The Daily Gardener

Today we remember the founding of a garden that inspired the book Alice in Wonderland. We'll also learn about the botanist remembered with the Forsythia genus. We'll salute the Lake poet who likened plant taxonomy to poetry. We also revisit a diary entry about a garden visitor and a letter from a gardener to her sister. Today's Unearthed Words feature an excerpt from a July Afternoon by Walt Whitman. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the unloved flowers as they have been referred to Weeds. And then we'll wrap things up with an unforgettable story of flowers and a performance called "A Case of Floral Offerings" from 1874. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News This L.A. music producer is obsessed with houseplants: See how they amplify his work | latimes.com | Micah Fluellen "Mark Redito ("Ra-DEE-toe") is an L.A.-based electronic music producer who, it turns out, is also the proud plant parent to over 40 houseplants. He visually couples his earthy soothing sound with heavy plant imagery, from short snippets of him tenderly caring for plants to abstract videos of 3-D modeled flora. Redito's aesthetic is the seamless marriage between the ambient digital world and a tangible natural ecosystem. You can find short teaser videos of thumping tracks playing over footage of sped-up plant growth and gardens, photographs of technology blended with nature, and updates of his own garden developments on his Instagram account @markredito. "My hope is that when people listen to my work, they would be inspired to go outside and experience nature or start their own garden. My upcoming album to be released this summer, "Natural Habitat," is all about that — the interconnectedness and innate connection we have with nature and with plants. (What's your best tip for gardeners and new plant parents?) Ease into it and remember to take it slow. When I started getting into plants, my collection grew from five plants to about 30 in a month. As much as I enjoyed having plants and taking care of them, it was a lot of work for one guy to water and tend to 30-plus plants on one Saturday morning." Are you growing, Cleome? My daughter just had her senior pictures taken, and I took some cuttings from the garden for her to hold during her photoshoot. For one of the images, I had her hold just one large white blossom in her hands. It looked like a giant puffball, and it had a very ethereal quality about it. Cleome is beautiful - but it is also sticky - so keep that in mind if you handle it. I know some gardeners have no trouble sowing cleome directly into their gardens, but some gardeners complain that it can be an inconsistent germinater. I like to sow cleome right now since the seeds like intense light to get going. Sometimes cleome can benefit from staking - so keep that in mind as well. And, if you are planning a cutting garden, it is hard to beat cleome. The blooms are a show-stealer in any arrangement. Go to a local farmers market - not for the produce - for the knowledge. The growers at the farmer's market have expertise in growing, which is often an untapped resource. Plus, the growers are so generous with Information. It's always a pleasure to talk to someone who has first-hand knowledge about growing plants. 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 1621 The Botanic garden at Oxford, also known as the Physic Garden, was founded on this day in 1621 at precisely 2 pm. It was a Sunday. The garden is the oldest in England. When the garden was founded, its primary purpose was to be a medicinal garden. Henry Danvers, the first Earl of Danby, funded the garden by giving Oxford University 250 pounds. Unfortunately, the land they purchased was flood-prone. The 5-acre tract was mostly pasture land and lined the banks of the River Cherwell. So, to protect the garden from flooding, the ground for the garden was built up. Records show a Mr. Windiat brought in 4,000 loads of "mucke and dunge" to elevate the area that we now know as the Oxford Botanic Garden. During the founding ceremony, dignitaries of the University walked in a procession from St. Mary's church to the garden. Mr. Edward Dawson, a physician, and Dr. Clayton, the Regius Professor of Medicine, each gave a speech and a stone was placed in the garden gateway by the Vice-Chancellor himself. The Garden has a fascinating history, and there are at least two father-son connections to the Garden. Bobart the Elder and his son, Bobart the Younger, established the herbarium. Both William Baxter and his son served as curator. Lewis Carroll, who was a math professor at Oxford and he visited the garden with a young Alice Liddell, which inspired Alice in Wonderland. J.R.R. Tolkien, who also taught at Oxford, loved the gardens and could be found sitting beneath his favorite tree: an ornamental black pine. In 1941, after the discovery of the dawn redwood tree, a dawn redwood seed was planted in the garden. The tree still grows at the Oxford Botanic Garden. In 2019, Oxford University's gardens, libraries, and museums attracted over 3 million visitors. The Garden and Arboretum had a record-setting year with over 200,000 visitors, which was an increase of 23%. And, today, the garden is continuing to prepare for its 400th anniversary in 2021. Planting projects and garden redesigns are all being worked on to give visitors a stunning welcome next year. In addition, some of the beds are going through a bit of a time machine; they are being planted according to their 17th-century prescriptions so that visitors can glimpse how the garden looked when it was established four centuries ago. 1804 Today is the birthday of the Scottish botanist William Forsyth. William trained as a gardener at the Oxford Physic Garden and was an apprentice to Philip Miller, the chief gardener. In 1771, Forsyth himself took over the principal gardening position. Three years later, he built one of the very first rock gardens with over 40 tons of stone collected from the land around the Tower of London and even some pieces of lava imported from Iceland. The effort was noted for posterity; the garden was a bust. Forsyth was also the founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. The genus, Forsythia, was named in his honor by Carl Peter Thunberg. There are several different varieties of Forsythia, which also goes by the common name golden bell. A member of the olive family, Forsythias are related to the Ash tree. And, the Forsythia is a vernal shrub. Vernal shrubs bloom in the spring. 1834 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Along with his friend, William Wordsworth, he helped found the Romantic Movement in England and was a member of a group called the Lake Poets. As a poet, Coleridge recognized the inherent rhythm of taxonomy, and he likened it to poetry when he said that taxonomy was simply "the best words in the best order." In his poem called Youth and Age, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, Flowers are lovely. Love is flower-like. Friendship is a sheltering tree. Coleridge wrote a 54-line poem about a Mongolian emperor's summer garden at Xanadu. The emperor was Kubla Kahn. Coleridge's Kubla Kahn is one of his most famous works. The poem begins by describing Kahn's palace and the garden contrasted with the setting of an ancient Mongolian forest. And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. It was Samuel Taylor Coleridge who said: Summer has set in with its usual severity. 1938 On this day, the Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") wrote about sharing his garden with a toad. He wrote, "One particular toad has taken quite a fancy to the Wild Flower garden. His den is alongside the Hepatica plant. There he sits half-buried, and blinks up at me while I shower water on him." 1946 On this day Elizabeth Lawrence wrote to her sister: Dear Ann, I am going to send you, as soon as they are ripe, some seeds of Campanula americana, which came to me from one of my delightful farm women correspondents. I asked Mr. Krippendorf if he knew it, and he said yes, it was his favorite weed. Scatter them as soon as you get them along the drive. Along the fence at the foot of the terrace, and on the other side near the tiger lilies. Then in the spring, I will send (or maybe fall) some roots of the day lily Margaret Perry. It will spread all along, and bloom with the campanula and the lilies. ...The campanula is an annual but it will self-sow, and the combination will make a mass of bloom for six weeks or more. Then I am going to send you seeds of Cassia marilandica ("The virtuous and beloved dead need neither cassia buds nor myrrh") to scatter lower down on the driveway. ... I expect that you will have more lycoris. Mine are still coming, and I dash out very quickly to stake each one before Mr. Cayce can get to it. Mr. Krippendorf wrote that his were coming out fast, but that he did not expect them to last long as he was bringing out his granddaughter's boxer to spend a week with his, and he thought the two of them would break off thousands. Mr. Krippendorf feels as I do about dogs. But Bessie does not. ... The summer has been so cool and green, and so many of the choice and difficult amaryllids have bloomed. So am I as the rich, whose blessed key Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, The which he will not every hour survey. For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. [Shakespeare sonnet 52] Unearthed Words The fervent heat, but so much more endurable in this pure air — the white and pink pond-blossoms, with great heart-shaped leaves; the glassy waters of the creek, the banks, with dense bushery, and the picturesque beeches and shade and turf; the tremulous, reedy call of some bird from recesses, breaking the warm, indolent, half-voluptuous silence; an occasional wasp, hornet, honey-bee or bumble (they hover near my hands or face, yet annoy me not, nor I them, as they appear to examine, find nothing, and away they go) — the vast space of the sky overhead so clear, and the buzzard up there sailing his slow whirl in majestic spirals and discs; just over the surface of the pond, two large slate-colored dragon-flies, with wings of lace, circling and darting and occasionally balancing themselves quite still, their wings quivering all time, (are they not showing off for my amusement?)— the pond itself, with the sword-shaped calamus; the water snakes— occasionally a flitting blackbird, with red dabs on his shoulders, as he darts slantingly by— the sounds that bring out the solitude, warmth, light and shade— the squawk of some pond duck— (the crickets and grasshoppers are mute in the noon heat, but I hear the song of the first cicadas;)— then at some distance, the rattle and whirr of a reaping machine as the horses draw it on a rapid walk through a rye field on the opposite side of the creek— (what was the yellow or light brown bird, large as a young hen, with a short neck and long-stretched legs I just saw, in flapping and awkward flight over there through the trees?)— the prevailing delicate, yet palpable, spicy, grassy, clovery perfume to my nostrils; and over all, encircling all, to my sight and soul, and free space of the sky, transparent and blue— and hovering there in the west, a mass of white-gray fleecy clouds the sailors call "shoals of mackerel"— the sky, with silver swirls like locks of tossed hair, spreading, expanding— a vast voiceless, formless simulacrum— yet may-be the most real reality and formulator of everything— who knows? — Walt Whitman, American poet and the Father of Free Verse, A July Afternoon by the Pond Grow That Garden Library Weeds by Richard Mabey This book came out in 2012, and the subtitle is In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants. The author Richard Holmes said, "[A] witty and beguiling meditation on weeds and their wily ways….You will never look at a weed, or flourish a garden fork, in the same way again." And, if you thought your garden was full of them, this book is chock-full of 336 pages of weeds. You can get a copy of Weeds by Richard Mabey and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $14. Today's Botanic Spark 1874 On this day, the Opelousas Courier shared an incredible story called "A Case of Floral Offerings." The story was from Berlin, it told of an actress who was playing the role of a female Hamlet. She wanted to have bouquets and wreaths thrown to her at the end of her performance. When a man told her that the flowers would cost $20, the actress said that it was too much for one night. But, the gentleman had an idea. He said twenty dollars would be sufficient for two nights. And he explained how it would work. He said, "Today, I and my men will throw the bouquets to you from the first tier. After the performance is over, I shall take the flowers home with me in a basket [and] put them in the water... Tomorrow night [we will toss them at your feet again]. No one in the audience will know that the bouquets have been used before." The actress liked the man's ingenious plan, and she happily paid him the money.

Today we remember the founding of a garden that inspired the book Alice in Wonderland. We'll also learn about the botanist remembered with the Forsythia genus. We'll salute the Lake poet who likened plant taxonomy to poetry. We also revisit a diary entry about a garden visitor and a letter from a gardener to her sister. Today's Unearthed Words feature an excerpt from a July Afternoon by Walt Whitman. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the unloved flowers as they have been referred to Weeds. And then we'll wrap things up with an unforgettable story of flowers and a performance called "A Case of Floral Offerings" from 1874. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News This L.A. music producer is obsessed with houseplants: See how they amplify his work | latimes.com | Micah Fluellen "Mark Redito ("Ra-DEE-toe") is an L.A.-based electronic music producer who, it turns out, is also the proud plant parent to over 40 houseplants. He visually couples his earthy soothing sound with heavy plant imagery, from short snippets of him tenderly caring for plants to abstract videos of 3-D modeled flora. Redito's aesthetic is the seamless marriage between the ambient digital world and a tangible natural ecosystem. You can find short teaser videos of thumping tracks playing over footage of sped-up plant growth and gardens, photographs of technology blended with nature, and updates of his own garden developments on his Instagram account @markredito. "My hope is that when people listen to my work, they would be inspired to go outside and experience nature or start their own garden. My upcoming album to be released this summer, "Natural Habitat," is all about that — the interconnectedness and innate connection we have with nature and with plants. (What's your best tip for gardeners and new plant parents?) Ease into it and remember to take it slow. When I started getting into plants, my collection grew from five plants to about 30 in a month. As much as I enjoyed having plants and taking care of them, it was a lot of work for one guy to water and tend to 30-plus plants on one Saturday morning." Are you growing, Cleome? My daughter just had her senior pictures taken, and I took some cuttings from the garden for her to hold during her photoshoot. For one of the images, I had her hold just one large white blossom in her hands. It looked like a giant puffball, and it had a very ethereal quality about it. Cleome is beautiful - but it is also sticky - so keep that in mind if you handle it. I know some gardeners have no trouble sowing cleome directly into their gardens, but some gardeners complain that it can be an inconsistent germinater. I like to sow cleome right now since the seeds like intense light to get going. Sometimes cleome can benefit from staking - so keep that in mind as well. And, if you are planning a cutting garden, it is hard to beat cleome. The blooms are a show-stealer in any arrangement. Go to a local farmers market - not for the produce - for the knowledge. The growers at the farmer's market have expertise in growing, which is often an untapped resource. Plus, the growers are so generous with Information. It's always a pleasure to talk to someone who has first-hand knowledge about growing plants. 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 1621 The Botanic garden at Oxford, also known as the Physic Garden, was founded on this day in 1621 at precisely 2 pm. It was a Sunday. The garden is the oldest in England. When the garden was founded, its primary purpose was to be a medicinal garden. Henry Danvers, the first Earl of Danby, funded the garden by giving Oxford University 250 pounds. Unfortunately, the land they purchased was flood-prone. The 5-acre tract was mostly pasture land and lined the banks of the River Cherwell. So, to protect the garden from flooding, the ground for the garden was built up. Records show a Mr. Windiat brought in 4,000 loads of "mucke and dunge" to elevate the area that we now know as the Oxford Botanic Garden. During the founding ceremony, dignitaries of the University walked in a procession from St. Mary's church to the garden. Mr. Edward Dawson, a physician, and Dr. Clayton, the Regius Professor of Medicine, each gave a speech and a stone was placed in the garden gateway by the Vice-Chancellor himself. The Garden has a fascinating history, and there are at least two father-son connections to the Garden. Bobart the Elder and his son, Bobart the Younger, established the herbarium. Both William Baxter and his son served as curator. Lewis Carroll, who was a math professor at Oxford and he visited the garden with a young Alice Liddell, which inspired Alice in Wonderland. J.R.R. Tolkien, who also taught at Oxford, loved the gardens and could be found sitting beneath his favorite tree: an ornamental black pine. In 1941, after the discovery of the dawn redwood tree, a dawn redwood seed was planted in the garden. The tree still grows at the Oxford Botanic Garden. In 2019, Oxford University's gardens, libraries, and museums attracted over 3 million visitors. The Garden and Arboretum had a record-setting year with over 200,000 visitors, which was an increase of 23%. And, today, the garden is continuing to prepare for its 400th anniversary in 2021. Planting projects and garden redesigns are all being worked on to give visitors a stunning welcome next year. In addition, some of the beds are going through a bit of a time machine; they are being planted according to their 17th-century prescriptions so that visitors can glimpse how the garden looked when it was established four centuries ago. 1804 Today is the birthday of the Scottish botanist William Forsyth. William trained as a gardener at the Oxford Physic Garden and was an apprentice to Philip Miller, the chief gardener. In 1771, Forsyth himself took over the principal gardening position. Three years later, he built one of the very first rock gardens with over 40 tons of stone collected from the land around the Tower of London and even some pieces of lava imported from Iceland. The effort was noted for posterity; the garden was a bust. Forsyth was also the founding member of the Royal Horticultural Society. The genus, Forsythia, was named in his honor by Carl Peter Thunberg. There are several different varieties of Forsythia, which also goes by the common name golden bell. A member of the olive family, Forsythias are related to the Ash tree. And, the Forsythia is a vernal shrub. Vernal shrubs bloom in the spring. 1834 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Along with his friend, William Wordsworth, he helped found the Romantic Movement in England and was a member of a group called the Lake Poets. As a poet, Coleridge recognized the inherent rhythm of taxonomy, and he likened it to poetry when he said that taxonomy was simply "the best words in the best order." In his poem called Youth and Age, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, Flowers are lovely. Love is flower-like. Friendship is a sheltering tree. Coleridge wrote a 54-line poem about a Mongolian emperor's summer garden at Xanadu. The emperor was Kubla Kahn. Coleridge's Kubla Kahn is one of his most famous works. The poem begins by describing Kahn's palace and the garden contrasted with the setting of an ancient Mongolian forest. And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree; And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. It was Samuel Taylor Coleridge who said: Summer has set in with its usual severity. 1938 On this day, the Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") wrote about sharing his garden with a toad. He wrote, "One particular toad has taken quite a fancy to the Wild Flower garden. His den is alongside the Hepatica plant. There he sits half-buried, and blinks up at me while I shower water on him." 1946 On this day Elizabeth Lawrence wrote to her sister: Dear Ann, I am going to send you, as soon as they are ripe, some seeds of Campanula americana, which came to me from one of my delightful farm women correspondents. I asked Mr. Krippendorf if he knew it, and he said yes, it was his favorite weed. Scatter them as soon as you get them along the drive. Along the fence at the foot of the terrace, and on the other side near the tiger lilies. Then in the spring, I will send (or maybe fall) some roots of the day lily Margaret Perry. It will spread all along, and bloom with the campanula and the lilies. ...The campanula is an annual but it will self-sow, and the combination will make a mass of bloom for six weeks or more. Then I am going to send you seeds of Cassia marilandica ("The virtuous and beloved dead need neither cassia buds nor myrrh") to scatter lower down on the driveway. ... I expect that you will have more lycoris. Mine are still coming, and I dash out very quickly to stake each one before Mr. Cayce can get to it. Mr. Krippendorf wrote that his were coming out fast, but that he did not expect them to last long as he was bringing out his granddaughter's boxer to spend a week with his, and he thought the two of them would break off thousands. Mr. Krippendorf feels as I do about dogs. But Bessie does not. ... The summer has been so cool and green, and so many of the choice and difficult amaryllids have bloomed. So am I as the rich, whose blessed key Can bring him to his sweet up-locked treasure, The which he will not every hour survey. For blunting the fine point of seldom pleasure. [Shakespeare sonnet 52] Unearthed Words The fervent heat, but so much more endurable in this pure air — the white and pink pond-blossoms, with great heart-shaped leaves; the glassy waters of the creek, the banks, with dense bushery, and the picturesque beeches and shade and turf; the tremulous, reedy call of some bird from recesses, breaking the warm, indolent, half-voluptuous silence; an occasional wasp, hornet, honey-bee or bumble (they hover near my hands or face, yet annoy me not, nor I them, as they appear to examine, find nothing, and away they go) — the vast space of the sky overhead so clear, and the buzzard up there sailing his slow whirl in majestic spirals and discs; just over the surface of the pond, two large slate-colored dragon-flies, with wings of lace, circling and darting and occasionally balancing themselves quite still, their wings quivering all time, (are they not showing off for my amusement?)— the pond itself, with the sword-shaped calamus; the water snakes— occasionally a flitting blackbird, with red dabs on his shoulders, as he darts slantingly by— the sounds that bring out the solitude, warmth, light and shade— the squawk of some pond duck— (the crickets and grasshoppers are mute in the noon heat, but I hear the song of the first cicadas;)— then at some distance, the rattle and whirr of a reaping machine as the horses draw it on a rapid walk through a rye field on the opposite side of the creek— (what was the yellow or light brown bird, large as a young hen, with a short neck and long-stretched legs I just saw, in flapping and awkward flight over there through the trees?)— the prevailing delicate, yet palpable, spicy, grassy, clovery perfume to my nostrils; and over all, encircling all, to my sight and soul, and free space of the sky, transparent and blue— and hovering there in the west, a mass of white-gray fleecy clouds the sailors call "shoals of mackerel"— the sky, with silver swirls like locks of tossed hair, spreading, expanding— a vast voiceless, formless simulacrum— yet may-be the most real reality and formulator of everything— who knows? — Walt Whitman, American poet and the Father of Free Verse, A July Afternoon by the Pond Grow That Garden Library Weeds by Richard Mabey This book came out in 2012, and the subtitle is In Defense of Nature's Most Unloved Plants. The author Richard Holmes said, "[A] witty and beguiling meditation on weeds and their wily ways….You will never look at a weed, or flourish a garden fork, in the same way again." And, if you thought your garden was full of them, this book is chock-full of 336 pages of weeds. You can get a copy of Weeds by Richard Mabey and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $14. Today's Botanic Spark 1874 On this day, the Opelousas Courier shared an incredible story called "A Case of Floral Offerings." The story was from Berlin, it told of an actress who was playing the role of a female Hamlet. She wanted to have bouquets and wreaths thrown to her at the end of her performance. When a man told her that the flowers would cost $20, the actress said that it was too much for one night. But, the gentleman had an idea. He said twenty dollars would be sufficient for two nights. And he explained how it would work. He said, "Today, I and my men will throw the bouquets to you from the first tier. After the performance is over, I shall take the flowers home with me in a basket [and] put them in the water... Tomorrow night [we will toss them at your feet again]. No one in the audience will know that the bouquets have been used before." The actress liked the man's ingenious plan, and she happily paid him the money.

Today we remember the man who brought Lilacs to America. We'll also learn about the man who created the Missouri Botanical Gardens, also known as "Shaw's Garden." We celebrate the French author, who exchanged his personal library for a lifetime supply of cantaloupe. We also look back at an article from 1938 and the topic was tropical peas. In Unearthed Words, we'll hear an excerpt from Vita Sackville-West. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a brand new book for 2020 about creating gorgeous gardens and design mastery. Let the chase begin. And then we'll wrap things up with a little article from 1975 about something called the "Dial-A-Garden-Tipline." 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 Robert Miller: An ancient, ubiquitous plant easily ignored — but shouldn't be | RegisterCitizen.com "Because it's tiny and everywhere, it's easy to not see it. But moss is really too remarkable to overlook. Scientists now believe it was these simple plants, spreading like a carpet over the face of the then-barren earth that changed our atmosphere into the oxygen-rich state it's now in and those allowed life to flourish here. Moss helped create our world. "It's all over the place," said Cathy Hagadorn, executive director of Deer Pond Farm, the nature sanctuary in Sherman owned by Connecticut Audubon Society. "It's beautiful." Birds use moss to line their nests. Four-toed salamanders lay their eggs in the sphagnum moss at the edge of swamps. Gardeners depend on peat moss to give new saplings a nice moisture-absorbing bed to start growing in. Because they're great at absorbing water, mosses prevent erosion. They play a part in the forest cycle, helping in the decomposition of downed trees and stumps. And they're great at returning oxygen to the atmosphere. "Pound for pound, moss delivers more oxygen to the atmosphere than any other plant," said Jim Fucetola, chief of operations at Moss Acres, a Pennsylvania-based company that sells moss to gardeners. "Fifteen percent of trees deliver oxygen to the atmosphere. For mosses, it's 100 percent." 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 1696 It's the birthday of the colonial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth, who was born on this day in 1696. American gardeners remember Benning because he brought the lilac along with other trees and shrubs when he immigrated to States from England. In 1750, the first lilac was planted at the Wentworth home. In 1919, it was adopted as the New Hampshire State Flower because lawmakers felt it was, "symbolic of the hardy character of the men and women of New Hampshire; the granite state." 1800 It's the birthday of the man who created the Missouri Botanical Gardens, also known as "Shaw's Garden," or "Hank's Garden" - the great horticulturist and botanical philanthropist Henry Shaw. Henry is celebrated on the St. Louis Walk of Fame with this epitaph: "Henry Shaw, only 18 when he came to St. Louis, was one of the city's largest landowners by age 40. Working with leading botanists, he planned, funded and built the Missouri Botanical Garden, which opened in 1859. Henry donated the land for Tower Grove Park and helped with its construction. He wrote botanical tracts, endowed Washington University's School of Botany, helped found the Missouri Historical Society, and gave the city a school and land for a hospital. Of Henry's gifts, the Botanical Garden is best-known. Said as early as 1868 to have "no equal in the United States, and, indeed, few anywhere in the world." In addition to the Botanical Garden, Henry built the Linnean House in 1882. It is the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi River and was initially designed to be an orangery, a place to overwinter citrus trees, palms, and tree ferns. And, there's a little story I love that reveals Henry's regard for the plants in his garden. It was posted in the St. Louis Star and Times on April 5, 1933: "Mr. Shaw was escorting a lady through his gardens, pointing out objects of interest. The visitor said: " I cannot understand, Sir, how you are able to remember all of these difficult names." He replied, with a courtly bow, "Madame, did you ever know a mother to forget the names of her children? These plants and flowers are my little ones." 1802 Today is the birthday of French author of "The Three Musketeers" and gourmet Alexandre Dumas (" Doo-Ma"). Alexandre also wrote the Count of Monte Cristo, which contains many passages about the garden. Here's one for Chapter 44: "The garden was long and narrow; a stretch of smooth turf extended down the middle, and at the corners were clumps of trees with thick and massy foliage, that made a background for the shrubs and flowers." Alexandre was a larger-than-life character, and there are actually quite a few stories about him that gardeners will find charming. For instance, in the mid-1860s, the Library in Cavaillon ("Ca-VAY-on"), France was just getting started, and they asked Alexandre for a donation of some of his books. Alexandre responded, "I agree on one condition: Just as the town and the Cavaillon authorities love my books, so I love their melons. In exchange for my 300 or 400 books, I request a town by-law be passed giving me a life annuity of 12 Cavaillon melons a year." The town happily agreed to the terms Alexandre set forth, and Alexandre received a dozen Charentais ("Shar-en-TAY") melons every year until he passed away in 1870. The cantaloupe melons of Cavaillon are perfectly suited to growing in the soil and climate of the Durance River Valley and are perfect for growing cantaloupe. Cavaillon is still the home of the sweet, Charentais melon. In fact, visitors to Cavaillon are greeted by a nine-ton statue of a Charentais melon, and the annual melon festival happens every year the weekend before Bastille day. Now gardeners may wonder if a Charentais is similar to French cantaloupes or North American musk melons. Although they are related, they are not the same. Charentais melons are sweeter and have a jasmine and apricot fragrance. Just before he died, Alexandre finished his final book, and he titled it Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine (The Grand Dictionary of Cuisine). It is especially poignant to see that Alexandre included an entry on the Charentais melon. In fact, Alexandre did not mince words, and he gushed that it was the greatest melon he'd ever encountered. There is yet one more hilarious story about Alexandre that occurred when he was traveling in Switzerland. One day Alexandre decided he wanted mushrooms for supper. Now Alexandre spoke only French while the owner of the inn he was staying at spoke only German. To convey what he wanted, Alexandre quickly made a charcoal sketch of a mushroom on the wall. After seeing the sketch, the innkeeper went out for a while and then came back and presented Alexandre with an umbrella. It was Alexandre Dumas who said, All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope. It is not the tree that forsakes the flower, but the flower that forsakes the tree. To despise flowers is to offend God. 1938 On this day, The Miami News published an article with the title "Tropical Peas Will Mitigate Relief Wants." The article begins this way, "If English peas don't suit your palate, plant pigeon peas. The suggestion is that of a Miami pioneer, Charles F. Sulzner, who through the years has pointed out to newcomers the advantages of growing tropical fruits and vegetables, often of a type requiring no painstaking cultivation... Pigeon peas, as Sulzner demonstrated in his spacious grounds, ...grow on trees, and may be had by the simple process of picking." Pigeon peas make a lovely and distinct addition to the edible garden. The cultivation of the pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan), can be traced back more than 3,500 years. Other common names include Congo pea, Angola pea, and red gram. In Barbados, pigeon pea was used to feed pigeons. Gardeners who love growing peas in the spring may thoroughly enjoy growing pigeon pea in the summer. It's a hardy perennial that can produce multiple harvests during the season. The sweet, fresh green peas are technically beans. They can be eaten raw when green or dried. The dried beans need to be soaked before boiling. Pigeon peas have a nutty taste and crisp texture. The entire pod may be eaten. As a bonus, the yellow-red flowers attract flocks of hummingbirds, and the plants are also nitrogen-fixers and enrich the soil. Unearthed Words When skies are gentle, breezes bland. When loam that's warm within the hand Falls friable between the tines. Sow hollyhocks and columbines. The tufted pansy, and the tall Snapdragon in the broken wall. Not for this summer, but for next. Since foresight is the gardener's text. And though his eyes may never know How lavishly his flowers blow. Others will stand and musing say 'These were the flowers he sowed that May.' But for this summer's quick delight Sow marigold, and sow the bright Frail poppy that with noonday dies But wakens to afresh surprise: Along the pathway, stones be set Sweet Alysson and mignonette, That when the full midsummer's come On scented clumps the bees may-hum, Golden Italians, and the wild Black bumble-bee alike beguiled; And lovers who have never kissed May sow the cloudy Love-in-Mist. Nor be the little space forgot For herbs to spice the kitchen pot: Mint pennyroyal, bergamot. Tarragon and melilot. Dill for witchcraft, prisoner's rue. Coriander, costmary. Tansy, thyme. Sweet Cicely, Saffron, balm, and rosemary That since the Virgin threw her cloak Across it, -so say cottage folk - Has changed its flowers from white to blue. But have a care that seeds be strewn One night beneath a waxing moon. And pick when the moon is on the wane. Else shall your toil be all in vain ... — Vita Sackville West, English author and garden designer, The Land Grow That Garden Library Chasing Eden by Jack Staub and Renny Reynolds This book came out in January of this year, and the subtitle is Design Inspiration from the Gardens at Hortulus Farm. This is one of my favorite new books for 2020. I adore the title. The author Anna Pavord ("PAY-vord") said, "Vision, tenacity, and a perfectionist's eye are the qualities that shine out from this account of a paradise garden created by two of America's foremost stylists." This is the overview from Timberpress: "One of the most spectacular private gardens in America, Hortulus Farm is the masterpiece of Renny Reynolds and Jack Staub, renowned experts in the fields of design, gardening, and entertaining. It is beautifully captured in Chasing Eden, a lavishly illustrated roadmap to creating a personal Eden. Hortulus Farm is a not only a model of classical tenets, but also a showcase of how traditions can be successfully broken. Gardeners will discover information on specific design principles, from vistas and allées to hardscaping and water features. They will also learn how to adapt these principles to less-than-optimal settings without sacrificing a site's sense of place. Both aspirational and practical, Chasing Eden will inspire home gardeners to create their own earthly paradise." You will read this book and then head straight out to the garden. Let the chase begin! This book is 272 pages of gorgeous gardens and design mastery - all shared to inspire today's gardener. You can get a copy of Chasing Eden by Jack Staub and Renny Reynolds and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $23. Today's Botanic Spark On this day in 1975, the Green Bay Press-Gazette shared a little notice for their "Dial-A-Garden-Tipline." Readers could dial the number at any time and hear a taped garden message. Here were the topics posted in the paper: July 17 Russian Olive diseases July 18, 19, 20 Dutch Elm disease July 21 How to Blanch Vegetables July 22 Growing Cauliflower July 23 Birch Borer July 24 Training Young Trees

Today we remember a gardener who became a saint. We'll also learn about the woman remembered forever in the name of one of the world's most popular hostas. We celebrate the Scottish botanist who was the first to describe the Prairie Buttercup. We'll also hear some wonderful words about simply being in the garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about gardening and friendship in a heartwarming book from 2015. And then we'll wrap things up with a wonderful pesto recipe. 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 My Relationship With My Garden Hose | May Dreams Gardens "In the spring, we optimistically buy that big heavy hose that is guaranteed to last a lifetime and never kink. And when we see that hose all wrapped up on the store shelf, we believe those claims. Then we get it home and discover what bad manners it has. Kink? Of course, it will kink the minute you look at it and even think about watering. Heavy? So heavy you can barely stand the thought of pulling it around the garden to water." Plant of the Week: Mukdenia rossii' Crimson Fans' ("muck-DEEN-ee-uh") "In 2007, I bought Mukdenia rossii 'Crimson Fans' after somewhere seeing--I forget now--photos of the pretty leaves. It grew. It's an easy plant with no fussy requirements at all except moist soil. (But wait.) ...Eventually, if the conditions are right, the green leaves develop a pretty crimson margin--the 'Crimson Fans'. Yes, I'm a fan of the crimson fans. And this, my friends, is where things get tricky--"if the conditions are right" being the operative phrase. Too much sun and the leaves will burn by turning brown. Not enough sun and the leaves will stay green. The challenge has been finding just the right balance between sun and shade. I've had this plant both in the ground and in a pot, as the trial and error experiment went on, year after year, trying one location after another to meet--but not exceed--the sunlight requirements." 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 300 Today, Catholics honor St. Phocas the Gardener who lived in Turkey during the third century. A protector of persecuted Christians, Phocas grew crops in his garden to help feed the poor. Phocas is remembered for his hospitality and generosity; his garden played an essential part in living both of those virtues. When Roman soldiers were sent to kill him, they could not find shelter for the night. Naturally, when Phocas encountered them, he not only offered them lodging but a meal made from the bounty of his garden. During the meal, Phocas realized they had come for him. While the soldiers slept that night, he dug his own grave and prayed for the soldiers. In the morning, Phocas told the soldiers who he was, and the soldiers, who could conceive of no other option, reluctantly killed him and buried him in the grave he had dug for himself. Although gardening can be a solitary activity, Phocas, the gardener, paved the way, showing us how to use our gardens to connect us to others through generosity and hospitality. 1883 Today is the birthday of the woman who is remembered for one of the most popular hostas in American gardens: Frances Ropes Williams. Frances had a shady garden in Winchester, Massachusetts. And, what is the most-used plant by shade gardeners? Hostas. That's right. And Frances had an appreciation for hostas before they became widely used in American gardens. A graduate of MIT, Williams was lucky enough to get the chance to work with Warren H. Manning, the famous Boston landscape architect, for a little over two years. Frances stopped working to marry Stillman Williams. But sadly, he died after almost twenty years of marriage, leaving Frances with four young children - two boys and two girls. Frances and her family loved the outdoors. When the kids were little, Frances made them one of the very first playsets. When the children were grown, Frances found purpose in her garden, and she zeroed in on her hostas. She became known for hybridizing them, and she even wrote about them for various botanical magazines. Frances discovered the hosta that would be named for her honor quite by happenstance. She had visited her daughter in college in New York, and she stopped by Bristol Nurseries in Connecticut on her way home. Nestled in a row of Hosta sieboldiana, was a hosta that had a yellow edge. Frances bought it and continued to grow it in her garden. Years later, Frances hosta ended up in the hands of Professor George Robinson at Oxford. Frances had labeled the plant FRW 383. When the professor couldn't remember what Frances had labeled the plant, he simply called it hosta Frances Williams. Frances's work with hosta helped the newly-formed American Hosta Society. After she died in 1969, a hosta garden was planted in her memory at MIT. 1886 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Scottish-born botanist and author John Goldie. He led an extraordinary life. He started as an apprentice at the Glasgow Botanic Garden. As a young man, another botanist bumped him off what was to be his first plant exploration. However, the botanical gods were smiling on him. The expedition was doomed when most of the party died from coast fever along the Congo River. Two years later, William Hooker encouraged John to travel to North America. He started in Montreal and made his way down the Hudson River to New York. He wrote that he carried as many botanical specimens "as his back would carry." On June 25, 1819, John was in Toronto. When he reached the east side of the Rouge River, John wrote in his journal of the wildflowers and especially the Penstemon hirsutus ("her-SUE-tis") that was growing on the east slope of the riverbank. John was astounded by the beauty and of seeing so much Penstemon in "such a quantity of which I never expected to see in one place." During John's incredible walking tour of Canada, he discovered a yellow variety of pitcher plant as well as a rare orchid named Calypso bulbosa. He also encountered the Prairie buttercup. John was the first person to describe Prairie buttercup. The name for the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, is from the Latin term Ranunculus which means "little frog." The name was first bestowed on the plant family by the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder. The name Ranunculus, which I like to call the Ranunculaceae, is in reference to these mostly aquatic plants that tend to grow in natural frog habitat. After his North American tour, John returned to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens, and for five years, he trained an eager young apprentice and fellow Scottsman named David Douglas. When Douglas met an early death, John planted a Douglas-Fir next to his house to remember his young friend. After John discovered the giant wood fern, Hooker called it Dryopteris goldieana in his honor, and it earned the name Goldie's woodfern. John worked tirelessly, and he recorded a total of fourteen plant species previously unknown to science. In 1844, John ended up settling with his family in Canada. He brought them to Ontario - a place he had especially enjoyed during his botanical expeditions. Unearthed Words Here are some wonderful thoughts about simply being in the garden. I love my garden, and I love working in it. To potter with green growing things, watching each day to see the dear, new sprouts come up, is like taking a hand in creation, I think. Just now, my garden is like faith - the substance of things hoped for. ― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Canadian author, Anne's House of Dreams Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful!' and sitting in the shade. ― Rudyard Kipling, English journalist and poet It takes a while to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness, or inexperience. It takes a while to grasp that a garden isn't a testing ground for character and to stop asking, what did I do wrong? Maybe nothing. — Eleanor Perenyi, gardener and author She keeps walking, so I keep following, making our way down a stone path that leads to a set of tiered gardens. It is magical back here, garden after garden, the first filled with herbs like Mama grows, rosemary and lavender and mint and sage. Beyond that is a rose garden. There must be fifty rose bushes in it, all with different-colored blooms. We keep walking, down to the third tier, where there are tended beds like Daddy's vegetable patch in our backyard. "Look at this," Keisha says. She stands beside row upon row of little green plants with thick green leaves. She kneels beside one of them and pulls back a leaf. There are small red strawberries growing underneath. She picks one and hands it to me. I've never eaten a strawberry that tastes like this before. It's so rich, with juice like honey. It's nothing like the ones Mama buys at Kroger. ― Susan Rebecca White, author, A Place at the Table Grow That Garden Library Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall This book came out in 2015, and the subtitle is: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart. People Magazine said, "In this profoundly moving memoir, Owita teaches Wall how to find grace amid heartbreak and to accept that beauty exists because it is fleeting—as in her garden, as in life." Oprah.com said, "With her children grown and out of the house, Carol Wall is obsessed—perhaps overly so—with ripping out her azaleas. That is until she meets a certain Giles Owita, Kenyan gardener, supermarket bagger, general-life philosopher, and perhaps one of the most refined and gracious characters to ever hit the page (except that he's real)… A warning for the shy: The basic goodness of Owita's attitude may cause you to beam spontaneously as you read, leading to off looks from strangers at the coffee shop." This book is 320 pages of gardening goodness - growing both plants and lovely friendship. You can get a copy of Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening by Carol Wall and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $20. Today's Botanic Spark Since we are in full-on pesto-making mode, I wanted to share a recipe that I discovered called Radish, Salmon, and Radish Green Salsa Verde Toasts by Amy Scattergood. Radish-Green Salsa Verde 2 cups radish greens, from approximately 2 bunches, chopped 1 cup cilantro 1/ 2 cup extra virgin olive oil 3 garlic cloves Salt Zest and juice from 1 lemon Zest and juice from 1 orange In a food processor or blender, combine the radish greens, cilantro, oil, garlic, a pinch of salt (or to taste), lemon zest and juice, and orange zest and juice. Blend until smooth. This makes about 1 1 / 2 cups salsa verde. Assembly 4 ounces crème fraîche 4 slices whole wheat or country white bread, toasted 4 ounces smoked salmon, more if desired 1 cup thinly sliced radishes Prepared salsa verde Divide the crème fraîche among the toasted bread slices, spreading it evenly over each piece. Top with the salmon, followed by the radish slices. Drizzle or spoon over the salsa verde and serve immediately.

Today we remember the kind Harvard botanist who was a friend of Darwin. We'll also learn about the botanist who specialized in South American flora and found the Cinchona tree: the source of quinine. We salute the pioneer of the study of allelopathy - when one plant species releases chemical compounds that affect another plant species. We also recognize the man who transformed the springtime landscape at the beautiful Magnolia Gardens. We honor the first woman to attend Cornell University's school of forestry. Today's Unearthed Words feature a poem called The Sleep of Seeds. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the "Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation"; learn how to grow whatever you want, whenever you want. And then we'll wrap things up with a delightful story about a horticulture teacher. 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 16 Drought Tolerant Plants to Grow in Your Garden | Ken Druse | Garden Design "Drought-tolerant plants can be identified just by looking at them or feeling or smelling their bruised foliage. Many fragrant herbs, for example, are drought-tolerant."

• Larkspur and Nigella
• Morning Glory
• Portulaca ("Port-you-LAKE-ah") Rose Moss
• Annual sunflowers
• Achillea (yarrow)("Ack-ah-LEE-ah)
• Silphium ("SILL-fee-um) Cup Plant
• Helianthemum ("HE-LEE-anthemum") Rock Rose
• Rudbeckia black-eyed Susan
• Echinacea Coneflower
• Ratibida ("RAH-tib-it-ah") Grey-headed Coneflower
• Asters
• Dianthus
• Euphorbias
• Foxgloves
• Sempervivum
• Sedum
• Tulips
• Mulleins
• Bearded Iris
• Lilacs

Have you ever tried drying flowers? Successfully drying one of your favorite flowers is such a joy. Some flowers look even better when they are dried. There are many options for drying flowers; air drying is the simplest. Then, of course, there's pressing. If you've never tried sand drying a bloom, you should give it a shot. Just fill a microwave-safe container with a layer of silica sand. Put the flower on top of the sand and then bury the bloom in the sand. Place the bloom along with a cup of water in the microwave. Heat in microwave in 30-second increments. Your flower should be dried in 2-3 minutes. Another step you can take in your flower-drying hobby is to prepare a spot in your garden shed, garage, pantry, or kitchen for drying flowers. Repurpose a pot rack or do something simple like string some twine between some eye hooks. Sometimes just creating space can inspire you to take some cuttings and bring beautiful blooms indoors. One of my favorite pictures from my garden is a single row of hydrangea cuttings drying upside down in my kitchen. Bliss. 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 1909 Today is the birthday of Cornelius Herman ("Neil") Muller, the American botanist and ecologist. Cornelius pioneered the study of allelopathy ("ah-la-LOP-OH-thee"). Allelopathy occurs when one plant species releases chemical compounds that affect another plant species. Most gardeners know that black walnut is an example of allelopathy. In addition to the roots, black walnut trees store allelopathic chemicals in their buds, in the hulls of the walnuts, and their leaves. 1917 Today is the birthday of John Drayton Hastie of Magnolia Gardens. The Drayton family has lived on the plantation on the banks of the Ashley River since the 1670s. Magnolia Gardens is often regarded as one of the most staggeringly beautiful places in the entire South. And it's worth noting that it was built on the backs of slaves. The journalist Charles Kuralt once wrote about Magnolia Gardens. He said, "By 1900, the Baedeker guide to the United States listed three must-see attractions: the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Magnolia Gardens. Maybe because I am a sucker for 300-year-old live oak trees hung with Spanish moss and for azaleas and camellias and dogwoods and for Cherokee roses growing on fences — I think I'd put Magnolia Gardens first on that list." Representing the 9th generation of the Drayton Family at Magnolia Gardens, John Drayton Hastie was a passionate plantsman. He knew and loved all of the winding brick paths and the thousands of specimens at Magnolia Gardens - including the Middleton Oak, which measured over 12 feet in diameter. And John knew all about the history of the gardens. In 1840, Magnolia Gardens was home to the first azaleas ever planted in America. John often said that it was the successful cultivation of azaleas at Magnolia Gardens that led to the desire for the spring bloomer all across the south - from Charleston to Mobile. And the oldest azalea at Magnolia Gardens is the Indicia from Holland. John lived through some challenging times at Magnolia. After Hurricane Hugo ripped through Magnolia Gardens, John was optimistic saying, "There [were] some advantages, not that I wanted them… [Before the hurricane], we had trouble getting sunlight. Now I'll be able to plant more roses and perennials." Magnolia Gardens is where you'll find the Audobon Swamp Garden. It takes almost an hour to walk through, and it is a feast for the senses. The black water swamp is swaddled by hundreds of Black Cypress and teaming with wildlife from alligators and large turtles to herons and bald eagles. In addition to the swamp, Magnolia Gardens has a Biblical Garden and huge maze that was inspired by the maze at England's Hampton Court to honor Henry VIII. Through most of the 20th century, John Drayton Hastie and his wife were the friendly and knowledgeable hosts to the over 150,000 guests and tourists that visited the property every year. Today, Magnolia Gardens is run by a nonprofit foundation that was established in 1985. And, John's grandson, Taylor, is writing a new chapter for Magnolia Gardens. Beginning in the early 2000s, Taylor worked to begin what experts called "the most ambitious" effort to unearthed the records and history of plantation slavery. The Magnolia Plantation Foundation funded the creation of a free online website and database dedicated to African American genealogy and history in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida called Lowcountry Africana. Before John Drayton Hastie died as an old man, he'd already experienced a brush with death. Almost 70 years earlier (in 1933), when John was 15 years old, he went camping with some friends on Morris Island. And, at some point, the boys went for a swim in the ocean. John was standing near the shore in about two feet of water when a shark attacked him. The shark bit John on both legs. Somehow John managed to free himself. His buddies brought him to Fort Moultrie, where the medical staff was astounded by the severity of his wounds. John made a full recovery at a Charleston Hospital. After John died in 2002, his remains were placed within an oak tree at Magnolia Garden. Today, there is a marker by the Drayton Oak which reads: "Within this Oak, planted three centuries ago in the original Magnolia Plantation Garden by his ancestor, Thomas Drayton Jr., of Barbados, are interred the remains of John Drayton Hastie whose later life was devoted to continuing the Horticultural efforts of eight generations of family predecessors, and to transforming their springtime garden into one of beauty for all seasons. " 1938 The St. Cloud Times runs a story about a Miss Louise Klein Miller. Louise, at the age of 84, was retiring as supervisor of Cleveland's Memorial Gardens - after supervising them for over a quarter of a century. The first woman to attend Cornell University's school of forestry, Louise became the landscape architect for Cleveland schools; she was the only female landscape architect working in an extensive city school system. Collinwood is a neighborhood on the east side of Cleveland. On Ash Wednesday, March 4, 1908, the Collinwood school fire became one of the country's biggest tragedies. The school had only two exits. The construction created a chimney effect; the school became a fire trap. Almost half of the children in the building died. In 1910, Louise planned the Memorial Gardens to honor the 172 children, two teachers, and one rescuer who died in the blaze. The year before, in 1909, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation that, "a memorial should stand in perpetuity to honor those who lost their lives in this school fire tragedy." The Collinwood memorial is a large square planting bed that is rimmed with 3.5-foot walls made of concrete that is tiled. The plantable area of the memorial measures roughly 20' x 40'. There's also a deep bench around the perimeter, and the walls are slanted to make seating more comfortable. The downside is that the bench and the scale of the raised bed make access to the planting area is sometimes very challenging. During Louise's era, students grew flowers in a school greenhouse for the Memorial. Over 70 years, the garden fell into neglect. 2018 was the 110th Anniversary of the Collinwood School Fire; there have been a few attempts to make sure that the garden continues to be a meaningful memorial. The struggle to maintain the Memorial continues. In July of 1910, there was an article in the Santa Cruz newspaper that described the new memorial garden - which at the time included a large lily pond: "There was a poet who said he sometimes thought that never blows so red the rose as where some buried Caesar bled; That every hyacinth the garden wears, drops in her lap from some once lovely head. Then there will never be lilies so fair as those that will bloom in the lily pond that is to be on the site of the Collinwood school." Unearthed Words It didn't rain all summer. Instead of water, my father used prayer for his garden. Despite his friends' laughter, he planted spinach and lettuce, countless rows of cucumbers in beds lined up meticulously ignoring old people's warnings about the drought. Every afternoon, he pushed his hat back, wiped off his sweat, and looked up at the empty sky, the sun scorching the acacia trees shriveling in the heat. In July, the ground looked like cement. Like the ruins of a Roman thermal bath, it kept the vestiges of a lost order, traces of streams long gone. He yelled at me to step back from the impeccable architecture of climbing green beans, the trellis for tomatoes, although there was nothing to be seen, no seedlings, no tendrils, not even weeds, just parched, bare ground— as if I were disturbing the hidden sleep of seeds. — Lucia Cherciu "Lew-chee-AH CARE-chew", poet, Edible Flowers, The Sleep of Seeds Grow That Garden Library Making More Plants by Ken Druse This book came out in 2012, and the subtitle is The Science, Art, and Joy of Propagation. Druse says that propagation—the practice of growing whatever you want, whenever you want—is gardening itself. In this book, Druse shares his proven techniques to expand the plants in your garden. This book has over 500 photos to help you practice the steps of propagating successfully. The book is 256 pages of propagation demystified - all shared to help you learn the steps and tools necessary to create more plants. What gardener doesn't want more plants? You can get a copy of Making More Plants by Ken Druse and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $30. Today's Botanic Spark While researching Louise Klein Miller, I ran across a delightful story about her time teaching horticulture: "Louise had been telling a crowd of pupils about the different insects that attack plants and warned them, especially against the malevolent San Jose scale. She suggested that they go to the school library and get a book about it and read of Its habits and the remedy for checking its career. One young woman went to the librarian the next morning and said she wanted something about the San Jose scale. Without even looking up from her desk, the Librarian said, 'Go to the music department.'"

Today we remember the creation of legislation that turned 778 acres of land into a beloved park in New York City. We'll also learn about the State Flower of Maine - it's the only floral emblem that does not produce a blossom. We salute the Swarthmore ("SWATH-more") College alumni and horticulturist who created a magnificent garden at their home known as Todmorden ("Todd-MORE-din"). We'll also read some poems that celebrate the new habits we cultivate in the summer. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about authors and their gardens - love this topic. And then we'll wrap things up with an old article about rose care during the heat of the summer. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. And I celebrate my dad's 78th birthday! Happy Birthday, Dad! 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 Heights Garden Club: Hosting a Successful Tour During a Pandemic Pt 1 | Ravenscourt Gardens Here's an excerpt: "This June we had the opportunity to do a garden tour in a large residential garden. We took several precautions, starting with using SignUpGenius to take reservations in half-hour increments. We extended tour hours from one to two. We required everyone check-in, wear a mask, and use social distancing while in the garden." 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 1853 On this day, the legislation that created Central Park passed. Central Park was allowed 778 acres of land and was created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux ("Vox"). The Park was inspired by England's Birkenhead Park, which was created by Joseph Paxton. And there were many wonderful firsts that happened during the construction fo the Park. Vaux first coined the term landscape architect while working on the Park. And Olmsted imagined a gathering place for all social classes, a place where everyone could come together and enjoy nature. And, it was after Olmsted's work on Central Park as well as Boston's Emerald Necklace, Forest Park in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, that Olmsted became known as America's Park-maker. Now, as with any project, the development of Central Park hit some speed bumps. For instance, the American architect Richard Morris Hunt clashed with Olmsted and Vaux over his design for one of the entrances to the Park. Although Hunt had won a competition to design the southern entrance, Olmsted and Vaux balked when they saw Hunt's plan. You see, Hunt had designed this very elaborate grand entrance - something he called the Gate of Peace. It included a circular fountain within a square parterre. But the most magnificent part of his plan was a semi-circular terrace complete with a 50-foot column. At the base of the column, there was going to be a monument to Henry Hudson. And then, the pool around it would feature Neptune in his chariot and Henry Hudson standing on the prowl of a ship. Hunt really believed the public would embrace his grand vision and so he decided to promote his designs for the Park all on his own. But Hunt did not appreciate Vaux's power to squelch his idea. Although privately, Vaux said that Hunt's plans were "splendid and striking,"; publicly, he told a friend they were, "what the country had been fighting against... Napoleon III in disguise all over." Vaux summarized that Hunt's designs were "not American, but the park was." Ironically, in 1898, a memorial to Richard Morris Hunt was installed in Central Park. It's located on the eastern perimeter of the Park, and it was created by the same man who created the monument to Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial: Daniel Chester French. Today, Central Park is also home to Strawberry Fields, a two and ½ acre garden memorial dedicated to the memory of John Lennon. Yoko Ono and Lennon used to enjoy strolls through that section of Central Park after they moved to the Dakota building. After Lennon was shot, Ono came up with the idea for the memorial. During the installation of the memorial, Ono said, "It is our way of taking a sad song and making it better." Now initially, the concept called for every nation to donate a remembrance tree to Strawberry Fields. But soon, Ono and the New York City Parks and Recreation Commission found themselves dealing with trees that couldn't grow in a northern climate. So, they made a second request: Send us some trees for Strawberry Fields. This time, when they sent the request, they did something very smart. They sent some instructions and tips about what trees would survive New York winters. Now that second request brought 150 specimens from countries around the world. For instance, England sent an English Oak tree, Canada, a Maple tree. But there was one notable exception to the list of countries that sent trees, and it was the United States. Sadly, the Reagan White House never acknowledged the request. And, in case you're wondering, the Strawberry Fields memorial was made possible by a $1 million donation from Yoko Ono to the city. It didn't cost taxpayers a dime. 1945 On this day, the White Pine Xone and Tassel (Pinus strobus) were named the Maine State Flower on July 21, 1945. And here's a little-known fact about Maine's selection: Maine is the only state with a floral emblem that does not produce a blossom. And, I thought you would enjoy this little post from The New England Farmer. They shared the story of how the White Pine Cone came to be the State Flower: "Mrs. Jane Dingley is the state chairman of the Maine floral emblem society, and … said [although] the apple blossom would make a fine appearance in a garland,... it withers and falls the day it is born and can hardly represent the enduring nature of our state. Goldenrod is perhaps the most widespread of all Maine's flowers, but … the petals are so fine it would make an indistinct blur in the hands of the engraver. The grand old pine, however, has none of these faults. It is green and beautiful in summer and winter. So there you go; Mrs. Jane Dingley was making her case for the White Pine. And as luck would have it, the Maine state pomological society also agreed with Jane: "We should select the pine as our floral emblem on account of its historical value. It was the pine tree that made our state; it was the great giants and monarchs of the forest that attracted the king of England to this country. He sent out his emissaries to select them for his masts." Of course, what they mean is that England used the White Pines to build their ships. And if you're confused by that term Monarch of the Forest, listen to this: The Eastern White Pine (Pinaceae Pinus strobus) is regarded as the largest conifer in the northeastern United States. It's often referred to as the Monarch of the North. 1960 Today is the anniversary of the death of the heiress and horticulturist Edith Wilder Scott. When Edith was a young woman, she met and fell in love with Arthur Scott at Swarthmore College. Arthur, by the way, invented the throw-away paper towel and was the heir of the Scott Paper Company. After their wedding, the young couple toured New Zealand on a year-long honeymoon. In the early 1900s, Arthur and Edith bought an old ramshackle country club in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia), and they turned it into their home. They christened their new place Todmorden Farm. And, today it is on National Register of Historic Places. Both Edith and Arthur loved horticulture, and they surrounded Todmorden with gardens. Together they had a special love for lilacs, iris, peonies, and rhododendrons. In fact, Arthur helped found the American Peony Society and was an active member of the American Iris Society. Arthur believed that, "If a person was interested in horticulture and loved flowers, then he had to be a good man." Like her husband, Arthur, Edith hybridized many of the plants on their property, which resulted in many awards and medals for her. For her success with horticulture, Edith became a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania in 1950. And she was also bestowed with an honorary degree by Swarthmore College. In 1929, after Arthur died, Edith worked to establish the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College in her husband's honor. The current arboretum director, Claire Sawyers, said that Edith wanted the arboretum to display ornamental plants that plant lovers could study and learn from. Today, the arboretum contains several plant specimens named for the Scotts, and it also specializes in teaching horticulture by visual demonstration - one of the best ways to learn. And at the time of its creation, the arboretum curator Andrew Bunting added: "Perhaps Scott's true passion was plants, not paper." And there's one final sidenote about Arthur Scott that is particularly relevant today: his reason for inventing the paper towel - which was featured in his obituary: "In the early 1900s, there was a severe flu epidemic in Philadelphia. Arthur heard that a teacher had cut paper for her students to blow their noses on, so he invented a throw-away paper towel. This story was told to the family by Arthur's daughter and the resulting invention is supported by his patent application #US1141495 of Nov. 10, 1910 (issued June 1, 1915). It noted, 'My object is to embody in the towel, cleanliness and antiseptic qualities, coupled with such cheapness that the towel may be destroyed after use. The towels are preferably formed in rolls, so that only one towel at a time may be exposed and detached, the roll form in which the towels are arranged acting to protect the unused towels from absorbing moisture and gases from the atmosphere.' This is how the paper towel was first marketed as a medical device for sanitation purposes. The inventions of the paper towel and throw away ScotTissues were two of the most important contributions to our health. Encouraging the washing of hands by providing a disposable towel, minimized the spreading of germs and a multitude of diseases." Unearthed Words Here are some thoughts about the new habits we cultivate in the summer. Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability. — Sam Keen, American author and professor In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. I have to go to bed and see The birds still hopping on the tree, Or hear the grown-up people's feet Still going past me in the street. And does it not seem hard to you, When all the sky is clear and blue, And I should like so much to play, To have to go to bed by day? — Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and writer, Bed in Summer Grow That Garden Library Philosophy in the Garden by Damon Young This book came out in April of 2020, and it explores the relationships between "relationships: authors and their gardens. " The Daily Telegraph said, "This is a gardening book that takes readers not on a walk around great estates but on a tour of great minds…It's a lovely extension on the notion that gardens make you contemplative and in working with the soil you see life's big picture." The book is 208 pages of authors and their gardens. For example: "Why did Marcel Proust ("Proost") have bonsai beside his bed? What was Jane Austen doing, coveting an apricot? How was Friedrich Nietzsche inspired by his 'thought tree'?" You can get a copy of Philosophy in the Garden by Damon Young and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $11. Today's Botanic Spark 1951 Today the Lancaster Era newspaper out of Lancaster Pennsylvania reported on rose care during the heat of the summer. Here's an excerpt: "Hot Summer weather is not a serious problem to healthy rose plants as long as a regular schedule of care is followed. Giving roses an adequate water supply is probably the prime responsibility during these hot dry periods. A plentiful supply of water is important to keep up the blooming rate and growth and to build energy which will mean better plants next year. ...The best method is to let the hose slowly trickle over a board at the base of the plants. … An important thing to remember is to avoid wetting the foliage of rose plants when watering the beds since this practice often contributes to the spread of fungus diseases. Naturally, a good damp soil attracts weeds, but these unwelcome guests may be discouraged by mulching with … composted grass clippings, buckwheat hulls, ground corn cobs, or other available material."

Today we remember the beloved botanist who served on Captain Cook's third South Seas trip. We'll also learn about the Austrian botanist and monk who pioneered the study of heredity. We celebrate the usefulness of daylilies. We also honor the life of a young man who was killed paying his florist bill and the life of the garden writer who wrote for The New Yorker. We'll hear some poems that highlight the Garden as a sanctuary, a holy place to heal and be refreshed. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about Gardening in Your Front Yard - it's packed with ideas and projects for big and small spaces. It's an idea that is gaining popularity and acceptance thanks to stay-at-home orders and physical distancing - one of the positive effects of dealing with the pandemic. And then we'll wrap things up with remembering Katharine Stuart and the people who loved her the most. 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 Unconventional Wisdom: 8 Revolutionary Ideas for Your Garden from Thomas Rainer - Gardenista "When you meet landscape architect Thomas Rainer he comes across as a pleasant, mild-mannered fellow… not at all the type to be traveling around the world, as he does, spouting revolutionary ideas calculated to upend years and years of conventional gardening wisdom. As he writes in his preface to Planting in a Post-Wild World, the 2015 book he wrote with Claudia West, his ideas come from his time as a boy in suburban Birmingham, Alabama, where he spent countless happy hours roaming a stretch of indigenous Piedmont forest near his home." This article reveals a list of Thomas's dos and don'ts for growing an earth-friendly garden that he says produces better results with less work. Here's a high-level overview - be sure to read the article for the full scoop. 1. Amending the Soil: Don't 2. Double Digging: Don't 3. Soil Testing: Do 4. Mulching: Don't 5. Planting Cover Crops: Do 6. Curbside Planting: Do 7. Buying A Lot of Plants: Do 8. Experimenting and Having Fun: Do 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 1789 Today is the anniversary of the death of the British botanist David Nelson. David served as the botanist on Captain Cook's third South Seas trip; William Bligh was the Sailing Master. After gathering many new specimens, David spent the bulk of his time caring for over 500 breadfruit plants that Bligh was transporting to the West Indies. Breadfruit is a reference to the texture of the cooked fruit, which is similar to freshly baked bread. And, breadfruit tastes like potato. A likable fellow, David had traveled on another expedition with Captain Charles Clerke of the ship Discovery, who said David was "one of the quietest fellows in nature." As you might recall, the Captain Cook expedition suffered a mutiny on April 28, 1789. For his protection, David was kept below deck and under guard. David decided to go with William Bligh and his followers to Timor. The 3,500-mile voyage was grueling, and David died on this day, just 54 days after the mutiny. David's death was a blow to Bligh and his crew. To honor this mild man of botany, Bligh conferred full naval honors for his funeral service. Three years later, Captain Bligh visited Tasmania. He named "Nelson's Hill," the highest point on the island, in David's honor. Today Mount Nelson is the Hobart location of Tasmania University. 1822 Today is the birthday of the Austrian botanist and monk Gregor Mendel. Gregor discovered the basic principles of heredity through his experiments with peas in his garden at the Augustinian monastery that he lived in at Brno ("BURR-no") in the Czech Republic. Or, as I like to tell the kids, Gregor learned about heredity when he gave peas a chance. (Sorry, couldn't resist!) During a seven-year period in the mid-1800s, Gregor grew nearly 30,000 pea plants, and he took note of everything: their height and shape and color. And, his work resulted in what we now know as the Laws of Heredity, and to this day, most kids study this in school. And it was Gregor who came up with all of the genetic terms and terminology that we still use today, like dominant and recessive genes. 1960 On this day, the Chicago Tribune ran an article about the daylily, saying that they were "tops" in usefulness. Here are some highlights: "Because they combine exquisite charm with extreme hardiness, daylilies are without doubt nature's most useful flower... Their usefulness derives from their ability to thrive lustily under virtually any circumstances, which makes them particularly adaptable to so-called problem areas where the gardener may have experienced difficulty growing other flowers. For the weekend-gardener with a large tract to work, daylilies are the answer for far corners which ...never [get attended] to. The abundant foliage [of the daylily] will tend to keep the areas free from weeds, too." 1974 On this day, the IRA murdered Brian Shaw. Brian was just 21 years old when he was killed. A former soldier, Brian, had become a truck driver and had just married a girl from Belfast. Two weeks after their wedding, Brian disappeared when he went to pay the florist bill for flowers they had used at his wedding. And poignantly, the bill was still in his pocket when his body was found. 1977 Today is the anniversary of the death of the garden writer Katharine White. Now, Katharine was married to Andy - but most of us probably know him as E.B. White, the author of three beloved children's books, Stuart Little (1945), Charlotte's Web (1952), and The Trumpet of the Swan (1970). In the early 1930s, Katharine and Andy bought a farmhouse in North Brooklin, Maine. By the end of the decade, they left their place in New York for good and moved to the farmhouse permanently. It was Katharine White who once wrote: "From December to March, there are for many of us three gardens - the garden outdoors, the garden of pots and bowls in the house, and the garden of the mind's eye." Katharine began writing garden pieces for The New Yorker in 1958. In 1979, Katharine's book Onward and Upward in the Garden was edited and published posthumously by her husband, Andy. Gardeners especially enjoy Andy's tenderly written preface to his gardener wife. Anatole Broyard gushed about Katharine's book in his review saying, "It is itself a bouquet; the final blooming of an extraordinary sensibility." Now, Katharine carried on a marvelous correspondence with another garden writer: Elizabeth Lawrence. And, their letters convey a warmth and curiosity that I thought you would find delightful: July 2, 1958 [Katharine to Elizabeth] Dear Miss Lawrence, I am in New York for the moment, so it was on my desk here at The New Yorker that I found today your book, "The Little Bulbs"... Already I have dipped into it with delight. I shall carry it back with me to Maine next week and study it and consult it ... for years... The varieties [of bulbs] I have established ...are the obvious ones I'm afraid: the two colors of scylla, snowdrops, snowflakes, crocuses, white and blue grape hyacinths, and among the small tulips only Clusiana and Kaufmanniana. Your book will help me to expand, I hope… June 15, 1959 Dear Elizabeth, Here I am back again with a question, in spite of my promises. ...Do you know the address of Jan de Graaff, and does de Graaff bring out a catalog? I have been studying the lily offerings for the autumn of this year and every one of them, both in specialists' catalogs and in those of the big nurseries, of course, brags of lilies from the great de Graaff. P.S. It is 48 degrees here today and has been this for 48 hours. Discouraging. (Note the date!) October 8, 1959 Dear Elizabeth, Speaking of gourds, for the first time, my small decorative gourds did not mature in time for me to wax and polish them while watching the World Series. I am a baseball fan; I hate to confess — and I have loved baseball since I was a child. November 1959 Friday morning Dear Katharine, I don't know anything about modern flowers that have lost their fragrance. I think some hybrid roses are as sweet as old ones. At the fall flower show, I was intoxicated by the scent of one flower of Sutter's Gold... How in the world do you accomplish all you do? I have been interrupted five times since I came to my desk an hour ago, the last by a friend who wouldn't take the plants I offered on a day I was in the garden and would like to have them right now. I told her to come on. If she doesn't, she will choose a still worse time. Aren't those letters magnificent? You can read all of Katharine and Elizabeth's letters in detail in a wonderful book called Two Gardeners: Katharine S. White and Elizabeth Lawrence--A Friendship in Letters by Emily Herring Wilson. After Katharine died, her husband Andy sent a little verse he had written to their close friends and family. It said simply: To all who loved my lovely wife. To all who spoke their sorrow, I send this printed card of thanks so l can face tomorrow. I'd hoped to write a full reply To each, to say "I love you." But I'll reveal the sticky truth: There's just too many of you. Unearthed Words Here are some inspiring verses that highlight the Garden as a sanctuary, a holy place to heal, and be refreshed. God made a beauteous garden With lovely flowers strown, But one straight, narrow pathway That was not overgrown. And to this beauteous garden He brought mankind to live, And said "To you, my children, These lovely flowers I give. Prune ye my vines and fig trees, With care my flowers tend, But keep the pathway open Your home is at the end. ― Robert Frost, American poet, God's Garden If words are seeds, let flowers grow from your mouth, not weeds. If hearts are gardens, plant those flowers in the chest of the ones who exist around you. — R.H. Swaney, American poet For flowers that bloom about our feet; For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet; For song of bird, and hum and bee; For all things fair we hear or see; Father in heaven, we thank Thee! — Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet Grow That Garden Library Shrubs by Andy McIndoe ("MAC-IN-doe") This book came out in February of 2019, and the subtitle is Discover the Perfect Plant for Every Place in Your Garden. Gardens Illustrated said this about Andy's book, "McIndoe is a devoted and knowledgeable ambassador for shrubs…His advice is clear, practical, and honest: the sort of counsel every gardener needs. The book will be an invaluable addition not only to the bookcases of gardeners but also those of garden designers seeking to broaden their plant palette." This is one of my favorite books on shrubs, and it's 337 pages of fabulous photos and detailed shrub profiles - all shared with today's gardener in mind. You can get a copy of Shrubs by Andy McIndoe and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $14. Today's Botanic Spark After researching Katharine White, I discovered some touching correspondence that occurred between her husband, Andy, (the author of Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web), and her friend and fellow garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence. In July 1979, Elizabeth wrote to Andy about Katharine's book (after Katharine died): Dear Andy, Thank you for having the publisher send me Onward and Upward (it really is). I have been re-reading and re-reading ever since, with great pleasure and great sorrow. I can't bear not [being] able to tell Katharine what a wonderful book [she wrote]… [I am writing] to ask for permission to quote a paragraph from a letter you wrote to me [a while ago. You wrote:] "Katharine just spent three days in bed, in pain, caused by aback injury brought on by leaning far out over a flower bed to pick one spring bloom— the daffodil Supreme. It seems a heavy price to pay for one small flower. But when she is in her garden, she is always out of control. I do not look for any change, despite her promises." I am not sure about your [species], whether it is the daffodil supreme, or the daffodil Supreme, Rijnveld, 1947, 3a. But I don't think it likely that any Observer will know the difference. I thought the paragraph fits in with your loving introduction [to Onward and Upward in the Garden]. [...] I am having a miserable time trying to say something worthy of the book in the space allotted to me. Aff, Elizabeth On March 24, 1980, Andy concluded a letter back to Elizabeth with these words: Tired snow still lies about, here and there, in the brownfields, and my house will never look the same again since the death of the big elm that overhung it. Nevertheless, I manfully planted (as a replacement) a young elm. It is all of five-and-a-half feet high. By Katharine's grave, I planted an oak. This is its second winter in the cemetery, her third. Yrs, Andy Five years later, Andy died at home in Maine. He is buried next to Katharine in the Brooklin Cemetery.

Today we celebrate the decoupage botanical artist that left her mark on botanical history. We'll also learn about a Louisiana botanist, naturalist and author who lived in a home called Briarwood. We salute the English poet who was killed in WWI - he appreciated the pure beauty of flowers. We also recognize one of Canada's leading botanists - he was 90 years old when he died on this day 100 years ago. We honor July with a beautiful poem called Keeping July. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that inspired kids to cook with their garden harvest, and it's part of the best-selling American Girl cooking series. And then we'll wrap things up with the Landscape Architect who fought to have a tree instead of a parking meter in front of his office building. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News Ann-Marie Powell talks lockdown and sharing her garden. "No one is more surprised at the success of her lockdown project than Ann-Marie Powell. The popularity of her daily Instagram Live posts from her garden is, she says, simply astonishing. Begun on day one of lockdown and broadcast every day since, the My Real Garden account now has more than 9,500 followers, making it more successful than her official design Instagram feed. In fact, it's become such a part of her life she's planning to keep it going even as lockdown eases. Ann-Marie has turned a corner of her garden into a studio. The award-winning designer and RHS judge started the My Real Garden feed after being inundated with requests for gardening advice from friends as Britain went into lockdown. Someone suggested she put the advice online and base it on her own Hampshire garden, which had been sadly neglected while her house was done up. 'My garden was literally full of weeds because it had not been looked after for two years. I like to be doing so I thought it'll motivate me, it'll be like a bit of a diary and if I put it out there that I've got to do it. I didn't realize that so many people would be interested!' Broadcast live every lunchtime, My Real Garden followed Ann-Marie, who trained at Capel Manor, as she shaped her lawn, planted fruit and chose plants for shady spots. There's been advice on watering and deadheading to keep summer displays going." My Real Garden reaches its 100th consecutive broadcast today, July 1, and will now become a twice-weekly rather than daily event with the Sunday Social at 12.30 BST and the new Wine and Water Wednesday at 7 pm when followers will join Ann-Marie to water their gardens with wine in hand. 'My Real Garden' will continue twice a week on Instagram Live Although she's done television in the past, it's the freedom of the Instagram Live that Ann-Marie has loved: 'It's been really lovely just being in charge of what I say. I can be as silly as I want, have a bit of a laugh, and God knows, haven't we needed to have a laugh.' And she's made virtual friends from as far away as Canada, Belgium and Detroit. 'It's just been amazing to just have this nurturing, lively, thriving community of like-minded people.' You can follow My Real Garden on Instagram at @myrealgarden, and there's more information on the website." What's the Difference Between Oregano and Marjoram? If you've grown both, you know they look quite similar, and they are often confused for one another. But, when it comes to flavor and taste, it is easy to tell them apart. Oregano tends to be earthy, pungent, and spicy. It can easily overpower the other flavors in a dish. To subdue the pungency, cooks recommend using the dried form of oregano. On the other hand, marjoram is milder. Use that alliteration to help you remember, Mild Marjoram. Marjoram's flavor is more refined; it's floral and woodsy. Because marjoram is sweeter and milder, chefs recommend using fresh marjoram instead of dried marjoram for cooking. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1744 On this day, the botanical tissue paper decoupage artist Mary Delany wrote to her sister about her garden. Mary Delaney had an extraordinary life. Her family had forced her to marry a sixty-year-old man when she was 17. He was an alcoholic. To make matters worse, when he died, he forgot to include her in his will. Despite her lack of inheritance, Mary realized that, as a widow, she had much more freedom than she had as a single young lady. In society, she could do as she pleased. Fate brought fortune for Mary when love came knocking on her door in June 1743. Mary met an Irish doctor named Patrick Delany. He was also a pastor. Although her family wasn't thrilled with the idea of a second marriage to the son of a servant, Mary did it anyway. She and Patrick moved to his home in Dublin, and his garden was a thing of beauty, which leads us to the letter Mary wrote to her sister on this day in 1744. Mary wrote: "[The] fields are planted in a wild way, forest trees and … bushes that look so natural... you would not imagine it a work of art ... [There is] a very good kitchen garden and two fruit gardens which ... will afford us a sufficient quantity of everything we can want. There are several prettinesses I can't explain to you — little wild walks, private seats, and lovely prospects. One seat I am particularly fond of [is] in a nut grove, and [there is] a seat in a rock … [that] is placed at the end of a cunning wild path. The brook ... entertains you with a purling rill." Mary and Patrick were happily married for twenty-five years. When Patrick died, Mary was widowed again; this time at the age of 68. But Mary's life was not over. She hit it off with Margaret Bentinck. Bentinck was the Duchess of Portland, and together they pursued botanical activities. They loved to go out into the fields and collect specimens. It was thanks to the Duchess that Mary got to know Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander. When Mary was in her early 70s, she took up decoupage - which was all the rage at the time - and she created marvelous depictions of flowers. Today, historians believe Mary probably dissected plants to create her art. Botanists from all over Europe would send her specimens. King George the Third and Queen Charlotte were her patrons. They ordered any curious or beautiful plant to be sent to Mary when in blossom so she could use them to create her art. Her paper mosaics, as Mary called them, were made out of tissue paper. Mary created almost 1000 pieces of art between the ages of 71 and 88. If you ever see any of her most spectacular decoupage pieces, you'll be blown away at the thought of them being made from tiny pieces of tissue paper by Mary Delany in the twilight of her life in the late 1700s. 1888 It's the birthday of the naturalist, botanist, ornithologist, prizewinning horticulturist, painter, archaeologist, historian, author of six books, and a proud daughter of the great state of Louisiana: Caroline Dormon. Her friends called her "Carrie." Carrie was a tiny woman; she was also a powerhouse, forming her own opinions and ideas about the natural world. A traditionalist, Carrie always wore dresses - she thought pants were quite scandalous. Carrie was born at her family's summer home called Briarwood. It would become her forever home and a national treasure. In the 1920s, Carrie built a writing cabin at Briarwood she called Three Pines because of the trio of tall pines around it. Carrie told her friends it was a place for daydreams. By the 1950s, a second cabin was built at Briarwood. Carrie liked to take the screens off the windows every spring so wrens could build nests inside. At Briarwood, Carrie installed trails through the woods, and she planted hundreds of plants. She even installed a reflecting pool for "Grandpappy" - her name for her favorite tree on the property. Grandpappy is estimated to be over 300 years old; he's a longleaf pine, and he's still alive today. And, I thought you would enjoy a story about Grandpappy that Carrie used to share with visitors: Once a forester wanted to "core" Grandpappy to determine a more exact age for the tree. Carrie stopped him and said, "It's none of your business how old Grandpappy is, or how old I am for that matter." And that's quintessentially Carrie Dorman, aka the Queen of the Forest Kingdom. 1889 Today is the birthday of the WWI English poet Leslie Coulson who was killed in action at the Battle of Le Transloy, in France. Coulson wrote: The gold stalks hide Bodies of men who died Charging at dawn through the dew to be killed or to kill. I thank the gods that the flowers are beautiful still. 1920 Today is the 100th anniversary of the death of one of Canada's leading botanists John Macoun. He was 90 years old when he died. Here's a little story John shared about growing up in Ireland: "We had a garden well fenced in. [My mom] encouraged us to spend our idle time in it...I seemed to prefer taking an old knife and going out to the fields and digging up flowers and bringing them in and making a flower garden of my own. I only remember primroses and the wild hyacinth. Another characteristic was the power of seeing. I could find more strawberries and more birds' nests ... than any other boy." After arriving in Canada, John had started out as a farmer. In 1856, he became a school teacher, partly to nourish his nearly "obsessive" interest in botany, but also to find a more balanced life. John wrote that before teaching, "I had never had more than one holiday in the year, and that was Christmas Day. [My brother,] Frederick, and I might take a day's fishing in the summer, but an eight-mile walk and scrambling along the river was not very restful." Within five years, John had begun regular correspondence with prominent botanists like Asa Gray and Sir William Hooker. In John's autobiography, there are many touching passages about his love of botany. Here's a little glimpse into how he cultivated his understanding of plants: "I would take a common species of roadside or garden plant of which I knew the name and then immediately endeavor to work out its correct name from the classification. The Mullein was the species that I took first. I found it more difficult than I had thought on account of its long and short stamens, but I soon came to understand the arrangement of the stamens and pistils so well that most plants could be classified by their form alone." Once, John was approached by his future father-in-law, Simon Terrill, who was a bit skeptical of John's prospects. John wrote, "Simon Terrill, who was a well-known Quaker in that district, ... found me with a plant in my hand and said: 'John, what dost thee ever expect to make out of the study of botany?' told him that I did not know but that it gave me a great deal of pleasure." Unearthed Words Dens of chairs and blankets, a circus show at home, lines and nets and rackets, no-one keeping score. Eight books each to represent, a fox in socks surveys, on July first the power went and the movie was delayed. Calves the very height of style in all their sepia glory, starlings at the seaside taking inventory. Lettuce growing rivalry in green and purple lines, questions answered silently, learning to tell time. Rapunzel can no longer hide, rooster calling on repeat, Gorse clicks and crackles from all sides, a nineties dance floor beat. Chippings, pavers, rollers, our road consolidated, filling tearing, smokers keep children fascinated. A linnet pair on seedy heads, thrushes gobbling berries, an old pink paper license, explaining pounds and pennies. Old heads of lavender on thin but sturdy stalks we edge through the calendar these days not to recall. — Joanna O'Sullivan, Irish writer and poet, Keeping July Grow That Garden Library Garden to Table by the Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen This book came out in 2018. It is part of the best-selling American Girl cooking series, and the subtitle is Fresh Recipes to Cook & Share. This book features recipes from six categories of garden harvests: veggies, herbs, berries, fruits, root vegetables and gourds, and citrus. The book is 144 pages of over 50 Recipes for kid-friendly dishes highlighting seasonal ingredients from the garden. You can get a copy of Garden to Table by the Williams Sonoma Test Kitchen and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $9. Today's Botanic Spark 1933 Today is the birthday of Landscape Architect Robert Fenton who was born in 1933. Robert was a Harvard grad, and he settled down in Pennsylvania. While researching Robert, it was impossible to avoid all the newspaper articles that covered a disagreement Robert had with the city of Pittsburgh. In 1965, Robert was a young, 32-year-old Landscape Architect with an office at 6010 Centre Avenue. Newspaper accounts said he had wanted to "spruce up what he called a drab neighborhood in the East Liberty section." After trying for weeks to get permission to plant a tree in front of his building from the City Forester Earl Blankenship, Robert decided it was better to ask forgiveness, and went ahead with the planting. Robert told reporters that planting the tree was in line with President Johnson's thinking on beautification and that, "If you try to get anything done through the city, you get, "no, no, no." So we decided to break up the sidewalk and put it in... hoping no one would notice. Unfortunately, the installation accidentally took out a parking meter." Newspaper accounts shared that, "In the dead of night, Fenton brought in a high lift, a 15-ton truck, and five men. The tree he had selected was a beauteous 25-foot ash with a five-inch base and it cost Fenton $110 (in 1965). The total project cost Fenton $275." The city departments took umbrage at Robert's actions. After two weeks of discussions, the City Attorney David Stahl said the tree was cut down and hauled away by City Forester Earl Blankenship in the middle of the night. Robert came to work and was shocked to discover the tree gone, cut down to the ground. Just days earlier, Robert had told town reporters that, "I think it's going to be so difficult to remove the tree that the city will let it stay and merely warn me not to let it happen again." Newspaper accounts of this story were super punny: Tree Goes, City Barks Citizen on a Limb Poetic Tale of a Tree Somehow Lacks Meter A Tree Grew In...Violation 'Woodman Spare That Tree' Cry of Architect Falls on Deaf Ears City Thinks Meter Lovelier Than Tree Want Meter There and No Shady Deal Today, if you look at the same spot on Google Earth, whaddya know? There's a tree growing in front of the building... but there's no parking meter.

Today we celebrate the English naturalist who kept a journal for almost three decades. We'll also learn about the famous English novelist who loved to garden. We salute the father of American landscape architecture and his trip to Gettysburg on this day in 1863. We also recognize the Spanish woman who pioneered a system of organic gardening known as synergistic gardening. We'll hear a classic poem for gardeners. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book devoted to the ecology, evolution, and life history of solitary bees - a must-read for gardeners dedicated to learning more about our precious pollinators. And then we'll wrap things up with a Maxfield Parrish Print that is beloved by gardeners ever since it appeared on the cover of Collier's Magazine. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News This Five-Minute Exercise Will Make You a Better Gardener | Mary-Kate Mackey "Phyllis Helland has a simple process for doing that. Phyllis is a friend of mine who is a home gardener, and also an artist by profession. Every day she spends a few minutes observing and drawing the growth on a single plant. This is an exercise in seeing, not producing a recognizable sketch. She advises: 'If you think you don't draw well, simply switch to your non-dominant hand. I always see more when I do that because it slows me down. Or use a phone camera instead. That's more of a broad stroke, but it still helps me see. It's like being a little kid again. Kids notice things, and the adults are astonished.' Now, why would doing this simple exercise help your gardening? Phyllis says it will raise your awareness of what's growing around you—whether it's those previously unnoticed predacious bugs on the beans or a glorious unplanned flower combination. The daily observations can also deepen your knowledge." Recently, I've started collecting cuttings from my garden to make my own potpourris and sachets. Here's is a quote from Eleanor Sinclair-Rhode about this lovely garden pastime: "No bought potpourri is so pleasant as that made from one's own garden, for the petals of the flowers one has gathered at home hold the sunshine and memories of summer, and of past summers only the sunny days should be remembered." Do a summer check of all your irrigation systems and repair anything broken. I sooo wish I would have done this last summer. By the time I discovered a leak, we had a big water problem to address. In the garden, too much water can be just as harmful as too little. Throw in temperature extremes, and you have a perfect storm - inviting fungal and other diseases, pests, and other problems. Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1720 Today is the birthday of the English naturalist, Gilbert White. Gilbert kept a journal for almost three decades, where he recorded observations of his garden. Gilbert's observations were eventually published as a Calendar of Flora and the Garden. Then they were woven into a book called the Naturalist's Journal. People immediately recognized Gilbert had a gift for observation and for describing with vivid clarity the natural world. Here's a little of what Gilbert wrote in his journal on this day in 1781; his 61st birthday: "Farmers complain that their wheat is blighted. In the garden at Dowland's,... stands a large Liriodendrum tulipifera ("LEER-EE-OH-den-drum TOO-lip-IF-er-ah"), or tulip-tree, which was in flower. The soil is poor sand but produces beautiful pendulous Larches. Mr. R's garden... abounds in fruit, and in all manner of good and forward kitchen-crops. Many China-asters this spring seeded themselves there... some cucumber-plants also grew-up of themselves from the seeds of a rejected cucumber thrown aside last autumn. Mr. R's garden is, at an average, a fortnight before mine." Gilbert White's journals are a treasure, and luckily we can read them for ourselves online at one of my favorite websites: NaturalhistoryofSelbourne.com. 1817 Today is the anniversary of the death of the author and gardener Jane Austen. Jane loved gardens. She had a heart for ornamentals, herbs, and kitchen gardening. And, her family always had a garden - growing their food and beautifying their homes with flowers. In every one of her books, Jane included gardens. We know from Jane's letters to her sister Cassandra that gardens brought her joy, and they were also regulating. In 1807, Jane wrote about the redesign of her garden which included syringia or mock orange and laburnum - a small tree with beautiful hanging yellow flowers in spring, which is how it got the common golden chain or golden rain: "I could not do without a syringa... We talk also of a laburnum. The border under the terrace wall is clearing away to receive currants and gooseberry bushes, and a spot is found very proper for raspberries." In 1814, Jane wrote about the garden outside the rented room where she was staying, "The garden is quite a love... I live in the room downstairs; it is particularly pleasant...opening upon the garden. I go and refresh myself every now and then, and then come back to solitary coolness." 1863 It was on this day that the father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted, walked the battlefield of Gettysburg - just 15 days after the battle. Olmsted was the General Secretary of the United States Sanitary Commission (USSC) - overseeing the support of sick and wounded soldiers of the United States Army during the Civil War. There were times when Olmsted personally treated the battlefield wounds of soldiers. Olmsted was recruited for the job based on his success in designing and overseeing New York City's Central Park, one of the country's most significant public works projects. A week after the battle at Gettysburg, Olmsted arranged for 40 tons of supplies to flow into Gettysburg every day - bringing in items like surgeon's silk, fans, butter, shoes, and crutches. On this day in 1863, the scene had settled down enough that Olmsted could walk the fields of Gettysburg. In Martin's biography of Olmsted, he shared that Olmsted, "was struck by the scale of the place; everything had happened across distances far greater than he had supposed." Ever attuned to the landscape, Olmsted also noted that, "The hills were gentle and rolling, so very out of kilter with the carnage that was everywhere still in evidence... Olmsted came across spent shells and twisted bayonets, broken-down wagons, and half-buried dead horses. Particularly touching, to Olmsted, was the random strew of Union and Confederate caps, often together on the ground, shot through with bullet holes." 1937 Today is the birthday of the Spanish woman who pioneered a system of organic gardening known as synergistic gardening - Emilia Hazelip. Emilia was born in Barcelona. As a young adult, she embraced communal living and was part of the hippie movement. She managed to make her way to California, where she worked on ecological farms. At the time, Ruth Stout's no-work gardening and Alan Chadwick's raised bed concept were gaining traction. In 1977, Masanobu Fukuoka's ("MAH-SIN-oh-boo FOO-ku-OH-KAH") book, "The One-Straw Revolution" was translated into English. Emilia got a copy, read it, and immediately set about applying the principles in her own garden. By the time Emilia started tinkering with Fukuoka's principles, she was 40 years old, and she had been gardening for about 17 years. The gardening system she devised became known as synergistic gardening, and it was a mashup of Fukuoka's ideas and elements of permaculture. Emilia was the perfect person to come up with synergistic gardening; She was attuned to nature, and he questioned the effectiveness of human methods that altered natural systems. YouTube has a great video of Emilia, showing how she creates an edible vegetable garden. She says, "The work of Fukuoka was proof that my intuition was right, meaning that working the land is not necessary. However, when I started to reproduce it, the results I obtained were so poor that I quickly understood the need to modify and adapt his system to other cultural and climatic conditions; this is how it was born what I decided to call Synergic Agriculture." Back in 2012, Monica Brandies wrote an excellent article on Emilia that was featured in the Tampa Tribune. Here are some highlights. "I've watched [a DVD of The Synergistic Garden with Emilia Hazelip twice and learned some new ideas that Rosalind [Baker] is already using with success. Hazelip [says] the following: Don't worry about fertilizer. Don't disturb the soil any more than necessary - no tilling or digging, no stepping that compacts the soil. [This way,] the earthworms and microorganisms in the soil can work with multiplied efficiency. And instead of the soil wearing out as it does in modern agriculture, it gets better year by year. Cut down on compost. Hazelip uses no compost except in potting soil in flats in the greenhouse. Elevate beds. Hazelip's beds are elevated 10 to 30 inches by digging deeper paths and piling the soil upon beds that are 4 feet wide, so it's possible to reach the center without stepping in. Her paths are 20 inches wide. Cover the soil with mulch. The beds are always covered with organic mulch straw in her case, leaves in mine. But I have sinned by leaving some soil bare. I will try never to do that again. Nature always keeps the soil covered. Hazelip pulls back the mulch to add seeds or transplants but pushes it back right away around the transplants... Hazelip removes spent plants by cutting them off just above ground level, so the roots stay in the ground very important. Then the part of the plant you don't eat is laid on top as additional mulch. Over the years, you need less and less mulch. Use the weeds you pull. Weeds are pulled out by the roots and laid in the path until they are dead. Then they are added to the mulch. Obviously, she doesn't have any of the invasive vines we have here, but they are the only ones I will have to bag up and discard. At first, such beds need hand weeding as much as any beds, but as the years go by, they need less and less weeding. Hazelip used a spoon to plant some of her transplants and a trowel for the ones that needed a larger hole, but that was the extent of her digging. I am now doing all this as much as possible. It is never too late to learn." Unearthed Words The gardener does not love to talk. He makes me keep the gravel walk; And when he puts his tools away. He locks the door and takes the key. He digs the flowers, green, red, and blue. Nor wishes to be spoken to. He digs the flowers and cuts the hay. And never seems to want to play. Silly gardener! Summer goes, And winter comes with pinching toes, When in the garden bare and brown You must lay your barrow down. Well now, and while the summer stays To profit by these garden days O how much wiser you would be To play at Indian wars with me! — Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish novelist and poet, The Gardener from a Child's Garden of Verses Grow That Garden Library The Solitary Bees by Bryan N. Danforth, Robert L. Minckley, John L. Neff, and Frances Fawcett This book came out in August of 2019, and the subtitle is Biology, Evolution, Conservation. The author Alexandra-Maria Klein said, "This book is a comprehensive most up-to-date resource on the biology and evolution of solitary bees. . . . People reading this book will likely further educate their friends, children, or colleagues by sharing stories about the interesting natural history of solitary bees they learned by reading across this book. By doing this, an increasing number of people will ultimately contribute to protecting nature and biodiversity." And, Stephen Fleming, said, "In the many vignettes and case studies throughout the text, the wonders of solitary bees are revealed. . . . I expect to return to this book to learn more about the truly incredible world of bees for a long time to come." The book is a whopping 488 pages devoted to the ecology, evolution, and life history of solitary bees - a must-read for gardeners dedicated to learning more about our precious pollinators. You can get a copy of The Solitary Bees by Bryan N. Danforth, Robert L. Minckley, John L. Neff, and Frances Fawcett and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $31. Today's Botanic Spark 1908 On this day, the Maxfield Parrish Print, called The Botanist, appeared on the cover of Collier's Magazine. Parrish's image shows a full-length profile of a man wearing a long botanical green coat. In his raised right hand, he is holding a plant, and in his left hand, he is clutching a magnifying glass. Some opened reference books are tucked under his arm. He has a specimen case slung over his back. The classic image was made into poster-sized prints in the 1970s. It's one of my favorite pieces of botanical art.

Today we celebrate one of Alabama's first botanists and the poet who went by the pseudonym AE. We'll also learn about Wood Expert and xylotomist ("xy·lot·o·mist") who solved the crime of the century. We celebrate one of the 20th century's leading landscape architects. We also celebrate the Dog Days of summer through poetry. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about plant passion and inspiration in order to "Cultivate Green Space in Your Home and Heart." And then we'll wrap things up with the story of a touching 2014 botanical art installation around the Tower of London. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news. Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to [email protected] And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy. Curated News New National Wildflower Network Opens Major Routes Across UK for Pollinating Insects | The Independent "A national network of linked wildflower highways has been launched this week to provide more habitat for the UK's vital pollinating insects, including bees, butterflies, hoverflies, and moths. The newly completed B-Lines network for England has been launched by conservation charity Buglife with support from Defra. The scheme will create a vast interconnected web of potential and existing wildflower habitats across the whole country. Catherine Jones, pollinator officer at Buglife, said: "A complete England B-Lines network is a real landmark step in our mission to reverse insect declines and lend a helping hand to our struggling pollinators. We hope that organizations and people across England will help with our shared endeavor to create thousands of hectares of new pollinator-friendly wildflower habitats along the B-Lines." Buglife is asking people to grow more flowers, shrubs, and trees, let gardens grow wild and to mow grass less frequently, not to disturb insects, and to try not to use pesticides. Almost 17,000 tonnes of pesticides are sprayed across the British countryside each year. The country has lost 97 percent of its wildflower meadows since the 1930s and 87 percent of its wetlands. Both of these habitats support a huge array of wildlife." Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1901 Today is the anniversary of the death of botanist Charles Theodore Mohr. Although he was born in Germany and educated in Stuttgart, Charles became one of Alabama's first botanists. He emigrated to the United States in 1848. A trained pharmacist, Charles traveled the world before settling in Alabama, and he especially enjoyed collecting plant specimens in Surinam. Charles's travel log shows that he even participated in the California gold rush and lived Mexico, Indiana, and Kentucky before settling in Alabama. In 1857, Charles started Chas. Mohr & Son Pharmacists and Chemists in Mobile, Alabama. Charles spent his entire life collecting and organizing his specimens. In fact, by the time his book on the plants of Alabama was published, Charles was seventy-seven years old. After Charles died, his herbarium specimens were donated to the University of Alabama Herbarium (15,000 specimens) and the United States National Herbarium (18,000 specimens).

1935 Today is the anniversary of the death of the poet George William Russell, who went by the pseudonym AE. Russell attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. There he met a lifelong friend - the poet William Butler Yeats. Russell became the editor of The Irish Homestead. His famous quotes include the following: "Our hearts were drunk with a beauty our eyes could never see." "You cannot evoke great spirits and eat plums at the same time." 1967 Today is the anniversary of the death of Wood Expert and xylotomist Arthur Koehler. Xylotomy is preparing little pieces of wood and then examining them under a microscope or microtome. Koehler worked as a chief wood technologist at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. Koehler's expertise led him to become one of the very first forensic botanists. When the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped in 1932, a homemade ladder was used to access the nursery. Koehler, along with 38,000 others, sent letters to the Lindbergh's offering prayers and assistance. Yet Koehler's expertise would become the linchpin to convicting the man accused of the crime, making Koehler one of the world's first official forensic botanists. Forensic botany is simply using plants to help solve crimes. Three months after the crime was committed, samples of the ladder were sent to Koehler. Koehler studied the pieces through his microscope discovered that four different kinds of wood were used to make the ladder—Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, Birch, and North Carolina pine. In an interview with the Saturday Evening Post, Koehler was quoted saying, "I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I have specialized in the study of wood. Just as a doctor who devotes himself to stomachs or tonsils … so I, a forester, have done with wood." A year later, Koehler was invited to see the ladder in person, and that in-person visit was revealing. Koehler discovered the ladder was handmade. He measured each piece to the nose, getting exact measurements. He understood how each piece was cut, how the pieces would have fit into a car, and then assembled at the Lindbergh home. Incredibly, Koehler was able to determine the origin of the piece of North Carolina pine used to build the ladder - it was sold in the Bronx. Ransom notes from the case lead police to hone in on the same area. Koehler was convinced the suspect would have the woodworking tools required to build the ladder. In the Lindbergh case, the wood from the ladder helped identify a carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann. When the police arrested Hauptmann, they not only found $14,000 of ransom money but the evidence Koehler could link to the ladder: the saws used to make the cuts, the particular nails used to build the ladder and a missing floorboard from Hauptmann's attic that was clearly used in the construction of the 16th rail of the ladder. In fact, when the rail was removed, it slipped perfectly back into place in Hauptmann's attic - right down to the nail holes and nails on the board. Koehler estimated the chances of someone else supplying the lumber for the ladder to be one in ten quadrillions. Koehler's knowledge and testimony during the trial were vital to Hauptmann's capture and conviction. The "Crime of the Century" solved by carefully studying the only witness - a "wooden witness." It was Arthur Koehler who said, "In all of the years of my work, I have been consumed with the absolute reliability of the testimony of trees. They carry in themselves the record of their history. They show with absolute fidelity the progress of the years, storms, drought, floods, injuries, and any human touch. A tree never lies." 1996 Today is the anniversary of the death of one of the 20th century's leading landscape architects, Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. Jellicoe was multi-talented, but his true passion was landscape and garden design, which he described as "the mother of all arts." He was a founder member of the Landscape Institute. Over his 70-year career, Jellicoe designed more than 100 landscapes around the world. Jellicoe designed the John F Kennedy memorial site by the River Thames in Berkshire. Jellicoe's final and most ambitious project was the Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas. Jellicoe imagined a design where visitors could walk through the history of the landscape, from the Garden of Eden and the gardens of ancient Egypt to a design inspired by Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain (1924). As the Moody Garden website acknowledges, "It was the culminating work of his design career but has not, as yet, been implemented. We live in hope." Jellicoe's favorite garden was the gardens he designed in Hemel Hempstead. Jellicoe designed the Hemel Hempstead Water Gardens to improve the quality of life for the townspeople. Jellicoe designed a canal with dams and little bridges to take visitors from the town parking lot to shopping. Jellicoe designed the canal after seeing one of Paul Klee's paintings of a serpent. Jellicoe said, "The lake is the head, and the canal is the body," wrote Jellicoe in his book Studies in Landscape Design. "The eye is the fountain; the mouth is where the water passes over the weir. The formal and partly classical flower gardens are like a howdah strapped to its back. In short, the beast is harnessed, docile, and in the service of man." Unearthed Words Here are some words about the Dog Days of summer - which officially started on July 3 and runs through August 11. How hushed and still are earth and air, How languid 'neath the sun's fierce ray - Drooping and faint - the flowerets fair, On this hot, sultry, summer day. — Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon ("Lew-Pro-awn", Canadian writer and poet, An Afternoon in July Cool in the very furnace of July The water-meadows lie; The green stalks of their grasses and their flowers They still refresh at fountains, never dry. — John Drinkwater, British poet and dramatist Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world. — Ada Louise Huxtable, architecture critic, and writer A ladder sticking up at the open window, The top of an old ladder; And all of Summer is there. Great waves and tufts of wistaria surge across the window, And a thin, belated blossom. Jerks up and down in the sunlight; Purple translucence against the blue sky. "Tie back this branch," I say, But my hands are sticky with leaves, And my nostrils widen to the smell of crushed green. The ladder moves uneasily at the open window, And I call to the man beneath, "Tie back that branch." There is a ladder leaning against the window-sill, And a mutter of thunder in the air. — Amy Lowell, American poet, Dog Days "Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." — Russel Baker, American journalist and satirist Grow That Garden Library How to Make a Plant Love You by Summer Rayne Oakes This book came out in July of 2019, and the subtitle is Cultivate Green Space in Your Home and Heart. Michael Brune, the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, said, "I don't care what color your thumbs are —Summer Rayne Oakes will not only inspire you to connect with nature by taking care of plants but open your eyes to how even the humblest of them take care of us." Summer keeps over 500 species of live houseplants in her Brooklyn apartment. She's an environmental scientist, an entrepreneur, and (according to a New York Times profile) the icon of wellness-minded millennials who want to bring nature indoors. The book is 208 pages of plant passion and inspiration. It covers both plant styling and care. You can get a copy of How to Make a Plant Love You by Summer Rayne Oakes and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $15. Today's Botanic Spark 2014 The outdoor public art piece called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red was installed in the moat around the Tower of London. The work commemorated the centenary of the outbreak of World War I and was made up of 888,246 ceramic red poppies, one for each British or Colonial serviceman killed in the War. The title, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, refers to the first line of a poem by an unknown soldier in World War I. For this magnificent piece fo public art, Paul Cummins designed the ceramic poppies, and Tom Piper handled the conceptual design. Almost one million of Paul's ceramic red poppies appeared to burst forth from the Tower and then flow across the moat. Poppies seeped out of the Weeping Window and cascaded down a wall. Almost 20,000 volunteers helped with the installation. And, although it was started on this day in 2014, it was not completed until November 11 of that same year.