is not to feed the world, but to feed myself and let others feed themselves." Will is open to experimentation, and he shares his hard-fought wisdom in a friendly and conversational way. Will's an inventive pragmatist, and his flexibility and innovative thinking have allowed him to tackle seemingly impossible challenges in his down-to-earth way. If you're ready to become more self-reliant and less swayed by world supply chains, economic bubbles, and food scarcity, Will's book is a reference you will want to have on your shelf. This book is 400 pages of back to the land and garden prosperity with Will Bonsall as your personal guide. You can get a copy of Will Bonsall's Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening by Will Bonsall and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $25. Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 23, 1869 Birth of Edgar Lee Masters, American attorney, poet, and writer. His most famous work was his collection of poems that narrate the epitaphs of a fictional town named Spoon River in The Spoon River Anthology (1915). Edgar grew up in Lewistown, Illinois, which is near an actual Spoon River. The book features an epitaph for a fictional nurseryman - a lover of trees and flowers - named Samuel Gardener, which ends with these words: Now I, an under-tenant of the earth, can see That the branches of a tree Spread no wider than its roots. And how shall the soul of a man Be larger than the life he has lived? Edgar once wrote a poem about love, which began, Love is a madness, love is a fevered dream, A white soul lost in a field of scarlet flowers. His poem, Botanical Garden, is a conversation with God and ends with these words: "If it be comforting I promise you Another spring shall come." "And after that?" "Another spring - that's all I know myself, There shall be springs and springs!" Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today in botanical history, we celebrate the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, an English botanist and a Patron Saint of gardeners. We'll hear an excerpt from a book by Tim Robbins featuring September in Louisiana. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that inspires us to make plants feel right at home in our homes. And then we'll wrap things up with a milestone moment in the history of Australia - the stunning loss of the Garden Palace that happened on this day 139 years ago today. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Curated News 2022 Garden Trends Report: From Crisis to Innovation | Garden Media Group Important Events September 22, 1694 Birth of Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English statesman and writer. He's remembered for his letters to his son and other notable people of his day. He once advised his son, l recommend you to take care of the minutes, for hours will take care of themselves… Yale University has Chesterfield's note containing the words to On a Lady Stung By a Bee. To heal a wound a bee had made Upon my Chloe's face, It's honey to the part she laid, And bade me kiss the place. Pleased, I obeyed, and from the wound Suck'd both the sweet and smart ; The honey on my lips I found, The sting within my heart. September 22, 1800 Birth of George Bentham, English botanist, writer, and teacher. He was going to be an attorney but pursued botany after living in the country. His thinking was preserved in a diary, which he kept for over fifty years. George once wrote, I decided that my means were sufficient to enable me to devote myself to botany, a determination which I never…. [had] any reason to [regret]. George's longest professional friendship was with the botanist John Stuart Mills who had lived with the Bentham family as a teenager. A pragmatist, George finished his Flora of the British Islands by writing every morning before breakfast. He purposely used simple language so that his book could reach a wider audience. George wanted everyone to see fundamental differences in plants. The useful way he classified plants laid the foundation for modern taxonomy. Later in his career, George co-authored the three-volume Genera Plantarum with Sir Joseph Hooker. The "Bentham & Hooker system" was widely used and made plant classification easier. George also worked with Ferdinand Mueller to create an impressive nineteen-volume flora of Australia. In 1830, George discovered Opal Basil (purple) which is prized for its flavor and color. But the plant George is most associated with is an Australian sister plant to tobacco, Nicotiana benthamiana. The plant was named in his honor and is used to create vaccines for the Ebola virus and the coronavirus. George died two weeks shy of his 84th birthday. September 22nd Today is the Feast Day of Phocas the Gardener, a Turkish innkeeper and gardener who lived during the third century. A protector of persecuted Christians, Phocas grew crops in his garden to help feed the poor. His garden aided him in living his most-remembered virtues: hospitality and generosity. When Roman soldiers arrived in his village, Phocas offered them lodging and a homemade meal using the bounty of his garden. As they talked, Phocas realized they had come for him. While the soldiers slept, Phocas went out to the garden to dig his own grave and pray for the soldiers. In the morning, Phocas revealed his identity to the soldiers who reluctantly killed him. Although gardening can be a solitary activity, Phocas illustrated how gardens create connection and community. Phocas is the Patron Saint of flower and ornamental gardens, farmers, field hands, and market gardeners. Unearthed Words Louisiana in September was like an obscene phone call from nature. The air--moist, sultry, secretive, and far from fresh--felt as if it were being exhaled into one's face. Sometimes it even sounded like heavy breathing. Honeysuckle, swamp flowers, magnolia, and the mystery smell of the river scented the atmosphere, amplifying the intrusion of organic sleaze. It was aphrodisiac and repressive, soft and violent at the same time. In New Orleans, in the French Quarter, miles from the barking lungs of alligators, the air maintained this quality of breath, although here it acquired a tinge of metallic halitosis, due to fumes expelled by tourist buses, trucks delivering Dixie beer, and, on Decatur Street, a mass-transit motor coach named Desire. ― Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume Grow That Garden Library Wild Interiors by Hilton Carter This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Beautiful plants in beautiful spaces. And this book has one of my favorite covers ever! So hats off to the book designer who came up with that incredible cover. Hilton is a plant stylist, a plant whisperer, and a plant coach, and all of that comes into play in this inspiring book of home interiors that are full of life, style, balance, health, and of course, plants. Carter is a master of greenery, and his approach to creating a welcoming room is making your plants feel right at home. Carter uses his book to take us on a tour of a dozen different homes that all feature their own unique ways of incorporating plants into their interiors and design. Each space is thoughtfully laid out, super comfortable, and beautiful. This book is 224 pages of plants at home in the home - and what a welcome addition for each of us to make. Lots of plant styling inspo in this book! You can get a copy of Wild Interiors by Hilton Carter and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $17 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 22, 1882 On this day, at 5:40 am, the iconic Garden Palace in the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney was destroyed in a fire that consumed the entire fourteen-hectare structure in forty minutes. The flames could be seen for twenty miles. Modeled after the Crystal Palace but constructed primarily with timber, The Garden Palace was built at a record pace and completed in just over eight months for the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879. It dominated Sydney's skyline for only three years. In its glory, a statue of the Queen stood beneath the palace dome made of thirty-six stained-glass windows. After the Exhibition closed, the Garden Palace was unfortunately used to store important records (including the 1881 census) and countless irreplaceable Indigenous artifacts. The cause of the fire has never been established. At the time of the fire, a French artist named Lucien Henry captured the fire on canvas. His assistant, George Hippolyte Aurousseau, recalled the moment in a 1912 edition of the Technical Gazette: Mister Henry went out onto the balcony and watched until the Great Dome toppled in; it was then early morning; he went back to his studio procured a canvas, sat down, and painted the whole scene in a most realistic manner, showing the fig trees in the Domain, the flames rising through the towers, the dome falling in and the reflected light of the flames all around. Today the Pioneer Memorial Garden rests on the site where the dome would have been. Built in 1938, the garden commemorated the 150th anniversary of European settlement in Australia. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today in botanical history, we celebrate an English writer, an American businessman and horticulturist, and an American writer and celebrity. We hear an excerpt from a top-rated book that became a hit movie starring Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that features the true story of leaving a beloved garden and starting another. And then we'll wrap things up with the birthday for a prolific American writer, and I've pulled together some garden-inspired excerpts from his many books. So fun. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Curated News Pruning Hydrangeas | Fine Gardening | Janet Carson Important Events September 21, 1866 Birth of H. G. Wells (Herbert George), English writer. Although his work spanned many genres, he is remembered as one of the fathers of science fiction, along with Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback. Growing up, H.G.'s father was a gardener, and flowers figured into many of his books. In The Flowering of the Strange Orchid (1894), an orchid collector eventually dies by orchid after cultivating an unknown predatory specimen found under the body of a dead plant explorer. In The History of Mr. Polly (1910), Uncle Penstemon was named after a flower. In The Time Machine (1895), he wrote, And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers - shriveled now, and brown and flat and brittle - to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of men. In The Secret Places of the Heart, he wrote, All the English flowers came from Shakespeare. I don't know what we did before his time. There is one final example of garden kismet for H.G. Wells: his gardener, Ethelind Fearon, was also a writer in her spare time. H.G. once wrote, Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative. September 21, 1872 Birth of Robert Hiester Montgomery, American accountant, educator, and gardener. When he wasn't busy co-founding the world's largest accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Robert worked with his favorite plants: conifers and tropical trees. In 1930, he set up a winter home in Florida and began buying every type of palm tree grown in the state. His impressive collection of over 700 trees inspired him to call his place the Coconut Grove Palmetum. In 1936, he founded the Fairchild Tropical Garden (Coconut Grove, Florida). Seven years later, Robert died after one of his daily walks with his wife, Nell, beneath his beloved palm trees. Today, the Palmetum property is known as the Montgomery Botanical Center. September 21, 1944 Birth of Fannie Flagg, American actress, comedian, and author. Best-known as a semi-regular panelist on the TV game show Match Game, she also wrote Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (1987), which was made into the movie Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). Her latest book, The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop (2020), is about the power of returning to your roots. A daughter of Alabama, Fannie writes among the flowers of her California garden. In The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion (2014), she wrote about the natural beauty of Fairhope, Alabama: They had arrived on a warm, balmy evening, and the soft night air had been filled with the scent of honeysuckle and wisteria. She could still remember coming down the hill and seeing the lights of Mobile, sparkling and twinkling across the water, just like a jeweled necklace. It was as if they had just entered into a fairyland. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees had looked bright silver in the moonlight and made dancing shadows all along the road. And the shrimp boats out in the bay, with their little blinking green lights, had looked just like Christmas. Unearthed Words What's the date? "September 8, 1998." Where you from?" "Next July." We sit down at the table. Kimy is doing the New York Times crossword puzzle. What's going on next July? "It's been a very cool summer; your garden's looking good. All the tech stocks are up. You should buy some Apple stock in January." She makes a note on a piece of brown paper bag. "Okay. And you? How are you doing? How's Clare? You guys got a baby yet?" ― Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife Grow That Garden Library Uprooted by Page Dickey This book came out in 2020 (I bought my copy in November), and the subtitle is A Gardener Reflects on Beginning Again. When Margaret Roach reviewed this book, she wrote, An intimate, lesson-filled story of what happens when one of America's best-known garden writers transplants herself, rooting into a deeper partnership with nature than ever before. If you've ever moved away from a beloved garden, or there is a move in your future, you'll find Page's book to be especially appealing. Uprooted is Page's story about leaving her beloved iconic garden at Duck Hill - a landscape she molded and refined for thirty-four years. The new property covers seventeen acres of fields and woodland in northwestern Connecticut. The rolling land surrounds a Methodist Church, which inspired Page to call her new space Church House. How does a seasoned gardener (at age 74) start again? How does said gardener leave a beloved home and garden and stay open to new possibilities? Uprooted gives us the chance to follow Page through all the major milestones as she discovers her new homeplace. We hear all about her home search, how she established her new garden spaces, and some of her revelations as she learns to evolve as a gardener. If you've ever wondered how on earth you'll ever leave your garden, Page will give you hope. And, if you're thinking about revamping an old garden space or starting a new garden, you can learn from Page how to create a garden that will bring you joy. As an accomplished garden writer, Page's book is a fabulous read, and the photography is top-notch. And although the move from Duck Hill marked a horticultural turning point in her life, Page surprisingly found herself excited and reenergized by her brand new space at Church House. This book is 244 pages of the evolution of a gardener as she transitions from Duck Hill to Church House - bringing with her lifelong love of nature, gardens, and landscape possibilities. You can get a copy of Uprooted by Page Dickey and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $6 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 21, 1947 Birth of Stephen King, best-selling American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. In 1982, he stood for a photo by the famous gate to his property. Known as the spider gate, the custom-made gothic wrought iron masterpiece featured spiders and ravens. I thought I'd end today's show with some garden-related excerpts from Stephen's work through the years. Each quote has that Stephen King edge: From The Shining (1977) His relationship with his father had been like the unfurling of some flower of beautiful potential, which, when wholly opened, turned out to be blighted inside. From Night Shift (1978) Having a breakdown was like breaking a vase and then gluing it back together. You could never trust yourself to handle that vase again with any surety. You couldn't put a flower in it because flowers need water, and water might dissolve the glue. Am I crazy, then? From The Eyes of the Dragon (1984) I think that real friendship always makes us feel such sweet gratitude because the world almost always seems like a very hard desert, and the flowers that grow there seem to grow against such high odds. From It (1986) ...you could only protect your child through watchfulness and love, that you must tend a child as you tended a garden, fertilizing, weeding, and yes, occasionally pruning and thinning, as much as that hurt. From The Institute (2019), "Might have done better to get rid of him," Annie said matter-of-factly. "Plenty of room for a body at t'far end of the garden." Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate a German botanist, an American botanist, an explorer, and an English poet and novelist. We hear an excerpt about the change in seasons. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that challenges us to see trees in a new way - with profound understanding, respect, and intelligence. And then we'll wrap things up with the birthday of a beloved American poet and his humorous poem about gardening. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Curated News History of Sydney's Spring Walk| The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney | Miguel Garcia Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events September 20, 1552 Lorenz Scholz von Rosenau, German botanist, polyglot, and physician. He translated Greek and Arabic medical references along with other European texts and created a master medical reference. The book helped educate people about the plaque and earned Lorenz a coat of arms and title. In an age when people were afraid of nightshade plants, Lorenz grew potatoes. His large seven-acre garden was divided into four main quadrants connected by paths. In the middle of the garden, a large dining hall and art gallery entertained guests. September 20, 1872 Birth of Mary Sophie Young, American botanist, and explorer. Born in Glendale, Ohio, she had seven older brothers who she credited for her toughness. After getting her Ph.D., she was put in charge of the Austin herbarium for Texas. She concealed her gender by signing correspondence "M.S. Young." During her career, she fell in love with botanizing in West Texas, and her work helped create a flora of Texas. On a 1914 trip, she wrote in her journal: It's about five o'clock now. The 'lonely' time is beginning. The air is very transparent and very still, and everything glistens. There is something of that uncanny feeling of the consciousness of inanimate things. September 20, 1902 Birth of Florence Margaret Smith (pen name Stevie Smith), English poet and novelist. She was awarded the Cholmondeley Award for Poets and won the Queen's Gold Medal for poetry. A play Stevie by Hugh Whitemore, based on her life, was adapted into a film starring Glenda Jackson. She wrote, Nothing is more wistful than the scent of lilac, nor more robust than its woody stalk, for we must remember that it is a tree as well as a flower; we must try not to forget this. Unearthed Words July let me go with the sea She stood there handing me over to the future I seemed farther than ever before July she watched me die under the arms of August September lived in harmony She took me by the hand And gave me one more chance October and a century of life." ― Patricia Rezai, Submerged in a Garden of Lust Grow That Garden Library To Speak for the Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger This book came out in 2019, and the subtitle is My Life's Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest. A Canadian botanist, biochemist, and visionary, Diana won the 2019 Sigurd F. Olson Nature Writing Award for this book, which shares her family's Celtic ancestry along with a deeper perspective on trees and their communities - what we call forests. Diana shares why trees matter, the role they play in solving our climate change crisis, and a path toward a greater appreciation for these quiet giants of our planet. This book is 304 pages of a tree celebration and cautionary plea to recognize and safeguard their value to us all. You can get a copy of To Speak for the Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $16. Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 20, 1881 Birth of Edgar Albert Guest, British-American writer, columnist, and poet. Thanks to his happy, hopeful poetry, he was beloved and became known as the "People's Poet" during the first half of the 20th century. Here's an excerpt from his poem called To Plant a Garden: If your purse no longer bulges and you've lost your golden treasure, If at times you think you're lonely and have hungry grown for pleasure, Don't sit by your hearth and grumble, don't let mind and spirit harden. If it's thrills of joy you wish for get to work and plant a garden! If it's drama that you sigh for, plant a garden and you'll get it You will know the thrill of battle fighting foes that will beset it If you long for entertainment and for pageantry most glowing, Plant a garden and this summer spend your time with green things growing. If it's comradeship you sight for, learn the fellowship of daisies. You will come to know your neighbor by the blossoms that he raises; If you'd get away from boredom and find new delights to look for, Learn the joy of budding pansies which you've kept a special nook for. If you ever think of dying and you fear to wake tomorrow Plant a garden! It will cure you of your melancholy sorrow Once you've learned to know peonies, petunias, and roses, You will find every morning some new happiness discloses. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate a Swedish botanist and professor, a Scottish minister, and naturalist, and a British botanist. We hear an excerpt about September's changing colors. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the language of plants - what they are saying to us if we only knew how to listen. And then we'll wrap things up with an American writer and her description of the end of summer. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Curated News E Is For Evergreen | Boyles & Wyer | John Wyer Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events September 17, 1702 Death of Olaus Rudbeck, Swedish botanist. Four months before he died, a fire destroyed much of Upsala. At 72, he helped lead the effort to save the building where he taught even after learning that the fire had destroyed his home along with his personal collections and writings. Thanks to Olaus, the university library was saved. After the fire, he drew up plans to rebuild the city. (The plans were carried out without him.) Twenty-nine years after his death, Carl Linnaeus named the Rudbeckia, or Black-Eyed Susan, after him. Linnaeus wrote, So long as the earth shall survive and as each spring shall see it covered with flowers, the Rudbeckia will preserve your glorious name. September 17, 1833 Birth of Hugh Macmillan, Scottish minister, and naturalist. In The Ministry of Nature, (1871), he wrote, Nature looks dead in winter because her life is gathered into her heart. She withers the plant down to the root [so] that she may grow it up again, fairer and stronger. She calls her family together within her inmost home to prepare them for being scattered abroad upon the face of the earth. September 17, 1910 Birth of Patrick Millington Synge, British botanist, writer, and plant hunter. He served as chief editor for the Royal Horticultural Society. In 1934, he joined the British Museums expedition to the Ruwenzori range in Kenya and Uganda, which inspired his book The Mountains of the Moon - a nod to Herodotus's name for the area. The equatorial mountain lakes were home to six-foot-tall impatiens, 30-foot-tall lobelia, and thick, tree-like heather. The experience was otherworldly and his writing is romantic and lyrical. He wrote, Slowly we glide out through a long lane of water cut through the papyrus thicket into Lake Kyoga, where blue water lilies cover the surface with a far-stretching shimmer of blue and green... Vita Sackville-West loved his book, writing, Readers of Mr. Patrick Synge's enthralling book... will remember his photographs of this alarming plant (groundsel). Patrick is remembered in the daffodil Narcissus hispanicus ex 'Patrick Synge' and in the exotic-flowering favorite Abutilon 'Patrick Synge'. Unearthed Words And finally, it seemed autumn had realized it was September. The last lingering days of summer had been pushed off stage and in the hidden garden long shadows stretched towards winter. The ground was littered with spent leaves, orange, and pale green, and chestnuts on spiky coats sat proudly on the fingertips of cold branches." ― Kate Morton, The Forgotten Garden Grow That Garden Library Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is A Remarkable Journey of Groundbreaking Scientific Discoveries and Personal Encounters with Plants. In this book, research scientist Monica Gagliano explores plant communication - a subject that influenced her research and ultimately changed her life. Monica has studied plant communication and cognition for a good amount of her academic career. She shares firsthand accounts from people all over the world and then shares the scientific revelations. This book is 176 pages of plant stories - strange, beautiful, and unforgettable. You can get a copy of Thus Spoke the Plant by Monica Gagliano and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $20 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 17, 1907 Birth of Elizabeth Enright, American writer, illustrator, and creative writing teacher. She won the Newbery Medal for Thimble Summer (1938). In book three of her popular Melendy family series called Then There Were Five (1944), she wrote, The mullein had finished blooming and stood up out of the pastures like dusty candelabra. The flowers of Queen Anne's lace had curled up into birds' nests, and the bee balm was covered with little crown-shaped pods. In another month -- no, two, maybe -- would come the season of the skeletons, when all that was left of the weeds was their brittle architecture. But the time was not yet. The air was warm and bright, the grass was green, and the leaves and the lazy monarch butterflies were everywhere. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate a German naturalist and two American female landscape architects. We hear an excerpt about September from a modern Southern writer whose stories are set in the North Carolina/Tennessee mountains. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about Walled Gardens. And then we'll wrap things up with the birthday of an American plantsman and ecologist. His work continues to inspire the botanists who follow in his footsteps. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
• Garden-related items for your calendar
• The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week
• Gardener gift ideas
• Garden-inspired recipes
• Exclusive updates regarding the show

Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Curated News Plan for Growth and Happiness | SAFnow.org | Molly Olson Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events September 16, 1651 Birth of Engelbert Kaempfer, German naturalist, physician, explorer, and writer. He is remembered for his ten-year exploration through Russia, Persia, India, and Asia between 1683 and 1693. He was the first European to bring botanical specimens back from Japan. His book, Amoenitatum Exoticarum (1712), was an invaluable medical resource and offered the first flora of Japan, featuring nearly 500 plants from the island. He was the first Western botanist to describe the Ginkgo. September 16, 1876 Birth of Marian Cruger Coffin, American landscape architect. She was one of two women in her 1904 landscape architecture class at MIT. Since most architecture firms didn't hire women, Marian started her own practice in New York City and became one of America's first working female landscape architects. She started out with small projects in the suburbs of Rhode Island and ended up as the most in-demand landscape architect for the East Coast elite. Her client list included the Fricks, the Vanderbilts, Marjorie Merriweather Post, the Huttons, and the du Ponts. Her legacy includes many of her Delaware commissions: Gibraltar (Wilmington, Delaware), the University of Delaware campus, Mt. Cuba, and Winterthur. In 1995, author Nancy Fleming expanded her Radcliffe thesis and wrote Money, Manure & Maintenance - a book about Marian Coffin's gardens. The title was a reference to the three ingredients Marion thought necessary for a successful garden. Marion once observed, The shears in the hands of the average jobbing gardener are, indeed, a dangerous implement. As much devastation can be done in a few moments as it will take an equal number of years to repair. This I have observed to my sorrow... September 16, 1887 Birth of Annette Hoyt Flanders, American landscape architect, and writer. A daughter of Milwaukee, she worked on all types of gardens in the Midwest and out East. For her design of the French Gardens at the McCann Estate, she received the Architectural League of New York's Medal of Honor in Landscape Architecture (1932). In a 1942 article in The Record (New Jersey), she advised, Hold on to every bit of beauty you've got. Don't tear up your gardens. We're going to need gardens more than ever, and what's more, we can't afford to create an economic crisis by throwing out of work hundreds of people who are dependent for their livelihood on things we need for our gardens. She once said, Real beauty is not a matter of size — a tiny, inexpensive garden can be just as beautiful as a big one. Unearthed Words There is a time in late September when the leaves are still green, and the days are still warm, but somehow you know that it is all about to end as if summer was holding its breath, and when it let it out again, it would be autumn. ― Sharyn McCrumb, King's Mountain Grow That Garden Library Walled Gardens by Jules Hudson This book came out in 2018, and it is from the National Trust. In this book, Jules Hudson of the BBC shares some of the most spectacular walled gardens throughout England and Wales. In centuries gone by, these gardens were vital to sustaining family life - not only for food - but also for medicine and beauty. In the late 18th century, these gardens became synonymous with wealth as the elite sought to grow exotic fruits right in their own backyard. Over time, these kitchen gardens were enhanced with glasshouses and heated walls. The level of creativity, commitment, and charm reflected in these gardens are evident still today. This book is 240 pages of walled kitchen gardens in all their glory. You can get a copy of Walled Gardens by Jules Hudson and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $12 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 16, 1874 Birth of Frederic Edward Clements, American plant ecologist. In 1916, he introduced the concept of a biome to the field of ecology. He also helped pioneer the study of vegetation succession. He believed his botanist wife, Edith, would have been a world-renown ecologist if she hadn't devoted so much time to help him. Together the "Doctors Clements" traveled across America researching and teaching the next generation of ecologists. For fieldwork, Frederic devised a technique known as the quadrat method: pound four stakes into the ground, wrap a string around the stakes, and tally the number and kinds of plants in the square. MIT's John Vucetich marveled at the power and scale of Frederic's work, writing, To draw a string around that many sets of stakes, to sit down before a small patch of the Earth that many times, to get down on the level with plants, to take a quick look, gain a gestalt, and then engage in the deliberative task of touching every single plant, recognizing its species name and writing it down, pressing pencil to paper, once for each individual—to do that not for a weekend, not a few dozen times, but to perform that meditation thousands of times over a lifetime—there is no more intimate, more mesmerizing way to connect with nature. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today in botanical history, we celebrate an American doctor, a Viscountess, and a Canadian fiction writer. We hear a little excerpt about September - such a milestone month for so many people. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about one of America's greatest explorers. And then we'll wrap things up with tomato tips from garden writer Stuart Robinson who shares how to get the last of your harvest to ripen faster. A question on many gardener's minds... Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to "Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast." And she will. It's just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:

• A personal update from me
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Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Curated News Torture Orchard | The Counter | Julie Cart Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events September 15, 1795 Birth of James Gates Percival, American poet, surgeon, and geologist. In The Language of Flowers, he wrote, In Eastern lands they talk in flowers, And they tell in a garland their loves and cares: Each blossom that blooms in their garden bowers, On its leaves a mystic language bears. In The Flight of Time, he wrote, Roses bloom, and then they wither; Cheeks are bright, then fade and die; Shapes of light are wafted hither, Then, like visions, hurry by. September 15, 1872 Birth of Frances Garnet Wolseley, 2nd Viscountess Wolseley, English gardening author, and teacher. Her Glynde College for Lady Gardeners in East Sussex was patronized by Gertrude Jekyll, Ellen Willmott, and William Robinson. She wrote, It is with real sorrow that we see so many [survivors] of an era of not particularly good taste in the shape of iron benches. It is their undoubted durability which has preserved them, and we who try to rest upon them are the sufferers, not only for their unpleasing appearance but from the ill-chosen formation of the back… September 15, 1937 Birth of Marjorie Harris, Canadian non-fiction writer, garden expert, and garden author. She was the host of The Urban Gardener radio show for CBS. In addition to countless articles and columns for various publications, she wrote more than a dozen books on gardening. She wrote, The longer you garden, the better the eye gets, the more tuned to how colors vibrate in different ways and what they can do to each other. You become a scientist as well as an artist, with the lines between increasingly blurred. Unearthed Words The windows are open, admitting the September breeze: a month that smells like notepaper and pencil shavings, autumn leaves, and car oil. A month that smells like progress, like moving on. ― Lauren Oliver, Vanishing Girls Grow That Garden Library The World was My Garden by David Fairchild This book came out in 1938, and the subtitle is Travels of a Plant Explorer. In this book, you learn directly from the fabulous Plant Explorer David Fairchild about what it was like to travel the globe searching for new plant species to bring home to the United States. In this first-hand account, David shares his extensive botanical expertise in addition to detailed stories about his time with primitive cultures in the far reaches of our planet. In addition to his outstanding botanical work, David was a great photographer, and he provided all of the photos for this remarkable book. This book is 634 pages of botanical exploration with David Fairchild as your guide. You can get a used copy of this rare, out-of-print book, The World was My Garden by David Fairchild, and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $50. Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September 15, 2004 On this day, in The Gazette (Montreal), garden writer Stuart Robinson shared tips for getting tomatoes to ripen faster. He wrote: The first trick is to trim some of the leaves covering the green fruit so that they're more exposed to the sun. This helps them warm up during the daytime. But the very best way of making sure that all the fruit on a vine turns ripe is to cut down on their competition. Step one is to pinch off all the side shoots... Be ruthless and remove them all, even if they seem to be producing a small set of flower buds… Step two is… trim the growing tips from all the remaining stems to stop the plant from getting any bigger. One gardener I know swears that severe pinching threatens the plant so much that it hurries to set its fruit (and seeds) much quicker. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."