The Daily Gardener

Today we celebrate the man remembered as the "Father of American Dendrology" (the study of woody plants, trees, and shrubs). We'll also learn about the November birth flower, which was celebrated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this day in 1883. We also recognize the botanist, who was Philadelphia's botany man during the 1800s. We hear some words about November by an American comedian, writer, and activist. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a Garden Cookbook with a southern flair. And then we'll wrap things up with a little story about a pesky Otter and a koi pond in Vancouver. 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." It's just that easy. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events November 5, 1801 Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Humphrey Marshall. The Marshalls were cousins to the Bartrams - their mothers were sisters. Humphrey's cousin, John Bartram, was known as the "Father of American Botany" after establishing the country's first botanical garden, and he ignited Humphrey's love of native plants. In 1773, after Humphrey inherited his family estate and a sizable inheritance from his father, he created the country's second botanical garden. Humphrey incorporated natives, naturally, but also exotics. Humphrey forged a friendship with the British botanist John Fothergill who paid Humphrey for his plant collecting. John was a collector and a connector, introducing Humphrey to many of Europe's top botanists and a growing customer list. John's contacts helped Humphrey source new plants for his botanical garden. And Twenty-five years before Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis & Clark on their expedition, Humphrey Marshall repeatedly suggested exploring the American West - in 1778, 1785, and 1792. A fellow friend, Quaker, and botanist Joseph Trimble Rothrock wrote this about Humphrey: "The earth abounds in beauty, all of which is open to his chastened senses. He revels in the sunlight and the breezes. The songs of the birds fall, welcome, into his ear. The colors of the flowers attract him." In 1785, Humphrey published the very first American essay on trees and shrubs. Humphrey Marshall is also known as the "Father of American Dendrology" (the study of woody plants, trees, and shrubs). Marshalltown, Pennsylvania, was named in honor of Humphrey Marshall. The genus, Marshallia, is named in honor of Humphrey Marshall. November 5, 1883 On this day in Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society held its first Chrysanthemum Show in Horticultural Hall. This would be the first of several Chrysanthemum events presented by PHS to the public. Chrysanthemums have a fascinating history. In 1790, Chrysanthemums were brought back from China and introduced to England, where they were greeted with much adoration. The greens and blossoms of the chrysanthemum are edible, and they are particularly popular in Japan, China, and Vietnam. During the Victorian times in the language of flowers, the red chrysanthemum meant "I Love," and the yellow chrysanthemum symbolized slighted love. In China, the chrysanthemum is a symbol of autumn and the flower of the ninth moon. During the Han dynasty, the Chinese drank chrysanthemum wine - they believed it made their lives longer and made them healthier. As a result, the chrysanthemum was often worn to funerals. Generally, chrysanthemums symbolize optimism and joy - but they have some unique cultural meanings around the world. On Mother's Day down under, Australians traditionally wear a white chrysanthemum to honor their moms, and Chrysanthemums are common Mother's Day presents. In Poland, chrysanthemums are the flower of choice to be placed on graves for All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Chrysanthemums are the November birth flower and the 13th wedding anniversary flower. In 1966, Mayor Richard Daley declared the chrysanthemum as the official flower of the city of Chicago. November 5, 1896 On this day, the newspaper out of Buffalo, New York, reported that John Redfield herbarium was looking for a home. John H Redfield was born in Middletown, Connecticut, in 1815. In 1836, John became friends with Asa Gray after joining the Lyceum of Natural History in New York, where Gray was the Librarian and Superintendent. They remained life-long friends. During the 1840s, Gray tried to locate a plant called the Shortia galacifolia (commonly known as Oconee bell). Gray named the plant Shortia in honor of the Kentucky botanist, Charles Wilkin Short. Originally, Andre Michaux had found the plant and had sent it back to Paris. But since Michaux, no one could identify where the plant had been harvested. In 1863 Charles Short died - and still no Shortia. Botanists like Asa Gray and John Robinson dealt with constant taunting from comments like "Have you found the Shortia yet?" In May of 1877, a North Carolina teenager named George Hyams was walking beside the Catawba River when he spied a plant he couldn't name. His father was an amateur botanist, and he sent the specimen to a friend. Somehow the specimen made it to Gray, who could be heard crying 'Eureka' when he saw it. Thanks to George Hyams, Gray had found his Shortia. In 1879, Gray and his wife invited their botanist friends John Redfield, Charles Sprague Sargent, and William Canby to see the Shortia in the wild. Soon enough, they found the Shortia growing in the exact spot Hymans had described. It was an honor of a lifetime for John Redfield to be there with his old friend. John devoted most of the final twenty years of his life to the herbarium of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. John's work at the Academy was both worker bee and preservationist. John made sure the early botanical work was indexed and mounted, preserving the city of brotherly love's precious botanical history. During John's lifetime, botanists had traditional visiting habits depending on the city they were in: they would visit Torrey if they were in New York, Asa Gray if they were at Harvard or in Boston, and John Redfield when they passed through Philadelphia. Botany folks genuinely liked John; his botanist friends noted his "strong yet tender character" when they wrote about him in his obituary. Unearthed Words I have come to regard November as the older, harder man's October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures. It puts my mind in a different place than October. It is a month for a quieter, slightly more subdued celebration of summer's death as winter tightens its grip. — Henry Rollins, American comedian, writer, and activist Grow That Garden Library The New Southern Garden Cookbook by Sheri Castle This book came out in 2011, and the subtitle is Enjoying the Best from Homegrown Gardens, Farmers' Markets, Roadside Stands, and CSA Farm Boxes. In this book, Sheri aims to make "what's in season" the answer to "what's for dinner?". I love that! Shari's cookbook offers over 300 recipes that will inspire new and experienced cooks, southern or not, to utilize the seasonal delights from our gardens. "Sheri Castle offers a vision for Southern cuisine that's based wholly on locally grown, seasonal foods. . . . The ingredient lists are seductive on their own, but Sheri is a warm and engaging writer with the kind of practical wisdom that enlightens any kitchen." — Oxford American "She formulates realistic recipes in her well-equipped but ordinary home kitchen….The proof of this pudding is in the produce: fresh, with reverence and flair. Y'all dig in." — The Pilot This book is 456 pages of garden recipes from a true southern hostess. You can get a copy of The New Southern Garden Cookbook by Sheri Castle and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $4 Today's Botanic Spark November 5, 2019 Finally, last year during this week, the Global News shared a story called Koi Tremble in Fear as Otter makes a reappearance in the Vancouver Chinese garden. "Nearly a year after a hungry otter began decimating the koi population at Vancouver's Chinese Gardens... The Vancouver Park Board said Saturday the otter was spotted in the koi pond on Wednesday morning after three koi carcasses were found. Park board staff began draining the pond that same day to transfer the remaining koi to a temporary holding area off-site. It's not yet known whether this otter is the same one that ate 11 of the garden's 14 prized koi fish in November of last year, including a prized 50-year-old fish named Madonna." When I shared this story in the Facebook Group last year, I wrote: "There Otter be a law!" In all seriousness, for pond owners, there's nothing worse than losing your koi. After watching the Vancouver park measures to prevent animals from getting into the pond area, I have to say it's pretty intense. And, it just goes to show that whether you're a big public garden or a small private garden, dealing with critters like this can require ingenuity and hard work — and even then, there are no guarantees.

Today we celebrate the man who is remembered in the botany building at the University of Glasgow. We'll also learn about the mystery behind the California Fan Palm. We'll salute the Folklore of November, along with a witty poem about November by an American poet and satirist. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about some incredible private gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area. And then we'll wrap things up with a charming 1855 journal entry from an American writer. 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." It's just that easy. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events November 4, 1855 Today is the birthday of the English botanist and Primitive Plant Expert Frederick Orpen Bower. Bower served as the Regius chair of botany at the University of Glasgow "Glahs-go." When he arrived in 1885, the department was housed in two rooms, and the herbarium was stuffed into a small attic space. To make matters worse, when Bower lectured, he had to vie for a lecture hall with other departments and faculty. Fifteen years later, the University finally constructed a new botany building, and when it was finished, the building served as England's first botanical institute. The 1901 grand opening for the Glasgow botany building was lumped in with the University's 450th-anniversary celebration. The eminent botanist Sir Joseph Hooker opened the building. Almost a century later, the building was renamed to honor Frederick Orpen Bower, and that's how the building became known as the Bower Building. Tragically, on October 24, 2001, the Bower building was significantly damaged by a fire. The losses included first editions of Darwin's Origin of the species and Hooker and Bower's works. Many of the oldest botanical manuscripts and books were impacted because they were stored on the third floor under the roof space. After almost four years of continuous work, the building reopened in November 2005. The 2001 Bower Building fire is a cautionary lesson for archivists and curators to digitally preserve our most precious historical artifacts before they are lost to time. November 4, 1984 On this day, the Arizona Republic newspaper shared an article about the history of the native palm of Arizona written by Vic Miller, a professor of agriculture at Arizona State University. The article starts this way: "Yes, we do have a native palm. Seeds of it were collected in Arizona; taken to Belgium and grown in a nursery; [where it was observed] and named by a German botanist, but [it is not called the Arizona Fan Palm,] it is called the California Fan Palm." The mystery of the California Fan Palm was not about how it got its name but rather where it came from - California or Arizona. In 1976, researchers made a discovery that helped solve the 100-year-old mystery. Here's the fascinating backstory: In 1879, a German botanist, Herman von Wendland, saw the palms growing in a Belgium nursery. He named the palm Washingtonia filifera "Washing-TONE-ee-ah fill-IF-er-ah" in honor of George Washington. The name seemed appropriate since Wendland only knew that the seeds for the palms had been collected in America. Wendland had no idea which state was home to the palms. Three years earlier, in 1876, the German botanist Georg Drude had noted that the seed was collected in Arizona, along the Colorado River. An [Italian botanist, Dr. Francesco Franceschi, also said that the palms were] from Arizona. But a Stanford botanist named Samuel Parish disagreed. Parish knew that the area where the seeds were supposedly collected was near Prescott. According to Parish, this was "a region of pines rather than of palms." To Parish, the seeds had to come from California. But what Parish didn't realize is that there were small groves of Arizona palms roughly 38 miles from Prescott - near Castle Creek. Next, the researchers wondered how the Arizona Palm seeds ended up in Belgium? Well, it turns out, the 1870's stagecoach line went right along Castle Creek to Prescott, Arizona, and then onto Santa Fe, New Mexico. In September 1872, the Czech botanist and Extreme Orchid Hunter Benedict Roezl was in that part of the Southwest on his way to Mexico. Roezl likely bought some of the ripe purple fruit from those Castle Creek Arizona Palms and then sent the fruit back to Germany with his other specimens. And that is how the Arizona Fan Palm was named the California Fan Palm by a German Botanist who saw them growing in Belgium. Unearthed Words Today's Unearthed Words are a collection of folklore and sayings about November.

• Thunder in November, a fertile year to come.
• A heavy November snow will last till April.
• Flowers in bloom late in autumn indicate a bad winter.
• If there's ice in November that will bear a duck, There'll be nothing after but sludge and muck.
• November take flail; let ships no more sail.
• If trees show buds in November, the winter will last until May.
• There is no better month in the year to cut wood than November.
• Ice in November brings mud in December.

In May, my heart was breaking- Oh, wide the wound, and deep! And bitter it beat at waking, And sore it split in sleep. And when it came November, I sought my heart and sighed, "Poor thing, do you remember?" "What heart was that?" it cried. — Dorothy Parker, American poet, writer, critic, and satirist Grow That Garden Library Private Gardens of the Bay Area by Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner This book came out in 2017. This fantastic book was written by two incredible and accomplished garden writers: Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner. The marvelous landscape photographer Marion Brenner took all the photos. Together, this team toured over thirty-five private gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area. Now, whether you're from this part of the country or not, you will surely be seduced by the enchanting beauty of Northern California—it's a dreamscape for landscape designers and gardeners. Susan and Nancy organized their book geographically. We get to follow along as they make their way from the San Francisco Peninsula, to San Francisco, into Berkeley and Oakland, and then wrapping up in Napa, Sonoma, and Marin. You'll gain an appreciation for so much about this area: the micro-climates, the range of plants, the drought-tolerant natives, the rock gardens, and the endless supply of gorgeous backdrops. This tour includes the 1911 masterpiece garden known as Green Gables, the salvia haven known as Big Swing, a jaw-dropping vertical garden in San Francisco, and many more. Susan and Nancy reveal the goals of each gardener and design secrets behind every garden. This book is 256 pages of garden ideas. Susan and Nancy's coffee-table book would be a fine gift for an avid California gardener or anyone who would enjoy touring this horticultural paradise vicariously. You can get a copy of Private Gardens of the Bay Area by Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $35 Today's Botanic Spark November 4, 1855 On this day, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal: "The winter is approaching. The birds are almost all gone. The note of the 'dee de de' sounds now more distinct, prophetic of winter, as I go amid the wild apples on Nashawtuc. The autumnal dandelion sheltered by this apple-tree trunk is drooping and half-closed and shows but half its yellow, this dark, late, wet day in the fall... Larches are now quite yellow, — in the midst of their fall... When I look away to the woods, the oaks have a dull, dark red now, without brightness. The willow-tops on causeways have a pale, bleached, silvery, or wool-grass-like look."

Today we celebrate the American Romantic poet who wrote: "The rose that lives its little hour is prized beyond the sculptured flower..." We'll also learn about the man who made Six Hills Nursery famous. We hear some words about autumn by an American Poet Laureate. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that rocked the Vegetable Cookbook world three years ago - and here's a hint: the author divided the year into Six Seasons. And then we'll wrap things up with a recipe I received from a friend recently for a delicious Golden Squash Soup. 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." It's just that easy. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events November 3, 1794 Today is the birthday of the American Romantic poet and nature-lover William Cullen Bryant. As a young man, William became an attorney. His first job was in Plainfield, Massachusetts - a town seven miles away from his home. In 1815, William was walking to work one day in December when he spied a lone bird flying on the horizon. The image moved him so much that William wrote his poem called To a Waterfowl. William Cullen Bryant is a favorite poet among gardeners. Here's an excerpt from a little poem by William called A Winter Piece: ...When shrieked The bleak November winds, and smote the woods, And the brown fields were herbless, and the shades, That met above the merry rivulet, Were spoiled, I sought, I loved them still,—they seemed Like old companions in adversity. When he was alive, William Cullen Bryant visited Wodenethe - the 20-acre estate overlooking the Hudson River purchased and sculpted by Henry Winthrop Sargent. Sargent's naming of Wodenethe was a marriage of two old Saxon terms Woden (pronounced Woe-den) and ethe, which stands for woody promontory ( promontory ), of high land that juts out into the sea or a large lake; a headland. Sargent turned Wodenethe into a personal arboretum, where he artfully used trees to frame the Hudson's incredible views. One reviewer said it was, "a bijou full of interest for the lover of rural beauty; abounding in rare trees, shrubs, and plants, as well as vases, and objects of rural embellishment of all kinds." William Cullen Bryant loved Wodenethe, and he was particularly charmed by an illusion that Sargent had created on the property. Sargent had created the view from inside his house to look like the lawn extended out to the Hudson, creating the illusion of a sharp dropoff - almost like the lawn ran out to the edge of a cliff. To help pull this off, Sargent would send his young son Winthrop out onto the lawn with a fishing pole where he would pretend to fish off the edge of a nonexistent cliff. On one occasion, a lady visitor commented on how SHE wouldn't let her own children play so close to that dropoff. In reality, Winthrop was sitting a good mile away from the water's edge - quite safe on the flat earth of the lawn nestled among the trees. Sargent's masterful vista created an artful and beautiful illusion - a trick that he even pulled on his good friend William Cullen Bryant. Wodenethe so moved William he wrote his poem "A Scene on the Banks of the Hudson." Here's an excerpt: All, save this little nook of land, Circled with trees on which I stand; All, save that line of hills which lie Suspended in the mimic sky,— Seems a blue void, above, below, Through which the white clouds come and go; And from the green world's farthest steep, I gaze into the airy deep Loveliest of lovely things are they, On earth, that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour Is prized beyond the sculptured flower. November 3, 1881 Today is the birthday of the English garden writer, plant explorer, renowned nurseryman, alpine specialist, and a founding member of the Alpine Garden Society, Clarence Elliott. Clarence had a remarkable career, and he cast an enormous shadow from his legendary nursery in Stevenage called Six Hills. If Six Hills has a familiar ring to it, you might be familiar with the popular and prevalent landscape plant and stalwart of most garden borders cultivated at Six Hills: the Nepeta Six Hills Giant. Or, perhaps you were thinking of the Penstemon Six Hills - another Clarence offspring. And many gardeners have forgotten that the Mrs. Popple Fuschia - was actually a nod to the Popples - a couple who lived near Six Hills. One day Clarence spied Mrs. Popple's gorgeous hardy Fuschia. After taking some cuttings, Clarence ultimately won an RHS Show Award of Merit for the Mrs. Popple Fuschia in 1934. Nearly a century later, gardeners still grow this beloved starter Fuschia in their gardens today. When Clarence wasn't scouring his neighborhood (or the world in general) for new plants, he was busy mentoring other horticultural greats like Will Ingwerson and EK Balls. The great Graham Stuart Thomas worked at Six Hills for 24 years. A gardener's gardener, Clarence even invented a little garden tool he dubbed The Widger. Somehow Vita Sackville-West ended up with a Widger, and she wrote that it was "the neatest, slimmest, and cheapest of all gadgets to carry in the pocket." Vita continued: "[Clarence] invented the Widger, its name, and the verb "to widge", which, although not exactly onomatopoeic, suggests very successfully the action of prising up—you widge up a weed, or widge up a caked bit of soil for the purpose of aerating it—all very necessary operations which before the arrival of the Widger were sometimes awkward to perform. This small sleek object, four inches long, slides into the pocket, no more cumbersome than a pencil, and may be put to many uses. Screwdriver, toothpick, letter-opener, Widger, it fulfills all functions throughout the day… it is the perfect gadget." Unearthed Words And the dead leaves lie huddled and still, No longer blown hither and thither; The last lone aster is gone; The flowers of the witch-hazel wither … — Robert Frost, American poet and Poet Laureate Grow That Garden Library Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is A New Way with Vegetables. This is one of my favorite vegetable cookbooks ever. Joshua's book won a James Beard Award for Best Book in Vegetable-Focused Cooking. His book was named a Best Cookbook of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Bon Appétit, Food Network Magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, USA Today, Seattle Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Library Journal, Eater, and more. "Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables is poised to join the veggie canon. . . . The flavors are big. . . . They're also layered and complex, despite their apparent simplicity. What will really change your cooking is [McFadden's] approach to seasoning. . . . Trust me: Read this book and you'll never look at cabbage the same way again." —Bon Appétit "Downright thrilling. . . . Divided into six seasons rather than the traditional four—a more accurate reflection of what's happening in the fields—the book encourages readers to embrace what he calls 'the joyful ride of eating with the seasons. . . .' On page after page, McFadden presents a deliciously enlightening way of cooking with vegetables." —Sunset This book is 384 pages of vegetable magic. You can get a copy of Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $23 Today's Botanic Spark Speaking of recipes, I wanted to share a delicious recipe I received from a friend for Golden Squash soup. It's a keeper. Golden Squash Soup 3 leeks (white portion only) 4 medium carrots chopped 5 Tbl. butter or margarine 3 lbs. butternut squash peeled, sliced 6 c. chicken or vegetable broth 3 medium zucchini, peeled, sliced 2 t. Salt 1/2 t. dried thyme 1/4 t. white pepper 1 c. half & half 1/2 c. milk In a soup kettle over medium heat, saute leeks and carrots in butter for 5 min., stirring occasionally. Add squash, broth, zucchini, salt, thyme, pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 min. Cool until lukewarm. In a blender or food processor, puree soup until smooth. Return to the kettle, add cream and milk, and heat through. Do not boil. If desired, garnish with parmesan cheese and chives. yields 12 - 14 servings ( 3 ½ qts )

Today we celebrate the Flemish artist who became known for painting floral garlands. We'll also learn about the English poet who wrote about the flower known as The Traveller's Joy. We'll celebrate the new month with some words about November. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a close look at gardens - 100 of them - in an engaging book that travels to the world's most interesting gardens to analyze why and how they are designed. And then we'll wrap things up with a little story about the bladderwort plant - a rare insect-eating plant with pretty yellow flowers. 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." It's just that easy. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events November 2, 1661 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Flemish Jesuit brother and painter Daniel Seghers. Daniel was a marvelous painter based in Antwerp and focused mainly on floral still lives, and his vivid work was a favorite among his patrons and the aristocracy. As a Jesuit brother, Daniel made no money from his work - that all went to the church. But in 1649, Daniel was given a golden palette and golden brushes from a Dutch princess in exchange for some of his work. Daniel pioneered the genre of flower garland painting, and his specialty was painting flower cartouches. Daniel's garland still lifes were especially popular in his home country of Belgium. A signature Daniel Segher Floral Cartouche would feature these voluptuous swags of flowers and flower garlands placed around a religious scene or statue that was often depicted in black and white or muted colors. These religious scenes were usually placed in the center of Daniels' paintings, and incredibly, they were all painted by other Flemish painters. By the time Daniel received the artwork, he would immediately set about decorating the work with flowers. Daniel's job was to create a floral tribute that added reverence, life, and excitement to the overall image. If you look at the garlands, you'll notice that Daniel added charming, realistic touches by adding beautifully detailed butterflies and incredibly realistic flowers. Daniel also took some liberties with the flowers. Tulips and peonies are in full bloom next to roses, iris, carnations, hyacinths, and daisies. For Daniel, bloom time took a back seat to lushness and color. Also, some of the flowers conveyed additional symbolic meaning - so for the sake of Floriography ("FLOOR-EE-ah-grah-FEE"), Daniel painted the flowers he felt best suited his subject. Ornamental gardeners will find a special joy and satisfaction in viewing Daniel's masterpieces. November 2, 1848 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English poet and Irish bishop Richard Mant. Richard wrote a little poem about the wild clematis that happens to be England's only native Clematis. In the 17th century, the herbalist John Gerard gave it the common name "The Traveller's Joy" (Clematis virginiana). The flower has no petals but offers four delicate creamy sepals along with a copious amount of stamens and carpels. Most beauteous when its flowers assume Their autumn form of feathery plume. The Traveller's Joy! name well bestowed On that wild plant, which by the road Of Southern England, to adorn Fails not the hedge of prickly thorn... Even today in the English countryside, "The Traveller's Joy" rambles up hedgerows & trees, drapes down from branches and thorns to offer a profusion of fragrant white blossoms that transform into architectural wonders in fall & winter: feathery, silver 'beards' that flow from the seed pods. This is how Traveller's Joy ended up with so many common names, including "Old Man's Beard." Folklore says that Traveller's Joy (Clematis virginiana) was sent by the devil to smother the earth's plants by trailing over them. Anyone who has grown this woody vine, a member of the buttercup family, knows this is one tough and persistent plant. Not surprisingly, it's considered an invasive plant in many parts of the world. The poet A.E. Houseman wrote about the Traveller's Joy (Clematis virginiana) in his poem 'Tell Me Not Here, It Needs Not Saying.' Tell me not here; it needs not saying, What tune the enchantress plays In aftermaths of soft September Or under blanching mays, For she and I were long acquainted And I knew all her ways. On russet floors, by waters idle, The pine lets fall its cone; The cuckoo shouts all day at nothing In leafy dells alone; And Traveller's Joy beguiles in autumn Hearts that have lost their own. Unearthed Words Some of the days in November carry the whole memory of summer as a fire opal carries the color of moonrise. ― Gladys Taber, American author and columnist, Stillmeadow Daybook It was November — the month of crimson sunsets, parting birds, deep, sad hymns of the sea, passionate wind-songs in the pines. Anne roamed through the pineland alleys in the park and, as she said, let that great sweeping wind blow the fogs out of her soul. ― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian writer and author of the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne of Green Gables Grow That Garden Library Gardens in Detail by Emma Reuss This book came out in 2014, and the subtitle is 100 Contemporary Designs. In this book, Emma shares 100 gardens from the world over with this illustrated guide that reviews and explains each design element — from historical style to planting and landscape design. "Readers are led through the details of each garden and provided with the tools needed to understand and replicate each exemplary design—whether the site is rural or urban, a backyard or a beach, in any climate, and on any budget. Each beautiful project photo is followed by a list of key concepts, numbered close-ups that highlight aspects of the design, and expert write-ups to explain how each element serves the garden as a whole." "A beautiful, engaging book that travels to the world's most interesting gardens to analyze why and how they are designed. This pick-and-mix book has the absorbing, time-warp quality of Pinterest. I finished reading about one garden and thought, I'll just quickly look at one more, but 20 minutes and several gardens later I was still there." —Gardens Illustrated. This book is 400 pages of inspiring garden ideas. Emma's book is an invaluable resource for any gardener or landscape designer. You can get a copy of Gardens in Detail by Emma Reuss and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $25 Today's Botanic Spark November 2, 1962 On this day, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram shared a story out of London regarding the Bladderwort plant. "Botanists and bird-watchers are fighting to save an acre of bladderwort plants threatened by plans for a new power station in Gloucestershire County ("Glost-uh-shur"). The bladderwort is a rare insect-eating plant with pretty yellow flowers. The Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation is trying to persuade the state electricity board to shift the power station's location and leave the plants undisturbed. "You don't find much bladderwort about nowadays," said Robert George, the chairman of the Nature Trust. "It would be a pity to lose it." Bladderwort is remarkable. It's the world's fastest aquatic carnivorous plant. It can react to and capture its prey in less than 1/10,000th of a second. Bladderworts are suction feeders, and they use small, depressurized chambers that look like bladders to catch their prey. The bladders work thanks to a trap that is loaded with bristles. When a small aquatic creature touches the bristles, a trap door opens, and the prey is sucked inside the bladder where it is dissolved and digested by the plant.

Today we celebrate the man who wrote Species Plantarum and gave us binomial nomenclature. We'll also learn about the Boston Landscape Architect, who kept a journal of his favorite walks. We salute the British orchidologist who saved Kew Gardens. We also recognize the man who designed the garden at the Frick Museum in New York City. We'll hear one of my favorite poems about November. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that teaches us to cook with Garden-Fresh Vegetables. And then we'll wrap things up with a little story about a young botanist who dreamed of going to Sumatra. 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." It's just that easy. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to [email protected] Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events November 1, 1783 Today is the anniversary of the death of Carl Linnaeus. Thirty years earlier, on May 1st, 1753, the publication of his masterpiece Species Plantarum changed plant taxonomy forever. Linnaeus earned the moniker Father of Taxonomy; his naming system is called binomial nomenclature. Binomial means "two names," which in the naming game includes the plant's genus (which is capitalized or could be abbreviated by its first letter) and species or specific epithet (which is all lowercase and can be abbreviated sp.) If you have trouble remembering taxonomy, I like to think of it as the given name and surname of a person, but in reverse order. The names Linnaeus assigned live on unchanged and are distinguished by an "L." after their name. And, it was Linnaeus himself who said: "God created, Linnaeus ordered." November 1, 1859 Today is the birthday of the Boston Landscape Architect Charles Eliot. Charles was the son of a prominent Boston family. In 1869, the year his mother died, his father Charles Sr. became the president of Harvard University. In 1882 Charles graduated from Harvard with a degree in botany. A year later, Charles began apprenticing with the landscape firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. As a young landscape architect, Charles made a list of his favorite walks, and he titled it A Partial List of Saturday Walks before 1878. Between 1885 and 1886, Charles spent 13 months touring England and Europe. The trip was actually Olmsted's idea, and the trip provided Charles with a smorgasbord of landscapes. During the trip, Charles kept a journal where he wrote down his thoughts and sketched the places he was visiting. Charles's benchmark was always Boston, and throughout his memoirs, he was continually comparing new landscapes to the beauty of his native landscape in New England. Sadly, Charles's story ended too soon. He died at 37 from spinal meningitis. Before he died, Charles had been working on plans for The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard, where he'd gotten to know the arboretum director Charles Sprague Sargent. Poignantly, it was Sargent who wrote a tribute to Charles after he died, and it was featured in Sargent's weekly journal called Garden and Forest. Charles's death had a significant impact on his father, Charles Sr. In tribute to his son, Charles Sr. compiled all of his son's work into a book called Charles Eliot Landscape Architect. The book came out in 1902, and today it is considered a classic work in the field of landscape architecture. November 1, 1865 Today is the anniversary of the death of the British gardener, botanist, and orchidologist John Lindley. John served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society for 43 years. This is why the Lindley Library at the RHS is named in honor of John Lindley. When he was little, John's dad owned a nursery and an orchard. John grew up helping with the family business. In 1815, John left his small hometown and went to London. He became friends with William Jackson Hooker, who, in turn, introduced John to Sir Joseph Banks, who hired John to work in his herbarium. When Banks died, the fate of the Royal Botanic Gardens was put in jeopardy. Banks' death corresponded with the death of King George III, who was the patron of the garden. These deaths created an opening for the British government to question whether the garden should remain open. On February 11, 1840, John ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. John's advocacy brought the matter to the publics' attention; the garden-loving British public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, that's how John Lindley saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as Kew's new director. In terms of other accomplishments, John shortened the genus Orchidaceae to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce - and when he died, John's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew. As for John, there are over 200 plant species named for him. There is "lindleyi", "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides". And here's a little-remembered factoid about Lindley - he was blind in one eye. November 1, 1906 Today is the birthday of the British gardener, garden designer, and landscape architect Montague Russell Page. Russell Page is best known for his garden classic called The Education of a Gardener. In his book, Russell shares his vast knowledge of plants and trees and design. The book ends with a description of his dream garden. First published in 1962, Russell's book shares his charming anecdotes and timeless gardening advice. He wrote: "I know nothing whatever of many aspects of gardening and very little of a great many more. But I never saw a garden from which I did not learn something and seldom met a gardener who did not, in some way or another, help me." "I like gardens with good bones and an affirmed underlying structure. I like well-made and well-marked paths, well-built walls, well-defined changes in level. I like pools and canals, paved sitting places, and a good garden in which to picnic or take a nap." Russell is considered the first modern garden designer. Like Piet Oudolf, Russell used flowers to create living, natural paintings. And although he designed Gardens for the Duke of Windsor and Oscar de la Renta, it was Russell Page who said: "I am the most famous garden designer you've never heard of." And here's a recent twist to Russell's legacy. In 1977, Russell designed the Gardens at the Frick Collection in New York City. However, in 2014 when the Frick was making plans to expand, they decided to demolish the Russell Page garden. After a year of facing public backlash in support of the garden (something the museum never anticipated), the Frick backed down when Charles Birnbaum, the founder of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, discovered an old 1977 Frick press release that proudly introduced the Page landscape as a permanent garden. Birnbaum shared his discovery on the Huffington Post, and thanks to him, the 3700 square-foot Page garden lives on for all of us to enjoy. Unearthed Words Show's over, folks. And didn't October do A bang-up job? Crisp breezes, full-throated cries Of migrating geese, low-floating coral moon. Nothing left but fool's gold in the trees. Did I love it enough, the full-throttle foliage, While it lasted? Was I dazzled? The bees Have up and quit their last-ditch flights of forage And gone to shiver in their winter clusters. Field mice hit the barns, big squirrels gorge On busted chestnuts. A sky like hardened plaster Hovers. The pasty river, its next of kin, Coughs up reed grass fat as feather dusters. Even the swarms of kids have given in To winter's big excuse, boxed-in allure: TVs ricochet light behind pulled curtains. The days throw up a closed sign around four. The hapless customer who'd wanted something Arrives to find lights out, a bolted door. — Maggie Dietz, American editor, and poet, November Grow That Garden Library The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook by Andrea Chesman This book came out in 2005, and the subtitle is Harvest of Home-Grown Recipes. Andrea shares 175 recipes developed based on her experience as a successful Vermont vegetable gardener in this fantastic cookbook. Her recipes are organized seasonally. To address those nights when the mounds of vegetables are just too overwhelming to try a whole new recipe, Chesman includes fourteen master recipes for simple preparation techniques that can accommodate whatever is in the vegetable basket. Andrea's book is an old favorite of mine. After using her cookbook, I can tell you she's both thoughtful and entertaining. This book is 512 pages of cooking ideas for any gardener looking to add both foolproof and tasty variety to their cooking with fresh produce. You can get a copy of The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook by Andrea Chesman and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $5 Today's Botanic Spark When I was researching John Lindley, I stumbled on an adorable story about him. When John Lindley arrived in England as a teenager, he needed a place to stay. So, Sir Joseph Hooker graciously took him in and gave him a room at his home called Halesworth. The story goes that, over the course of a few weeks, the Halesworth housekeeper had observed that John's bed was always neat as a pin. It was clear to her that John never slept in it. This led the housekeeper to wonder what Lindley was up to and where he was sleeping. She began to worry that he might not be the kind of person they wanted at Halesworth. When her worry got the best of her, she brought the matter to Hooker's attention. In short order, Hooker confronted John and asked him to account for his unused bed. John calmly explained that he was hoping to go to Sumatra to collect plants. Anticipating the physical difficulties of plant exploration, John had been spending every night sleeping on the boards of the hardwood floor in his room. The net result was that John got to keep living at Halesworth, where he wrote his first book called Observations on the Structure of Fruits. Sadly, John never made it to Sumatra.

Today we celebrate the Patron Saint of Beekeepers We'll also revisit the letter Jefferson wrote about gardening - it contains one of his most-quoted lines. We remember the French Landscape Architect who designed ninety percent of the public spaces in Argentina. We'll eavesdrop on another letter from Elizabeth Lawrence - the garden writer - who also wrote the most wonderful letters. We celebrate World Mosquito Day with some Mosquito poems. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that will help you create some Inspired Gatherings in your garden. And then we'll wrap things up with one of my favorite light-hearted poets. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Get the Most from Your Potting Soil With These Tips | The Spruce | Jon VanZile Here's an excerpt: "Most soil mixes are peat-based, often made with reed or sedge peat, and pH adjusted with lime. They are rich and loamy fresh out of the bag, and often they are enhanced with fertilizer or water-retention crystals. If you've been gardening for a long time, though, you may notice that plants rarely thrive in these kinds of soils for too long. This happens because peat-based soils really aren't designed for long-term use. They're not actually designed for plants at all—they're made for your convenience. They're cheaper to produce, and they are lightweight and easy to bag and sell. As these soils decompose, a number of negative forces will affect your plants. Take these steps to ensure your plants have the soil they need: Improve your bagged soil. It's not a long-term fix, but you can improve on peat-based growing mixes by mixing in a few handfuls of perlite. It won't slow the decomposition rate of the peat, but it will increase aeration. Flush the soil thoroughly every month, at a minimum. Take the plant to the kitchen sink or outside and thoroughly flush the soil to wash out accumulated salts from fertilizer and deposits from tap water. Wick your pots. Insert a wick through the drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. This won't help with compaction, but it will wick away excess water in the pot and help drainage, thus reducing the chance of root rot. Make your own potting mix. Many growers mix up their own potting mixes based on composted bark, coconut coir, peat, perlite, vermiculite, pumice, and other soil additives. This is a more advanced option, but it is possible to build a soil that will last for two or more seasons if you make it yourself." Pass-Along Plants "You don't have a garden just for yourself. You have it to share." — Augusta Carter, Master Gardener, Pound Ridge, Georgia Pass-along plants have the best stories, don't they? They have history. They have a personal history. One of my student gardeners had a grandmother who recently passed away from breast cancer. Her mom was no green thumb. But, when her daughter started working in my garden, she let me know that her mom had some plants, and her dad was looking for a place for them. Would I be willing to take one? Sure. Absolutely, I said. Next thing I knew, a few weeks later, Mom is walking up to my driveway, caring one of the largest Jade plants I've ever seen. The plant was in a container the size of a 5-gallon paint bucket, and the plant was just as tall. I took the plant from her with a promise to take good care of it. When she turned to leave, I asked her mom's name. I like to name my pass-along plants after the people I get them from; and, that's when the tears started. When she left, I brought it over to the potting bench and let it sit for a few days. Then, my student gardeners and I set about dividing it and taking care of it. It was a good thing we did it - because the minute we started to take it out of the pot, it became very apparent that this plant was severely waterlogged. It wouldn't have made it have a knot rescued it from the pot. We removed as much potting soil as we could. We split the plant in half and put them into separate clay pots, which were very heavily perlited, which was just what the doctor ordered. It's the perfect environment, and now it's doing fantastic. But, I'd be lying if I didn't say that it had a little more special meaning to me than just your typical jade plant -because of the look on this woman's face when she gave me this plant; passing on this little, living thing that her mom had nurtured. Pick herbs for fresh use and also for drying. Most herbs have a more concentrated flavor if they are not allowed to bolt or flower. Frequent harvesting will also accomplish that. As a bonus, harvesting encourages fresh, vigorous growth and keeps them growing longer into the season. Today is World Mosquito Day and so, today's poems are all about the Mosquito; the Minnesota state bird. Here are a few interesting facts about mosquitos. First, only the female mosquitoes bite. The lady mosquitoes use blood protein and other compounds to help them produce and develop their eggs. Second, they are attracted to Carbon Dioxide. Mosquitos track CO2 to find their protein sources. Three, mosquitos are terrible fliers. Windy days keep mosquitos away. This is another reason why I drag a large fan around with me in the garden. The constant flow of air keeps the mosquitos at bay as well as any bug spray. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events Today is Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's day; he was the patron saint of beekeepers. He's also the patron saint of bees and candlemakers St. Bernard was a doctor of the church and a French Abbot. He was apparently a fabulous preacher, with excellent speaking skills. He became known as the "honey-sweet" doctor for his honey-sweet language; he would draw people in. When he decided to become a part of the monastery, he had to give up and get up and give a testimony. History tells us that his testimony was so compelling that thirty members of his family and his friends decided to join the monastery. That's how he became associated with bees; all that sweet talk. And it was Saint Bernard who said, "Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters." 1811 On this day Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the painter and naturalist Charles Willson Peale about his farming and gardening at Monticello ("MontiCHELLo"). Here's an excerpt: "I have heard that you have retired from the city to a farm and that you give your whole time to that. Does not the Museum suffer? and is the farm as interesting? I have often thought that if heaven had given me a choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well-watered, and near a good market for the [produce from]the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden. Such a variety of subjects, someone always coming to perfection, the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest a continued one through the year. Under a total want of demand, except for our family table, I am still devoted to the garden. But though an old man, I am but a young gardener. Your application to whatever you are engaged in I know to be incessant. But Sundays and rainy days are always days of writing for the farmer." 1849 Today is the birthday of the French-Argentine landscape architect Carlos Thays ("Tays"). Carlos Thays took a business trip to Argentina when he turned forty in 1889. His job was to design a park in Cordoba. The project was life-changing for Thays when Argentina unexpectedly captured his heart. He decided to move to Argentina and he spent the back half of his life in his adopted homeland. If you visit Argentina today, the green spaces in the capital city of Buenos Aires are all thanks to Carlos Thays - the tree-lined streets, the parks, the paths, and the promenades. Essentially Carlos brought the French Landscape to Argentina - one of the many reasons why the country has a strong European vibe. It's hard to imagine a Buenos Aires without trees, and yet, that is the sight that greeted Carlos when he arrived in 1889. Carlos recognized the immediate need for trees. You know the old saying, the best time to plant a tree is thirty years ago and the second-best time is today? Well, that, essentially is a philosophy Carlos adopted. He knew that the quickest way to transform Argentina into the lush landscape we know today meant making a commitment to planting trees. Over his lifetime, Carlos planted over 1.2 million trees in the capital city. Now, the other smart decision Carlos made was to focus on native trees for his plantings. One of the most impressive trees in all of Buenos Aires is the oldest tree in the city - a massive rubber tree that the locals call El "Gran Gomero." The crown of Gran Gomero is over 50 meters wide. In Buenos Aires alone, Carlos designed over ninety percent of the public spaces in and around the city. In addition, Carlos worked on hundreds of projects all across Argentina. But a project that was near to his heart was the creation of the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden that covers 8 hectares. The garden was established a decade after Carlos arrived in Argentina. Carlos considered the Botanical Garden to be his masterpiece. It was Charles Thays who said, "To achieve happiness, it's better to live in a cabin in a forest, than in a palace without a garden." 1940 On this day the garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence wrote to her sister: "I have finished [the chapter on] Summer, and I only have [the chapter on] Fall to do—which is short. I hope I can get it done quickly, and have time to rewrite after your reading. If you get back before I do [from a trip with Bessie and sister Ann], and can find time to look into my garden, will you see if Nerine undulata is in bloom? And if it is, pick it when all of the flowers are out, and put it in your refrigerator until I get back. It bloomed last year while I was gone, and I have never seen it, and it is the most exciting bulb I have. I enclose a map of where it is, and of other things that might bloom. Don't bother about any of them—don't look for Ridgeway [color chart]. I am taking it with me in case we get to any nurseries.…" Nerine undulata an Amaryllis. It grows 18 inches tall and has umbels of 8-12 slender, crinkled pale pink flowers, and it blooms in autumn. 1948 Today is the birthday of the man with the last name all gardeners covet - the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant. Unearthed Words Today is World Mosquito Day and so, today's poems are all about the Mosquito Lovely mosquito, attacking my arm As quiet and still as a statue, Stay right where you are! I'll do you no harm- I simply desire to pat you. Just puncture my veins and swallow your fill For, nobody's going to swot you. Now, lovely mosquito, stay perfectly still - A SWIPE! And a SPLAT! And I GOT YOU! — Doug MacLeod, Australian author and poet, Lovely Mosquito Announcing your arrival In a high-pitch buzzing-tone. As a tactic for survival, You're seldom on your own. Red lumps display where you have been Often felt, but rarely seen. But if I catch a glimpse of you, my little vampire chum, I'll make sure you get what you're due And crush you with my thumb! — David Sollis, English publisher and poet, Mosquito Grow That Garden Library French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings by Courtney Allison This book came out in May 2020. In case you didn't know, Courtney is the author of the blog French Country Cottage and she also has a floral line with Balsam Hill. She also works as a freelance photographer and stylist for magazines. So, in short, Courtney was the perfect person to write this book. And, the only bummer is that the book was released during the pandemic. Now, what gardeners will love about this book is that Courtney shares all of her secrets for creating beautiful gatherings. And, hey, nowadays we only entertain with the people we care the most about - so we might as well make it extra special. What I love about Courtney's book is that she shares all of her gorgeous tips and tricks for elevating gatherings. she shows how to add layer and depth to all of your entertaining and her flower arrangements really set the stage. Here's what Courtney's editor wrote about this book: "Courtney provides the styling expertise to host your own French Country Cottage–inspired gathering, whether in the backyard, at the beach, under an old oak tree, or in a country barn. A simple picnic; coffee by the lake; a cheese board for friends outdoors; a bistro table for two; a long table for a formal meal―each setting exhibiting Allison's dreamy style for you to emulate. The pièce de résistance in every venue, any setting, is the gorgeous arrangements of seasonal flowers; Courtney's bouquets will take your breath away, from spring to fall, for outdoors and inside." This is definitely one of my favorite books for 2020. This book is 224 pages of French Country Cottage Style for gardeners. You can get a copy of French Country Cottage Inspired Gatherings by Courtney Allison and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $30 Today's Botanic Spark 1881 Today we celebrate the birthday of the poet Edgar Albert Guest. Edgar was known as the People's Poet during the first half of the 20th century. Edgar's poems were happy and hopeful, which is why people like them. Here's his poem called To Plant a Garden: If your purse no longer bulges and you've lost your golden treasure, If at times you think you're lonely and have hungry grown for pleasure, Don't sit by your hearth and grumble, don't let your mind and spirit harden. If it's thrills of joy you wish for get to work and plant a garden! If it's drama that you sigh for, plant a garden and you'll get it You will know the thrill of battle fighting foes that will beset it. If you long for entertainment and for pageantry most glowing, Plant a garden and this summer spend your time with green things growing. If it's comradeship you sight for, learn the fellowship of daisies. You will come to know your neighbor by the blossoms that he raises; If you'd get away from boredom and find new delights to look for, Learn the joy of budding pansies which you've kept a special nook for. If you ever think of dying and you fear to wake tomorrow, Plant a garden! It will cure you of your melancholy sorrow. Once you've learned to know peonies, petunias, and roses, You will find every morning some new happiness discloses

Today we salute the English orphan girl who wrote her own destiny with science fiction writing. We also remember the English gardener who is still ghosting us after many decades. We revisit a letter from Elizabeth Lawrence to her sister Ann. We'll celebrate National Potato Day with some Potato Poems. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a gorgeous book about Dahlias. And then we'll wrap things up with the birthday of a beloved American creator of light verse. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Behind the Winning Design: Q&A with Michael Drolet | FlowerMag Here's an excerpt: "When Michael Drolet submitted his vibrant vision for a Paris apartment for the Virtual Design Challenge, "we were all immediately impressed and drawn to his colorful and technically accurate proposal," said Cass Key, creative director at Woodbridge Furniture, one of the contest sponsors along with Taylor King and KingsHaven. "He set the stage beautifully and let the story unfold like a professional, and the true plot twist came when we realized that he was a student, looking to start his career in the fall. He pushed the boundaries by using a Taylor King fabric as a wall covering and imagining the outdoor space, which is exactly the type of inventive creativity that should be rewarded today and always, said Key." Wallcovering: Taylor King's 'Secret Garden Passion' floral textile Today is National Potato Day. Here are some fun Potato facts: The average American eats approximately 126 pounds of spuds each year. And, up until the 18th century, the French believed potatoes caused leprosy. To combat the belief, the agronomist Antoine Auguste Parmentier single-handedly changed the French perception of the Potato. How did Antoine get the French people to believe that the Potato was safe to eat? Good question. Antoine cleverly posted guards around his potato fields during the day and put the word out that he didn't want people stealing them. Then, he purposefully left them unguarded at night. As he suspected, people did what he thought they would do; steal the potatoes by the sackful by the light of the moon. Soon, they started eating them. And Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair. The Idaho Potato, or the Russet Burbank, was developed by none other than Luther Burbank in 1871. Today is also World Photography Day! So, head out to your garden and take some photos. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1807 Today is the birthday of Jane Webb, who married the prolific writer of all things gardening: John Claudius Loudon. Together they became magnificent partners in the world of botanical writing and publishing. Jane was an extraordinary person. She was a fantastic writer in her own right, but she also possessed an inner determination; she was a survivor. When her father lost the family fortune and died penniless when Jane was only seventeen, it was the beginning of her career writing Science Fiction. Along with Mary Shelley, Jane was an early pioneer in science fiction writing. It's hard to believe, but this endeavor would set her on her life's path to garden writing. Jane's book The Mummy was published anonymously, in 1827, in three parts. In her writing, Jane incorporated predictable changes in technology and society. For instance, she predicted that women of the future would wear pants. And, Jane also featured something agricultural that she imagined would come to pass: a steam plow. Jane's vision of easier and less laborious farming is what attracted the attention of John Claudius Loudon - her future husband. Loudon wrote a favorable review of her book, but he also wanted to meet the author. Loudon didn't realize Jane had written the book using a nom de plume of Henry Colburn. Much to Loudon's delight, Henry was Jane; they fell in love and married a year later. If you enjoy Victorian illustrations, you'll positively swoon for the frontispiece of Jane's 1843 publication Gardening for ladies: with a calendar of operations and directions for every month in the year. It shows a mother and her young child standing on either side of a lush arbor, and they are both holding garden tools. Jane's garden books were very popular. She connected with her fans because she was always earnest and genuine. Jane wasn't raised as a gardener. She learned it as an adult. When it came to gardening, Jane was a conscious competent - and it made her an excellent gardening teacher. Jane was aware of this when she wrote,

"I think books intended for professional gardeners, are seldom suitable to the wants of amateurs. It is so very difficult for a person who has been acquainted with a subject all his life, to imagine the state of ignorance in which a person is who knows nothing of it…Thus, though it might, at first sight, appear presumptuous in me to attempt to teach an art of which for three-fourths of my life I was perfectly ignorant, it is, in fact, that very circumstance which is one of my chief qualifications for the task." Today, people often forget that Jane was not only a wife but a caretaker. John's arms stopped working as he grew older, after an attack of rheumatic fever. As a result, Jane became his arms, handling most of his writing. As with all of the trials she faced, Jane managed John's challenges head-on and with pragmatism. As for those who felt gardening wasn't ladylike, Jane wrote,

"…a lady, with the assistance of a common laborer to level and prepare the ground, may turn a barren waste into a flower garden with her own hands." Eventually, John's right arm got so bad that surgeons needed to amputate it. They found him in his garden when they came to perform the surgery. John replied he intended to return to the garden immediately after the operation. Two weeks before Christmas 1843, Jane was helping John write his last book called, A Self Instruction to Young Gardeners. Around midnight, he stopped dictating and suddenly collapsed into Jane's arms and died. True to form, Jane completed the book on her own. The orphan girl who never knew financial security, Jane Loudon, is remembered with affection to this day for her beautiful illustrations and garden writing for the people. 1858 Today is the birthday of Ellen Ann Willmott, who was an English horticulturalist who lived in Brentwood. Ellen was the oldest in her family of three daughters. In 1875, her parents moved to Warley Place, which was set on 33 acres of land in Essex. Ellen lived there for the rest of her life. Now, the entire each member of the Willmott family enjoyed gardening, and they often gardened together as a family. Ellen once wrote,

"I had a passion for sowing seeds and was very proud when I found out the difference between beads and seeds and gave up sewing the former." The Willmott's created an alpine garden complete with a gorge and rockery. They also created a cave for their ferns. This was an activity that Ellen's father had approved to commemorate her 21st birthday. When her godmother died, Ellen received some pretty significant money. And, when Ellen's father died, Warley Place went to her. With her large inheritance and no love interest save her garden, Ellen planted to her heart's content. It was a good thing that Ellen had so much money because she sure liked to spend it. She had three homes: one in France, Warley Place, and another in Italy. Given the size of Warley Place, it's no wonder that Ellen hired over 100 gardeners to help her tend it. Now, Ellen was no shrinking violet. She was very demanding and impatient. She had a reputation for firing any gardener who allowed a weed to grow in her beds. And, she only hired men - at least before the war, that is. There's a famous quote from her that is often cited,

"Women would be a disaster in the border." Ellen's gardeners worked very hard - putting in twelve hours a day. And, Ellen made them wear a uniform that included a frog-green silk tie, a hat with a green band, and a blue apron. She could easily spot them as they worked in the garden. Ellen's favorite flower was the narcissus, and she asked her gardeners to let their children scatter them all around the garden. With such a large staff and maniacal devotion, Ellen's garden at Warley Place was revered, and her guests included Queen Mary, Queen Alexandra, and Princess Victoria. Ellen delighted in novel plants, and to acquire them, and she also paid for plant hunting expeditions. As the financier of these ventures, the plants that were discovered on these expeditions were often named in her honor. For example, Ellen sponsored the great Ernest Henry Wilson. When he returned, he named three plants after her: blue plumbago (Certostigmata Willmottianum), a yellow Corylopsis (Corylopsis Willmottiae), and a pink rose (Rosa Willmottiae). When Ellen received the Victoria Medal of Honor in 1897, she was honored alongside Gertrude Jekyll. This was a significant accomplishment for both women during this time. Yet, at the end of her life, Ellen died penniless and heartbroken. She had spent her entire inheritance on her gardens. After Ellen died, the house at Warley Place was demolished, but Warley Place, along with its grand row of 17th-century chestnut trees, managed to stay protected and became a nature preserve. And, there's a little story about Ellen that I thought you would enjoy. Ellen always carried a handbag. Now, in this handbag, She allegedly always carried two items: a revolver and thistle seeds. Obviously, the former was for protection, but the latter was put to far more sinister use. Allegedly, when Ellen would go to other people's gardens, she discreetly scattered thistle seed about the garden during her visit. To this day, the giant prickly thistle has the common name Miss Willmott's ghost. 1934 On this day, Elizabeth Lawrence wrote a letter to her sister Ann. In the letter, she mentions their mom, Bessie, who shared both her daughters' love of the garden.

"I am so happy to get back to my rickety Corona; Ellen's elegant new typewriter made anything I had to say unworthy of its attention.

The Zinnias you raised for us are magnificent. There are lots of those very pale salmon ones that are the loveliest of all, and some very pale yellow ones that Bessie puts in my room. The red ones are in front of Boltonia and astilbe (white).

I knew how awful the garden would be. I have come back to it before, and I knew Bessie wasn't going to do anything by herself. But that doesn't mitigate the despair that you feel when you see it. I worked for two days and almost got the weeds out of the beds around the summer house. There isn't much left. There has been so much rain that the growth of the weeds was tropical." Unearthed WordsToday is National Potato Day. Here are some poems about the humble Potato.

Three days into the journey I lost the Inca Trail and scrambled around the Andes in a growing panic when on a hillside below the snowline I met a farmer who pointed the way— Machu Picchu allá, he said. He knew where I wanted to go. From my pack, I pulled out an orange. It seemed to catch fire in that high blue Andean sky. I gave it to him. He had been digging in a garden, turning up clumps of earth, some odd, misshapen nuggets, some potatoes. He handed me one, a potato the size of the orange looking as if it had been in the ground a hundred years, a potato I carried with me until at last I stood gazing down on the Urubamba valley, peaks rising out of the jungle into clouds, and there among the mists was the Temple of the Sun and the Lost City of the Incas. Looking back now, all these years later, what I remember most, what matters to me most, was that farmer, alone on his hillside, who gave me a potato, a potato with its peasant's face, its lumps and lunar craters, a potato that fit perfectly in my hand, a potato that consoled me as I walked, told me not to fear, held me close to the earth, the Potato I put in a pot that night, the Potato I boiled above Machu Picchu, the patient, gnarled Potato I ate. — Joseph Stroud, American poet, The Potato In haste one evening while making dinner I threw away a potato that was spoiled on one end. The rest would have been redeemable. In the yellow garbage pail, it became the consort of coffee grounds, banana skins, carrot peelings. I pitched it onto the compost where steaming scraps and leaves return, like bodies over time, to earth. When I flipped the fetid layers with a hay fork to air the pile, the Potato turned up unfailingly, as if to revile me— looking plumper, firmer, resurrected instead of disassembling. It seemed to grow until I might have made shepherd's pie for a whole hamlet, people who pass the day dropping trees, pumping gas, pinning hand-me-down clothes on the line. — Jane Kenyon, American poet, Potato Grow That Garden Library Dahlias by Naomi Slade This book came out in 2018, and the subtitle is Beautiful Varieties for Home & Garden. The dahlia is a fabulous cutting flower for the home garden. Cut one bloom, and ten more appear on the plant. Blooming late summer to the first frost of autumn, this native of Mexico provides explosions of color in home gardens. Naomi Slade is a biologist by training, a naturalist by inclination, and she has a lifelong love of plants. Georgianna Lane is a leading garden photographer whose work has been widely published, and she's one of my favorites. This book is 240 pages of delicious dahlias - a gorgeous gift from Naomi and Georgianna. You can get a copy of Dahlias by Naomi Slade and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $10 Today's Botanic Spark 1902 Today is the birthday of Ogden Nash. Ogden is the American poet, who said, "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." He also said, "Parsley is Gharsley." Ogden wrote several poems about gardening and flowers. His poem called My Victory Garden is a standout favorite with gardeners.

Today, my friends, I beg your pardon, But I'd like to speak of my Victory Garden. With a hoe for a sword, and citronella for armor, I ventured forth to become a farmer. On bended knee, and perspiring clammily, I pecked at the soil to feed my family, A figure than which there was none more dramatic-er. Alone with the bug, and my faithful sciatica, I toiled with the patience of Job or Buddha, But nothing turned out the way it shudda. Would you like a description of my parsley? I can give it to you in one word--gharsley! They're making playshoes out of my celery, It's reclaimed rubber, and purplish yellery, Something crawly got into my chives, My lettuce has hookworm; my cabbage has hives, And I mixed the labels when sowing my carrots; I planted birdseed--it came up parrots. Do you wonder then, that my arteries harden Whenever I think of my Victory Garden? My farming will never make me famous, I'm an agricultural ignoramus, So don't ask me to tell a string bean from a soy bean. I can't even tell a girl bean from a boy bean.

Today we celebrate the Brigadier General, who described the Compass Plant. We'll also learn about the Norwegian poet who gardened and tended 70 apple trees. We remember the gift given to American by the Mayor of Tokyo. We also honor an extraordinary tree that was discovered on the estate of the first Earl of Camperdown. We'll celebrate World Daffodil Day with a Daffodil Poem. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book called Dream Plants for the Natural Garden - it's a classic. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the Georgia State Flower. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Do houseplants really improve air quality? | The Guardian | James Wong Here's an excerpt: "Five years ago I wrote a column in this very magazine about how houseplants can purify the air, based on research carried out by Nasa. Since then, there has been a slew of online articles, not to mention industry campaigns and even new gadgets, centred on this claim. The only problem with it is that more recent and better quality research has found this to be extremely unlikely... However, other research shows that having plants indoors has a range of other benefits. They can boost productivity. They can improve mood. They can regulate humidity – all on top of looking beautiful. If you want fresh air, open a window. If you want to witness the joy of nature and feel a daily sense of wonder, get some houseplants." Follow James on Twitter @Botanygeek Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1813 Today is the birthday of Brigadier General, mathematician, and botanist Benjamin Alvord. Born in Rutland Vermont, Benjamin was always drawn to nature. He graduated from West Point and even spent some time teaching there as a Math Professor. Benjamin fought in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican–American War, and the Civil War. When he wasn't serving in the military, Benjamin returned to his passions of scholarly activity. His obituary at Arlington says, "General Alvord lived most of his life in the field, where he was separated from society and books, yet he became a learned scholar; skilled in dialectics, ready in conversation, and polished in his writing. He had a special fondness for mathematics, botany, history, and biography." Benjamin published mathematical papers as well as literary articles for magazines like Harpers, and he even wrote a botanical paper on the Compass Plant Silphium laciniatum, which was featured in The American Naturalist. In 1848, Benjamin described the Compass Plant this way: "The Silphium laciniatum is a perennial plant of the order Compositae; the first year it bears only radical leaves, the second year and after, it is a flowering herb with four or five leaves on the stem; very rough bristly throughout; Flowers yellow. Found on rich prairies of the Mississippi valley from Minnesota to Texas… It was first seen by me in the autumn of 1839, on the rich prairies near Fort Wayne in the north-eastern portion of the Cherokee nation, near the Arkansas line." The leaves of the Compass Plant align north-south, which helps the plant minimize the effect of the midday sun. The north-south orientation guided settlers crossing the prairies who used the plant as a compass during their journey. Compass Plant is edible. Livestock eats it. Native Americans used it to make tea, a dewormer for their horses, and as a teeth cleaner and breath sweetener. Although before you use the Compass Plant for your teeth or breath, take note of this passage from the Illinois author John Madison, "Pioneers found that compass plant produced a pretty good brand of native chewing gum. It has an odd pine-resin taste that's pleasant enough, but must be firmed up before its chewed. A couple summers ago I tried some of this sap while it was still liquid. It's surely the stickiest stuff in all creation and I literally had to clean it from my teeth with lighter fluid." Now, Benjamin was very curious about the polarity of the Compass Plant. In fact, another common name for the plant is the Polar Plant. Benjamin initially theorized that the plant took up a lot of iron, thereby creating a magnet polarity in the leaves, but he later discounted that theory. The poet Longfellow referred to the Compass Plant in his 1947 poem "Evangeline" about a young woman who is lovesick over missing her boyfriend. FYI Nepenthe is a drug of forgetfulness, and Asphodel is a grey and ghostly plant in the Underworld. Patience! the priest would say; have faith, and thy prayer will be answered; Look at this delicate plant that lifts its head from the meadow; See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the magnet - This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has planted Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveler's journey Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert. Such in the soul of man is faith. The blossoms of passion, Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of fragrance; But they beguile us and lead us astray, and their odor is deadly. Only this humble plant can guide us here, and hereafter Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with the dews of nepenthe. 1908 Today is the birthday of the Norwegian poet and gardener Olav Hauge. Olav was a trained horticulturist and fruit grower. Olav earned a living as a professional gardener. When he wasn't writing poetry, he could be found working in his apple orchard - he had 70 apple trees. Here's my translation of one of his more famous poems in his home country of Norway; it's about a garden cat. The cat sits in the yard. When you come, Talk to the cat a little. He is the one who is in charge of the garden. And here's another famous poem for Olav fans: Don't come to me with the entire truth. Don't bring me the ocean if I feel thirsty, nor heaven if I ask for light; but bring a hint, some dew, a particle, as birds carry only drops away from water, and the wind a grain of salt. 1909 On this day, Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki pledged to give 2,000 Cherry trees to U.S. President William Howard Taft. Taft decided to plant them near the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., in West Potomac Park surrounding the Tidal Basin. The trees arrived in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 1910. 1918 On this day, a daughter of Redmond Washington, Nellie Perrigo, married Chase G. Morris, and her father, William Pulcifer Perrigo, gifted the couple a Camperdown Elm. In fact, William gave each one of his five daughters a Camperdown Elm on their wedding day. He brought the unique trees with him from Scotland. Nellie and Charles posed for their wedding photo in front of her sister June's Camperdown Elm since they were married on her property. Then they planted their own Camperdown Elm in front of their little farmhouse in Carnation, Washington. Five generations of the Morris family lived and played under the family Camperdown Elm. Camperdown Elms have a fascinating history that dates back to 1840. That year, on the estate of the First Earl of Camperdown, the estate forester and Landscaper named David Taylor noticed a contorted young elm tree growing parallel to the ground. Now, what Taylor was looking at was essentially a weeping mutation of the Scotch Elm. Like other weepers, the tree lacked the gene for negative geotropism, so the tree couldn't distinguish which way was up. Taylor dug up the young elm and brought it to the gardens of Camperdown House. And eventually, Taylor grafted cuttings of the weeping elm to Wych Elms, and the result was a tree that became known as a Camperdown Elm - a weeping cultivar of the Scotch Elm. In 1872, the New York florist Adolphus Goby Burgess gifted a Camperdown Elm to the Brooklyn Parks Commission. After receiving the tree from Burgess, it was Frederick Law Olmsted, who decided on the location for it. Seeing that graft was relatively low on the rootstock, Olmsted wisely planted the tree on a small hill near the boathouse at Prospect Parkallowing plenty of room for the weeping branches. By the time the Pulitzer-Winning Poet Marianne Moore fell in love with the Camperdown Elm at Prospect Park, it was in sad shape. Some of the limbs were hollow thanks to rats and carpenter ants. The weak areas of the tree made it vulnerable, and it began to succumb to a bacterial infection as well as general rot. Marianne used her fame and her wit to save the Camperdown Elm. She wrote a poem about the tree which was published in The New Yorker in September 1967. The public read her poem, and the Bartlett Tree Company saved the tree. It still stands today. Now before I read the poem, I'll offer a few definitions.

• Thanatopsis is the name of a poem written by William Cullen Bryant. It's also a Greek word that means meditation on or thinking about death. Byrant's poem is a consolation; eventually, we all will die.
• Then, Thomas Cole and Asher Durand were both landscape painters.
• One of Asher Durand's most famous paintings is called Kindred Spirits. The picture shows two men standing on a rock ledge and shaded by the branches of an enormous elm tree in the Catskill Mountains. The men depicted were the painter, Thomas Cole, and his dear friend, the poet William Cullen Bryant.
• A curio is something novel, rare, or bizarre.

Here's The Camperdown Elm by Marianne Moore: I think, in connection with this weeping elm, of "Kindred Spirits" at the edge of a rock ledge overlooking a stream: Thanatopsis-invoking tree-loving Bryant conversing with Thomas Cole in Asher Durand's painting of them under the filigree of an elm overhead. No doubt they had seen other trees — lindens, maples and sycamores, oaks and the Paris street-tree, the horse-chestnut; but imagine their rapture, had they come on the Camperdown Elm's massiveness and "the intricate pattern of its branches," arching high, curving low, in its mist of fine twigs. The Bartlett tree-cavity specialist saw it and thrust his arm the whole length of the hollowness of its torso, and there were six small cavities also. Props are needed and tree-food. It is still leafing; Still there. Mortal though. We must save it. It is our crowning curio. Unearthed Words Today is World Daffodil Day, and there's really one poem that is regarded as the Mother of All Daffodil Poems, and it's this one. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. — William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud Grow That Garden Library Dream Plants for the Natural Garden by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen This book came out in 2013, and it's still one of the best books on modern garden design. Join two of the world's most influential garden designers, Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, as they describe their ideal perennials, bulbs, grasses, ferns and small shrubs for your natural garden. This comprehensive compendium classifies these 1200 plants according to their behavior, strengths, and uses. With these plants and expert advice, you can create the garden of your dreams. This book is 144 pages of natural garden goodness. You can get a copy of Dream Plants for the Natural Garden by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $35 Today's Botanic Spark 1853 On this day, George Governor Gov. Nathaniel Harris approved the joint resolution to make the Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata) Georgia's State Flower. Here's an excerpt from The Atlanta Constitution in 1970 with a little story about the Cherokee Rose: "Four years ago Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin decided that it was high time for a Cherokee rose to be on the grounds of the State Capitol. Secretary of State Ben Fortson, then in charge of the grounds, agreed. Now, it isn't easy to find a Cherokee rose for sale, so a notice was put in The Market Bulletin, inviting someone to donate a Cherokee rose for the Capitol. Within a few days, the commissioner's office was swamped with almost 250 rose bushes. The superabundance spoke well for the generosity of Georgians and their eagerness to cooperate but not so well for their knowledge of the state flower, for less than .1 percent was actually the Cherokee Rose. The others were Macartneys, pasture and prairie roses, Silver Moons, Bengals, multifloras, and "grandma's favorite. There were enough plants for public grounds all over the state, with one or two real Cherokees for the Capitol grounds. Since then several others have been added. There should be plenty of blooms this spring for everyone making the effort to see them. Only a horticulturist can identify a Cherokee rose for sure, but Mrs. Wills once suggested a simple way for the average person to distinguish between the Cherokee and the Macartney which is often confused with it because the blossoms are similar. "The Cherokee," she said, "has only three leaves on a leaf stem; the Macartney has five."

Today we remember the man who helped to establish the Natural History Museum in Vienna. We'll also learn about the Swedish botanist who specialized in mycology. We salute the American botanist who wrote the Calendarian - a marvelous phenological record. We also recognize a fanciful botanical illustrator who anthropomorphized flowers in his book. We honor a husband and wife team who created a magnificent arboretum in the middle of the country. We'll celebrate National Relaxation Day with a poem a feature most gardeners enjoy - a little running brook. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book It's the Little Things by Susanna Salk. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a man who created the term ecosystem, and his words still challenge us to see our gardens through a much bigger lens. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Connecticut Garden Journal: Ground Cherries | Connecticut Public Radio Here's an excerpt: "Some vegetables are just fun. We've been growing ground cherries for years. This tomato-family vegetable looks like a mini version of a tomatillo. It's a sprawling 2-foot tall plant that produces an abundance of green turning to brown papery husks. Inside the husk is the fun part. Small, cherry-sized fruits mature from green to golden. Unwrap the husk, harvest, and snack on the fruits. They taste like a cross between a tomato and pineapple. They are sweet and delicious and something kids really love." Last week was one of Turmoil in my Garden. We decided to put new windows and siding on the house. Then we decided to enjoy the ravages of a hail storm which dumped ping pong ball sized hail on the garden for about five minutes - the entire storm lasted 30 minutes. I always remind new gardeners that we never garden alone. We garden in partnership with Mother Nature, and in this partnership, Mother Nature still has her way. Sometimes we may feel like we win, but I kind of think it's like the first time you play Go Fish or some other game with your child, they just THINK they won. In any case, I am using this as an opportunity to address some crowding in my garden beds. In some places, everything is just gone, and I suppose I could see it as an early start on fall cleanup. The one thing I'm grateful for is the replacement of this large 14 x 20 'Arbor on the side of our house. I had started growing several rows of it over the years and then settled on golden hops when I was going through my hops phase. Over the past few years, I've decided I'm not a fan of hops. The vines are aggressive and sticky, and the sap can be irritating to the skin. And I wasn't a massive fan of the color. My student gardeners will help me cover the area with some landscape fabric to make sure it does not come back, and then I think climbing hydrangea would be lovely. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1775 Today is the birthday of the Austrian naturalist and botanist Karl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers. Now, the Austrian Empire had a special affinity for plants and horticulture. And, they funded expeditions regularly to collect new materials for the Natural History Museum. Many famous botanists were involved with these expeditions, including Carl Phillip Von Martinus. In 1806, Karl von Schreiber became the director of the Vienna Natural History Museum. And although he was an excellent botanist and ecologist, his heart belonged to minerals and meteorites. One of Karl's smartest moves was to make Leopold Trattinick the curator of the Museum's herbarium, which was founded in 1807. For over forty years, Karl grew the Museum, but then things took a bad turn. In 1848, during the revolution in Vienna, the Natural History Museum caught on fire. Protesters not only destroyed the library Karl had carefully built up, but they also destroyed Karl's home since his living quarters were right inside the Museum. The destruction of the Museum was too much for Karl - it broke his heart. Karl immediately retired, and he died four years later. 1794 Today is the birthday of the botanist Elias Magnus Friesz, who is born on this day in Sweden. Now, the area where Elias grew up in Sweden was rich in fungi, and as luck would have it, his father was a self-taught botanist. Put those two things together, and it's no wonder Elias developed a lifelong interest in mycology. In fact, Elias developed the first system that was used to classify fungi, so we remember him for that. If you Google Elias Friesz, you'll see there's a wonderful picture of him as an octogenarian. If you're a Harry Potter fan, Elias looks like he could've been Dumbledore's best friend. Elias was a happy botanist, and he worked tirelessly until the day he died in February 1878. 1796 Today is the birthday of the American botanist John Torrey. John was the first American botanist to study the flora of New York State. And, the area John botanized included what is now Greenwich Village, the area of the Elgin Botanic Garden ("el-GG-IN"), which is now Rockefeller Center, and Bloomingdale, which is now the upper side west side of Manhattan - as well as Hoboken New Jersey. One of the things we remember most about John is his Calendarian, which was a phenological record where he documented his plants; he recorded the species, location, and date of first bloom. It was kind of like a baby book for his plants. Historically speaking, farmers often kept similar records to track planting seasons and growing cycles. And Thomas Jefferson did the same thing as John in a book he called The Calendar. The New York botanic garden has digitized this manuscript so you can check it out when you get a chance. And, here's some fun John Torrey trivia: The mountain known as Torrey's Peak in Colorado is named for John Torrey. 1845 Today is the birthday of the illustrator Walter Crane, who was born in Liverpool. Today, gardeners fondly recall Walter thanks to one of his most stunning works - a book called "A Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden," which was published in 1899. Walter's book was intended to be a children's book, but as I like to say, it became a beloved book by children of all ages. For gardeners, it is really something of a graphic novel telling the story of the secret life and society of flowers. In Walter's world, the flowers are personified. For example, the Dandelion is portrayed as a bold knight - his shield is made of a large dandelion blossom. And, the Foxgloves are a lively group - comprised of cousins and brothers and sisters. The book continues to appeal thanks to Walter's beautiful artwork and the allure of the enchanted realm he created, complete with Fairies, the Four Seasons, Old Man Time, knights, and other creatures. There are 46 illustrations in this little book. Original copies of this rare book sell for over $1,000. You can view the entire album for FREE using this link in today's show notes. 1914 Today is the birthday of the cofounder of the Bickelhaupt Arboretum, Robert Earl Bickelhaupt. Robert and his wife Frances created the Arboretum around their family home in Clinton, Iowa. During the 1960s and 1970s, Robert and Frances watched as Dutch Elm disease claimed the beautiful Elm-lined streets in Clinton. In response, Robert and Frances began planting a diverse range of trees on their property - which was 10 acres. Now, Robert and Frances were exceptionally disciplined when it came to planting trees - they grouped all the trees by species. The Bickelhaupt Arboretum has a lovely collection of trees, including ash, beech, birch, crabapple, elm, hickory, honeylocust, linden, magnolia, and oak. They also have a gorgeous conifer collection, which is regarded as the crown jewel of the Arboretum, and it features many rare and dwarf conifers. In total, the BickelhauptArboretum boasts over 2,000 different species of plants. And just this week, the Bickelhaupt Arboretum is writing a new chapter - they are cleaning up the damage from the derecho ("duh-RAY-cho"), the widespread and severe windstorm that blew through the midwest earlier this week (August 10, 2020). As a result of the derecho, the Arboretum lost 28 trees, and many more were damaged in the hurricane-force winds. Now the first course of action is clean up, and then they will take down trees that need to be addressed immediately because they have been so compromised. If you happen to go to the Bickelhaupt Arboretum, there is a poignant sculpture of Robert and Frances near the entrance. They are standing side by side as Frances places one foot on a shovel she is holding. Unearthed Words Today is National Relaxation Day, so take a deep breath and imagine the movement of the water as you listen to the words today's poem. I come from haunts of coot and hern, I make a sudden sally And sparkle out among the fern, To bicker down a valley. By thirty hills I hurry down, Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorpes, a little town, And half a hundred bridges. Till last by Philip's farm, I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever. I chatter over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles, I bubble into eddying bays, I babble on the pebbles. With many a curve my banks I fret By many a field and fallow, And many a fairy foreland set With willow-weed and mallow. I chatter, chatter, as I flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever. I wind about, and in and out, With here a blossom sailing, And here and there a lusty trout, And here and there a grayling, And here and there a foamy flake Upon me, as I travel With many a silvery water-break Above the golden gravel, And draw them all along, and flow To join the brimming river For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever. I steal by lawns and grassy plots, I slide by hazel covers; I move the sweet forget-me-nots That grow for happy lovers. I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, Among my skimming swallows; I make the netted sunbeam dance Against my sandy shallows. I murmur under moon and stars In brambly wildernesses; I linger by my shingly bars; I loiter round my cresses; And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever. — Alfred Lord Tennyson, British poet, The Brook Grow That Garden Library It's the Little Things by Susanna Salk This book came out in 2016, and the subtitle is Creating Big Moments in Your Home Through The Stylish Small Stuff. "In [It's the Little Things] Susanna successfully celebrates those details in our homes where we express ourselves the most and where our memories, our personality, and our style come alive. . . Throughout this inspiring and useful tome, Susanna features vignettes and details from designers around the globe who use details to 'bring depth and life to a room.'" — Quintessence Blog "If the walls of your home could talk, what would they say about you? Turns out, a lot. That's the message in Susanna Salk's new book, It's the Little Things: Creating Big Moments in Your Home Through the Stylish Small Stuff, that details how the smallest design elements have the potential to make the biggest statements." — Vogue "With her latest book, It's the Little Things: Creating Big Moments in Your Home Through the Stylish Small Stuff, Susanna continues to inspire us with the notion that decorating your home is deeply personal. . . . If you've ever struggled with how to decorate your mantel, how to create an arrangement on a wall, or how to create a moment in a small space, this lusciously photographed volume is a godsend. . . In the end, you realize that it's not about having access to expensive things or the ability to hire a designer. When you surround yourself with things you love, the rest will fall into place, especially when you have a good guide by your side." — Ballard Designs Blog This book is 272 pages of little stylish things that will create meaningful moments in your home. You can get a copy of It's the Little Things by Susanna Salk and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $38 Today's Botanic Spark 1871 Today is the birthday of the English botanist and pioneer in the science of ecology, Sir Arthur George Tansley. Arthur's father had a close friend and fellow teacher who was a botanist, and it was this individual who inspired Arthur to pursue botany. From a legacy standpoint, Tansley is remembered for creating the botany publication New Phytologist Which was named after an 1842 publication called The Phytologist. With his journal, Tansley wanted British botanists to be able to communicate and discuss their teaching and research. It's thanks to Arthur Tansley that we embrace the concept of an ecosystem - he introduced us to the term in 1935. Tansley defined an ecosystem as, "A community of organisms that interact with each other and with their environments by competing and collaborating over the available resources in order to thrive. In doing so, they co-evolve and jointly adapt to external influences." Listen to this Tansley quote and see if it doesn't challenge you to think about your plants, your garden, and your world more broadly. "The whole method of science… is to isolate systems for the purpose of study… whether it be a solar system, a planet, a climatic region, a plant or animal community, an individual organism, an organic molecule, or an atom… Actually, the systems we isolate mentally are not only included as parts of larger ones, but they also overlap, interlock, and interact with one another. Isolation is artificial." So when we ask ourselves, what is wrong with this leaf? Or, with this flower? Or, shrub or tree, etc. We should also be thinking more broadly. What is wrong with this garden? With this land? Today, the New Phytologist gives the Tansley Medal to early career researchers working in the field of plant sciences. The award is intended to increase visibility for exciting work in all areas of plant sciences.

Today we celebrate a historic elm tree in Boston. And we remember the Romantic English poet who went by L.E.L. We'll also learn about the magazine that helped launch the National Audubon Society. We salute the Scottish nurseryman who elevated to the top echelons of British horticulture. We also remember the Iowa botanist who dedicated her life to protecting the vanishing prairie ecosystem. We celebrate the fleeting summer with some poetry. And, we Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that features Audubon's masterful illustrations. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a canning lid shortage back in 1975. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News 5 Things To Consider Before You Landscape A Garden | Homes To Love Here's an excerpt: We spoke to landscaping expert John McMillan from General Lawns for his thoughts and handy tips on creating the perfect landscaped garden. How can you choose the right plants, set a theme, include a deck or a water feature or know how to describe what you want into a brief? John has 5 crucial questions to consider to build a garden fit for your home. 1. Research, Research, Research 2. Consider your lifestyle 3. Choose carefully 4. Keep a grip on the budget 5. Keep it real Saint Werenfrid's Day (August 14) Gardeners know that Werenfridus is the Patron Saint of Vegetable Gardens. Werenfrid is often portrayed as a priest holding a ship with a coffin in it. And, sometimes Werenfrid is displayed as a priest laid to rest in his ship. What do these emblems - the coffin and the ship - have to do with Vegetable Gardens? Absolutely nothing. But the coffin and ship do remind us just how beloved St. Werenfrid was by the Dutch people. You see, as a Benedictine monk, Werenfrid tended the gardens at his monastery, and his gardens served a vital purpose: feeding the poor and the hungry. As a gardener and a clergyman, Werenfrid was a nourisher of both bodies and souls. After decades of caring for his flock in and around Arnhem in the Netherlands, Werenfrid died at the age of 90. After Werenfrid died, two nearby towns named Westervort and Elst started fighting over Werenfrid's body. Each town wanted the honor of being his final resting place and, of course, being blessed by his sacred remains. Although the citizens of Elst contended that Werenfrid himself said he wanted to be laid to rest in their town, the dispute continued until the two towns agreed to let nature dictate Werenfrid's fate. According to lore, Werenfrid's body was placed on an unmanned boat on the Rhine and fate brought Werenfrid to the shores of Elst where today, the Werenfrid Church still stands. And so, today we remember the gentle, loving gardener monk named Werenfrid, who is often shown holding a ship carrying a coffin. Werenfrid is also invoked for gout and stiff joints - which, if you grow vegetables, you'll appreciate how those conditions sometimes go along with gardening. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1765 A crowd gathered under a large elm tree in Boston. The group was there to protest the Stamp Act that was passed by the British Parliament. The Stamp Act imposed a tax on paper in the American colonies, which meant that all the paper had to have a stamp on it. So, if you were publishing a newspaper, or needed a mortgage deed, or court papers, it all had to be printed on paper with a tax stamp on it. Now, there was an old elm tree that became a rallying point for resistance against the British, and that tree became known as the Liberty Tree. The Liberty Tree had been planted in 1646 - just sixteen years after Boston became a city. As the colonists began rejecting orders from Britain, the Liberty Tree became a bulletin board of sorts. As it's symbolism grew, protesters would share calls to action on the trunk. When the stamp act was repealed, the Liberty Tree was THE place people went to celebrate; hanging flags and streamers, as well as lanterns from its branches. After the war began, Thomas Paine wrote an ode to the Liberty Tree in the Pennsylvania Gazette: Unmindful of names or distinctions they came For freemen like brothers agree, With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued, And their temple was Liberty Tree… Four months later, in August, British troops and Loyalists descended on the Liberty Tree. A man named Nathaniel Coffin Jr. cut it down. 1802 Today is the birthday of the English poet and novelist Letitia Elizabeth Landon - and when she first started out, she signed her poems with her initials - L.E.L. Letitia wrote, "I will look on the stars and look on thee, and read the page of thy destiny." Letitia's destiny was set in motion as she explored the woods and overgrown gardens near her home. Spending time in nature actually inspired Letitia to write poetry. By the time she was 18, her governess shared her poems with a neighbor, William Jerdan, who was the editor of the Literary Gazette. Married and twice her age, Jerdan nonetheless began a relationship with Letitia. Lucasta Miller's book, L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon tells her tragic life story - how Jerdan fathered children with Letitia but then forced her to give them all up as infants, how he stole the income from her published works and then dumped her for another younger woman. Letitia's story ended at the age of 36 in Africa. She committed suicide shortly after she married the Governor of Ghana. One of Leticia's first poems was an ode to the Michaelmas daisy (Aster amellus) in the genus Aster of the family Asteraceae. Also known as Autumn Asters, the plant has narrow green leaves covered by clouds of daisy-like purple-petaled flowers with yellow centers. The name of this Aster is from the Latin word for star which is a reference to the shape of its showy flower heads that are just coming into bloom now in mid-August. Last smile of the departing year, Thy sister sweets are flown; Thy pensive wreath is far more dear, From blooming thus alone. Thy tender blush, thy simple frame, Unnoticed might have past; But now thou contest with softer claim, The loveliest and the last. Sweet are the charms in thee we find, Emblem of hope's gay wing; 'Tis thine to call past bloom to mind, To promise future spring. — Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.), The Michaelmas Daisy. Letitia's poetry was romantic and she is often referred to as the female Byron. Here's a verse Letitia wrote about April: Of all the months that fill the year, Give April's month to me, For earth and sky are then so filled With sweet variety! — Letitia Elizabeth Landon, April 1873 The magazine Forest and Stream debuted. Forest and Stream featured outdoor activities like hunting and fishing. It was dedicated to wildlife conservation, and it helped launch the National Audubon Society. In 1930, the magazine merged with Field & Stream. 1822 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Scottish nurseryman and seedsman James Dickson. James Dickson led a remarkable life. He was born to a poor family in Scotland. As a young boy, he began working as a gardener on the nearby estate of an Earl. The job was a perfect fit for James. One day James overheard one of his fellow gardeners inquire about the name of a plant. When another young Gardener successfully answered, James was instantly inspired to learn everything he could about plants. After working his way up as a gardener in Scotland, James eventually moved to London where he set up a nursery business in Covent Garden ("Cuv-int"). James became a trusted authority on mosses, fungi, and grasses and he even wrote two large botanical volumes. With his hardwon botanical knowledge and eager disposition, he became friends with both the explorer Joseph Banks and the King's gardener, William Forsyth. These key relationships put him in the top horticultural social circles of his day. As a nurseryman, James was hardworking and insightful. When the British Museum decided to find a new gardener, Joseph Banks asked James if he was interested in the job. James put together a modest bid to improve and maintain the landscape around the museum. Not only did James win the bid but it was a position that he held for the rest of his life. In terms of posterity, James was a founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society as well as was one of the seven men who established the Linnean Society. James returned to Scotland to go on botanizing expeditions many times during his life. One of his botanist peers, Sir James Edward Smith, recognized James' strengths saying he had a "powerful mind, spotless integrity, singular acuteness and accuracy" and he memorably called James "lynx-eyed" because he was so good at spotting plants in the field. James married Margaret Park after his first wife died. This marriage also resulted in a lifelong friendship with his brother-in-law Dr. Mungo Park. James introduced Mungo to his friend Joseph Banks and that's how Mungo became a famous explorer. Mungo traveled the world in the late 1700's - going first to Sumatra and then to Gambia. James and his family thought Mongo had died after not hearing from him for two years. but on Christmas morning in 1797 James was working at his beloved British Museum Garden. James had gotten up early to tend to the greenhouses making sure that the fires were still going. He was tending to his work and looked up and saw Mungo. It made for a happy family Christmas. Almost 10 years later, Mungo would undertake another journey - this time to Niger. But, sadly, after this trip, James would never see his dear friend and brother-in-law again. Mungo was attacked and killed by natives in 1806. Fourteen years later, on this day, James died at his home at the age of 84. The poor Scottish child-gardener had made a successful life for himself tending the best gardens in England and is counted among the founding pillars of English horticulture. James requested to be buried in the churchyard where he had spent much time as a younger man collecting mosses. James is remembered with the Dicksonia - the tree fern genus. 1880 Today is the birthday of botanist Ada Hayden. Ada was the curator of the Iowa State University herbarium. As a young girl growing up in Ames, Iowa, she fell in love with the flora surrounding her family's home. Ada was a talented photographer, artist, and writer, and she put all of those skills to good use documenting Iowa's prairies. And, Ada became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from Iowa State. Ada inherited her grandparent's farm, and she often brought her botany students there to walk through the Prairie and to take notes on their observations. Ada's life work was to save the vanishing prairie ecosystem. Ada loved the Prairie. She wrote, "Throughout the season, from April to October, the colorful flowers of the grassland flora present a rainbow-hued sequence of bloom. It is identified with the open sky. It is the unprotected battleground of wind and weather." When Ada died, the University named a 240-acre-tract of virgin Prairie, Hayden Prairie, in her honor. Unearthed Words We are closing in on Labor Day. Here are some words about the fleeting summer. Catch, then, oh catch the transient hour; Improve each moment as it flies! Life's a short summer, man a flower; He dies - alas! how soon he dies! — Samuel Johnson, English writer and poet Give me the joys of summer, Of Summer Queen so fair, With a wealth of lovely flowers And fruits and sun-kissed air! Talk not to me of winter With ice and frost and snow, Nor changing spring and autumn When howling winds will blow. No, I will take the joys Of Summer every time, So to this Queen of Seasons I dedicate my rhyme. — Winifred Sackville Stoner, Jr., Poet, Midsummer Joys Summer's lease hath all too short a date. — William Shakespeare, English playwright, poet and actor Grow That Garden Library Audubon's Masterpieces by John James Audubon This book came out in 2004 and the subtitle is 150 Prints from the Birds of America. Amazon reviews of this book are very positive: "Beautiful book. I admired framed Audubon prints in decorating magazines and at Pottery Barn's website for a long time, but couldn't afford their prices. I finally decided to buy this book, use an Exacto knife, and cut out prints to frame myself (yes, feel free to cringe at the thought of tearing apart such a beautiful book--I did, too). I framed twelve prints in inexpensive 8x10 dollar frames from a store of a similar name." "I actually purchased a second copy of this book. I was so impressed with my first that I purchased a 2nd to frame individual prints (they're a perfect 8x10), and they look amazing in the grouping of twelve on my wall… Everyone thinks I paid a fortune for them!" "Audobon's Masterpieces is simply put: gorgeous. I bought this book for the sole purpose of having a pretty book of birds to lay out on my coffee table… Please buy this for your sister, mother, nerdy bird-loving brother/father/boyfriend/hobo down the street. It brings a smile to my face every time I glance at the pretty hardback cover and randomly open up to a page of beauty. Nature is beautiful, people." John James Audubon was a French American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. During his life, Audubon identified 25 new species of birds. His detailed illustrations depicted the birds in their natural habitats. His major work, a color-plate book entitled The Birds of America is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed. This book is 352 pages of Audobon's Masterwork of Bird Illustrations. You can get a copy of Audubon's Masterpieces by John James Audubon and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $18 Today's Botanic Spark 1975 The Hearne Democrat, out of Hearne, Texas, announced there was a canning lid shortage. Here's what it said: "The problem has reached crisis proportions in parts of the country where home gardeners have planted crops in hopes of saving on grocery bills. As harvest begins, these home gardeners are discovering the canning lid shortage means there is no way of preserving their ripe fruits and vegetables for fall and winter use... Part of the cause is the tremendous increase in the number of home gardeners. The federal office of Consumer Affairs estimates that 12 million new gardeners have joined the market for home canning equipment in the past two years... Another part of the problem is that, in addition to the greatly increased number of gardeners who need lids, some home canners have been buying far more lids than they will need. Because of this hoarding for future use, the shortage has been aggravated."