The Daily Gardener

Today we celebrate a disabled botanist who felt no area could be considered fully explored. We'll also learn about the tree that honors David Douglas. We'll hear some thoughts about the future and our need to turn to nature, which will only grow in importance. We Grow That Garden Library™ with an old book that taught us how to cook with garden herbs, vegetables, and fruit. And then we'll wrap things up with a humorous story about a poet, a coachman, and street trees. 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 Lessons from Festival Beach Food Forest in Austin, Texas | Fine Gardening | Karen Beaty 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 January 22, 1917 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Presbyterian minister, writer, and American botanist Ellsworth Jerome Hill. Ellsworth was born in Leroy, New York. When Ellsworth was only 20 years old, one of his knees stopped working, and a doctor suggested he study botany. So, Ellsworth would crawl from his house to the orchard, where he would pick a few flowers and then crawl back to the house to identify them. And the following year, Ellsworth, who used to canes when he walked, moved to Mississippi, where the climate was warmer. After Ellsworth met and married a young woman named Milancy Leach, she became his daily helpmate. When Ellsworth was feeling especially lame or simply lacked strength, Milancy would step in and finish the work for him. However, by the time he was 40, Ellsworth somehow put his lameness behind him. In the back half of his life, he seemed to be better able to manage his physical challenge. Thanks to Milancy's guidance, Ellsworth had learned how to cope with the symptoms. In a touching tribute to Ellsworth after his death, the botanist Agnes Chase wrote: "Most of these collections were made while Ellsworth walked on crutches or with two canes. Ellsworth told me that he carried his vasculum over his shoulder and a camp stool with his crutch or cane in one hand. To secure a plant, he would drop the camp stool, which opened of itself, then he would lower himself to the stool and dig the plant. Ellsworth recovered from his lameness but often suffered acute pain from cold or wetness or overexertion. But this did not deter him from making botanical trips that would have taxed a more robust man. In the Dunes, I have seen him tire out more than one able-bodied man." Ellsworth recognized the value in revisiting places that had been previously botanized. It was Ellsworth Jerome Hill who said, "In studying the flora of a restricted region, no matter how carefully it seems to have been explored, one is frequently surprised by new things... No region can be regarded as thoroughly explored until every acre of its wild areas at least has been examined. Some plants are so rare or local or grow under such peculiar conditions that a few square rods or even feet may comprise their range." January 22, 1927 On this day, The Placer Herald out of Rocklin, California, shared a story called "Douglas Fir Entirely Distinct Tree Species." "The Douglas fir, a native of the Northwest but now being planted extensively in the East, is becoming a famous Christmas tree. The species was named for a Scotch botanist who discovered it on an expedition in 1825, but its scientific name is Pseudotsuga, meaning "false hemlock." As a matter of fact, it is neither a hemlock nor a fir, and though it is sometimes called a spruce, It isn't that either. The tree belongs to an entirely distinct species. The tree most commonly used for Christmas trees is a real fir: the balsam - so-called because its blister-like pockets yield a resinous liquid known as Canada balsam, which is used, among other things, for attaching cover plates to microscope slides." The Douglas-fir is not a true fir, which is why it is spelled with a hyphen. Anytime you see a hyphen in the common name, you know it's not a true member of the genus. Unearthed Words Almost 40 years ago, clinical psychologist and pet therapy expert Boris M. Levinson was asked to speculate on what the human-pet world might look like in the year 2000 and beyond. Levinson turned out to be quite the soothsayer, predicting an explosion in pet acquisition thanks to the computer-driven, technological world. In January 1974, he said: "Suffering from even greater feelings of alienation than those which are already attacking our emotional health, future man will be compelled to turn to nature and the animal world to recapture some sense of unity with a world that otherwise will seem chaotic and meaningless ... in the year 2000 pets will become a very important safety valve in a sick society." — Your Brain on Nature by Eva Selhub and Alan Logan Grow That Garden Library Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell This book came out in 1971, and the illustrations are by Tasha Tudor. This is a vintage book for the gardener cook - a 50-year-old classic with Betty Crocker recipes designed to incorporate herbs and vegetables. This book is 170 pages of adorably illustrated garden recipes. You can get a copy of Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell 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 January 21, 1901 On this day, The Danville News out of Danville, Kentucky, shared a story about the English Journalist, poet, and short-story writer, Rudyard Kipling. It turns out after Rudyard Kipling left Vermont, he rented a place called The Elms in the little English village of Rottingdean between 1897 and 1902. Now for some reason, Rudyard did not get along with a local bus driver named Boniface. Apparently, when Boniface would drive his bus past Rudyard's property or see Rudyard outside, he would point his whip at him and snarkily say, "Here we have Mr. Kipling, the soldier-poet." Rudyard endured this character for a while, but then Boniface had an accident right outside Rudyard's home, and his bus hit one of Rudyard's favorite trees. Upset by the damage and the character of this man, Rudyard sent Boniface a stern complaint letter. Now Boniface happened to own a local tavern called "The White Horse Inn." And after receiving Rudyard's letter, Boniface read the letter to his customers at the tavern, and while some of the customers advised ignoring the letter, one of the more wealthy customers bought the autographed letter from Kipling for 10 shillings. As for Rudyard, when he didn't hear anything back, he sent Boniface a second, more-strongly-worded, letter. Again, Boniface read the letter to his customers at the tavern. This time, one of his customers paid him a pound for the letter. After hearing nothing in days, you can imagine what happened next: Rudyard finally went to The White Horse Inn to meet Boniface in person, and he angrily asked why his letters went unanswered. Boniface smugly replied, "Why didn't I answer your letters, sir? Well, I was hoping you'd send me a fresh one every day. They pay a great deal better than driving a bus!" Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate one of my favorite botanists and his personal story of love and love of poetry and nature. We'll also learn about an extraordinary gardener who could grow anything - and I mean anything. We'll hear Rosemary Verey's thoughts on patterns. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a behind-the-scenes look at the 2009 White House Garden and the modern community garden movement. And then we'll wrap things up with a celebration that may drive you nuts - but we will celebrate nonetheless. 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 Hillside Landscaping Ideas | Better Homes & Gardens 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 January 21, 1854 Today is the birthday of the Washington DC-based USDA botanist Erwin Frink Smith. Erwin had attempted to solve the problem of the peach yellows - a disease caused by a microorganism called a phytoplasma, and it was affecting Peach Orchards. It was called the Peach Yellows disease because the main symptom was that new leaves would have a yellowish tint. Now, if Erwin had solved the Peach Yellows' problem, he would have become world-famous - but he didn't. Years later, it was actually the botanist Louis Otto Kunkel who discovered it was a type of leafhopper that was carrying the disease. Although Erwin didn't solve the Peach Yellows problem, he was a peach of a guy. In researching Erwin, I discovered a rare combination of kindness and intellect. And Erwin was ahead of his time. Erwin developed a reputation for hiring and promoting female botanists as his assistants at the Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington DC. After giving these women tasks based on their strengths instead of their job descriptions, Erwin's team was able to work on projects that charted new territory for female botanists. The happiest day in Erwin's life was no doubt when he married the pretty Charlotte Mae Buffet on April 13, 1893. Together, Erwin and Charlotte shared an epic love for each other and for reading and poetry. Tragically, after twelve years of marriage, Charlotte was diagnosed with endocarditis. She died eight months later, on December 28, 1906. Erwin dealt with his grief by putting together a book of poetry, stories, and a biography of Charlotte. The book is called For Her Friends and Mine: A Book of Aspirations, Dreams, and Memories. Erwin wrote, "This book is a cycle of my life— seven lonely years are in it. The long ode (on page 62) is a cry of pain." There's one passage from Erwin describing Charlotte's fantastic ability to attune to the natural world, and I thought you'd find it as touching as I did when I first read it: "Charlotte's visual powers were remarkable. They far exceeded my own. Out of doors, her keen eyes were always prying into the habits of all sorts of living things... Had she cared for classification, which she did not, and been willing to make careful records, she might have become an expert naturalist. Whether she looked into the tops of the tallest trees, or the bottom of a stream, or the grass at her feet, she was always finding marvels of adaptation to wonder at... She made lists of all the birds that visited her neighborhood. She knew most of them by their songs, and some times distinguished individuals of the same species by little differences in their notes... She knew when they nested and where, how they made their nests, and what food they brought to their young. In studying birds, she used an opera-glass, not a shotgun. She was, however, a very good shot with the revolver." January 21, 1881 Today is the birthday of the incredible American gardener, plant whisperer, and horticulturist Rae Selling Berry. Almost totally deaf by the time she was an adult, Rae was an excellent lip reader, and many suspect her deafness helped her attune to plants. In the early 1900s, Rae started a new hobby: gardening. Like many gardeners, Rae began gardening with a few pots on her front porch. It wasn't long before Rae was collecting and growing rare plants - not only on her homeplace - but also on two vacant lots she rented next door. After subscribing to many English garden magazines, Rae ordered her plants and seeds from the world's best nurseries. She also subscribed to exotic plant explorations so that she could get seeds from the top explorers like George Forrest, Frank Kingdon-Ward, and Joseph Rock. Rae wanted the latest and greatest plants - and once she got them, she mastered growing them. In addition to Rhododendrons, Rae had a weakness for Primula. During her lifetime, no one grew Primulas better than Rae Berry Seling. And to illustrate just how much Rae loved Primulas, in April 1932, Rae wrote an article for The National Horticultural Magazine where she profiled the sixty-one species she grew in her gardens - the article was understatedly titled Primulas in My Garden. In 1938, Rae and her husband bought a new property in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The location of the property along a great ridge offered a number of microclimates and growing conditions. Best of all, Rae's new place included water - springs and small rivers, as well as a marsh and a wetland. Each of these features offered unique advantages as Rae picked locations to situate her incredible rare plants. Now it's often said of Rae that she was in tune with the most finicky of plants. She had an uncanny ability to understand the needs of her various plant specimens, and she put those needs ahead of design aesthetics. Her incredible Rhododendron collection grew happily in simple raised frames behind her house. And in the spring, visitors to her garden were in awe of her beds featuring great masses of blooming rhododendrons. In the 1950s, Rae received a single corm of the Chilean blue crocus (Tecophilaea cyanocrocus "tee-KO-fy-LEE-ah sy-ANN-oh-cro-cus"). Native to the Andes in Chile, this blue crocus is exceptionally rare to see in cultivation… unless you were Rae Berry. Apparently, there was one memorable spring, when seventy-five Chilean blue crocus bloomed in Rae's garden. Can you imagine? It was Rae Selling Berry who said: "You don't tell a plant where to grow; it will tell you." Unearthed Words I enjoy patterns, man-made and natural, and as soon as I start looking around me, they are everywhere. The countryside in winter has tree skeletons silhouetted against the sky — trees without leaves. One day their background is dark grey, another it is clear blue, but there is always a natural pattern of trunk and branches, a lesson in symmetry with variations. As the snow slowly melts, man-made patterns, still filled with snow, scar the fields where the wheel marks of tractors crossed the newly sown corn last autumn, sometimes straight, sometimes following the line of the walls or hedgerows. — Rosemary Verey, gardener and garden writer, A Countrywoman's Year, January Grow That Garden Library American Grown by Michelle Obama This book came out in 2012, and the subtitle is The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America. In this book, we are reminded of the wonderful kitchen garden that Michelle Obama planted on the White House's South Lawn in April of 2009. This book takes us inside the White House Kitchen Garden - from planning and planting to the final harvest. You'll learn about Michelle's worries and joys as a new gardener. Best of all, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the garden along with the recipes created by White House chefs. Finally, if you have an interest in putting together a school or community garden, there are plenty of tips. There are many inspiring stories of gardens from across the country, including the Houston office workers who make the sidewalk bloom; a New York City School that created a scented garden for the visually impaired; a North Carolina garden that devotes its entire harvest to those in need; and other stories of communities that are transforming the lives and health of their citizens. This book is 272 pages of gardening that stretches from the recent gardening history of the White House to the great gardening going on in communities across America. You can get a copy of American Grown by Michelle Obama and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $3 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 21, 2001 Today is National Squirrel Appreciation Day, which was founded in 2001 by Christy Hargrove, a wildlife rehabilitator in Asheville, North Carolina. Christy created the special day to acknowledge that food sources for squirrels are scarce in mid-winter. Gardeners are generally of two minds when it comes to squirrels. They either don't mind them, or they really dislike them. Thanks to their tremendous athleticism, Squirrels are a challenging pest in the garden. For instance, it may seem impossible, but squirrels have a 5-foot vertical. Nowadays, their ability to leap is well-documented on YouTube. Squirrels are also excellent sprinters and swimmers. And they are zigzag masters when they run - a wicked skill that helps them evade predators. A squirrel nest is called a drey. Squirrels make their nests with leaves, and the mother lines the inside of the drey with grass. Now, as squirrels bury acorns and other seeds, they either sometimes forget or simply don't return to some of their buried food. But, lucky for squirrels, they can smell an acorn buried in the ground beneath a foot of snow. As gardeners, we should remember that squirrels perform an essential job for trees. They help the forest renew itself by caching seeds and burying them. In fact, the job that squirrels do in caching seeds is absolutely critical to some trees' survival. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate the pardoned outlaw who donated the land for the Oxford Botanic Garden. We'll also learn about Carl Jr. - Linnaeus's son - Linnaeus filius, who surely felt some pressure growing up in his father's shadow. We'll hear one of my favorite letters from the garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a delightful book of hope and grace for gardeners and for anyone - an excellent book for 2021. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the first female botanist in America. 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 Jobs for January | Adventures in Horticulture | Lou Nicholls 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 January 20, 1643 Today is the anniversary of the death of Henry Danvers, the 1st Earl of Danby. In 1621, Henry founded the Oxford Botanic Garden, but planting didn't start until the 1640s As a young man, Henry was an English soldier who was outlawed after killing a rival family's son. The Danvers and the Longs had feuded for generations. Along with his brother and a few friends, Henry ambushed Henry Long as he was dining at a tavern. And that's when Henry Danvers shot and killed Henry Long and became an outlaw. After the shooting, Henry and his gang fled to France, where they honorably served in the French army. Four years later, the King of France interceded on the men's behalf and secured a pardon for them. After returning to England, Henry regained favor for his service and ultimately became a Knight of the Garter and the lifelong governor of Guernsey's isle. Henry never married, but he created a lasting legacy for himself when he donated five acres of land to the University of Oxford. Henry had the flood-prone land along the river raised and enclosed with a high wall. The massive stone gateway to the garden was designed by a peer and friend to Inigo Jones, a master mason named Nicholas Stone. The Danby gateway is inscribed: Gloriae Dei opt. max. Honori Caroli Regis. In usum Acad. et Reipub. and the frieze inscription is Henricus Comes Danby D.D. 1632 - or "In honor of King Charles, for academic use and the general welfare by the Earl of Danby 1632." January 20, 1741 Today is the birthday of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus the Younger, the son of the great Carl Linnaeus or Carl von Linné. To distinguish him from his famous father, he was referred to as Linnaeus filius, Latin for Linnaeus, the son. For botanical purposes, he is referred to with the abbreviation L.f. for Linnaeus filius. Carl Linneaus learned of his son's birth while he was away in Stockholm. He wrote a letter straight away to his wife Sara Lisa, saying: "How excited I was when I received the news I had been longing for… I kiss the gracious hand of God ... that we have been blessed with a son. Take care to avoid changes of temperature and draughts, for carelessness of that sort might harm you. I remain, my dearest wife, your faithful husband, Carl Linnaeus Greetings to my little Carl." When he was just nine years old, Linnaeus filius enrolled at the University of Uppsala and taught by great botanists like Pehr Löfling, Daniel Solander, and Johan Peter Falk. Eleven years later, Linnaeus filius backfilled his father's position as the chair of Practical Medicine at the University. Unfortunately, Linnaeus filius was resented by his peers after favoritism played a role in the promotion. At the tender age of 22, Linnaeus filius got the job without applying or defending a thesis. Twenty years later, Linnaeus filius was in the middle of a two-year-long expedition through Europe. When he reached London, Linnaeus filius became ill and died from a stroke. He was just 42 years old. Unearthed Words January 20, 1945 ... I can't imagine anything worse than a square of dogwoods back of the house. I thought your idea was that you wanted to clear that all out (except for the serviceberry, which is to one side) so you could look out of the kitchen window and up the mountainside instead of being hemmed in? If you want to put dogwoods there, I would suggest putting them to the left side (as you look up the mountainside) in a group near the fence. And not so as to hide the prettiest view of the woods, to frame it if possible. If you keep the apple tree, you might have a seat under it. ... I don't know what you mean by spider lilies, but I am sure that you won't hurt whatever they are if you take a big ball of earth and do not disturb the roots. The point is not to break them when they are growing. I feel sure that white pines will be the best and quickest screen for the pigsty. ... If you order any, be sure to have your holes all dug before they come. Dig three feet deep and four in diameter, and fill in with woods mold, and put a good mulch of leaves over it, and if you have it where you can water, I think everyone would grow soon and make a screen. Be sure to write to me before you do anything drastic. ... Bessie and I took a salad and a pan of rolls and went to have supper with your family last night. We had Blanche's walnuts for dessert. And Robert and I made Cleopatras, not so good, somehow, as the ones at Christmas. I must put the puppy to bed before he chews up all the files of Gardening Illustrated. — Elizabeth Lawrence, gardener and garden writer, letter to her sister Ann, January 20, 1945 Grow That Garden Library All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Thoughts for Boundless Living. I fell in love with this book when I saw the beautiful cover that features botanical art. With over a million followers on Instagram, Morgan's fans love her beautiful artwork and inspiring thoughts about life. This book is a fabulous collection of illustrated poetry and prose that helps you "stumble into the sunlight" and bask in the joy that is all around you. All Along You Were Blooming is a perfect gift for any occasion. This book is 192 pages of grace and hope, and artistic beauty. You can get a copy of All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $11 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 20, 1756 On this day, Peter Collinson wrote to John Bartram about Jane Colden. "Our friend, Colden's daughter, has… sent over several sheets of plants, very curiously anatomized after [Linnaeus's] method. I believe she is the first lady that has attempted anything of this nature." Peter Collinson was one of the first botanical experts to recognize Jane Colden as the first female botanist in America. Like our modern-day plant swaps, Jane took part in something called the Natural History Circle - an event where American colonists and European collectors exchanged seeds and plants. Jane's father was the Scottish-American physician, botanist, and Lieutenant Governor of New York, Cadwallader Colden (CAD-wah-LIDDER). Aside from his political endeavors, Cadwallader enjoyed botany and practiced the new Linnaean system. A proud dad, Cadwallader wrote to his friend Jan Gronovius, "I (have) often thought that botany is an amusement which may be made greater to the ladies who are often at a loss to fill up their time… Their natural curiosity and the pleasure they take in the beauty… seems to fit it for them (far more than men). The chief reason that few or none of them have applied themselves to (it)… is because all the books of any value are (written) in Latin. I have a daughter (with) an inclination... for natural philosophy or history… I took the pains to explain to her Linnaeus's system and put it in English for her to use - by freeing it from the technical terms, which was easily done by using two or three words in the place of one. She is now grown very fond of the study… she now understands to some degree Linnaeus's characters [even though] she does not understand Latin. She has already (written) a pretty large volume in writing of the description of plants." Cadwallader gave Jane access to his impressive botanical library; he even shared his personal correspondence with her and allowed her to interact with the many botanists who visited the family's estate. In 1754 at Coldenham, when Jane was 30 years old, she met a young William Bartram who was less than half her age at just 14 years old. She also met with the Charleston plantsman Alexander Garden who was only 24 years old. In 1758, Walter Rutherford wrote to a friend after visiting the Colden home, Coldingham, and he described Cadwallader, his house, and his 34-year-old daughter Jane this way: "We made an excursion to Coldingham... From the middle of the woods, this family corresponds with all the learned societies in Europe…. his daughter Jenny is a florist and a botanist. She has discovered a great number of plants never before described and has given their properties and virtues [in her descriptions].... and she draws and colors them with great beauty… She (also) makes the best cheese I ever ate in America." Today the genus Coldenia in the borage family is named after Jane's father, Cadwallader Colden. After Jane discovered a new plant, the Coptis trifolia, she asked Linneaus to name it in her honor Coldenella - but he refused. With the common name Threeleaf Goldthread, Coptis trifolia is a woodland perennial plant in the buttercup family with glossy evergreen leaves. The long golden-yellow underground stem gives the plant the Goldthread part of its common name. Native Americans used to dig up the yellow stem and chew on it as a canker sore remedy, which is how it got its other common name: canker-root. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate the self-taught botanist who saved the San Francisco herbarium. We'll also learn about the woman who helped describe the flora of Yosemite. We'll hear a little passage about the magic of light. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a magnificent new book by a modern plant master: Dan Hinckley. And then we'll wrap things up with a sudsy State Flower found in New Mexico. 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 3 Gorgeous Ways to Group Containers Together for a Lush Patio Garden | Better Homes & Gardens | Andrea Beck 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 January 19, 1859 Today is the birthday of one of our botanical greats: Alice Eastwood. A self-taught botanist, Alice is remembered for saving almost 1500 specimens from a burning building following the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. Afterward, Alice wrote about the specimens that didn't make it: "I do not feel the loss to be mine, but it is a great loss to the scientific world and an irreparable loss to California. My own destroyed work I do not lament, for it was a joy to me while I did it, and I can still have the same joy in starting it again." An account of Alice's heroics was recorded by Carola DeRooy, who wrote : "On the day of the 1906 earthquake, Alice Eastwood, curator of Botany at the California Academy of Sciences, rushed straight into the ruins of downtown San Francisco as a firestorm swept toward her beloved Academy building. Arriving to find the stone steps dangerously crumbled, she and a friend nevertheless climbed the metal spiral staircase to the 6th floor with a single-minded mission: to rescue what she could of the largest botanical collection in the Western United States, her life's work. Eastwood saved 1,497 plant type specimens from the Academy but lost the remainder of the collections to the all-consuming fire. Just three days later, she joined Geologist GK Gilbert to inspect a fault trace resulting from the earthquake, north of Olema, within what is now the Point Reyes National Seashore." That moment with Gilbert at the fault line was memorialized forever in a captivating photo featuring Alice standing next to the fault line's surface ruption. Alice was 47 years old when the quake hit in 1906. After the fire, Alice set her mind to rebuilding the herbarium, and over the next four decades, she collected over 300,000 specimens. Alice retired as the curator at the age of 90. Alice was the protégée of the botanist Kate Brandegee. Dale Debakcsy created a poignant article about Alice in 2018, and he ended it this way: "In 1959, the California Academy of Sciences unveiled the Eastwood Hall of Botany, which is very nice, but I think the most fitting tribute is the naming of the Eastwoodia elegans. There is only one species in the Eastwoodia genus, and it is a sunflower, and both of those facts match so well with everything we know of Alice Eastwood that nothing more need be said." January 19, 1880 Today is the birthday of the American suffragist, fern collector, botanist, professor, and author Carlotta Case Hall. Carlotta studied botany at the University of California, Berkeley, which is how she met her husband, the botanist and professor Harvey Monroe Hall. Later, Carlotta herself became an assistant professor of botany at Berkeley. Carlotta had a passion for collecting ferns, and she wrote about them as well. Today, Carlotta is remembered in the handy little illustrated guidebook on Yosemite that she co-wrote with her husband, Harvey. The pocket-sized botanical guidebook featuring over 900 species of plants was called A Yosemite Flora: A Descriptive Account of the Ferns and Flowering Plants, Including the Trees, of the Yosemite National Park; With Simple Keys for Their Identification; Designed to be Useful Throughout the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A 1912 Book Review said this: "For the lover of the great outdoors who combines with his love of wandering a fondness for botanical research, this little book will prove a heydey companion. The book is bound in flexible sheep and is just the right size for pocket use." Today, a beautiful light green California fern, the tufted lace fern or Carlotta Hall's lace fern (Aspidotis carlotta-halliae), is named in Carlotta's honor. Unearthed Words In my climate, the hours of daylight are few, the number of sunny hours even fewer. We trudge through the gloom day after day, all through January and February. But when the sun does shine, it carries a magnificence, unlike any other time. Perhaps our gratitude for light makes it so, but I think not. — Marjorie Harris, In the Garden, The Magic of Light Grow That Garden Library Windcliff by Daniel J. Hinkley This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is A Story of People, Plants, and Gardens. In this book, we learn about Windcliff - one of two magnificent gardens created by the plantsman, nurseryman, and plant hunter Dan Hinkley. (Dan also created Heronswood.) "These iconic gardens, and the story of how one gave rise to the other, are celebrated in Hinkley's deeply personal Windcliff. In a lively style that mingles audacious opinions on garden design with cautionary tales of planting missteps, Hinkley shares his infectious passion for plants." In these pages, you will love hearing about how Dan created Windcliff, from the exceptional plants he selected to his pragmatic garden advice. This book is 280 pages of creating a garden with a modern master who loves plants and is delighted to share his stunning garden with us. You can get a copy of Windcliff by Daniel J. Hinkley 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 January 19, 1925 On this day, The Santa Fe New Mexican published an article called "Yucca too Much" Like a Soap Ad; Wants Cosmos For State Flower. The article featured the opinion of a woman who said, "I object to the yucca as [the State Flower] and want to correct the statement that the school children chose it because they really chose the cactus. Personally, I suggest the cosmos, now grown all over America because years ago, an old Spanish family In Albuquerque brought some seed from Spain, which was afterward sent east, propagated, and distributed all over the country. The cosmos grows everywhere in New Mexico, profusely and so far as I know has [not] been appropriated as a state flower by [any] other states." Today the New Mexico State Flower remains the Yucca Flower. As hardy plants that thrive under trying conditions, Yuccas are a common sight across the lower elevations in New Mexico. The Soaptree Yucca (Yucca elata) is the most prevalent. A member of the Agavaceae ("Ah-gah-VAY-see-ee") Family, Yuccas are commonly known as Spanish bayonet, Adam's-needle, and soapweed. A valuable plant to many native tribes of the American Southwest, all parts of the Yucca plant were used. The pointy, sharp leaves were stripped into fibers for weaving. The Apaches enjoyed eating the edible flower stalks and blooms. Most of all, the Yucca root contains the compound saponin and is a natural source of soap. In addition to the yucca, there are several saponins or "soap plants" like the Horse Chestnut, the Soap Lily, the Soapwort, and the fruit of the Buffaloberry. The New Mexico State Legislature passed legislation making the yucca the official State Flower on March 14, 1927. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate the man who bought a forested property and wrote Winnie the Pooh. We'll also learn about the poet who found fame and then gardening on a grand scale. We'll hear some wonderful words about thistles. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a behind-the-scenes look at one of the World's top gardens. And then we'll wrap things up with the bizarre story of the Maple image that was used on Canadian currency. 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 Garden Short Cuts? No thanks | The Guardian | James Wong 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 January 18, 1882 Today is the birthday of the English author, best known for his books about a teddy bear named Winnie-the-Pooh, Alan Alexander Milne. In 2015 the garden historian Kathryn Aalto wrote a book that explored the iconic landscape around Alan's second home, Cotchford Farm in England. Surrounded by fields and Ashdown forest, Cotchford was the perfect place for Alan's young son, Christopher Robin, to spend weekends and holidays and imagine adventures with his favorite toys Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo. As an adult, Christopher later described it this way: "So there we were - in 1925 - with a cottage, a little bit of garden, a lot of jungle, two fields, a river, and then all the green, hilly countryside beyond, meadows and woods, waiting to be explored..." Finding inspiration at every turn, the group of pine trees on the other side of the main road became the fabled Six Pine Trees, and the bridge became Pooh-sticks Bridge. The trees of Ashdown forest played an important role in the Winnie-the-Pooh series. A Beech (Fagus) tree was Piglet's house. Owl's house was one of Christopher Robin's favorite trees because he could walk on one of the limbs (in the story, it said that it had its "elbow on the ground") An Alder (Alnus glutinosa) tree shaded poor Eeyore, as Pooh sat nearby on a rock. Although he lived in a large, old walnut tree, Pooh's favorite tree was naturally the "Bee Tree," the source for his precious honey. Finally, Piglet and Pooh followed the tracks of a Woozle through a thicket of Larch (Larix "LAIR-iks") trees. Larches are conifer trees like pines because they have needles instead of leaves. However, unlike pines, Larches are not evergreen; they are deciduous. So, every autumn, the needles of larches turn yellow and fall from the branches. And Larch seeds grow in cones. And here's a little fun fact about the illustrator of Winnie-the-Pooh, Ernest Howard Shepard: he drew the trees of the forest first and added the characters last to help create the feeling of the enormity of the forest. It was Alan Alexander Milne who wrote: "Flowers give a prolonged delight to all, both in the garden and out of it, and though one can buy cut flowers, one cannot buy the happiness which they give us as they grow." And he also wrote, "Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." Today Ashdown Forest is a protected nature area. January 18, 1936 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist, Rudyard Kipling. One of England's most famous writers, Rudyard, purchased a property called Bateman's in East Sussex in 1902. Rudyard called it his "good and peaceable place." From the onset, Rudyard envisioned Bateman's to be preserved in perpetuity. To help ensure his vision would become a reality, Rudyard purchased 300 acres of land surrounding the property. When Rudyard became the first English writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, he spent all the prize-money on his garden. The gardens at Bateman are a delight. In addition to the beautiful ornamental pond and orchard, there is a pergola, a walled mulberry garden, a walk, a rose garden, a secret door, and a sundial inscribed with the words "It's later than you think." When Rudyard was alive, his garden was a favorite for his guests and visitors. The Lily Pond was a special attraction. And we get a glimpse of Rudyard's playful side, knowing that he even had a little boat that was anchored to the edge of the pond. Rudyard built the boat for his children, and they would float around the pond on imaginary adventures. And apparently, other people had adventures in Rudyard's Lily Pond, too. If you look in the Kipling family visitor's book - after some of the names - Rudyard Kipling added the letters F.I.P. for Fell in Pool. Today, as Rudyard had hoped, Bateman's is under the care of the National Trust. In 1911 Kipling wrote his famous Garden poem called, The Glory of the Garden. Our England is a garden that is full of stately views, Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues, With statues on the terraces and peacocks strutting by; But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye. For where the old thick laurels grow, along the thin red wall, You'll find the tool- and potting-sheds which are the heart of all The cold-frames and the hot-houses, the dung-pits and the tanks, The rollers, carts, and drain-pipes, with the barrows and the planks. And there you'll see the gardeners, the men, and 'prentice boys Told off to do as they are bid and do it without noise ; For, except when seeds are planted, and we shout to scare the birds, The Glory of the Garden it abideth not in words. And some can pot begonias, and some can bud a rose, And some are hardly fit to trust with anything that grows; But they can roll and trim the lawns and sift the sand and loam, For the Glory of the Garden occupieth all who come. Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made By singing:-" Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade While better men than we go out and start their working lives At grubbing weeds from gravel-paths with broken dinner-knives. There's not a pair of legs so thin, there's not a head so thick, There's not a hand so weak and white, nor yet a heart so sick But it can find some needful job that's crying to be done, For the Glory of the Garden glorifieth every one. Then seek your job with thankfulness and work till further orders, If it's only netting strawberries or killing slugs on borders; And when your back stops aching and your hands begin to harden, You will find yourself a partner In the Glory of the Garden. Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him see That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees, So when your work is finished, you can wash your hands and pray For the Glory of the Garden that it may not pass away! And the Glory of the Garden it shall never pass away! Unearthed Words Tough and durable, defiant against aggressors: the thistle embodied qualities that the Scots saw as their own, and the flower became their national emblem. There is a well-known legend of a Viking who stood on a thistle: his cry of pain alerted sleeping Scottish clansmen just in time to hold back the attack. The Order of the Thistle, a chivalric order founded by King James VII, has a famous motto: Nemo me impune lacessit or 'No one harms me without punishment' - evoking the prickly aggressiveness of the plant. — Mandy Kirby, gardener and garden writer, A Victorian Flower Dictionary, The Thistle Grow That Garden Library A Year at Kew by Rupert Smith This book came out in 2004, and it's a great way to learn about Kew. In this book, you get the chance to see what a year is like at the real Kew Garden in England. This book offers a unique, private tour of this magnificent botanical garden. You'll get to meet the world-class experts that work at Kew's greenhouses, labs, and libraries. The monthly chapters also offer a review of the flurry activities at Kew, from what is blooming and what is getting planted to the special events and exhibitions. In addition, every month, one of the curators shares their fascinating work and career at Kew. This book is 192 pages of the behind-the-scenes programs, plants, and people of Kew and would make a wonderful gift for any gardener. You can get a copy of A Year at Kew by Rupert Smith and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $2 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 18, 2013 On this day, Reuters published an article about the new Canadian dollar bill. The article, by Randall Palmer, was called, Canada put "wrong" Maple leaf on new Canadian 20-dollar bill. Here's an excerpt: "Canada is known for the Sugar Maple, emblazoned on its red-and-white flag, but the Bank of Canada has put what one careful botanist says is a foreign Norway Maple leaf on its new currency. The untrained eye might not at first spot the difference between the Maple leaf on the new $20, $50, and $100 bills and the North American Sugar Maple. But it is clear to Sean Blaney, a botanist who tracks plants for the Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Center in New Brunswick. "The Maple leaf (on the currency) is the wrong species," he told Reuters on Friday. Sean said the Norway Maple has more lobes or sections and has a more pointed outline than the Sugar Maple, and the lobe that rises in the center is shorter than the Sugar Maple. The Norway Maple was imported from Europe and is now also common in North America. Sean said, "It has naturalized to Canada, but it's not the grand Sugar Maple." The Central Bank said the image on the new bills was purposefully designed not to represent any specific species but rather to be a combination of various kinds. "It is not a Norway Maple leaf. It is a stylized Maple leaf, and it is what it ought to be," said Bank of Canada currency spokesman Julie Girard. She said the banknote designers created the image with the help of a dendrologist, a botanist who specializes in trees and shrubs. Blaney is not buying the explanation. "I think it's just an after-the-fact excuse," he said. "That may have been their intention, to not have it be a specific species of Maple, but they should have drawn it differently if that were the case because the Maple that they've drawn is quite clearly a Norway Maple." Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate living virtually - we can tour one of the world's greatest museums - which opened on this day in 1759. We'll also learn about a man who endeared himself to his countrymen when he published a book about the plant life found within sixteen miles of his hometown. We'll hear some thoughts on identifying wildlife in the winter garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a beautiful book that's full of incredible wisdom from a seasoned gardener and stylist. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the woman who wrote about her garden and called herself the commuter's wife. 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 How to Grow and Care for Spirea Shrubs | The Spruce | Les Engels 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 January 15, 1759 On this day, the British Museum opened. The British Museum was founded in 1753 when Sir Hans Hans left his entire collection to the country of England. At first glance, a personal collection doesn't sound worthy of starting a museum. But over his lifetime, Hans ended up becoming a one-person repository for all things relating to the natural world. Hans outlived many of the explorers and collectors of his day, and as they would die, they would bequeath him their herbariums and collections. So when Hans passed away, he practically had become the caretaker of the world's Natural History, aka the British Museum. Today the British Museum is the largest indoor space captured by Google Street View. Google mapped the museum in November of 2015, and so it's now available online to all of us. So, today if someone asks you what you're doing, you can say, "I'm going to tour the British Museum. What are you up to?" January 15, 1786 Today is the birthday of the British shoemaker and amateur botanist Richard Buxton. Born into poverty in Lancashire, as a young boy, Richard enjoyed picking his favorite wildflowers: Germander Speedwell, Creeping Tormentil or Cinquefoil, and Common Chickweed. Now, although it has pretty deep blue flowers, I think it's a little funny that Richard picked Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys "kam-EE-driss") because the blossoms wilt quickly after picking or cutting them - which is how it got the ironic common name "Männertreu" in Germany. "Männertreu" means "men's faithfulness." As for Creeping Tormentil or Cinquefoil (Potentilla reptans) - today, that plant is considered a lawn weed. And a clue to the medicinal power of this invasive plant is its name: Potentilla, which means "powerful, despite its small size." Finally, all species of Chickweed are in the genus Stellaria. And, the adorable little chickweed blossoms resemble carnations, which makes sense because chickweed is actually a member of the carnation family, Caryophyllaceae ("kair-ee-off-il-AYE-see-ee"). And before we get back to Richard's story, there's another great thing to know about Chickweed: it's a great plant to eat. I think of it as a spinach substitute. Nutritious and delicious, you can eat Chickweed leaves raw or in a sandwich or salad. The mild flavor is delightful - and if you're wondering what it tastes like, it's often compared to corn silk. As for Richard, he was industrious, and he taught himself to read when he was 16. Richard accomplished this herculean task with two books: The Common Spelling Book and Jones Pronouncing Dictionary. And by the age of 18, Richard became an apprentice to a shoemaker and an amateur botanist named James Heap. Together, James and Richard would botanize the countryside - looking for herbs to make drinks. After realizing a reference book would help with their foraging, Richard bought a copy of Culpeper's Complete Herbal. And when Culpepper wasn't practical enough or accurate, Richard purchased Meyrick's Herbal. For Richard, both of these books both started a lifelong pursuit for botanical knowledge. As a gardener, if you struggle with taking cuttings from your garden, you'll identify with Richard. Although most botanists collect specimens and then dry and mount them, Richard couldn't bear to cut the specimens he found in nature. Instead, Richard made all of his botanical discoveries by observing living plants and taking notes. In 1849, when Richard was 62, he endeared himself to his countrymen when he published a book called A Botanical Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses, and Algae, Found Indigenous Within Sixteen Miles of Manchester. Richard's obituary in The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser said: "This extraordinary self-taught man died at his residence… after a very short illness, in the 81st year of his age. It is now nearly twenty years since Mr. Buxton, then a maker of children's shoes wrote his "Botanical Guide." In that book, in an exciting account of himself, Richard said, "I have now reached the age of 62 years, and although by no means robust, I can yet make a ramble of thirty miles a day, and enjoy the beauties of nature with as much zest as ever I did in my life. True, the pursuit of botany has not yielded me much money, but what, in my opinion, is far better, it has preserved my health, if not my life, and afforded me a fair share of happiness." Mr. Buxton was probably the best British botanist... that Lancashire has produced, and he has been called by one of the most eminent living authorities, " a complete dictionary of English botany." Richard was a pauper all of his life. As he grew older, Richard's friends and fellow naturalists encouraged the community to help Richard by buying his book. And the geologist Edward William Binney set up a fund for Richard and ultimately ended up paying for Richard's tombstone when he died at the age of 81. And in 1914, The Guardian shared that members of a Manchester nature club were going to try to ascertain how many of the 40 plants mentioned by Buxton still existed. There was no word on the results of that endeavor. Unearthed Words The first thing I noticed as I watched my own boots sink below the blue-shadowed surface were the footprints of many other occupants of the garden. The mallard duck had left their heavy, plodding trails before flying off, hopefully, to someplace where the water is not totally frozen over - probably to the salt marshes which are not far away. The large webless prints of moorhens, setting off in determined straight lines, were everywhere. Blackbirds, thrushes, robins, and jackdaws were evident in a confused jumble of prints all around the house and buildings. I wish I could identify more of the strange little footmarks to be found in the snow. However, it is not difficult to recognize rabbits' long feet, crisscrossing an area we call 'The Wilderness,' my last two acres of uncultivated land, which is wired off from the garden with rabbit-proof netting. Here too, I saw the prints of a fox together with a continuous hollow scraped in the soft snow. It was easy to imagine him dragging his kill back to some hideaway. Wingbeats of alighting birds were left imprinted as blue-shadowed fans on the glittering whiteness. — Beth Chatto, garden writer and gardener, Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook, January Grow That Garden Library A Year at Brandywine Cottage by David Culp This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Six Seasons of Beauty, Bounty, and Blooms. In this book, David Culp shares a year of life at his Brandywine Cottage and generously shares how to enrich your life with the natural world - even if it's just your own backyard. David's book is organized seasonally and offers a smorgasbord of flower gardening, veggie and herb growing, floral arranging, and cooking with home-grown produce. David provides monthly tips and advice to help you experience year-round success and joy. Best of all, David's shared wisdom is practical and creative - and all are gems of conciseness and are based on his 30 years of experience. This book is 296 pages of David Culp's extraordinary life - in and out of the garden - at Brandywine Cottage. It's an inspiring read for gardeners and anyone who finds the natural world an enriching and joyful part of life. You can get a copy of A Year at Brandywine Cottage by David Culp and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $13. Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 15, 1906 On this day, The Nashville Banner ran a story about revealing a prolific author and nature lover's true identity. It said: "The authorship of the popular book... The Garden of a Commuter's Wife... has been as jealously guarded in this country. It can be positively stated, however, that the book [was] written by Mable Osgood Wright. Her authorship will be ...announced by the Macmillan Company on the publication of a new book in the series The Garden, You and I." A New Yorker, Mabel Osgood Wright, was a leader of the Audobon movement, a photographer, a conservationist, a native plant advocate, and an American author who wrote about gardens, nature, and birds. A nature writer, Mabel started out by submitting pieces to The New York Times and other newspapers. A decade later, she collected her articles and put them in a book called The Friendship of Nature. After her first book, Mabel produced a brand new book every single year until 1911. Some of her more famous works include Birdcraft, which came out in 1895, and Flowers and Ferns in Their Haunts, released in 1901. Mabel had a gift for writing about nature and natural sciences in a way that was relatable and struck a chord with her readers. As a talented photographer, Mabel took most of the photographs for her books. As indicated in the newspaper article above, Mabel published her best-selling book The Garden of a Commuter's Wife (1901) and its sequels, under the pseudonym "Barbara." In Mabel's book The Garden of a Commuter's Wife, the gardener was Mabel, and the Commuter was her husband, James. Mabel dedicated her book and her garden to him. Mabel was opposed to the massacre of birds to decorate women's hats. In Connecticut, Mabel created the first private bird sanctuary in the country. The sanctuary, Birdcraft, was Mabel's design. Today the six-acre Birdcraft Sanctuary is open daily, year-round, from dawn to dusk. And Mabel's beautiful Connecticut country home and garden gave her plenty of material for her books. It was Mabel Osgood Wright who said: "Let everyone who makes garden plans frequently insert the letters C.P. after them as a reminder... for Climate Permitting." Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate one of my favorite botanical painters. We'll also learn about a botanist who was one of the first female plant pathologists. We'll hear some thoughts on the humble dandelion. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a fun fiction book that incorporates masterful recipes, mystery, secrets, conflict, and the garden. And then we'll wrap things up with a story about a beloved Louisiana garden expert. 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 The Transformation of a Yorkshire Garden | House & Garden | Caroline Beck 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 January 14, 1825 On this day, King Charles X honored the Belgian botanical illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté with the Legion of Honor. Redouté was born into a Flemish family of painters. His family made a living by creating paintings for the home and for the church. Today, Redouté is one of the most renowned flower painters of all time - he's a personal favorite of mine. And I love the stories about Redouté. One time when he was serving as an official royal draftsman, Redouté was summoned to appear before Queen Marie Antoinette. I like to imagine the excitement this caused - especially since the Queen sent her request around midnight. When Redouté appeared, the Queen asked him to paint her a cactus. She was exerting her control; Redouté needed to prove that the reports of his talent were real. He passed the test. Redouté was also a favorite of Josephine Bonaparte. In fact, Redouté's paintings of Josephine's flowers at Malmaison are among his most beautiful works. And Redouté's work earned him a nickname; the Raffaele of flowers. Today, Redouté is best known for his paintings of lilies and roses (roses were his specialty). Now, if you'd like to really treat yourself or get a special gift for a gardener in your life, you should check out the book by Werner Dressendorfer called Redouté: Selection of the Most Beautiful Flowers. This large coffee table book was released in September of 2018. As one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen, Dressendorfer's book features 144 paintings by Redouté that were published between 1827 and 1833. And I must confess that this gorgeous book is one of my favorite books in my Botanical Library. Now when this book first came out, it retailed for $150. Last year, after mulling it over for a long time - mainly because of the price, I got myself an excellent used copy for $65. Today new and used copies of Redouté: Selection of the Most Beautiful Flowers by Werner Dressendorfer are being sold on Amazon for between $350 and $900. January 14, 1865 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Belgian botanist, mycologist, and one of the first women plant pathologists, Marie-Anne Libert. Born in 1782, Marie-Anne was the twelfth of thirteen children in her middle-class family. Her parents immediately recognized her intellect, and they sent her to school in Germany when she was 11 years old. In addition to her general love of learning, Marie-Anne was fascinated by the natural world. So, Marie-Anne began botanizing, and she learned to classify her own specimens. Since most references available to her were written in Latin, Marie-Anne mastered Latin - all on her own. Now, Marie-Anne specialized in cryptograms - plants with no true flowers or seeds like ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichens, algae, and fungi ("fun-GUY"). And it was Marie-Anne's maniacal focus on cryptograms that paved the way for her to meet with top botanists of her day like Alexander Lejeune and Augustin Pyramis de Candolle. Today Marie-Anne Libert is remembered as the botanist who first identified the cause of "late blight" in potatoes. Thirty years later, Anton de Bary would continue where Marie-Anne left off - when he proved that potato blight - or late blight disease - is caused by a fungus-like organism that spreads rapidly in warm, humid weather. Blight can show up in the foliage of potatoes and outdoor tomatoes, and it will eventually cause the breakdown of the entire plant - including the potatoes and tomatoes. Informed gardeners can prevent late blight by strategically planting potatoes in a breezy spot - leaving plenty of space between plants. Potato plants can also be treated with a fungicide to ward off blight. As with tomatoes, it's important to rotate crops to prevent the build-up of the disease in the soil. Unearthed Words To many homeowners, the dandelion is little more than a prolific, pesky weed. However, this abundant yellow-flowering plant provides not only beauty but also food, drink, medicine, and even inspiration for poetry. Perhaps no one has praised the dandelion better than Wallace Nutting, the noted turn-of-the-century photographer and author. "The dandelion is the greatest natural agent of decoration in our part of America," he wrote in Connecticut Beautiful in 1923. "In some fields, it is so abundant that there is no more than enough grass visible to give it a setting... It is so thoroughly at home that we feel it to be the most prominent and persistent native American, whatever its origin. Coming as it does in the early spring, it clothes an entire landscape with its gorgeous color and rejoices the heart of man... It is our tulip in the grass." Among our thousands of species of wildflowers, the common dandelion may be the most common; probably, its only close competitor is the common chickweed. Not only are its numbers great, but its flowering season is one of the longest of any of our plants. I have seen plants blooming in every month of the year in Connecticut, though finding one in January or February is rare. — Jack Sanders, Hedgemaids and Fairy Candles, Common Dandelion Grow That Garden Library A Taste for Nightshade by Martine Bailey This book came out in 2016, and this is a fiction book. In this book, Martine writes a thrilling historical novel set in Manchester in 1787. The book incorporates recipes, mystery, secrets, and conflict between two naïve young women named Grace and Mary. This book was Martine's second book titled after a garden flower - her debut novel was the culinary-themed An Appetite for Violets. When Martine isn't writing books, she's an amateur cook who won the Merchant Gourmet Recipe Challenge and was a former Dessert Champion. Hence, the recipes in her books are amazing and a tasty treat to accompany her historical research. This book is 464 pages of revenge, rogues, recipes, and riveting plot points. You can get a copy of A Taste for Nightshade by Martine Bailey and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $4 Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 14, 2001 On this day, The Times out of Shreveport, Louisiana, published a story by Margaret Martin about garden expert Joe White: "Northwest Louisiana gardeners call Joe White when they had a question. Want to know about pests, soil, or dying plants? Joe is only a phone call away... for a few more weeks. Joe is retiring. Joe has been an area agent… for the LSU Agricultural Center/Extension Service since 1972. It was two days after high school graduation when Joe decided what he wanted to do with his life. Joe said, "I enjoyed very much working with plants. It occurred to me early on that horticulture had a way of touching everybody's life." Joe was fresh from an LSU-Baton Rouge Ph.D. horticulture program when his job was created at the request of the city of Shreveport, and he was hired. He holds a B.S. in agricultural science from Tennessee Tech University and an M.S. in horticulture from the University of Tennessee. The area was lucky to get him. "His knowledge of horticulture is just astounding," said Dan Gill, with whom he co-wrote Louisiana Gardener's Guide. "He makes me chuckle. I can't remember a conversation I've had with him that I haven't chuckled." Joe founded a Cooperative Extension newsletter that he still edits called Pickles, Peaches, and Pansies. Joe educates through the Master Gardeners Program and Barnwell Horticultural Programs. When Joe first arrived, he received from 12,000 to 14,000 calls a year and visited homes and farms to help with soil problems and identify plants and their problems. Media work diminished the calls to 5,000 to 6,000 a year. Joe's biggest challenge? He chuckled and said: "The one thing and this is crazy, but the one thing I seem unable to convince people to do is plant strawberries in the fall rather than in the spring! I've been harping on this for 28 years, and people still insist on planting them in the spring." How has horticulture and gardening changed in 28 years? "More and more people can afford mechanical things like tillers... We learned more about fertilizers. We now have the slow-release types. In the case of native plants, people are searching for plant materials without having to protect from pests by using chemicals. And I think people are more diet conscious, and herbs are an alternative." His best advice to novice gardeners: "Get good sound information from a reliable source. Follow guidelines for cultural practices for planting and use recommend varieties for the crops. Remember, the All-American varieties have been tested nationwide and have met requirements to be elevated to that level. Ask friends or neighbors what they have grown successfully, what particular variety. That is usually pretty reliable information." Joe White at a Glance FAVORITE KIND OF GARDEN: Informal Southern style. FAVORITE PUBLIC GARDENS: Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pa., the summer estate of the DuPont family. "I was most impressed with it, the extensiveness of it. And the many different ornamentals, fruits and vegetables and including a huge indoor area that is landscaped. You'd think you were in the middle of Florida. There is a special children's garden. It was breathtaking." TOOLS HE FEELS ARE INDISPENSABLE FOR A NOVICE GARDENER: "There are three: hoe, shovel, and rake." Joe gardens, growing mostly vegetables and fruit trees, also some natives, and annuals. He ticks off the wide range of vegetables he raises: "Definitely tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, okra, onions, sometimes some sweet potatoes, sometimes Irish potatoes, kale, cabbage, radishes, sometimes beets, broccoli, cauliflower, occasionally some squash, sometimes cantaloupe and sometimes watermelons." He grows a hardy tangerine, apples, and pears, if he can beat the squirrels to them, muscadines, grapes, pomegranates, and figs. And even Joe White sometimes has problems with his garden. He said: "I am very human. That kind of helps me to identify with people when they come in with a problem. I don't know but that helps communication." For Joe, leaving is bittersweet. "I love what I do. I really never feel like I am coming to work. I come to serve." Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate a man who was regarded as the most revered British field-botanist of his time. We'll also learn about the botanist who considered China to be his real home. We'll hear thoughts on holly and ivy from one of my favorite gardeners. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book of Sunday poems inspired by the natural world. And then we'll wrap things up with the woman who wrote a book called Garden Cinderellas - what an excellent title. 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 Experts Predict Gardening Trends for 2021 | Candide | Marc Rosenberg 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 January 13, 1834 Today is the birthday of the botanist and former Keeper of the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden Kew, John Gilbert Baker. Regarded as the most-revered British field botanist of his time, John had a profound understanding of plants and an earnest desire to preserve them. Professionally, John was referred to as J.G. Baker. The scope of his work brought him into contact with an incredible span of plant species. In addition to his impressive collecting, John identified ten plant families, and he wrote helpful handbooks on plant groups, like the Amaryllidaceae ("am-ah-rilla-DAY-see-ee"), the Bromeliaceae ("bro-mee-lee-AYE-see-ee), the Iridaceae ("eye-ri-DAY-see-ee"), the Liliaceae ("lil-ee-AY-see-ee"), and the ferns. And in addition to all of that, John described and developed the very first key for the Hemerocallis or the daylily. And, here's a little fun fact about John: He once met Beatrix Potter (who was an amateur botanist in her own right in addition to being an author). And, as luck would have it, Beatrix wrote about meeting John in her journal on May 19, 1896 - although it didn't seem like she was very impressed with him. She wrote, "We met Mr. Baker... A slim, timid-looking old gentleman with a large thin book under his arm and an appearance, of having been dried in blotting paper under a press." John was mentored by the botanist Hewett Cotrell Watson. Hewett was a few generations older than Darwin, and he was one of the first botanists to research plant evolution. And it was Hewett's work that paved the way for a new science now known as ecology. In his old age, Hewett burned all of his botanical correspondence. But thankfully, John persuaded him not to burn his herbarium. And so, upon his death, Hewett Cotrell Watson left his house and his land - as well as his books and botanical collections - to the person he thought would most-appreciate them: his protégé, John Gilbert Baker. In 1899, John was awarded the Gold Medal of the Linnean Society. Eight years later, he received the Veitch Memorial Medal. Both of these awards were well-deserved. Today, Wikidata has several pages of data devoted to the plants named by John. It's an impressive list. Conversely, John Gilbert Baker is honored by many plant names, including the Iris bakeriana. January 13, 1884 Today is the birthday of the eccentric Hawaiian-based botanist, anthropologist, and explorer Joseph Francis Rock. Joseph was born in Austria but ended up immigrating to the United States before eventually settling in Hawaii, where he was beloved. In fact, Joseph became Hawaii's first official botanist. Joseph started teaching as a Botany professor at the University of Hawaii in 1911, and he also served as a botanist for the Hawaiian Territorial Board of Agriculture. After working for 13 years in Hawaii, Joseph left to explore China - and that quest would become his primary passion. It was 1920 before Joseph left Honolulu for China for the very first time. And when he traveled, Joseph always carried a copy of David Copperfield to remind him of his own terrible childhood. And although Joseph knew he was beloved in Hawaii, he always said that he considered China to be his "real" home. In fact, when comparing China to the rest of the world, Joseph said China was better since it was the place, "where life is not governed by the ticking of the clock but by the movement of celestial bodies." In total, Joseph spent much of his adult life - more than 20 years - in southwestern China. And often, Joseph was the very first explorer to enter these interior locations that he visited. In fact, there were many times when Joseph became so embedded in the country that his peers would go too long without hearing from him, and they would begin to think that Joseph must have died. How would they ever find him? Many could only guess that his body was probably somewhere in the Tibetan or Yunnan ("YOU-nan") mountains. Yet, thankfully, Josephalways turned up. And it's important to note - especially when you consider how much Joseph traveled - that Joseph never traveled alone. When Joseph explored, he always went with a large party comprised of two dozen mules, 20 men, and an escort of nearly 200 soldiers for protection against bandits. And as for his personal effects, get this: Joseph brought a folding bed, a table and chairs, a full set of silverware and china to dine on, an Abercrombie & Fitch canvas bathtub for hot baths, and a hand-cranked phonograph so he could listen to his favorite music: opera. Now, when he returned to Hawaii, Joseph recounted many hair-raising stories from his time in China. There was this one time when Joseph had collected plants along the base of Mount Gongga ("Gan-GAH") in China's Tibetan Borderland. Now, Mount Gongga is known as "The King of Sichuan ("SITCH-ooh- an") Mountains. Joseph incorrectly predicted it was the tallest mountain in the world (but it's actually the 41st-tallest). Well, one spring, Joseph had an especially great time collecting around the base of Mount Gongga. So, naturally, he wanted to visit it again. But, when he returned in the fall, Joseph and his party were halfway up Mount Gongga when a runner reached them with a letter from the tribal King. Apparently, after Joseph's first collecting trip, a severe hail storm had destroyed the fields. The tribe blamed the catastrophe on Joseph's mountain botanizing, which they believed offended the god of the mountain. And the King's letter warned that Joseph and his party were in danger of being attacked and killed by the tribe if they continued up the mountain. So, the King requested that Joseph abort the trip - which he did. Years later, even after being kicked out of the country, Joseph wrote, ''I want to die among those beautiful mountains rather than in a bleak hospital bed all alone.'' In addition to plants, Joseph had a knack for languages. He cataloged and transcribed Chinese manuscripts and actually wrote a dictionary of one of the tribal languages. He had an enormous intellect and was multi-talented. In addition to being a botanist and a linguist, Joseph was regarded as a world-expert cartographer, ornithologist, and anthropologist. Now, from a gardening standpoint, it was Joseph Rock who brought blight-resistant Chestnut trees to America. Naturally, he had sourced them in China. The Chestnut is in the same family as the Oak and, today, there are nine species of chestnut in the Northern Hemisphere. The four main species of Chestnut (Castanea spp.) are European, Chinese, Japanese, and American chestnuts. Depending on the species, Chestnut trees can live to be hundreds of years old. And Chestnuts are unique in that they have very little protein or fat. Instead, Chestnuts are carbohydrates, and they are the only nuts that contain vitamin C. And there's one additional plant that I always associate with Joseph Rock: the Rhododendron. Joseph Rock also brought American gardeners more than 700 species of Rhododendron. How could we ever thank him enough for that? In fact, some of Joseph's original Rhododendron seeds were first successfully grown in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. And in 1903, the Rhododendron was designated the official State Flower of West Virginia. Referred to as the King of Shrubs, the word Rhododendron comes from two Greek words: "rodon," which means "rose," and "dendron," which means "tree," hence Rose Tree. And Rhododendron flowers are produced in trusses (a truss is a flower-like structure composed of many flowers). Finally, Rhododendrons are in the Ericaceae ("er-rah-KAY-see-ee") plant family, which also includes Blueberries, Cranberries, Heathers, Huckleberry, Mountain Laurels, and Trailing Arbutus. So the next time you see a Chestnut Tree or a beautiful Rhododendron, tip your hat to Joseph Rock. Unearthed Words Holly and ivy are the primary images of many Christmas cards, symbols of life carrying on when much else appears dead or has vanished beneath the frozen surface. I would almost go so far as to say they should be in every garden, but perhaps I should substitute "something evergreen" instead of being so specific. Not everyone has the room or the right conditions for large-growing evergreens. I am thinking of laurels and rhododendrons in particular. But hollies can be found in all shapes and sizes; many are plain, but no less handsome, while several are variegated. There are seven pages of holly in Messrs Hilliers' Manual of Trees and Shrubs to tempt the reader, and a walk among the Holly Collection at Kew Gardens will undoubtedly fire the imagination. Some will be difficult to obtain, but nurserymen will be pleased to propagate more unusual plants if enough of us ask for them. If you look out of your favorite window now, are you satisfied with the view? Does it lack design? Would a small-leafed, narrowly-pyramidal holly do anything for it, and how many plants can you see which remain green - or grey, or bronze - throughout the winter, furnishing the bare soil at ground level? — Beth Chatto, garden writer and gardener, Beth Chatto's Garden Notebook, January Grow That Garden Library A Small Porch by Wendell Berry This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is Sabbath Poems 2014 and 2015. Over three decades ago, Wendell Berry started spending his Sundays in nature, when the weather allowed, "walking and wandering around familiar territory, seeking a deep intimacy only time could provide. These walks sometimes yielded poems. Each year since he has completed a series of these poems dated by the year of its composition." The New York Times bestselling author of Paddle Your Own Canoe, Nick Offerman, raved, "[Berry's] essays, poetry, and fiction have fertilized a crop of great solace in my life, and helped to breed a healthy flock of good manners, to boot." This book is 80 pages of grounded and incredibly moving poetry - inspired by the natural world. You can get a copy of A Small Porch by Wendell Berry 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 January 13, 1974 Today is the anniversary of the death of the American botanist, garden lecturer, and garden writer Helen Morgenthau Fox. In 1928, Helen wrote a book called Garden Cinderellas: How to Grow Lilies in the Garden, and Harvard's Ernest Henry Wilson wrote the forward to this book. Helen shared two stories in this book that made me smile. First, Helen talked about researching her book at the Department of Agriculture in Washington. "In the library of the Department of Agriculture at Washington, I found all that has ever been published on Lilies to the present time. At my request, the valuable old herbals, botanies, and flower monographs were piled on my desk as nonchalantly as if they were so many newly-published novels. It was a privilege to touch the creamy rough surface of such famous old herbals as Parkinson or Clusius and read their quaint descriptions. One day I had Redouté's "Les Liliacés (The Lilies)" in my hands, and when I found it contained only a few of the true Lilies, I felt quite like the fox in the fable because the price has always kept it way out of my reach." Helen also shared that she had sent out a survey to determine which Lilies were being grown across the United States. The survey responses paved the way for Helen to make some new friends, and she shares an experience that will be familiar to most gardeners: making new friends while looking at flowers. "Sending out the questionnaire made many new friends for me, and I was delighted to come across a lady who was growing washingtonianum ("Washington-ee-AYE-num"), parryi ("PARE-ee-eye"), japonicum ("jah-PON-uh-kum" (From Japan)), brownii ("BROWN-ee-eye"), and other generally difficult Lilies very successfully in western New York. My Lily friends were most kind, and one of them telegraphed me when the neilgherrense ("Nil-guh-ree-EN-see") was in flower in his garden since he knew I had not seen it. So I traveled to Washington to look at the visitor from far away blooming as if quite at home in this strange country. There, on a broiling July day, three Lily fans generously spent hours showing their treasures and explaining to a stranger, whose only bond was a mutual love of flowers, what they had done and especially what they hoped to accomplish." Note: The Neilgherrense Lily is native to the Nilgiri hills in India. The term Nilgiri is Tamil for the Blue Mountains. The strikingly blue color of the hills is attributed to the bloom of a shrub, Strobilanthes kunthiana ("stroe-bih-LAN-theez Coon-tee-AYE-nah"). Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate a descriptive rare orchid hunter who changed the way orchids were cared for. We'll also learn about the man who was held as a prisoner at the Singapore Botanical Garden during WWII. We'll hear about the stark funeral instructions left by Carl Linnaeus. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about botanical fraud - it's a fascinating story. And then we'll wrap things up with the long lost story of a man who didn't support a diet that included fruits and vegetables. 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 Harvesting Herbs, Healing, and How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea | Garden Therapy | Stephanie Rose 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 January 12, 1898 Today is the anniversary of the death of the 19th-century Belgian botanist, explorer, horticulturist, rare orchid hunter, and businessman Jean Jules Linden. Before he reached 20, Jean began collecting rare orchids in South America. In 1844, Jean discovered the Dendrophylax lindenii or the Ghost orchid in Cuba. But there was an aspect to Jean's work that was even more important than the orchids he collected - and that was his incredible notes about how these rare orchids grew in the wild. Jean's careful observations and detailed notes were a revelation to European collectors who could not wait to acquire the latest specimens from around the world. The little details Jean included in his notes transformed the way orchids were grown in Europe. Before Jean's work, Europe was regarded as an orchid graveyard - a place where orchids were sent to die. Initially, collectors and even trained botanists didn't fully appreciate how to care for orchids. The standard practice of the time was to treat all orchids as other tropicals: just stick them in a hothouse at high temperatures and hope they survive. Jean's work helped plant experts and orchid lovers appreciate the errors in their understanding of these plants. Jean's holistic approach to orchid collection became a benchmark for other botanists. For instance, after Jean's work, the British botanist John Lindley began including accounts of the native conditions of the plants he collected. When he returned to Brussels, Jean served as the director of the Brussels Zoo and Botanical Garden. Not surprisingly, Jean's favorite aspect of the job was horticulture. As Jean focused on expanding the gardens, he grew thousands of plants. Jean created three different types of glasshouses with his intimate knowledge of orchids - each with its own distinct temperature range - to match the various native climates Jean had noted while searching for orchids. In addition to a traditional hothouse, Jean's garden had a temperate house and a cool house. As a result of his specialized care, Jean's orchids flourished, and Jean soon had a thriving orchid business. At one point, Jean had orchid outlets in Brussels, Ghent, and Paris. And Jean's orchids won awards at exhibitions across Europe from London to St. Petersburg. Today, thanks to the BioDiversity Heritage Library, you can see digital scans of Jean Jules Linden's incredibly gorgeous lithographs from his invaluable books on orchids - Pescatorea and Lindenia. They are truly spectacular. Jean Jules Linden is remembered in many plant names, including the orchids Phalaenopsis lindenii (Orchidaceae) and Polyrrhiza lindenii (Orchidaceae). January 12, 1906 Today is the birthday of the brilliant botanist, conservationist, and mycologist Edred John Henry Corner. As a young boy, John developed a stutter - something he battled all of his life, and it was the main reason he never pursued teaching or lecturing as a career. Sadly, John attributed his stutter to his parents, who he remembered as harsh and cold. Early in his career, John was mentored by the British botanist, photographer, and botanical illustrator Arthur Harry Church. A devoted archivist, Arthur advised John, "Note everything! Draw everything! Photograph everything!" When John was 23, he seized upon an opportunity to become a mycologist and Assistant Director at the Singapore Botanical Garden. John began work in Singapore in 1929. Thirteen years later, during WWII, Singapore surrendered to the Japanese. Fortunately, John's wife and son, John Jr., who was nicknamed "Kay," were evacuated. Although John was conscripted into the Singapore Army, John's botanical work saved him from serving in the army. John had trained monkeys to collect specimens for him in the jungles when he went out botanizing. However, an unexpected attack by one of his monkeys damaged John's right arm, and it was this disability that saved John from serving in the Singapore Army. Now before the Japanese arrived in the city, looting had started. Anticipating the worst, John persuaded the Governor to allow him to bring a note to the Japanese requesting that they spare the Botanical Gardens and the Raffles Museum. John's courageous foresight helped save both of these scientific treasures. As fate would have it, the Japanese man in charge of Singapore was an avid amateur botanist who was determined to maintain the Botanical Garden. For the remaining three years of WWII, John was kept on as a civil prisoner at the Botanical Garden, where he was allowed to work with careful supervision. Unfortunately, this unlikely scenario caused some folks to falsely label John, a traitor. Nevertheless, John continued his work. During his time in Singapore during the Great War, John botanized, worked on his own theories regarding plants and evolution, and wrote a great deal about his discoveries and life in Singapore. John also studied palm trees, developed his theory of forest evolution, and began to study the microscopic structure of seeds. John even managed to produce a flora of Singapore. In hindsight, John's work during this trying time was foundational to his professional development. Two decades later, John's popular textbook The Life of Plants was released in 1964. As a best-seller, The Life of Plants featured John's brilliant writing in addition to his own drawings and photography (he had followed his mentor, Arthur Church's advice). John's book was translated into French, German, Italian, and (ironically) Japanese. After the war, John did not stay in Singapore. Instead, John found himself in South America, studying the rain forest on behalf of UNESCO. A pioneer of conservation, John helped ensure that large areas of tropical forest were protected. In 1949, John returned to Cambridge. A year later, it was clear: John's marriage was over. As Kay turned 19, John rejected his son, and as a result, John never saw Kay again. However, in a final touching gesture, John left a suitcase that was clearly labeled "For Kay, wherever he might be." After John died, the suitcase was delivered to Kay. As it turns out, the suitcase contained letters, photos, and other artifacts that Kay eventually pieced together to create a captivating memoir of his father's life and their relationship. Kay's book, My Father in his Suitcase: In search of E.J.H. Corner, the relentless botanist, was released in 2013. Copies are difficult to find - but there are still a few on Amazon and through private sellers. Unearthed Words Linnaeus was a modest man and stipulated rules for his funeral arrangements: "Entertain nobody ...and accept no condolences." But when he died in January 1778, his instructions were ignored. Even the King of Sweden came to pay his respects at the funeral of the man who gave a name to the onion and to every other plant in the world. — Bill Laws, Fifty Plants That Changed the World, Onion (Allium) Grow That Garden Library A Rum Affair by Karl Sabbagh This book came out in 2016, and the subtitle is A True Story of Botanical Fraud. In this book, Karl tells the story of the eminent British botanist John Heslop Harrison who always went by Jack. "Jack proposed a controversial theory: that vegetation on the islands off the west coast of Scotland had survived the last Ice Age. Jack's premise flew in the face of what most botanists believed - that no plants had survived the 10,000-year period of extreme cold. But Jack had proof - the plants and grasses found on the isle of Rum. What Jack didn't anticipate, however, was an amateur botanist called John Raven, who boldly questioned Jack's theory. This is the story of what happened when a tenacious amateur set out to find out the truth and how he uncovered a most extraordinary fraud." This book is 288 pages of an informative and amusing true story of botanical intrigue. You can get a copy of A Rum Affair by Karl Sabbagh 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 January 12, 1823 Today is the birthday of the 19th-century American physician and the inventor of the Salisbury steak James Henry Salisbury. James began thinking critically about diet after serving as a doctor in the Civil War. He started to believe that diarrhea and dysentery could be solved by consuming only coffee and beefsteak. After the war, James refined his thinking around food. Believing that vegetables and starchy foods became toxic inside the body and that the structure of teeth proved humans were designed to be mostly carnivorous, James became even more zealous about advising people to eat mostly meat. And so, James recommended limiting vegetables, fruit, starches, and fats to only one-third of the diet. In 1888, James introduced his Salisbury Steak - deep-fried or boiled ground beef with onion, flavored with seasoning and covered with gravy or brown sauce. Along with drinking hot water as a cleanse, James advised eating his Salisbury Steak three times a day and his diet became known as the Salisbury diet. Today, with his anti-vegetable views, James is probably rolling over in his grave to see more people than ever trying their hand at gardening. So this spring, as you're eagerly sowing that row of radish, carrots, or peas, remember to raise a trowel to ol' James Salisbury - and keep on planting. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate the founder of the influential Curtis Botanical Magazine. We'll also learn about the traditional start of the agricultural year. We'll hear about a beautiful plant called Wintersweet from one of my favorite gardeners. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about home through the eyes of a passionate plantsman. And then we'll wrap things up with a fun story about a young botanist and disciple of Carl Linnaeus. 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 New Year's Resolutions for the Regenerative Grower | Modern Farmer | Lindsay Campbell 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 January 11, 1746 Today is the birthday of the botanist, entomologist, and founder of the influential Curtis Botanical Magazine, William Curtis. William had started life as an apothecary, but in short order, he discovered that it could not hold his interest. Sir James Edward Smith recalled that William loved being a naturalist more than working in the city. He wrote, "The Apothecary was soon swallowed up in the botanist, and the shop exchanged for a garden!" William was a founder of the Linnean Society, and he also authored a book about the botany of London called Flora Londiniensis. In 1779, William transformed his Lambeth garden into the London Botanic Garden. William wanted his garden to be a place where visitors could learn all about plants and their uses - not just for food - but in medicine and cooking as well. William was, at heart, a pragmatist. When William heard from visitors that they needed a resource to help grow the plants they were acquiring, William came up with the idea for his magazine. On February 1, 1787, the very first Curtis Botanical magazine was published, "for the... ladies, gentlemen, and gardeners ... who wish to become scientifically acquainted with the plants they cultivate." The Curtis Botanical Magazine made William wealthy, and he often remarked that it had brought him "pudding and praise." As for William's magazine, the reason it was so successful is that, early on, William vowed to provide his readers with helpful illustrations. Hence, William brought in incredible artists, like James Sowerby, and they helped ensure the magazine's success. In addition to his legacy left by his garden, flora, and magazine, the genus Curtisia honors William Curtis. January 11, 1850 Today is the birthday of the American pioneer botanist, plant pathologist, and mycologist, Joseph Charles Arthur. Known for his work with a group of plant fungus known as rusts, Joseph became the first department chair for Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University. Joseph held the chair position for half a century. During his time at Purdue, Joseph built a repository of over 40,000 rust specimens. Although Joseph kept these rust specimens at Purdue, he felt the collection belonged to him because he paid for them with his own personal funds. Despite Joseph's private investment, Purdue insisted the collection belonged to the University. So, in the middle of the night, Joseph packed up his entire herbarium - cabinets and all - putting everything into moving vans. In a single night, the entire Arthur herbarium was moved into Joseph's house. After a long standoff, an agreement was reached, and Purdue paid Joseph $1,450 - a paltry 3 cents per specimen - for the magnificent Arthur herbarium. And here's a fun side note about Joseph Charles Arthur: In addition to his work in botany, Joseph was a musician. In 1902, in happier times at the University, Joseph wrote the music for a school song called Vive Purdue. January 11, 2021 It's official; the holidays are truly over - today is Plough Monday. Plough Monday is regarded as the traditional start of the agricultural year and the official end to the holiday season. Plough Monday is always the first Monday after the 12th night of Christmas, and in the not-too-distant past, Plough Monday represented the day that men officially went back to work. Plough Monday has agricultural etymology - it was the day that farmers returned to their fields after Christmas break. And, on Plough Monday, farmers would bring their ploughs to church so that they could be blessed. Unearthed Words One day 27 years ago, long before I became an enthusiastic gardener, my husband came home with a bush of wintersweet, given to him by an old lady from her garden. [The woman] said it would not flower for seven years and then forever after would do so generously. She was right. I always appreciate its wonderful scent and bring small sprigs indoors on Christmas day and all through January. Slowly it has been growing over one of our drawing-room windows, which is now completely covered. The decision has been made; it must be pruned down to windowsill level. So I have been cutting long luxurious branches covered in buds and open flowers, and we have reveled in the fragrance of the rather sinister waxy yellow and red flowers. Will it flower next year after such drastic pruning? Only time will tell, and I hope that the kind old lady, now dead, will intercede for us and it. — Rosemary Verey, gardener and garden writer, A Countrywoman's Year, January Grow That Garden Library A Place to Call Home by James Farmer This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is Timeless Southern Charm. In this book, interior and garden designer James Farmer of Perry, Georgia, takes us on a tour of eleven incredible Southern homes. Alongside the gorgeous photography, James shares charming personal stories. This is one of my favorite decorating books because James has such reverence for both home and garden. As the best-selling author of A Time to Plant, a James Farmer interior always incorporates natural and floral elements. Layered with rugs, art, collections, and florals, James makes warm and inviting interiors. This book is 208 pages of beautiful interiors with timeless Southern charm styled by a garden living and entertaining expert. You can get a copy of A Place to Call Home by James T. Farmer and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $24. Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 11, 1732 Today is the birthday of the Swedish-speaking Finnish explorer, naturalist, botanist, and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus, Peter Forsskål ("Pee-ah-tur Forsh-COOL"). Peter was the naturalist on the Royal Danish Expedition to Arabia. During his short lifetime, Peter identified a large number of species. Peter's plant descriptions were thorough and detailed, showing his sensitivity to Arabic culture and language. Sadly, Peter died of malaria in 1763 in Yemen. In fact, almost all the members of this expedition tragically died on the trip. Out of mourning for his young student, Linneaus named Forsskaolea tenacissima ("Forsh-COOL-ee-ah Ten-ah-CY-uh-mah") to honor Peter. Linnaeus said this plant, a member of the non-stinging nettles genus, was as stubborn and persistent as Peter himself. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."