The Daily Gardener

Today we celebrate the Italian botanist who introduced coffee and bananas to Europe and the botanist who described new varieties of mums from China on this day in 1822. We'll learn about the man who could see the capabilities of a landscape In the botanist who wrote encouraging letters to one of his students. Today's Unearthed Words Feature sayings and poems about the winter mindset. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps you encourage different types of wildlife into your garden. I'll talk about a garden item you'll use every spring if you like to grow plants from seed and then we'll wrap things up with a cute little story that involves loganberries. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles The Scent Of Fear – The Aphid Alarm Pheromone Great Post on The Scent of Fear – the aphid alarm pheromone via @Entoprof "Aphids, when perceiving a threat to their neighbors by a predator or parasite, flee the scene rapidly, by flight, if winged, on foot if not, or even by leaping from their host-plant to the ground below. " A Growing Concern: Is It Ever OK To Steal Plant Cuttings? | Life And Style | The Guardian A growing concern: is it ever OK to steal plant cuttings? "At Potted Elephant, the thief cut tendrils of Philodendron, Variegated Monstera and Scindapsus from live plants in his greenhouse – some from Jarrell's personal collection of rare plants." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1617 Today is the anniversary of the death of the 17th-century Italian botanist Prospero Alpini. Alpini introduced coffee and bananas to Europe. Alpini was also the first person to make observations about sexual differences in plants. The male and female flowers of the date palm, for instance, are borne on separate plants. This knowledge allowed Alpini to become the first person to fertilize the female flowers of the date palms artificially. Date palms were popular garden plants in Roman gardens. The fruit is very useful and is the basis for syrup, alcohol, vinegar, and liquor. The genus "Alpinia", belonging to the order Zingiberaceae (Ginger Family), is named for Alpini. Alpinia is also known as the ginger lily. Ginger lilies are perennials and the blooms have a gardenia fragrance. Ginger lilies are a wonderful cut flower. 1822 On this day in 1822, Joseph Sabine ("Suh-BEEN") gave a presentation to the London Horticultural Society. He was describing some new varieties of Chinese chrysanthemums. Eleven different kinds of mums had been imported two years earlier, in 1820, and had been thriving in the society's garden at Chiswick. In 1753, Carl Linnaeus, renowned Swedish botanist, combined the Greek words chrysos, meaning gold with anthemon, meaning flower. Chrysanthemum (Dendranthema grandiflora) is the birth flower for November. In Japan, the highest Order of Chivalry is the Imperial Order of the Chrysanthemum. And National Chrysanthemum Day, aka the Festival of Happiness, has been celebrated in Japan since 910. Chrysanthemum Day is always celebrated September 9th - the ninth day of the ninth month because, in terms of numerology, that day, September 9th, is regarded as an auspicious day. Now, when Joseph Sabine described the Quilled Pink Chrysanthemum in detail for the London Horticultural Society, members had only heard about the Quilled Flamed Yellow variety. The Quilled Pink was exciting. Sabine, would not even recognize modern mums. Although some mums still look like their sister flowers, daisies, mums are being bred to be showier. Regardless of their appearance, mums belong to the Compositae, or daisy, family. And, there's another highlight for Joseph Sabine. He was serving as the Secretary of the Horticultural Society and is remembered for sending David Douglas on his 6-month expedition to North America. Douglas named the Digger Pine, Pinus Sabiniana, in honor of Joseph Sabine. 1783 Today is the anniversary of the death of the renowned landscape gardener Lancelot Capability Brown. In the 1730s, Lancelot ended up at Stowe, working for the great William Kent - the eminent painter and Landscape Architect. The garden at Stowe was a landscape garden with lots of straight lines and formality. The end result was a garden that looked like a painting with an 11-acre lake. The main area of the garden was the Elysian Fields ("uh·li·zhn"); 40 acres featuring buildings and monuments that flank two narrow lakes called the River Styx. The monuments in the garden honor virtuous men of Britain. The time Lancelot spent with Kent at Stowe transformed not only the land but also Lancelot - from a gardener to a Landscape Architect. It was his big break, and it gave him the confidence to set out on his own. After Stowe, Lancelot traveled all over England. When working for clients, he would stare out at the blank canvas of a new project and seek to find the "capabilities" of the Landscape - removing worker's cottages or older gardens when he felt the need to do so. It earned him the unshakeable nickname of Capability. Capability Brown's skill of seeing landscapes and then creating them made him very popular. Everyone with means wanted a Capability Brown landscape - they craved his signature look, his garden designs, and garden temples. What everyone essentially wanted was beauty - and Capability created beautiful gardens. For 19 years, Capability served as the King's Master Gardener. Today, at least 20 Capability gardens still exist and are under the care of England's National Trust. When Lancelot died, the English writer Horace Walpole, sent word to the noblewoman Anne FitzPatrick that, "Lady Nature's second husband," was dead. He also sent a poem about Capability to the poet and gardener William Mason: "With one Lost Paradise the name Of our first ancestor is stained; Brown shall enjoy unsullied fame For many a Paradise, he regained." 1946 The botanist Edgar Anderson wrote to his student Charles B Heiser Jr: "Oh stamp collecting, when will taxonomists ever take any interest in being biologists? Once, when I traveled with E.J. Palmer, I went to a good deal of trouble to get a whole sheet of lily pods, and he threw it away because it made such a nasty looking specimen, and he wasn't certain what species it belonged to anyway." It turns out, this was just one of many letters that Edgar wrote to his student. In 1972, Charles wrote a lovely tribute about Edgar called "Student Days with Edgar Anderson or How I Came to Study Sunflowers." Charles sifted through the many letters he had received from Edgar during his lifetime - they filled up a folder over two inches thick. Over the years, Edgar was an encouraging mentor to Charles, writing, "What an incredible gift good students are…" and "if you are tired of [Helianthus] and don't want to look at 'em any more for a while, why by all means put them aside. Don't let anybody's advice, including mine, keep you from what you are happiest doing." Sunflowers or Helianthus Annuus ("HE-LEE-ann-thus ANN-you-us") are native to North America. When the Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, saw sunflower for the first time in Holland, he fell in love with them and had them brought back to Russia. The Russian public loved sunflowers as well - but not just for their happy flowers. Unlike other cooking oils, the oil from sunflower seeds was approved for use during Lent by the Russian Orthodox Church. By the early 1800s, two million Acres of sunflowers for planted in Russia every single year. Ironically, over the next century, immigrants from Russia would bring sunflower seeds with them when they immigrated to the United States. The Russian hybrids had bigger blooms than the original American varieties. Now, most gardeners attempt growing sunflowers at some point, so if you find yourself wanting to give it a try, here are some tips to consider: First, sunflowers really do need a ton of sun. Don't be stingy with the sunshine and put them in part shade. These are plants that really appreciate all the rays they can get. Second, Sunflowers follow the sun; they exhibit a behavior known as heliotropism. In the morning, the heads will face East, and then the heads will move to track the sun throughout the day. As they mature, they're tracking movement will become less pronounced as the stem loses its flexibility in order to support the large, mature bloom. Third, don't be surprised if you find a few sunflowers reseeding themselves in your garden after your initial planting. It's a lovely surprise and a little memento from that first batch of sunflowers. Finally, once the seeds ripen, the birds will begin to visit, and you'll notice more activity from species like goldfinches - they love sunflower seeds. If you feel inclined, you can dry some of the seed heads to share later with the birds during the cold months of winter. Unearthed Words Here are some words about the winter mindset: Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face. — Victor Hugo, French poet, and writer Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart. — Victor Hugo, French poet, and writer The tendinous part of the mind, so to speak, is more developed in winter; the fleshy, in summer. I should say winter had given the bone and sinew to Literature, summer the tissues and blood. — John Burroughs, American naturalist, and writer, "The Snow-Walkers," 1866 Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken. — Alexandra Guarnaschelli ("GORE-nah-shell-ee"), American chef Keep your faith in beautiful things; in the sun when it is hidden, in the Spring when it is gone. And then you will find that Duty and Service and Sacrifice— all the old ogres and bugbears of — have joy imprisoned in their deepest dungeons! And it is for you to set them free — the immortal joys that no one — No living soul, or fate, or circumstance— Can rob you of, once you have released them. — Reverend Roy R. Gibson, Poet & Critic Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it. — Richard Adams, English novelist, Watership Down To many forms of life of our northern lands, winter means a long sleep; to others, it means what it means to many fortunate human beings - travels in warm climes. To still others, who again have their human prototypes, it means a struggle, more or less fierce, to keep soul and body together; while to many insect forms, it means death. — John Burroughs, American naturalist, and writer Grow That Garden Library Wildlife Gardening by Kate Bradbury The subtitle to this book is: For Everyone and Everything (The Wildlife Trusts) An easy-to-follow gardening guide endorsed by the Wildlife Trusts and the RHS to help you encourage different types of wildlife into your garden. Kate Bradbury is an award-winning writer who specializes in wildlife gardening. She is the author of The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, she works on BBC Gardeners' World magazine and regularly writes for the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian to name a few. What I love about Kate's book is that she breaks it down by groups of species, and each chapter explains what they require to thrive, what their role in the garden is, and how they contribute to the garden ecosystem. Chapters cover pollinators, birds, and amphibians, wasps, flies, and so on - some will be your favorites, while others will be new to you. Kate offers many plant suggestions. And, don't forget that your garden is a shared space. It's for you AND these other species. Kate hopes you are able to observe the habitats in your garden throughout the year. Ultimately, this is a book about creating a space that's as much for you to relax in as it is for the other species you welcome into it, and about getting to know the wildlife around you. You can get a used copy of Wildlife Gardening by Kate Bradbury and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $13. Great Gifts for Gardeners Ladbrooke Genuine Mini 4 Hand-held Soil Blocker - Most Popular Soil Blocking Tool! $33.99

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Today's Botanic Spark When I was researching Edgar Anderson, and reading Charles Heisler's tribute to him. I ran across a little story that involved loganberries. Loganberries (Rubus loganobaccus) grow on vines known as brambles. They smell like raspberries, but they are tart and they have a slightly sweet taste. Loganberries are named for their California creator, James Harvey Logan, who came up with the idea to cross a Blackberry with a raspberry. Sadly loganberries don't have a long shelf life which is why you don't see them in the grocery store very often. If you decide to grow them, most people keep the berries on the vine as long as possible - which makes them more flavorful. Anyway, this talk on loganberries brings me back to Charles Heisler's tribute to Edgar, which was titled "Student Days with Edgar Anderson or How I Came to Study Sunflowers." Charles ended his tribute to Edgar with this adorable little story that included Loganberries among other things and it reminds us that botanists are people too. Charles wrote: "I haven't told you anything about [Edgar's] music sessions. He played the recorder. Nor about the square dances at the 'Barn.' Nor about his cooking. I think one of the worst dishes I have ever eaten was his spam covered with bread crumbs soaked in Loganberry juice — perhaps because he raved about it so. I hope [to have given you] some insight into the character of Edgar Anderson, teacher, and botanist. The latter is the title he chose for himself and his later years at the Missouri Botanical Garden."

Today we celebrate the savior of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, and the fir tree described by Meriwether Lewis as "Fir No. 5." We'll learn about the man who discovered a plant that was called "the ugliest yet most botanically magnificent plant in the world" by Joseph Dalton Hooker. And, we celebrate the 124th birthday of the founding of the New England Botanical Club as well as the Landscape architect who helped create the New American Garden. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems about February We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that reveals the Ingenuity of Animal Survival - in and out of our gardens. I'll talk about a lovely gift for a gardener - something that will likely become an heirloom in your garden family. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the Happy Huntsman's Tree. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Turn To Turnips For Early Vegetables Gardening: Turn to turnips for early vegetables Nancy Szerlag, master gardener and @detroitnews freelance writer, had a chance to try Burpee Gardening @burpeegardens new turnip, 'Silky Sweet'! Terrace Garden Of A Townhouse In Bruges By Piet Blanckaert | House & Garden The magnificent terrace garden in Bruges ("Brooj") by @_houseandgarden Piet Blanckaert says: "Small gardens are a puzzle in 3D. You need all the pieces, big & small, & every centimeter counts. You need less of everything so that you can choose top-quality materials." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1799 Today is the birthday of the British botanist, pomologist, pioneer orchidologist, and flower show organizer, John Lindley. Lindley's dad was a nurseryman, and he ran a commercial nursery in England. Despite his array of botanical talents and knowledge, the family was constantly under financial duress. Growing up in his father's nursery, helped Lindley acquire the knowledge to land his first job as a seed merchant. This position led to a chain of events that would shape Lindley's life. First, he met the botanist William Jackson Hooker. And, second, Hooker introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks. Lindley worked as an assistant in the Banks herbarium. In 1938 after Banks died, when the fate of Kew Gardens hung in the balance, it was Lindley who recommended that the gardens belonged to the people and that they should become the botanical headquarters for England. The government rejected Lindley's proposal and decided to close the garden. But, on February 11, 1840, Lindley ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. His advocacy brought the matter to the people; the garden-loving public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, so, Lindley saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as the new director. From his humble beginnings to his incredible standing in English Botanical History, Lindley is remembered fondly for so many accomplishments. For 43 years, Lindley served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society, which is why the RHS Library is called the Lindley Library. And, there are over 200 plant species named for Lindley. There is "lindleyi", "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides". Lindley once told his friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, "I am a dandy in my herbarium." Without question, Lindley's favorite plants were orchids. Before Lindley, not much was known about orchids. Thanks to Lindley, the genus Orchidaceae was shortened to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce. And, when he died, Lindley's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew. Lindley's friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, wrote a touching tribute after his Lindley died. He wrote, "We cannot tell how long Botany, how long science, will be pursued; but we may affirm that so long as a knowledge of plants is considered necessary, so long will Lindley's name be remembered with gratitude." And here's a little-remembered factoid about Lindley - he was blind in one eye. 1806 Today Meriwether Lewis described a tree he referred to in his journal as "Fir No. 5." The tree in question was the Douglas-fir. Later, on February 9, Lewis added more details about the fir and sketched the distinctive bract of the cone in his journal. On their way back across the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana, Lewis and Clark would encounter the inland variation of the species, the Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. The Douglas-Fir gets its name from the botanist David Douglas, who was the first to grow the tree in England successfully. When Douglas met an early death, his friend and teacher, the botanist John Goldie, planted a Douglas-Fir next to his house to remember his young friend. The lifespan of a Douglas-Fir Tree ranges from 500 to 1,000 years. And, Douglas-Firs are very large trees - reaching heights of 60 feet tall and up to 25 feet wide. In the wild, they sometimes reach over 200 feet tall. This massive tree is too big for residential landscaping. The bark of a Douglas Fir gets thicker over time, and that dense layer of bark enables the tree to survive forest fires with only some blackened bark. 1806 Today is the birthday of the Austrian botanist and explorer Friedrich Welwitsch. Welwitsch found a second home in the country of Portugal, where he served as the director Of the botanic gardens in Lisbon. Welwitsch had some amazing experiences during his lifetime, but the pinnacle was clearly the day he discovered the Welwitschia mirabilis. The mirabilis refers to its unusual form. Portugal had to send him to Africa to collect plants - which he did for seven years. In 1860, Welwitsch discovered a strange-looking plant that is actually a tree - a conifer and a gymnosperm - in terms of botanical classification. The Africans called it "Mr. Big." The Welwitschia is endemic to Namibian deserts, and it's also present on the Namibian coat of arms. When Welwitsch discovered this unique plant which can live for more than 1500 years and bears only two leaves in its entire lifecycle, he was so astonished that he "could do nothing but kneel down and gaze at it, half in fear lest a touch should prove it a figment of the imagination." Imagine a two-tentacled octopus with very long arms and a red floral bouquet for a head, and you have the Welwitschia mirabilis. Welwitschia's two leaves grow continually throughout the life of a plant. The pair of leaves are broad, leathery, and belt-shaped. Incredibly, some specimens, tested with carbon 14, are over 2000 years old. There is a spectacular photo of Welwitsch seated behind a large welwitschia mirabilis. He's wearing a pith helmet, and the plant's leaves are clearly many times longer than Welwitschia's arms and legs, which are mostly obscured by the plant. In 1862, Joseph Dalton Hooker described the plant in The Gardener's Chronicle as "the ugliest yet botanically magnificent plant in the world among centuries-old plants." 1896 Today the New England Botanical Club was founded by seven Professional and ten amateur botanists. The club was established to study New England and Alpine Flora. Dues were set at $2/year. The late 1800s ushered in several scientific organizations - like the American Philosophical Society, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. What distinguished the New England Botanical Club was the fact that it welcomed amateurs as well as professionals. The early meetings were held in member's homes. Charles Sprague Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum was reputed to be a wonderful host. The club began as a gentleman's club; it would not officially admit women until 1968. Focused on botany, the group went on regular field trips - and they published a scholarly Journal called Rhodora. The group was looking for a one-word title, and so they held a vote. The options were Rhodora, Oakesia, Wasonia, Bigelovia, Gayia, and Nova anglia. The name Rhodora was created to reflect the clubs focus on studying the flora in the natural range of Rhododendron lapponicum - with the common name Lapland rosebay. Today, the NEBC is a non-profit organization that promotes the study of plants of North America, especially the flora of New England and adjacent areas. 1935 Today is the birthday of the influential landscape architect and author James Van Sweden. Van Sweden was an early pioneer in developing a new look and feel for American Landscapes, and his style is called The New American Garden. signature elements of the new American Garden are broad sweeps of flowering perennials and wild grasses. In 1975, van Sweden partnered with Wolfgang Oehme, and together they started their firm now known as Uehme van Sweden or OvS. Many gardeners remember that James created a purple Meadow for Oprah Winfrey's South Bend Indiana estate. In his book, architecture in the garden, Van Sweden wrote, "As I pulled up to Oprah Winfrey's front door for the first time, my immediate impression was that her house was divorced from its setting. Built in an elegant French-Chateau style, the house was visibly uncomfortable with the matter-of-fact Midwestern farmland that surrounded it. Nothing had been done to ease the transition from one to the other— the house and the site weren't talking. Over the next four years, we worked together to create an architectural context around the house, including newly-installed terraces and walls. The materials we selected, brick framed with the Limestone, echo the house, yet this architecture also conformed to the surrounding countryside, adopting its long, horizontal lines. In this way, we quite literally pulled out into the site." Van Sweden's books include The Artful Garden: Creative Inspiration for Landscape Design (2011), Architecture in the Garden (2003), and Gardening with Nature (1997). You can get a used copy of James van Swedens books and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $5. Unearthed Words Here are some words about February: "Probably more pests can be controlled in an armchair in front of a February fire with a garden notebook and a seed catalog than can ever be knocked out in hand-to-hand combat in the garden." — Neely Turner, State Entomologist & Vice Director, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 1927 - 1968 Come when the rains Have glazed the snow and clothed the trees with ice, While the slant sun of February pours Into the bowers, a flood of light. Approach! The incrusted surface shall upbear thy steps And the broad arching portals of the grove Welcome thy entering. — William Cullen Bryant, American Romantic poet, A Winter Piece I stood beside a hill Smooth with new-laid snow, A single star looked out From the cold evening glow. There was no other creature That saw what I could see-- I stood and watched the evening star As long as it watched me. — Sara Teasdale, American Lyric poet, February Twilight Grow That Garden Library Winter World by Bernd Heinrich The subtitle of this book is: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. The author of numerous bestselling and award-winning books, Bernd Heinrich, is a professor of biology at the University of Vermont. He divides his time between Vermont and the forests of western Maine. From flying squirrels to grizzly bears, and from torpid turtles to insects with antifreeze, the animal kingdom relies on some staggering evolutionary innovations to survive winter. Unlike their human counterparts, who must alter the environment to accommodate physical limitations, animals are adaptable to an amazing range of conditions. Examining everything from food sources in the extremely barren winter landscape to the chemical composition that allows certain creatures to survive, Heinrich's Winter World awakens the largely undiscovered mysteries by which nature sustains herself through winter's harsh, cruel exigencies. You can get a used copy of Winter World by Bernd Heinrich and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $9. Great Gifts for Gardeners Okatsune Precision Hedge Shears, 7 5/8" blade, 22" overall length by Okatsune $62.25

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Today's Botanic Spark 1917 On this day, the Happy Huntsman's Tree was planted, which stands beside the Harrington family crypt. The Happy Huntsman's Tree is an Oak tree that honors the 8th Earl of Harrington - Charles Augustus Stanhope, who died on this day at the age of 73. When he died, Charles was one of the largest landowners in England, with estates totaling over 13,000 acres. Charles was the first business person to open a store in London under his own name. Selling fruit from his garden, his store closed after a few seasons. Gardeners would be delighted by his home at Elvaston Castle, which was settled among the most magnificent topiary; trees shrubs and hedges were fashioned into men, animals, pyramids, and fans. Even though one of his arms was useless, Charles was an active person. He was one of the pioneers of polo in England, and he also played as an old man. Vanity Fair published a caricature of him playing polo - sitting atop his horse with his potbelly and white flowing beard. And, Charles was an avid Huntsman. He was a master of the South Knot Hunt for over 30 years. During hunting season, he hunted six days a week. His obituary said that he never missed a hunt unless he happened to be laid up with broken bones from a fall. At Elvaston castle, there was a little workshop where Charles liked to tinker with projects. At the end of his life, Charles was badly burned while working there. He was making a picture frame, and he accidentally bumped his left hand against the pipe of a stove. After treating it with oil, he developed blood poisoning and died. Charles left specific instructions in his will that upon his death, his hounds should be let out to hunt. Family lore says that when Charles was buried, the hounds bounded into the graveyard and gathered around the oak tree near the family crypt. They would not leave and could not be coaxed away. The tree the hounds were fixated on was dubbed the Happy Huntsman's Tree. There's a small plaque beneath it oh today it still stands in the graveyard of Saint Bartholomew's Church Derbyshire ("Dar-bee-shur").

Today we celebrate the Swiss botanist who started a botanical Dynasty and the man who coined the term osmosis. We'll learn about the American landscape architect who made England his home and cheered on so many gardeners with his book Successful Town Gardening. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about hunting for medicinal plants in the Amazon. I'll talk about a garden item to help you get growing and then we'll wrap things up with the early spring warm-up of 1931 - it was extraordinary. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles American Gardens: An American Garden In Bath American gardens: an American garden in Bath by Gardens Illustrated @gdnsillustrated What is an American garden? Discover more with our focus on the new garden at the American Museum and Garden in Bath Gardens: Weeds To Love And Loathe | Life And Style | The Guardian Weeds to love and loath, an excerpt from Wild about Weeds by @JackWallington Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1778Today is the birthday of the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyramus de Candolle. Candolle named hundreds of plants. His seven-volume monumental work, Prodromus, was an effort to characterize all of the plant families and establishing the basis for the science of botany. He only finished two volumes. Augustin's Candolle descendants would finish Prodromus after extensive and detailed research. His famous son, Alphonse, was born the year Linnaeus died. In 1855, Alphonse was awarded the Linnean gold medal. Augustin's grandson, Casimir, was devoted to the study of the pepper plant family or the Piperaceae ("PIE-per-aye-see-ee"). The most commonly-known species in the family is Piper nigrum ("PIE-purr NYE-grum") - a flowering vine that gives us peppercorns that are ground to become black Pepper. The biggest consumer of Pepper, at almost 20% of the world's total Pepper crop, is the United States. During the middle ages, pound for pound peppercorns was worth more than silver. Augustin de Candolle's great-grandson, Richard Émile, was also a botanist. He died unexpectedly at the age of 51. After his death, the enormous Candolle family herbarium and Library - built over four generations was donated to the city of Geneva. Augustin's great living legacy is the Botanical Garden of Geneva. 1847Today is the anniversary of the death of the French botanist and physiologist Henri Dutrochet. After studying the movement of sap in plants in his home laboratory, Dutrochet discovered and named osmosis. Dutrochet shared his discovery with the Paris Academy of Sciences on October 30th, 1826. Like the cells in our own human bodies, plants don't drink water; they absorb it by osmosis. Dutrochet also figured out that the green pigment, chlorophyll, in a plant is essential to how plants take up carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis could not happen without chlorophyll, which helps plants get energy from light. And chlorophyll gives plants their color. Have you ever asked yourself why plants are green? Long story short, chlorophyll reflects green light, which makes the plant appear green. Dutrochet was a true pioneer in plant research. He was the first to examine plant respiration, light sensitivity, and geotropism (How the plant responds to gravity, ie, roots grow down to the ground.) The upward growth of plants against gravity is called negative geotropism, and downward growth of roots is called positive geotropism. The plant part that responds to positive geotropism is at the very end of the root, and it is called the root cap. So, what makes the roots turn downward as they grow? The root cap - responding to positive geotropism. 1879Today John H. Heinz received a patent for an improvement to Vegetable-Assorters - the machines used for sorting produce like fruits, vegetables, etc. I, myself, have created some excellent vegetable sorters - their names are Will, Emma, PJ, & John. 1912Today is the birthday of the American landscape architect, consummate plantsman, and writer who made England his home - Lanning Roper. When Vita Sackville-West read Lanning's book Successful Town Gardening she wrote, "The book I have been reading, and which has cheered me up so much as to the answers I can in future return, is called Successful Town Gardening by Lanning Roper." Today, Lanning's book is regarded as a classic garden book. Many people use the wintertime as a chance to reconnect with the garden and dream about the following season as they read or reread Successful Town Gardening. Lanning's grandfather was William Hartley Eveleth, who served as the Superintendent of the college grounds for Harvard University and Radcliffe College. Lanning, himself, went to Harvard and graduated in 1933. After Harvard, Landing enlisted in the Navy, and he ended up in charge of division 67, which is where he found himself on D-Day. After D-day, Lanning had a six-week deployment near the great Rothschild estate. He fell in love with the rhododendrons, the woodland, the gardens, and England. He decided to train as a gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and then pursued more training at Edinburgh (ED-in-bruh)." He began working as an editor for the Royal Horticultural Society. And In 1952, Lanning fell in love with a woman named Primrose. Primrose Harley. She was a muralist and a gardener. Her parents had named her Primrose because she was born on Primrose Day, April 19th, 1908. Primrose worked with Lanning on his many landscape projects. When it came to his gardens, Lanning wanted romance. Known as the father of borders, Lanning liked to see flowers spilling into paths - like lavender and roses. He wanted walls to be covered in vines - and more roses. As a designer, Lanning had a knack for creating beautiful hardscapes like paths and walkways. But, Lanning also cautioned about planting too much. He said, "Over-planting is a fault common to most gardeners. If you plant three shrubs that will grow quickly to fill an area where one alone would have been sufficient, two things may happen. If you remove two, the remaining one is in the wrong place. If you leave all three, they perhaps will be poor specimens, lacking the characteristic natural grace of the species." Lanning designed nearly 150 gardens during his career. His work has mostly joined the many gardens that can only be seen through pictures or through the words that sang their praises. In 1987, Jane Brown wrote the only volume on Lanning Roper and his gardens. It it loaded with beautiful images of Lanning's gardens. You can get a used copy of Lanning Roper & His Gardens and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $6. But hurry, because I predict there won't be many left of this gem in the coming decades. At the end of his life, Lanning was picked to completely redesign the garden at a new estate called Highgrove, which had recently been purchased by Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Camilla Parker Bowles had recommended Lanning; he had beautifully designed her parents' garden in the 1960s. Lanning noted that, "the soil at Highgrove is alkaline, very different to the acid soil of the gardens which Prince Charles is used to at Windsor, Sandringham, and Balmoral where rhododendron and azalea flourish." Lanning said, "Highgrove is ideal for lilac, roses and flowering shrubs, which make some of the prettiest gardens [and] Prince Charles [wanted Highgrove, his first garden,] to be fragrant." Sadly, Lanning never had the chance to do the work, his cancer was taking a toll, and he declined the job. It was Lanning Roper who said, "People like myself are lucky to follow a profession which is so absorbing, satisfying, and pleasurable that at times it is not easy to decide where work ends and recreation begins." Unearthed Words Here are some words about winter: In winter, the stars seem to have rekindled their fires, the moon achieves a fuller triumph, and the heavens wear a look of a more exalted simplicity. Summer is more wooing and seductive, more versatile and human, appeals to the affections and the sentiments, and fosters inquiry and the art impulse. Winter is of a more heroic cast, and addresses the intellect. The severe studies and disciplines come easier in winter. — John Burroughs, American naturalist and nature writer Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. — Paul Theroux, American travel writer, and novelist How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose if there were no winter in our year! — Thomas Wentworth Higginson, American Unitarian minister, and abolitionist He knows no winter, he who loves the soil, For, stormy days, when he is free from toil, He plans his summer crops, selects his seeds From bright-paged catalogs for garden needs. When looking out upon frost-silvered fields, He visualizes autumn's golden yields; He sees in snow and sleet and icy rain Precious moisture for his early grain; He hears spring-heralds in the storm's 'turmoil­ He knows no winter, he who loves the soil." — Sudie Bower Stuart Hager, Idaho's Poet Laureate, He Knows No Winter Grow That Garden Library Witch Doctor's Apprentice by Nicole Maxwell The subtitle to this book is: Hunting for Medicinal Plants in the Amazon This memoir features Nicole Maxwell who was hunting for medicinal plants in the rainforest. Despite setbacks and disillusionment, she never lost sight of her goals. Maxwell, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, was scouring the Amazon rainforest for clues to ancient medicinal plants and practices. Maxwell has created an appendix that catalogs all of the plants mentioned in the text, with their scientific names, the names by which they are known locally, and their medicinal uses. This edition also includes a new introduction by the noted ethnobotanist Terence McKenna. "A spirited and engrossing personal narrative, as much about people and places, discomforts, and dangers, the beauty of the jungle." You can get a used copy of Witch Doctor's Apprentice by Nicole Maxwell and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $6. Great Gifts for Gardeners LED Grow Lights, Full Spectrum Panel Grow Lamp with IR & UV LED Plant Lights for Indoor Plants, Micro Greens, Clones, Succulents, Seedlings $18.44 Full Spectrum Plant Light - equipped with 75 High-power LED chips:47 Red 19Blue 3UV 3IR 3White. NOTE: The UV and IR LEDs are particularly DIM, but it is normal. PANEL SIZE: 12.2 * 4.7 *1.2 inches Wide Uses - This light can be used for both hydroponics and indoor plants in soil, mainly used for small plants, micro-greens, and perfect for you to add as a supplemental side panel during bloom. Easy Set-up - updated hanging kits make these fluorescent lights much more easy to assemble. With good heat dissipation and strength, ABS material body ensures your panel more durable and long-lasting. Lighting Cover: Max 1.2x3ft at 2ft height;Recommend Height: 8-30 inch. Highly Efficient - Estimated monthly cost roughly $3 in electricity (12 hours a day). Package contains: 1x 25W Halogen Equivalent Plant Grow Light, 1x Steel Hanging Kits (with four ropes), 1x Power Cord, 1x User Manual What You Get - 12 Months Warranty plus 30 Days Money Back Guarantee for any reason. You can contact our 24 hours available customer service by clicking "Sold by" on the product detail page or your Amazon order page. Today's Botanic Spark 1931On this day newspapers were reporting a shocking headline from Brainerd, Minnesota: Pansies In Bloom: "A bed of pansies came into full bloom today in a farm garden near Brainerd, the center of a section famous for severe winters. Other February oddities: Lilac trees were budding. Girls were playing tennis. Boys were shooting marbles. Men were pitching horseshoes. The temperature was climbing toward 60 above."

Today we celebrate the man who wrote the Flora of North America from across the pond in London much to the chagrin of American botanists. We'll learn about the Dutch botanist who discovered the phalaenopsis orchid and the coleus on the island of Java. Today's Unearthed Words review some sayings about the month of February in the garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us grow African violets. I'll talk about a decorative item for your garden, deck, or porch, and then we'll wrap things up with National Carrot Cake Day and the history and recipes of this favorite dessert. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Hello Yellow Milkweed/Butterfly Flower, View All Flowers: Botanical Interests @botanicalseeds "Bring sunny color into the pollinator garden with 'Hello Yellow' milkweed! Asclepias tuberosa (ah-SKLEE-pee-iss TOO-burr-OH-sah) is usually orange, but this yellow beauty was found in Colorado." Columbus'Carnivorous Collectibles from The Lantern @TheLanterns "A single organism of Sarracenia purpurea, collected by botanist/bryologist William Sullivant - 1840 - one of the few documented pitcher plants that grew in central Ohio." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1814 The English botanist Aylmer Lambert wrote to his peer, and the President of the Linnean Society, Sir James Edward Smith. Lambert was giving Smith a heads up that Frederick Pursh's Flora Americana was published. Five years earlier, Frederick had been working for Benjamin Smith Barton in America. Barton was supposed to process the plants from the Lewis & Clark expedition and prepare a catalog for publishing. For some unknown reason, Barton never got around to doing the work. When Meriwether Lewis realized that Barton hadn't started much of anything, he hired his employee Frederick to do the work. By May of 1808, we know that Frederick had completed all of the tasks that Meriwether Lewis had assigned him. He was eager to get paid the $60 he been promised by Lewis, and the $80 Barton owed him for helping with his herbarium. He was also excited to keep going with the Lewis & Clark project. It seems the mission of sharing the botanical discoveries of the expedition with the public had captured his heart. This is where Frederick's story gets a little murky. It's not clear if he was ever fully paid by Lewis or by Barton. It's not entirely clear why Lewis & Barton couldn't seem to keep the project moving forward. But records do show, that over the next 18 months, two key things happened that caused Frederick to leave America with the Lewis and Clark specimens in tow: Meriwether Lewis died and Frederick Pursh began to despise his boss, Benjamin Smith Barton. For his part, Barton may have grown tired of Pursh's drinking. He wrote of Pursh, "Drinking is his greatest failing." When Frederick Pursh arrived in England at the end of 1811, he reached out to both Sir James Edward Smith and Alymer Lambert about putting together the Flora of North America. Lambert became his botanical fairy godfather; he had a huge personal botanical library, herbarium, and funding. That said, Lambert also provided something Pursh desperately needed: discipline. Pursh was kind of a rough and tough guy with a swarthy complexion and reputed alcohol addiction. Historians say that Lambert made arrangements in the attic of his house, creating a workspace for Frederick. Once he got Frederick up there, Lambert would lock him in for stretches at a time to keep Frederick focused on the project. It was an extreme way to deal with Frederick's demons, but it worked. Now, Smith and Lambert didn't do all of this out of the goodness of their heart. They were enormously interested and what Pursh had brought with him from America: portions of the specimens from the Lewis and Clark expedition. Even with Lambert's resources and lock-ins, it took Frederick two years to complete the Flora of North America. The whole time he was racing to get it published before Thomas Nuttall, who was working on the exact same project back in America. American botanists felt Pursh had pulled the rug out from under them when he took the expedition specimens to England. On December 21st, 1813, Pursh won the race when his 2-volume masterpiece describing all of the plants of North America was presented to the Linnaean Society. In the introduction, Frederick was forthright about his time in America and how he had come to possess the expedition specimens. Giving credit to the work of Lewis and Clark, Frederick created two new genera - Lewisia (loo-WIS-ee-ah) and Clarkia (CLAR-key-ah) for Lewis and Clark. In all, Frederick had received 132 plants from Meriwether Lewis, 70% were brand-new species that were named by Frederick. Today roughly 30% of the Pursh-named plants named in his Flora Americana are still recognized as valid. Lewisia is a little evergreen Alpine plant with a beautiful bloom. They like well-drained soil and are native to the northwest. Lewisia is a perfect pick for a rock garden. Clarkia is a little wildflower primrose that can be grown from seed after the last spring frost. Clarkia prefers to be direct-sowed, and they are perfect for use in mixed borders and Rock Gardens. Today Clarkia hybrids are grown for cut flowers. Link to 1814 Flora Americae Septentrionalis Volume One Link to 1814 Flora Americae Septentrionalis Volume Two 1862 Today is the Anniversary of the death of the German-Dutch botanist with the perfect last name - Carl Ludwig Blume. Born in Germany and orphaned by the age of five, Blume proved to be a bright little boy and a successful student. He studied at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands - a place that would become his Northstar. When he died in Leiden, on this day in 1862, he had become a naturalized Dutch citizen. Scholastically, Blume went the path of most botanists. He first became a physician and he ran an apothecary. In short order, he started botanizing in the Dutch East Indies, specifically on the island of Java, where he was the director of the Botanic Garden. Blume wrote a spectacular book on the collection of orchids that were available on the island. The title page is stunning and it features three native women from Java performing a ceremonial dance. The mountains of Java in the village are in the background, and a garland of orchids frames the stunning portrait. This publication is considered one of the finest works of scientific literature during the early 1800s. In 1825, Blume established the Dendrobium genus of orchids. The genus name is derived from the Greek; "dendron" for tree and "bios" meaning life. The name refers to the epiphytic habit of orchids to grow in trees. Thus, the combination of those two words, dendron and bios, meaning tree-life. And, here's a great story about Blume. During his time in Java, Blume saw what he thought was a group of moths flying in a motionless fashion by a tree. It was an odd vision. But, when he got closer, Blume realized what he thought were moths, were actually orchid flowers. Blume named the species Phalaenopsis amabilis (fayl-eh-NOP-sis ah-MA-bo-lis). In nature, the stems of the phalaenopsis orchid are not clipped to a bamboo pole like they are in when we buy them in the supermarket. Instead, they arch away from the tree they are attached to and sway easily with the Wind. It was the motion of the Orchid flowers swaying in the wind together, that lead Blume to believe he saw an insect and not a blossom. The etymology of the word phalaenopsis comes from the Latin word "phal", which means moth - which is why this Orchid is commonly referred to as the Moth Orchid. Phalaenopsis orchids are native to Southeast Asia. Their popularity has steadily grown because they are so easy to grow and because they bloom indoors all year round. This makes them one of the most popular house plants in the world. Now, should you be tempted this summer to move your phalaenopsis orchid outside; think twice. Just because they are a tropical plant, doesn't mean they want full sun. Phalaenopsis orchids grow in the shade of trees under the tree canopy. They like indirect light, and if you put them in full sun, they will get sunburned. If you are going to move them outside, make sure to put them in a place where they will not get direct sunlight. Sometimes I'll put mine onto my north-facing covered porch. In 1853, Carl Ludwig Blume discovered another popular plant in the mountains of Java: coleus. Coleus bluemei was named in his honor until it was changed in 2006 to Coleux x Hybridus in recognition of all the new hybrid variations. As of 2012, the botanical name for coleus is Plectranthus scutellarioides (Plek-TRAN-thus SKOO-til-air-ee-OY-deez). And, coleus are in the mint or Lamiaceae family. They have that signature square stem and opposite leaves - along with other popular members of the mint family: basil, peppermint, oregano, Salvia, Swedish ivy, and thyme. An early nickname for coleus was painted nettle or flame nettle. Coleus is easy to propagate from cuttings. You can simply pop them in a glass of water, and in a few days, roots will start to form. To encourage your coleus to grow in a more compact fashion, keep pruning them before they bloom. You might remember that the National Garden Bureau made 2015 the year of the coleus. Unearthed Words Here are some sayings about our new month - February: February brings the rain, Thaws the frozen lake again. ― Sarah Coleridge, English author, and translator Why, what's the matter, That you have such a February face, So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness? — William Shakespeare, English author, poet & playwright, Much Ado About Nothing The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is not Puritanism but February. — Joseph Wood Krutch, American writer, and naturalist February is the border between winter and spring. ― Terri Guillemets (gee-ya-MAY), quotation anthologist, Years February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead, the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long. ― Anna Quindlen, American author, and journalist, One True Thing Grow That Garden Library YOU CAN Grow African Violets by Joyce Stark The subtitle of this book is: The Official Guide Authorized by the African Violet Society of America, Inc. Kent and Joyce Stork have grown violets for over 30 years. From 1991 to 2004, they wrote a column in the African Violet Magazine, which became the foundation for this book. Kent and Joyce are married and live in Fremont, Nebraska, where they own a business specializing in African violets. Kent and Joyce Stork killed their first violet too! They soon mastered the skills for growing the plant and eventually wrote for the African Violet Magazine, the official publication of the African Violet Society of America, Inc. for over ten years. Their column For Beginners explained the basic elements of growing violets in an entertaining and straightforward way that anyone could understand. Now, these columns have been adapted and edited to provide even the most novice grower with a step-by-step guide, whether the goal is simply to keep violets alive or to exhibit the plants in competitive shows. You can get a used copy of YOU CAN Grow African Violets by Joyce Stark and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $5. Great Gifts for Gardeners WiHoo 8" Indoor Outdoor Thermometer/Hygrometer for Patio, Wall or Decorative (Bronze) $19.99 Easy to read - The outdoor thermometer decorative easily keep track of the temperature from a distance with bold black dial graphics. Celsius and Fahrenheit - This garden hygrometer digital simultaneous Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature display. Real glass lens - This room indoor thermometer real glass lens, accurate between -40 and 120℉/-40, and 50 °C to accommodate all climates. Amazon's Choice & Amazon Prime Today's Botanic Spark Today is National Carrot Cake Day. Every February 3rd, National carrot cake day is observed. And, you might say it's a great excuse to have our cake and our carrots, too. Akin to banana bread, carrot cake is similar in preparation and texture. It's made, like many quick breads, by separately preparing the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients and then mixing those together. And, carrot cakes generally include ingredients like cinnamon or nutmeg, raisins, or nuts. Carrots are, of course, a root vegetable. They are made up of 88% water, 7% sugar, and a percent each of protein, fiber, and ash. The Greeks and Romans ate carrots, but their carrots were different colors like purple or white. It wasn't until the 17th century that carrots started appearing predominantly as orange. Why? Because the Dutch initially bred the carrot to be orange in order to honor the Dutch royal family - also known as the "House of Orange" in the Netherlands. The orange carrot became so popular that the color became synonymous with the carrot. As for carrot cake, the earliest mentions of it in the newspaper appear in the early 1900s - around 1910. These early carrot cakes were more like little crab cakes - only they were made with carrots, flour, and butter, sweet milk, and so on. By 1912, the San Francisco newspaper, The Call, featured a carrot cake recipe and it advised that only very young, tender carrots be used - along with 2 cups of sugar, a cup of butter, 2 cups of flour, a cup of carrots that were boiled and mashed very finely, a cup of grated chocolate, a cup of chopped walnuts, 1/2 a cup of sweet milk, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon each of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. By the end of November, in 1913, a newspapers were running an article called "Carrots and Cakes." It said: "The little carrot, of the plebian vegetable family, moved high last week in the social scale and was in such demand on the grocery orders of so many families that stores ran out entirely, says the Minneapolis Journal. Miss Lilla Frich, supervisor of domestic economy in the public schools, has been telling how carrots may be used for what they are or as substitutes for other things, notably, that carrot pulp makes a good egg substitute in making cakes and hundreds of women who formerly have scorned common truck farm products have been buying them." In the early 1980s, when Pillsbury launched its "Carrot and Spice Cake Mix," they held a contest to discover the earliest published carrot cake recipe, and they were also looking for the best Heritage recipe. Joyce Allen of Wichita Kansas won $100 for sharing her recipe from the 1929 Wichita Women's Club cookbook, and Ethel Amsler of Waco Texas also won $100 for creating a new recipe with Pillsbury's new carrot cake mix. She was riffing off an old family recipe. That old family recipe had been handed down through four generations. She said they didn't have it but twice a year. Ethel's old family recipe for carrot cake calls for white raisins soaked in brandy in addition to adding a cup of black walnuts. If you'd like to get a copy of Ethel Amsler's Heritage Carrot Cake recipe, along with her modern version, I've added them to today's Show Notes, which are available on the website for the show over at thedailygardener.org. ETHEL AMSLER'S HERITAGE CARROT CAKE 1 cup brandy 1 cup of water 1 ½ cups sugar 2 tablespoons butter 1 cups grated carrots 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon cloves 1 cup chopped black walnuts 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon salt At least two days before serving, in a medium saucepan, soak raisins in brandy overnight at room temperature. The next day, add water, sugar, butter, carrots, and spices. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; pour into a large mixing bowl. Cover; let stand at room temperature 12 hours or overnight. The next day, heat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch angel food tube pan or 12-cup fluted tube pan. Add walnuts, flour, baking powder, soda, and salt to carrot mixture; mix thoroughly. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 ¾ hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before serving. ETHEL AMSLER'S HERITAGE CARROT CAKE (Modern Version) 1 package Pillsbury Plus Carrot N Spice Cake Mix ¾ cup of water ½ cup dairy sour cream ⅓ cup oil 2 teaspoons brandy extract 3 eggs 1 cup golden raisins 1 cup finely chopped walnuts Powdered sugar Heat oven to 390 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan. In a large bowl, blend cake mix, water, sour cream, oil, brandy extract, and eggs until moistened; beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Stir in raisins and walnuts. Pour into a pre-prepared pan. Back at 350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool upright in pan 25 minutes; Invert onto a serving plate. Cool completely. Sift or sprinkle powdered sugar over the top. 16 servings. Finally, during the 1970s, the Los Angeles Times featured a popular recipe for their 14 Carat Cake. That recipe incorporates crushed pineapple and walnuts. I've included it in today's Show Notes, as well. 14 CARAT CAKE 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 ½ tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 2 tsp. cinnamon 2 cups of sugar 1 ½ cups oil 4 eggs 2 cups grated raw carrot 1 (8 12-oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained 12 cup chopped nuts Add Cream Cheese Frosting (see below) Sift together flour, baking powder, powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add sugar, oil, and eggs and mix well. Stir in carrots, drained pineapple, and nuts. Turn into three greased and floured 9-inch layer-cake pans or a 13x9-inch pan and bake at 350 deg. 35 to 40 minutes until the top springs back when touched lightly with a finger. Cool a few minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool. (Or loaf cake, may be frosted in the pan, especially handy if the cake is for a potluck or picnic.) For layers, spread tops and sides with frosting and stack. Cream Cheese Frosting ½ cup butter or margarine 1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 1 tsp. vanilla 1 lb. Confectioners' sugar, sifted Combine' butter, cream cheese, and vanilla and beat until well blended. Add sugar gradually, beating vigorously, if too thick, add a small amount of milk to thin to spreading consistency.

Today we celebrate the man who found a splendid crabapple growing in his nursery and the anniversary of a society that celebrates the flower of the rainbow, We'll learn about the "Grand Lady of Canadian Horticulture" and a Colorado State botanist who fought to protect the Columbine. Today's Unearthed Words, we hear simple poems from a Quaker poet. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds. I'll talk about a garden item that will help you get creative with words in your garden, And, then we'll wrap things up with the incredible story of a gardener who gardened for nine years in a place most gardeners would deem un-garden-able, and he transformed it into a haunting paradise. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Calendula Tincture Recipe - Health and Wellness - Mother Earth Living Here's a Great Calendula Tincture Recipe from Mother Earth Living @mthrearthliving Start simple on your home apothecary with this multi-purpose calendula remedy. This calendula tincture is easy to make and perfect in teas, baths, and astringent solutions. Artichoke: Sow and Grow Guide, Articles & Blogs: Botanical Interests Artichoke: Sow and Grow Guide from Botanical Interests@botanicalseeds: By sowing artichokes early, the plants can be subjected to vernalization (a cold period) of at least two weeks growing at 40°-50°F, which triggers artichokes to form in the season. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1906 Today is the birthday of the nurseryman Melvin Bergeson who, ironically, lived in Fertile, Minnesota. After World War II, an employee of Melvin's named Norris Oftedahl was walking along a row of trees at the nursery. As expected, all of the trees in the row had succumbed to winterkill… except for one. It stood out and caught Norris's attention. It was a little crabapple tree. Norris thought the tree might be a mutant variety and told Melvin to keep his eye on it. Melvin did, and over the years, Melvin took note of the little crab's continued hardiness - which was tremendous - and also the beautiful fruit. Melvin's instincts told him the tree was something special. Melvin christened the tree Red Splendor in honor of the gorgeous fruit. Melvin sold some Red Splendors to customers, and he also sent some Red Splendors to other nurserymen so that it could be trialed. Sadly, when Melvin applied to patent the Red Splendor, he was denied. The government claimed the tree was already in the public domain. Once it was on the market, the Red Splendor captured people's hearts. One of the best features of a Red Splendor Crab is that it doesn't drop fruit over the summer. Instead, the fruit holds on until the following spring. This habit allows the birds and animals to eat from the tree all winter long - which makes for way less clean up of dropped apples (one of the main gripes of apple tree owners.) With all of the Red Splendor's marvelous features, it's not surprising to learn that the University of Minnesota once regarded the Red Splendor Crab as the best plant ever created in the state of Minnesota. Melvin also deserves personal recognition; he was a natural-born marketer and salesman. He came up with clever slogans that were splashed across the cover of his annual nursery brochures like "Let's get it done in '71." The hype around Red Splendor opened opportunities for the tree to appear in venues like the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. And, a Red Splendor even accompanied President Nixon on his trip to China, where it was presented as a gift from America. It's hard to believe after the thrill of the Red Splendor, that Melvin and his wife Olga started their humble nursery during the Great Depression in 1937. Their customers were mostly farmers, and their main product was trees - especially windbreak trees and fruit trees. Today, 83 years later, Melvin's Nursery is run by his grandson, Joe Bergeson. The nursery offers a diverse selection of trees, shrubs, and plants. However, Joe's passion is hybridizing roses. As far as trees are concerned, one of the nursery's top-selling trees is the Ohio buckeye tree, which is grown from a nut. 1920 Today marks the hundredth anniversary of the American Iris Society. The Society started with about 60 eager members. A year later, membership had climbed to nearly 500 members. Today, you can join the Iris Society online at Irises.org. "The Mission of The American Iris Society is to organize and disseminate knowledge of the genus Iris while fostering its preservation, enjoyment and continued development." Iris takes its name from the Greek word for a rainbow, and the Iris is known as the flower of the rainbow. When it comes to scent, the roots of Irises contain their fragrance. Although there are around 300 species of Iris, Bearded Iris and Siberian Iris are two of the most common types of Irises grown. During the Middle Ages, Irises were linked to the French monarchy, and the fleur-de-lis is now a national symbol of France. 1965 Today is the 55th anniversary of the death of Canada's first professional woman plant breeder - a woman called the "Dean of Hybridists" and the "Grand Lady of Canadian Horticulture" - Isabella Preston. When Vita Sackville-West first heard her name, she famously acknowledged, "I must confess I don't know anything about Miss Isabella Preston of Ottawa." Isabella's name had become known internationally as the result of her Lily hybrids. In 1919, Isabella bred the renowned George C. Creelman Hybrid Lily after crossing two Lily cultivars from southern China, a hardy Lily and a fragrant Lily. The Creelman Lily was a stunner; human-sized (it grew about 6 feet tall), and it featured a sweet-scented white bloom with pink speckles on its yellow throat. Isabella named the Creelman Lily after the President of the Ontario Agricultural College. Today, there are no known Creelman Lilies in existence, although people still search for them. Vita would have loved Isabella's practical and hard-won advice. When a colleague asked Isabella what she should do with her rock garden, her advice was fascinating: "Use every bit of rock – Don't be afraid of it. Plant between, atop or alongside. Presently, you will be convinced that flowers need near them the harsh stability of stone." Isabella was a self-taught plant hybridizer. In 1920, she began work at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa. For almost three decades, she endeavored to create more blooms on more disease-resistant plants. She created over 200 cultivars of six different plants, including Lilacs, Lilies, Crab Apples, Columbine, Siberian Iris, and Roses. Preston Lilacs are named in her honor, and Isabella received many honors for her work. 1990 Today is the anniversary of the death of Colorado State botanist Hazel Schmoll. Hazel was born in a sod cabin in McAlester, Kansas, in 1890. Her family settled in Colorado when she was just two years old. Hazel was the first woman to earn a doctorate in botany from the University of Chicago. Early in her career, Hazel had the exciting opportunity to work with Alice Eastwood. When it came to her beloved Rocky Mountains, Hazel was an active conservationist, and she regularly taught others about the ecology of the mountains. Hazel led the effort to protect the Colorado Blue Columbine Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea). Also known as Rocky Mountain Columbine, Colorado Blue Columbine is a herbaceous perennial with bluish-purple and white blooms that appear spring and early summer. Colorado Blue Columbine can grow up to 3 feet tall with a spread of about 2 feet. The word Aquila is Latin and means eagle, a reference to the claw-like spurs on the blossom. The word Columbine is derived from the Latin word for dove and refers to this little trick: if you tip the flower over, it looks like five little doves huddled together. Columbine. Hazel's favorite flower, the Colorado Blue Columbine, was first discovered on Pikes Peak in 1820. As the state flower, it has significant symbolic meaning to Colorado; the blue represents the sky, the white represents snow, and the gold is a nod to the state's gold mining history, which attracted so many settlers to Colorado. The Colorado Blue Columbine is so beautiful that it actually became a threatened species after people were digging it up for their rock gardens. In 1925, legislation was passed making it illegal to pick the Rocky Mountain Columbine. It was Hazel Schmoll who said, "I hope we can keep some wilderness areas. People need some places where they can get away from the crowds and be refreshed by nature." 2005 Today is the anniversary of the death of the founder of Miracle-Gro plant food Horace Hagedorn. Every year on November 15th, the Horace Hagedorn outstanding philanthropy award is given out on philanthropy day. Horace was a marketing genius and a philanthropist. A resident of Port Washington, Long Island, Horace and his wife Amy were esteemed for their charity. After Horace died, the Amy Hagedorn Foundation distributed close to 50 million dollars to more than 175 nonprofits. Aligned with his enormous spirit of generosity, it was Horace Hagedorn who said, "You can't keep taking away from the Earth. You must give something back." Unearthed Words 1784 Today is the birthday of the prolific English Quaker poet Bernard Barton. One of Barton's most famous poems heralds the spring Crocus. Here is an excerpt:

Welcome! Wild harbinger of Spring, To this small nook of earth; Feeling and fancy fondly cling Round thoughts which owe their birth To thee, and to the humble spot Where chance has fixed thy lowly lot. Yet not the Lily nor the Rose, Though fairer far they be, Can more delightful thoughts disclose, Than I derive from thee. The eye their beauty may prefer, The heart is thy interpreter. Thy flower foretells a summer sky, And chides the dark despair By winter's chilling influence flung O'er spirits sunk, and nerves unstrung. Barton also wrote this whimsical poem for children called "The Squirrel."

The squirrel is happy, the squirrel is gay, Little Henry exclaimed to his brother, He has nothing to do or to think of but play, And to jump from one bough to another. But William was older and wiser and knew That all play and no work wouldn't answer, So he asked what the squirrel in winter must do, If he spent all the summer a dancer. The squirrel, dear Harry, is merry and wise, For true wisdom and mirth go together ; He lays up in summer his winter supplies, And then he don't mind the cold weather. And, here's an excerpt from Barton's poem called Winter Evenings.

The summer is over, The autumn is passed, Dark clouds over us hover, Loud whistles the blast ; But clouds cannot darken, nor tempest destroy The soul's sweetest sunshine, the heart's purest joy. Our path is no bright one, From morning till eve ; Our task is no light one, Till day takes its leave : We'll turn to the pages Of history's lore ; Of bards and of sages The beauties explore : And share o'er the records we love to unroll The " feast of the reason and flow of the soul." Grow That Garden Library Life List by Olivia Gentile The subtitle to this book is "A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds." This book is a loving and beautiful biography of bird enthusiast Phoebe Snetsinger. Phoebe was a 1950's housewife, married with four children, and an avid bird-watcher. When she got diagnosed in her 40's with incurable cancer and given less than a year to live, she started traveling the world, birding, and she never looked back. Phoebe ended up living, after her diagnosis, for another 18 years. Oliva begins this book by explaining the concept of a life list: "Bird-watching, the way most people do it, is a lot like hunting, which is why some practitioners prefer the more active sounding term "birding": you have to know where and when to look for Birds, you have to chase them down, and, when you find them, you have to figure out what species they are— often in just a second or two, before they fly away. Tate, like most birders, kept a " life list" of all the species he'd seen and identified, and he was always looking to add new ones, or "life birds." Olivia continues: "I decided to write some sort of essay on bird watching, and I called a few bird clubs near my home in Manhattan to see what they had going on. One man misunderstood and thought I was interested in joining his Club. He tried to encourage me. " Who knows?" he said. " Maybe you'll be the next Phoebe Snetsinger." the man had never met Phoebe, but he knew all about her— as most birdwatchers do, it turned out— and he told me a little. That was back in 2001, two years after her death, and I've been piecing together her life ever since." You can get a used copy of Life List by Olivia Gentile and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $3. Great Gifts for Gardeners Wooden Letters - 144-Count Wood Alphabet Letters and Numbers for DIY Craft, Home Decor, Natural Color, Small by Juvale The set contains a total of 144 pieces, with 4-pieces of each alphabet letter and number in a natural wooden color. Also excellent for craft projects, as party decorations, weddings, baby showers, and so on. Put these letters together to spell whatever you want. Use these letters to decorate walls and doors to your liking. Your imagination is the limit.

• CRAFT WOOD LETTER SET: Contains a total of 144 plywood pieces, with 4 pieces of each letter in the alphabet and number from 0 to 9 in a natural wooden color.
• EDUCATIONAL: Helps kids learn letters, spelling, pronunciation, and math.
• WIDE APPLICATION: Use the available letters to spell a certain word or phrase like Happy Birthday, Congratulations, Mr and Mrs, Welcome, and many more.
• CRAFT USE: Put these letters together to spell whatever you want. Use these letters to decorate walls and doors to your liking. Your imagination is the limit.
• DIMENSIONS: The wood pieces measure from the smallest to largest, 0.3 x 0.7 inches to 0.7 x 1 inch.

Today's Botanic Spark 1942Today is the birthday of the English filmmaker, gay rights activist, painter, poet, and gardener Derek Jarman. Born Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman, gardeners remember Derek for sharing his experiences in the garden intermingled with his thoughts on life. Most gardeners have a sensitivity about them, especially when it comes to attuning to themselves, to others, or to the natural world. Derek was continually examining all of these aspects of life. Toward the end of his life, Derek had found a very small retreat in a place many would find challenging to love: in the only desert in England located in Kent in a place called Dungeness. Derek lovingly called it Ness. It's a hard and harsh place that has an ancient feel. The meaning of name Dungeness is from Old Norse, which means "headland." The French etymology would translate to "dangerous nose." The landscape at Dungeness is referred to as a shingle beach - it's a British way of saying it has a rocky or pebbled shore. It's a curiously understated term that does not adequately convey the harsh reality. A shingle beach means the ground is covered everywhere, without exception, with little rocks and pebbles. A shingle beach is sharp and shocking. It's stone confetti as far as the eye can see. It's a place where, if you were barefoot, you would involuntarily find yourself saying "ooch-ouch" "ooch-ouch" as you walked your way to land cruiser so you could get the heck out of Dodge. And just to be clear, this is not the place where Dungeness crab are found. Dungeness crab are a west coast species ranging from the Aleutian Islands in Alaska all the way down to southern California. Derek's pebble beach at Dungeness is a resting place for relics and debris. It's a junker's paradise. There are boats, parts of boats, driftwood, chunks of metal and scrap. If Dungeness had a Statue of Liberty, the placard would read, "Give me your rusted, your broken, your abandoned boats and weathered pieces of wood, yearning to get out of the sea." For Derek, these items were gifts from the sea, to be lovingly received during an early-morning walk. He'd bring all of his finds back to Prospect Cottage, where Derek would insert them into the shingle. Then, they were transformed; no longer debris, but artifacts turned into art and proudly displayed in their final resting spot in Derek's garden. Once your eyes drift past all the treasures from the sea installed firmly in the Landscape, you can't help but spy the man-made mountain that forms the backdrop to Dungeness - a nuclear power plant. There are actually two nuclear power plants in Dungeness. They are another item for the Dungeness Statue of Liberty placard - "Give me your nuclear power plants while you're at it." Like the bits and bobs, Derek placed around his shingle cottage garden, the nuclear plants rise out of the shingle beach. It's as if they say, "Even though nobody wants me, I've managed to find a place here among the rocks. I'm home." Prospect Cottage has managed to survive on Dungeness for over 100 years. Initially, it was a fisherman's cottage, built in 1910, and it was still standing when Derek bought it in 1985 mainly because it is covered in a preservative - black tar. That's right. Prospect Cottage is painted top to bottom in black tar. Yet, there are two standout features that define Derek's black tar cottage - bright yellow trim and wooden letters. The yellow trim around the windows that calls to mind school buses, sunshine, and daisies. The wooden letters (also painted with black tar) are attached to the side of the cottage and scream "an artist lives here" and "read me." The letters were attached to a bump-out Derek had added on one the side of the cottage for extra space. Derek wrote, "Dawn can be a miracle, the sun floating up from the sea and slowly crossing the garden. As it passes it can laugh with John Donne, whose poem fills the southern wall of the house." The wooden letters attached to Prospect Cottage spelled out verses from the beginning and end of John Donne's poem "The Sun Rising." It's a poem that challenges the sun. Stop the sunshine from hitting your bed in the morning, and you don't have to get up; you can stop the march of time. And, what is more, powerful than time? Love. Imagine the sun - it's rays hitting the wooden letters - having to read this in-your-face challenge every day: Busy old fool, unruly Sun, Why dost thou thus, Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ? Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run? Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide Late school-boys and sour prentices, Go tell court huntsmen that the king will ride, Call country ants to harvest offices; Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime, Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time. At the end of the poem, Donne's sun is resigned to the fact that time must march on, but he intends to make the most of it. And, Donne puts the sun to work, warming his bed and lighting the room, ordering: ...Since thy duties be To warm the world, that's done in warming us. Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere; This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere. Not many people would put a poem on the side of their house. But, then, not many people would garden in a stone desert or prefer to spend their final days in a little cottage painted in black tar under the gaze of a nuclear power plant. Clearly, not many people are like Derek Jarman. One time, my mom was shopping on a dreary day, and she commented on the bleak weather to a woman who replied, "that's why we have to carry the sunshine in our hearts, dear." That's what Derek Jarman did. Only a card-carrying member of the sunshine club could see the beauty of the Ness. Only Derek Jarman would attempt, let alone create, a garden chock full of color at Prospect Cottage. Derek planted resilience in his garden; known tough guys and survivors like California Poppy, Opium Poppies, Dark Red Valerian, Pink Foxgloves Blue Viper's Bugloss, Giant Sea Kale, Gorse, Sky Blue Cornflower, Mediterranean Cistus, Santolina, Pale Blue Devil's-bit Scabious, and Purple Lavender. Somehow, Derek managed to convince all of these plants that this garden, set in stone and whipped by salt winds, was their happy place. For nine years, it was Derek's happy place as well. Derek wrote, "The postman arrives with a smile and a huge pile of letters, from every corner of the globe, often addressed just to: Derek of Dungeness, wishing me well and happy, which I am…. The garden has been both Gethsemane and Eden. I am at peace..." Today, Prospect Cottage is not open or closed to the public; it just is - and visitors are free to walk the landscape because, as Derek would agree, "The garden is the Landscape." Derek's last book, published after he died, was Derek Jarman's Garden. Derek's friend, Howard Sooley, took the pictures, and they are wonderful. In the book, Derek shares the story of his garden at Prospect Cottage at the Ness: how it was born in 1985, how it grew with plants and gifts of debris from the sea, and how it looked as a spritely nine-year-old; full of life and immortality on the day Derek died from AIDs in 1994. Derek wrote: "Paradise haunts gardens, and some gardens are paradises. Mine is one of them."

Today we celebrate the botanical illustrator who was wrongfully fired from his first job and the French botanist who spent a month in California with a boatful of Russians. We'll learn about the botanical name of the city where people leave their hearts, and we'll fall in love with a classic garden writer from Bronxville, New York. Today's Unearthed Words feature an English poet who loved gardens and wrote many poems about them. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that talks about the revolution that will save our food. I'll talk about a garden item that I have WAY too many of - but, then again, can you really have too many? I digress. And, then we'll wrap things up with the story of the woman who wrote a flora dictionary anonymously - signing her work very mysteriously with the words "by a Lady." But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Good Decisions by @papaver Good Decisions in the garden -Alison Levey ("Lee-Vee") - The Blackberry Garden " I planted them and whispered to the nearby ants 'when you wake up, take the seeds and spread them throughout the garden.'" The Plight of the African Violets — In Defense of Plants The Plight of the African Violets — In Defense of Plants — "their numbers in captivity overshadow a bleak future for this genus in the wild. Many African violets are teetering on the brink of extinction." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1708 Today is the birthday of the botanist and the incomparable botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret. Georg was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to Ferdinand Christian Ehret, who was a gardener and also had a talent for drawing. He taught his son both skills- gardening and drawing - before he died. Georg made his way to Regensburg. There, he met an apothecary who hired him to draw of specimens from his herbarium and garden. Georg earnestly took on the job, creating over 500 pieces in one year. Taking advantage of his young employee, the apothecary fired Georg and told him he should have completed 1,000 drawings. It was basically the apothecary's way of avoiding paying Georg. After this dreadful experience, Georg made his way to England and worked at the significant botanical gardens - Including Chelsea Physic. Isaac Rand, the first director of the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, told Georg to paint the rare plants in the garden. The uniqueness of the specimens added to the demand for Georg's work. As a result, Georg was on friendly terms with the plant collectors and naturalists of his time. Chelsea was formative professionally and personally for Georg; He married the head gardener's sister-in-law, Susanna Kennet. In The Art of Botanical Illustration, Wilfrid Blunt noted that, "By the middle of the century he had become a popular figure in London society: the highest nobility in England clamored to receive instruction from him," Indeed, the wealthiest woman in England, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (the Duchess of Portland), gladly retained Georg as a drawing instructor. Struck by the luminescence of his work, and ultimately she would buy over 300 of his paintings. In 1737, Georg was hired to draw by Sir Charles Wager, First Lord of the Admiralty. In August of that year, Wagner's personal garden is where Georg first observed the Magnolia grandiflora flowering. The bloom was so inspiring that Georg walked for an hour each way, from Chelsea to Wagner's house (in Fulham), to see and sketch every stage of the Magnolia grandiflora; from bud to full flower. Georg's work provided the world with the first Magnolia to be illustrated in England. Beyond his work in England, Georg traveled throughout Europe in pursuit of his craft. He met Linnaeus in Holland when he was visiting the botanical garden in Leiden. Linnaeus taught Georg exactly how he wanted plants to be dissected and drawn. By this time, Georg felt that his drawings were already aligned with Linnaeus, but the calibration didn't hurt; Georg's work made it possible for Linnaeus to show the differences between plants for his books. When Linnaeus released his catalog of rare plants, "Hortus Cliffortianus," in 1737, it featured 20 meticulous plates made by Georg. As a result of partnering with Linnaeus, Georg understood plant structure on a level that rivaled most botanists. Georg's style of drawing is referred to as the Linnaean style. Ehret's father could have never predicted the impact of teaching his son both gardening and drawing, but the two skills had come together in Georg in an extraordinary way. One expert wrote that, "[Ehret] was the greatest artist-illustrator that Linnaeus had." Today, Georg's work is difficult to source. Given the rarity of an Ehret drawing, they are expensive to acquire; pieces generally start around $1k (if you can find one.) Just this past year, the NYBG organized an exhibit called "Georg Ehret: The Greatest Botanical Artist of the 1700s." They featured 48 Ehret watercolors and engravings. 1781 Today is the birthday of French-German poet, naturalist, and botanist Adelbert von Chamisso ("Sha-ME-So"). Born into a French Noble family, Chamisso's family fled to Germany after the French Revolution. Chamisso is remembered for a number of different accomplishments. His creativity was captured in a novella called Peter Schlemihl's Wonderful History, published in 1814. The story is about a naturalist who travels around the world thanks to a pair of seven-league boots and who sells his shadow to the devil in exchange for a bottomless wallet. Seven-league boots were a common part of European folklore and allowed the wearer to walk seven times further than an average stride, making the wearer possess super-human speed. Chamisso established himself as a Romantic poet with his poem Frauenliebe und leben, The poem's English translation is A Woman's Love and Life and is actually a series of poems describing a woman's love for a man from their first meeting, through their married life together and ultimately to the time after his death. Robert Schumann later set Chamisso's poem to music in his Opus 42. It takes a soprano opera singer 30 minutes to sing all the poems in the Opus from start to finish. After surviving the french revolution and the war between France and Prussia, Chamisso eagerly joined a round-the-world voyage aboard a Russian ship called the Rurik. It would be the greatest adventure of his life. The trip was financed by a Russian Count named Nikolay ("NEE-co-LIE") Rumyantsev ("Roo-myan-sev"), who was eager to find a route around North America by water - which would later be called the Northwest Passage. Chamisso was the ship's naturalist, and Johann Friedrich Eschscholtz was the ship's doctor and botanist. When the Rurik ended up in the San Francisco Bay area in 1816, Chamisso and Eschscholtz ended up exploring in California for about a month. One of his discoveries was the California poppy, which he named Eschscholzia California after his friend, the botanist Johann Friedrich Von Eschscholz. In return, Eschscholz named a bunch of plants after Chamisso - a little quid pro quo. The California Wild Rose (Rosa californica Chamisso and the California Blackberry (Rubus vitifolius Chamisso) are named for Chamisso. In 1903, the botanist Sarah Plummer Lemmon put forth a successful piece of legislation that nominated the golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica) as the state flower of California. During his three year Journey on the Rurik, Chamisso collected over 12,000 species of plants. Today his collection is preserved at the Russian Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg. It was Chamisso who said, "In pain, a new time is born." 1847Today the city of Yerba Buena ("YAIR-Bah Byoo-Nah") is renamed San Francisco. San Francisco was originally known as Yerba Buena - Spanish for "good herb" - a small mint-like plant early explorers found. Over the years, people have left their hearts in San Francisco. The author Rudyard Kipling said, "San Francisco has only one drawback – 'tis hard to leave." Paul Kanter of Jefferson Airplane said, "San Francisco is 49 square miles, surrounded by reality." Ashleigh Brilliant, author and cartoonist, said, "There may not be a Heaven, but there is San Francisco." The writer William Saroyan said, "If you're not alive, San Francisco will bring you to life." 1878 Today is the birthday of one of America's greatest Garden writers and one of the 20th Century's most famous horticulturists, Louise Beebe Wilder. Louise was born into a wealthy family in Baltimore. After marrying an architect named Walter Wilder, they bought a country place - a 200-acre estate in Pomona New York; they called BalderBrae. Louise set about adding fountains, terraces, arbors, walled gardens, and pathways. Her book called "My Garden" shared Louise's experiences learning how to garden at BalderBrae, where one of her first flower beds was bordered with clothespins. At BalderBrae, Louise and Walter created a garden and a stone garden house that was made famous in Louise's book "Color in My Garden" - which came out in 1918 and is generally regarded as her best work. In the book, Louise was the first garden writer to write about gray as a garden color. Louise was also the first person to write about Moonlight Gardens, and she wrote about looking at plants under the light of the Moon. After World War I, Walter and Louise settled in suburban Bronxville, New York. Louise created a personal Eden on a single acre of land complete with stone pillars and a long grape arbor. It was here that Louise began rock gardening. After 1920, most of her garden writing focused on rock gardening. Louise inspired both women and men to rock garden. By 1925, Louise founded a local Working Gardeners Club in Bronxville, and she also had steady work as a garden designer and as a garden writer. Her experiences gave her material for her writing. Louise included so many people from Bronxville in her writing that her columns were referred to by locals as "a Bronxville Family Affair." In all, Louise wrote eleven books about gardening. Her voice is pragmatic and pointed, which is why they were popular; gardeners appreciated her no-nonsense advice. For instance, Louise was not a fan of double flowers. In her book, "The Fragrant Path" from 1932, she wrote: "Some flowers are, I am sure, intended by a wise God to remain single. The hyacinth doubled, for instance, is a fat abomination." Louise wrote for a number of publications, and her writing was published in many prominent periodicals like the Journal of The Royal Horticultural Society of England and the New York Times. House and Garden alone published close to a hundred and fifty articles by Louise. Many of Louise's columns were collected and published as books. A year before she died, Louise was honored with the Gold Medal for Horticultural Achievement from the Garden Club of America. It was the pinnacle moment in her career, and it came as Louise and her children were still grieving the loss of her husband. In the Spring of 1934, Walter had committed suicide after a long battle with mental illness. Louise wrote prolifically about gardening and plants. Her experiences resulted in increasing the awareness of different plant species, gardening practices, and she helped shape the gardens of her time. Louise gave us many wonderful garden quotes. On Snowdrops: "Theirs is a fragile but hardy celebration…in the very teeth of winter." On Rosemary, "It makes a charming pot plant, neat, svelte, with its dark, felt-lined leaves held sleek against its sides. The smell… is keen and heady, resinous, yet sweet, with a hint of nutmeg." On Roses: "Over and over again, I have experienced the quieting influence of rose scent upon a disturbed state of mind." On gardening: "In the garden, every person may be their own artist without apology or explanation. Each within their green enclosure is a creator, and no two shall reach the same conclusion." Louise is buried with her parents in lot 41 in Lakeside Cemetery in Wakefield, Massachusetts. It was a shock to read that her grave is unmarked and to see that it is completely unadorned - without any flowers - nor does it rest under the shade of a tree. Unearthed Words 1782Today is the birthday of the English poet and literary critic Ann Taylor. Her sister Jane was a poet as well. Ann famously said, "The most important thing is to wear a smile." Here's a collection of poems about the garden by Ann Taylor. Come And Play In The Garden Little sister, come away, And let us in the garden play, For it is a pleasant day. On the grass-plat let us sit, Or, if you please, we'll play a bit, And run about all over it. But the fruit we will not pick, For that would be a naughty trick, And very likely make us sick. Nor will we pluck the pretty flowers That grow about the beds and bowers, Because you know they are not ours. We'll take the daisies, white and red, Because mamma has often said That we may gather then instead. And much I hope we always may Our very dear mamma obey, And mind whatever she may say. The Gaudy Flower Poem Why does my Anna toss her head, And look so scornfully around, As if she scarcely deigned to tread Upon the daisy-dappled ground? Does fancied beauty fire thine eye, The brilliant tint, the satin skin? Does the loved glass, in passing by, Reflect a graceful form and thin? Alas! that form, and brilliant fire, Will never win beholder's love; It may, indeed, make fools admire, But ne'er the wise and good can move. So grows the tulip, gay and bold, The broadest sunshine its delight; Like rubies, or like burnished gold, It shows its petals, glossy bright. But who the gaudy floweret crops, As if to court a sweet perfume! Admired it blows, neglected drops, And sinks unheeded to its doom. The virtues of the heart may move Affections of a genial kind; While beauty fails to stir our love, And wins the eye, but not the mind. The Field Daisy I'm a pretty little thing, Always coming with the spring; In the meadows green, I'm found, Peeping just above the ground, And my stalk is covered flat With a white and yellow hat. Little Mary, when you pass Lightly o'er the tender grass, Skip about, but do not tread On my bright but lowly head, For I always seem to say, "Surely winter's gone away." Grow That Garden Library The Seed Underground: by Janisse Ray The subtitle of this book is: A Growing Revolution to Save Food. Ray writes: "There is no despair in a seed. There's only life, waiting for the right conditions-sun and water, warmth and soil-to be set free. Every day, millions upon millions of seeds lift their two green wings." Ray's book takes us to the frontier of seed-saving. She shares beautiful stories from gardeners around the country who are working to preserve our food by growing old varieties, heirlooms, and eating them. Gardeners will love this book because, as a gardener, Ray is relatable, and her stories feature ordinary gardeners who are trying to save open-pollinated varieties of old-time seeds - the true treasures in our Gardens. Ray's book is not just about gardening, but also about preserving our food by saving seeds before they disappear. Ray helps us understand why seeds are under threat and why a lack of seed diversity is something that should concern all of us. Ray is a writer, naturalist, and poet. This is one of my favorite books on this topic, so I hope you'll check it out. You can get a used copy of The Seed Underground: A Growing Revolution to Save Food by Janisse Ray and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $4. Great Gifts for Gardeners Stonebriar 9 Inch Clear Glass Dome Cloche with Rustic Wooden Base, Antique Bell Jar Display Dome, For Plants, Succulents, Fairy Lights, Photos, Medals, Decorative Fill, and More, Medium $31.99 Add a rustic touch to your home decor with Stonebriar's clear glass bell-shape cloche with a wooden base. This cloche features a clear glass dome with the decorative knob so you can easily remove it. The rustic wooden base measures 6.1 inches in diameter and is the perfect size to display your favorite pillar candles, flowers, succulents, medals, photos, and fairy lights. This glass cloche is small enough to use in any room in your home but big enough to make a statement. Add your favorite filler and create a unique centerpiece for your kitchen or dining room or place filled cloche on your mantel for a little added decoration. This cloche is also the perfect party decoration. Buy multiple cloches for rustic tabletop display.

• This decorative cloche is the perfect size for any tabletop measuring 9" in height, and the wood base with metal trim measures 6.1" in diameter
• Glass dome inner measurements are 4.7" in diameter and 6" in height. It can easily fit your favorite pillar candles, flowers, succulents & more
• Rustic wooden base cloche is available in 2 separate sizes. Buy one size or buy both sizes and create your own unique display set.

Today's Botanic Spark 1784Today is the birthday of the American Floral Dictionary writer, Elizabeth Wirt. Elizabeth was the second wife of William Wirt, who served as an attorney general of the United States. They had ten children. In 1829, Elizabeth wrote her floral dictionary. She published it anonymously, using the very mysterious name 'by a Lady.' Wirt featured lovely tidbits in her dictionary - quotes and prose by poets and writers accompanied the information for each plant. Her dictionary also included extraneous information that would be of interest to gardeners in the early to mid-1800s: the Structure of Plants, the Structure of Flowers, and a sketch on the Life of Linnaeus. Elizabeth shared all she knew about the history of each flower she featured in her dictionary. Gardeners adored her book. It was republished every two years. In the 1835 edition, Elizabeth finally felt confident enough to publish the book using her name "Mrs. E. W. Wirt of Virginia."The final edition of her book was published in in 1855 it was the first book of its kind in the United States to feature colored plates. You can see a copy of Wirt's dictionary online for free.

Today we celebrate the German-American botanist who saved the French wine industry and the very first Iris-breeder who urged other hybridizers to "be bold." We'll learn about the woman who sparked significant legislative change after birds and insects were killed in her garden and the man who fought to protect habitat for the Blazing Star. In Unearthed Words, we celebrate two award-winning American poets and review their poems about the garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that shows how growing and gardening has changed the way we eat. I'll talk about a garden item that will get your garden or porch party-ready. And, then, we'll wrap things up with a story within a story about a man who loved apples and a man who helped settle the West. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Seeds and Berries "As a wildlife gardener, you can help wildlife have a year-round bounty by leaving the seed heads and berries intact, while still weeding or clearing some lower branches and leaves as needed. Seed-eating birds such as juncos and goldfinches enjoy the dried flower heads of asters, coneflowers, and other native plants. Winter wildflower stalks also provide wildlife with places to seek refuge from storms and predators, and insects pass the winter in the dead stalks. These stalks and seed pods also add texture and visual interest on an otherwise barren landscape in a garden habitat." Rare ghost orchid has multiple pollinators, the groundbreaking video reveals Rare ghost orchid has multiple pollinators, the groundbreaking video reveals: "Deep in remote Florida swamps, a team of researchers and photographers have made a new discovery that upends what we thought we knew about the ghost orchid, one of the world's most iconic flowers, and how it reproduces. These rare, charming orchids were long thought to be pollinated by a single insect: the giant sphinx moth. " Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1879 On this day, Dorothea Engelmann, the wife of the physician and botanist George Engelmann, died. Dorothea was also his cousin, and the couple married in their native Germany before immigrating to the United States. Engelmann had settled in St Louis, Missouri. George and Dorothea had one son, George Jr - who became a noted gynecologist. George persuaded Henry Shaw to develop the gardens around his estate outside of St Louis. When Asa Gray indicated that he thought Engelmann should run Shaw's garden, Engelmann replied that he wasn't interested; that Shaw was a man who had "no real scientific zeal." Yet, Engelmann continued to interact with Shaw, and he encouraged him to name his garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden. Today, the Missouri Botanical Garden is sometimes still referred to as Shaw's Garden. George Engelmann became the Missouri Botanical Garden's first botanist. Among his many accomplishments as a botanist, at the top of the list is the time George rescued the French wine industry. During the 1870s, the grapes in French Vineyards were under attack by phylloxera. Without intervention, the old European vines would never survive the little aphid-like pest that sucked the sap out of the roots of the grapevines. By the time the French government dispatched a scientist to St. Louis, Engelmann had been studying grapes for over 20 years. Engelmann offered a simple solution when he suggested replacing the European vines with American ones. Engelmann had already determined that the American vines were naturally resistant to phylloxera. The simple substitution of vines would eliminate the problem. Both sides agreed, and George personally arranged for millions of grapevines as well as grape seeds to be sent to France. And voila! The French wine industry was saved. As a person, George was quite cheerful and always working - either as a physician or pursuing his botanical and other scientific work. But, after Dorothea died on this day in 1879, George was distraught. Dorothea had been his partner in all of his endeavors - she was his sounding board, editor, and chief encourager. George threw himself into his botanical work, but by himself, he could find no relief from his grief. George's way back to life came when an invitation arrived from a friend and colleague. Harvard's Charles Sprague Sargent requested that George join him on an assessment of the forests of the Pacific Coast on behalf of the Forestry Division of the United States Census. George was Charles's top choice; he had long admired George's mastery of trees. By the summer of 1880, George Engelmann was 71 years old. Life wasn't done with him yet. George met up with Charles in Ogden, Utah. Along with botanist Christopher Charles Parry, they spent the summer of 1880 botanizing along the west coast from the Fraser River in British Columbia to southern Arizona along the Mexican border. George's death came four years later. He'd caught a cold after he was clearing a path through the snow from his house to his garden so that he could read his thermometers. George had faithfully kept an unbroken record of daily meteorological observations for nearly five decades. It was important to him. He recorded the daily, monthly, seasonal, and annual records of temperature, rainfall, and other weather notes. A prolific letter-writer, George's last letter was to Charles Christopher Parry - who had accompanied George and Sargent on their botanizing trip on the west coast. Parry was a true friend and had named the Englemann Spruce in honor of George. In a tribute to George after his death, Charles Sprague Sargent wrote, "… that splendid spruce [the Engelmann Spruce], the fairest of them all, will [forever]...cover the noble forests and the highest slopes of the mountains, recalling … the memory of a pure, upright, and laborious life." Today, George's portrait is featured in a couple of different places at the Missouri Botanical Garden, where his astounding collection of over 98,000 botanical specimens helped establish the Missouri Botanical Garden's herbarium. If you ever visit the Missouri Botanical Garden's Sachs Museum, you'll note that the only plant identified (with a label) is named for George Engelmann - it's the Opuntia engelmannii or Engelmann's prickly pear cactus. There is also a large bust of Engelmann in the Strassenfest Garden. Today, Engelmann's botanical notebooks are being digitized online as part of the Biodiversity Heritage Library. 1907 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English physician and iris breeder Sir Michael Foster. In the late 1890s, Michael became the first person to crossbreed and name new varieties of Iris. Michael started working with purple and yellow iris. He was successfully able to produce a beautiful blend by the third generation. In short order, Michael was receiving large wild iris specimens from all over the world. Missionaries were a great help to him and sent Trojana, Cypriana, and Mesopotamica specimens from the deserts in the Near East. Over time, Michael was able to create irises with bigger blooms and habits with higher and wider branching stems. Michael crossed late bloomers with early bloomers and created intermediate bloomers. Michael once wrote to his friend the breeder William John Caparne, advising, "In hybridizing, be bold" and Michael gave us a clue to how he regarded his work with the natural world: "Nature is ever making signs to us; she is ever whispering to us the beginnings of her secrets." In 1888, Michael introduced "Mrs. Horace Darwin" - a white iris with pale violet markings - which he had named after one of his neighbors, the daughter-in-law of Charles Darwin. Michael often named his iris in honor of his many female friends. After Michael's work became well known, iris breeding took off. Thirteen years after Michael's death, the American Iris Society was founded in 1920. Today, there are thousands of varieties of Iris. And, here's one final tidbit about Sir Michael Foster. Like many botanists, Michael was a doctor. In 1877, he discovered and documented a phenomenon he called the patellar reflex, and he noted that "Striking the tendon below the patella gives rise to a sudden extension of the leg, known as the knee-jerk." 1958 Duxbury resident, journalist, and nature-lover Olga Owens Huckins wrote a letter to the editor that appeared in the Boston Herald in Section 3 on Page 14 and was titled "Evidence of Havoc by DDT." Olga and her husband, Stuart, had created a little bird sanctuary around two kettle ponds on their property. It was a place "where songbirds sang, ducks swam, and great blue herons nested." When the Massachusetts State Mosquito control program began spraying in their area, Olga observed birds and insects dropping dead in her garden. During that time, the DDT was sprayed at a rate of 2 pounds per acre. the day Olga's property was sprayed, the pilot had extra DDT fuel oil in his tank, and he decided to dump it right over Olga's land. As a former Boston newspaper reporter, Olga voiced her anger and frustration in the best way she knew how; she wrote about it. Olga wrote, "The 'harmless' shower-bath killed seven of our lovely songbirds outright. We picked up three dead bodies the next morning right by the door. They were birds that had lived close to us, trusted us, and built their nests in our trees year after year." After writing the paper, Olga wrote another letter to an old friend named Rachel Carson. Olga wanted Rachel to help her find people in Washington who could provide more information about the aerial spraying of DDT. Olga's letter sparked four years of research for Rachel. She put it all together in a book called Silent Spring. Rachel's book opened people's eyes to the hazards of DDT, and public opinion eventually forced the banning of DDT in 1972. Today, Olga & Stuart's property has new owners. Judith and Robert Vose, III, continue to preserve the site as a bird sanctuary and also as a way to honor the brave women who stepped forward when it was put in harm's way: Olga Huckins and Rachel Carson. 1964 Today is the anniversary of the death of the former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and devoted scientist Otto Emery Jennings. He died at the age of 86. In 1904, Jennings started out as the custodian at the Carnegie Museum. Otto kept climbing the ladder, and over the span of 41 years, he was ultimately named the director of the Museum in 1945. Over his long career, he had been chief, curator, and bottle washer. Today, the Jennings Nature Reserve near Butler Pennsylvania is named for Otto, who initiated it's protection to save the Blazing Star (Liatrisliatris spicata). The 20-acre reserve was expressly cleared to enable the Blazing Star to spread and multiply. Other common names for the Blazing Star include the Gayfeather or Prairie Star. This North American native plant and late-blooming prairie flower offers stately plumes of purple or white. The many wonderful characteristics of the Blazing Star make it a favorite with gardeners - it's easy to grow and propagate, it's low maintenance, it makes excellent cut flowers, and the pollinators love them. Monarchs go crazy for Blazing Star. The Blazing Star grows up to 16 in tall. And, gardeners should note that it has a taller cousin called Prairie Blazing Star that can grow to be 5 ft tall. Unearthed Words 1933 Today is the anniversary of the death of the American lyric poet Sara Teasdale. In 1918, Teasdale was awarded the Columbia Poetry Prize, which would later become known as the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Teasdale was born into a privileged life in St Louis, Missouri. After writing many books of poetry, she ended up in New York, where, depressed and disillusioned, she took her own life on this day in 1933. Her poem, The Garden, doesn't require a great deal of analysis. Gardeners, especially during this time of year, will relate to her longing for spring. The Garden My heart is a garden tired with autumn, Heaped with bending asters and dahlias heavy and dark, In the hazy sunshine, the garden remembers April, The drench of rains and a snow-drop quick and clear as a spark; Daffodils blowing in the cold wind of morning, And golden tulips, goblets holding the rain— The garden will be hushed with snow, forgotten soon, forgotten— After the stillness, will spring come again? 1963 Today is the anniversary of the death of the American poet Robert Frost. Frost died at the age of 88 after having a heart attack. Forty-seven years earlier, Robert wrote a poem about a girl who asked her father for a little piece of land so that she could start a garden. The result was this poem called A Girl's Garden, written in 1916. A Girl's Garden A neighbor of mine in the village Likes to tell how one spring When she was a girl on the farm, she did A childlike thing. One day she asked her father To give her a garden plot To plant and tend and reap herself, And he said, 'Why not?' In casting about for a corner He thought of an idle bit Of walled-off ground where a shop had stood, And he said, 'Just it.' And he said, 'That ought to make you An ideal one-girl farm, And give you a chance to put some strength On your slim-jim arm.' It was not enough of a garden Her father said, to plow; So she had to work it all by hand, But she don't mind now. She wheeled the dung in a wheelbarrow Along a stretch of road; But she always ran away and left Her not-nice load, And hid from anyone passing. And then she begged the seed. She says she thinks she planted one Of all things but weed. A hill each of potatoes, Radishes, lettuce, peas, Tomatoes, beets, beans, pumpkins, corn, And even fruit trees. And yes, she has long mistrusted That a cider-apple In bearing there today is hers, Or at least may be. Her crop was a miscellany When all was said and done, A little bit of everything, A great deal of none. Now when she sees in the village How village things go, Just when it seems to come in right, She says, 'I know! 'It's as when I was a farmer...' Oh, never by way of advice! And she never sins by telling the tale To the same person twice. Grow That Garden Library Hippie Food by Jonathan Kauffman The subtitle to this book is: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat. This book came out a year ago, released in January of 2019 by Jonathan Kauffman. It was well-received and was a 2019 James Beard Award nominee. I think what gardeners will enjoy about this book is that Jonathan is a food writer and an impeccable researcher. his topic hippie food covers the origins of Staples like sprouts, yogurt, tofu, brown rice, and whole-grain bread. How did these Foods get introduced and become so ubiquitous in our diets? Here's a quick excerpt for you: "For those of you who didn't grow up eating lentil-and-brown-rice casseroles, it may be hard to recognize what came to be called "hippie food." That's because so many of the ingredients that the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s adopted, defying the suspicion and disgust of the rest of the country, have become foods many of us eat every day. The organic chard you bought at Kroger last week? In the early 70s, farming organically was considered a delusional act. " Jonathan's writing has been compared to a mix of Tom Wolfe and Michael Pollan. his book is a glimpse into our lives today, and gardeners will appreciate the influence of gardens on our modern-day tables. You can get a used copy of Hippie Food by Jonathan Kauffman and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $6. Great Gifts for Gardeners LOVENJOY Vintage Floral Fabric Cotton Bunting $8.19 This lovely floral banner is made of white cotton fabric and has many miniature flowers in a pink, purple, and light green embellished with stems and leaves, and a sense of warmth and elegance exudes from every little detail and makes the party more fabulous and delightful. It is double-sided so that both sides can be displayed;

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Today's Botanic Spark 2005 Today is the anniversary of the death of the founder of Home Orchard Society, Larry L. McGraw. His obituary stated that pomology was his passion for more than 50 years. Pomology is the science of growing fruit. In an effort to preserve fruit trees in the Northwest, Larry began collecting scion wood specimens in his twenties. He founded the Northwest Fruit Explorers, which was an organization that acted as a clearinghouse for fruit information and fruit growers in the Northwest. During his retirement, Larry worked as a horticulturist for the Oregon Historical Society. One day, Larry discovered an envelope that contained apple seeds that were a hundred years old. The letter inside the envelope referenced Marcus Whitman and his orchard. Marcus Whitman was a doctor who led a group of settlers West to Washington State by Wagon Train. His wife was named Narcissa, and she was very bright, a teacher of physics and chemistry. Marcus and Narcissa were part of a group of missionaries. They settled in an area now known as Walla Walla, Washington, and apparently had an orchard. Beyond that, their time in Washington was not fruitful. They attempted to convert the local Native Americans to Christianity but were unsuccessful mainly because they didn't bother to get to know or understand them. Their only daughter drowned when she was two years old. Narcissa's eyesight began to fail. When the Indians came down with measles, they blamed the settlers; specifically blaming Marcus since he was the town doctor. After almost all of the Indian children died, the surviving Indians launched an attack on the settlers and killed Marcus and Narcissa in their home on November 29, 1847. The event became known as the Whitman Massacre. The seeds that Larry found were one of the last pieces of the Whitman legacy. Larry's attempts to germinate the Whitman apple seeds were unsuccessful. However, Larry did successfully obtain apple trees from Russia for his Portland Orchard. By 1973, Larry had over 300 varieties of apples growing in his garden. Two years later, in May of 1975, Larry hosted a meeting with a group of other orchard growers. It was the official first meeting of the Home Orchard Society. During his lifetime, Larry taught thousands of people how to prune and graft fruit trees. During his 50 years of researching apples, Larry estimated that he had come across over 2,000 different apple varieties from all over the world.

Today we celebrate an eighteenth-century man who was a friend of many famous gardeners. And, the Danish surgeon associated with many wonderful plants from the Himalayas. We'll learn about the Swedish botanist who had a thing for algae and the man who started the only arboretum between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems and prose about winter's cold. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a wonderful book about weird plants. I'll talk about a beautiful item that would make the perfect Valentine's gift for a gardener or a special gift for a loved one, And, then we'll wrap things up with the story of the man who made the poinsettia a harbinger of Christmas. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Hidden women of history: Maria Sibylla Merian, 17th-century entomologist and scientific adventurer Here's a great post about Maria Sibylla Merian. Click to read all about her. Brassica Oleracea 'January King' From @GWmag 'January King' is a fantastic variety of savoy cabbage. Here's how to grow it. Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1694 Today is the birthday of a Fellow of the Royal Society, an avid gardener, and a friend to many scientific leaders in the mid-18th century in the city of London, Peter Collinson. Peter Collinson introduced nearly 200 species of plants to British horticulture - importing many from his friend John Bartram in America. When the American gardener John Custis learned that Collinson was looking for the mountain cowslip (Primula auricula), he happily sent him a sample. Auricula means ear-shaped, and the mountain cowslip is Commonly known as a bear's ear from the shape of its leaves. The cowslip is a spring-flowering plant, and it is native to the mountainous areas of Europe. Custis also sent Collinson a Virginia Bluebell Or Virginia cowslip ( Mertensia virginica). This plant is another Spring Beauty I can be found in Woodlands. The blue about Virginia Bluebell is so striking, and it's an old fashioned favorite for many gardeners. The Virginia Bluebell is also known as lungwort or oyster wort. The plant was believed to have medicinal properties for treating lung disorders, and the leaves taste like oysters. Virginia bluebells bloom alongside daffodils, so you end up with a beautiful yellow and blue combination together in the garden - something highly coveted and absolutely gorgeous. Collinson was not the only gardener in search of Virginia bluebells. Thomas Jefferson grew them at Monticello and loved them so much that they were often referred to as Jefferson's blue funnel flowers. Monticello ("MontiCHELLo") Collinson once wrote, "Forget not me & my garden." Given Peter's influence on English gardens, he would be pleased to know that, after all these years, he has not been forgotten. In 2010, the author Andrea Wulf popularized Collinson in the book The Brother Gardeners: A Generation of Gentlemen Naturalists and the Birth of an Obsession- one of my favorite books, by one of my favorite authors. 1786 Today is the birthday of the Danish surgeon and botanist Nathaniel Wallich. Nathaniel served as the Superintendent of East India Company's Botanical Garden in Calcutta, India. Wallich's early work involved writing a Flora of Asia. The palm Wallichia disticha ("wall-IK-ee-uh DIS-tik-uh") was named in Wallich's honor. The name of the species - disticha - comes from the Greek "distichos" ("dis" means two and "stichos" means line). Distichos refers to the leaves of this palm, which emerge in two rows on opposite sides of the stem. The Wallinchia disticha is a very special palm, and it is native to the base of the Himalayas. The trunk is quite beautiful because it is covered in a trellis of fiber mat - simply gorgeous. This palm can grow to 30 feet tall, but it is a short-lived palm with a life span of just 15 years. In 1824, Wallich was the first to describe the giant Himalayan Lily (Cardiocrinum giganteum) - the largest species of Lily. It is hardy in USDA Zones 7-9. The giant Himalayan Lily can grow up to 12 feet tall. Once it is finished blooming, the mother Lily bulb dies, but luckily, numerous offsets develop from the parent bulb. This dying off is common among plants that push a bloom many feet into the air. It takes enormous energy to create a towering and flowering stalk. If you decide you'd like to grow giant Himalayan Lilies, (and who wouldn't?) expect blooms anytime after year four. Today, the Nathaniel Wallich Memorial Lecture takes place every year at the Indian Museum in Kolkata on Foundation Day. Wallich founded the museum in 1814. Wallich is buried in Kensal Green cemetery in London alongside many prominent botanists - like James Edward Smith (a founder of the Linnean Society London), John Claudius Loudon (Scottish writer), Sir James McGrigor (Scottish botanist), Archibald Menzies (surgeon), Robert Brown (discoverer of Brownian motion), and David Don (the Linnaean Society Librarian and 1st Professor of Botany Kings College London). 1859 Today is the anniversary of the death of a Swedish botanist who specialized in algae - Carl Adolph Agardh ("AW-guard"). In 1817, Carl published his masterpiece - a book on the algae of Scandinavia. Carl's work studying algae was a major endeavor from the time he was a young man until his mid-fifties. At that time, he became the bishop of Karlstad. The position was all-consuming, and Carl put his botanical studies behind him. 1870 Today is the birthday of the physician, naturalist, and civic leader of the south-central Kansas town of Belle Plaine - Dr. Walter E. Bartlett. In 1910, Bartlett started the Bartlett Arboretum By purchasing 15 acres of land on the edge of a town called Belle Plaine - about 20 miles south of Wichita. The property had good soil, and it also had a little creek. One of Bartlett's initial moves was too dam up the creek and create a lake for waterfowl. In the flat expanse of Kansas, Bartlett was tree obsessed. He planted them everywhere - lining walkways, drives, and Riverbanks. Bartlett was all so civic-minded, and he added a baseball diamond complete with a grandstand to the arboretum and a running track and a place for trap shooting as well. After Walter died, the park was managed by his son Glenn who was a landscape architect. Glenn had studied the Gardens at Versailles - noting that they were transformed out of sand dunes and marshes. Back home, the Bartlett Arboretum had similar challenges. Glenn married Margaret Myers, who was an artist, a magazine fashion designer, a floral designer, a Garden Club organizer, and an instructor. Combining their fantastic skillsets, Glenn and Margaret turned the Arboretum into something quite beautiful. Together, they Incorporated tree specimens from all over the world. Using dredged dirt from the lake, they created Islands. At one point, the Bartlett Arboretum was the only Arboretum between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Known for its beautiful spring tradition called Tulip Time, the Arboretum featured a tulip bed with over 40,000 bulbs. In 1997, the Arboretum was sold to Robin Macy. Macy was one of the founding members of the Dixie Chicks, and she is the current steward of the Bartlett Arboretum. Naturally, Robin incorporated music into the Arb. The Facebook Group for the Arboretum recently shared a register page from April 7th, 1929, and across the top of the register, Bartlett had quoted Wordsworth, "He is the happiest who has the power to gather wisdom from a flower." The folks who tend the flowers and trees at the Bartlett Arboretum make people happy all year long. Unearthed Words Here are some poems about the winter's cold. (As I read this, it's 2 degrees in lovely Maple Grove, Minnesota.) The birds are gone, The ground is white, The winds are wild, They chill and bite; The ground is thick with slush and sleet, And I barely feel my feet." It's not the case, though some might wish it so Who from a window watch the blizzard blow White riot through their branches vague and stark, That they keep snug beneath their pelted bark. They take affliction in until it jells To crystal ice between their frozen cells ... — Richard Wilbur, American Poet, Orchard Trees - January Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. Will the Winter never go? What do beggar children do With no fire to cuddle to, Perhaps with nowhere warm to go? Snow and sleet, and sleet and snow. Hail and ice, and ice and hail, Water frozen in the pail. See the robins, brown and red, They are waiting to be fed. Poor dears, battling in the gale! Hail and ice, and ice and hail. — Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand Poet & Writer, Winter Song Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude. — William Shakespeare, English Poet, Playwright, & Actor The Winter's cheek flushed as if he had drained Spring, Summer, and Autumn at a draught... — Edward Thomas, British Poet, Essayist & Novelist, "The Manor Farm" Someone painted pictures on my Windowpane last night -- Willow trees with trailing boughs And flowers, frosty white, And lovely crystal butterflies; But when the morning sun Touched them with its golden beams, They vanished one by one. — Helen Bayley Davis, Baltimore Poet, Maryland Federation of Women's Clubs Poet Laureate, Jack Frost (Written in 1929 and sold to the Christian Science Monitor) Grow That Garden Library Weird Plants by Chris Thorogood Chris is a botanist at Oxford Botanic Garden. The cover of Chris's book is captivating - it shows a very weird plant - it almost looks like a claw - and its grasp is the title of the book weird plants. In this book published by Kew Gardens, Chris shares all of the weird and wacky plants that he's encountered during his travels. There are orchids that look like a female insect, and there are giant pitcher plants as well as other carnivorous plants that take down all kinds of prey. One thing's for certain, the weirdness factor of all of these plants has helped them survive for centuries. Gardeners will get a kick out of the seven categories that Chris uses to organize these strange species: Vampires, Killers, Fraudsters, Jailers, Accomplices, Survivors, and Hitchhikers. Chris's writing is complemented by his incredibly detailed oil paintings and his fascinating range of botanical expertise. As someone who works with student gardeners regularly, I appreciate botanists who are able to make plants interesting - taking topics and subjects that may otherwise prove boring and making them utterly captivating. Chris is that kind of garden communicator. In addition to Weird Plants, Chris is the author of Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Western Mediterranean and co-author of Field Guide to the Wild Flowers of the Algarve; bothare published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. You can get a used copy of Weird Plants by Chris Thorogood and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $9. Great Gifts for Gardeners Good Directions 0113VB Heart Fly-Thru Bird Feeder Birdfeeder, Copper Finish $68.64 The Heart Fly-Thru™ Bird Feeder by Good Directions combines simplicity with elegance. Designed to show birds you love to feed them from the bottom of your heart! The heart fly-thru bird feeder by Good Directions invites birds in for a snack, & helps birders' Favorite activity last All day long! Featuring a charming heart shape & a LONG-LASTING Copper Finish, This bird feeder is the perfect addition to any garden setting. The feeder is easy to hang, Easy to love, & because it's also see-through, it's easy-to-know-when-to-fill! Measuring 15"H x 13"W x 3" D, it's sized to hold a generous 4-1/2 lb. Of seed! A beautiful piece for Valentine's day or for a special birthday. If you know someone who loves to watch the birds from their house or deck, this will make a nice addition to any bird feeder or birdhouse collection. This gift will always remind them how much they are loved; thus, the heart design.

• Unique fly-thru design with durable, long-lasting copper finish
• Charming heart shape with Plexiglass panels for added strength and durability
• Generous 4-1/2 pound seed capacity
• Drainage holes help keep seed dry
• Measures 15"H x 13"w x 3" D
• Easy to hang and easy-to-know-when-to fill

Today's Botanic Spark 1895 Today is the birthday of the nurseryman known as "Mr. Poinsettia," Paul Ecke ("Eck-EE"), Sr. He was born in Magdeburg, Germany. Paul and his family immigrated to the United States in 1906. When Paul took over his father's nursery business located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood in the early 1920s, the poinsettia(Euphorbia pulcherrima) was a fragile outdoor wild plant. Paul fell in love with the Poinsettia and immediately felt that the plant was a perfect fit for the holiday season because the bloom time occurred naturally during that time. By 1924, Paul was forced out of Hollywood by the movie business, and he brought his family and the nursery to San Diego County. He and his wife Magdalena had four children, and they purchased 40 acres of land in Encinitas("en-sin-EE-tis"). It was here that Paul would turn his passion for Poinsettias into a powerhouse - at one point, his nursery controlled 90% of the Poinsettia market in the United States. At first, Paul raised poinsettias in the fields on the ranch. Each spring, the plants were harvested and then loaded on two railroad cars and sent to Greenhouse Growers all along the east coast. When Paul wasn't growing poinsettias, he was talking poinsettias. He started calling it "The Christmas Flower"; Paul was endlessly marketing poinsettias and praising their attributes as a harbinger of Christmas Initially, Paul worked to decrease the growing time of the Poinsettia. By getting the time to bloom down from 18 months to 8 months, Paul made it possible for the Poinsettia to be grown indoors. After figuring out how to propagate the plant through cuttings indoors, Paul was soon able to ship poinsettias around the world by plane. Paul's son, Paul Jr., took over the business in the 1960s. He cleverly sent poinsettias to TV shows. When the holiday programs aired, there were the poinsettias - in their glory - decorating the sets and stages of all the major programs. When Paul Junior learned that women's magazines did their photoshoots for the holidays over the summer, he began growing a poinsettia crop that piqued in July. Magazines like Women's Day and Sunset were thrilled to feature the poinsettia in their Christmas magazines alongside Christmas trees and mistletoe. This venture was regarded as the Ecke family's biggest marketing success and made the Poinsettia synonymous with Christmas. And gardeners will be fascinated to learn that the Ecke family was able to distinguish themselves as a superior grower of poinsettias by using a secret technique to keep their plants compact and hardy. Their solution was simple. They grafted two varieties of Poinsettias together, causing every seedling to branch and become bushy. Competitor Poinsettias were leggy and prone to falling open. Not so, with the Ecke Poinsettia. By the 1990s, the Ecke growing secret was out of the bag, and competitors began grafting poinsettias together in order to compete. Today the Ecke family does not grow any poinsettias on their farm in San Diego County. Finally, one of Paul's Poinsettia pet peeves is the commonly-held belief that Poinsettias are poisonous. Sometimes that fear would prevent a pet owner or a young mother from buying the plant. Paul Ecke recognized the threat posed by this false belief. He fought to reveal the truth one interview at a time. It turns out that a 50-pound child would have to eat roughly 500 poinsettia leaves before they would even begin to have a stomach ache. Furthermore, the plant is not dangerous to pets. To prove this point, Paul would regularly eat Poinsettia leaves on camera during interviews over the holiday season. When the Ecke nursery was sold in 2012, it still controlled over half the poinsettia market worldwide. During the holiday season, roughly seventy-five million poinsettia plants are sold - most to women over the age of 40.

Today we celebrate the King whose dream castle incorporated 1,200 varieties of tulips and the man who is regarded as the greatest channeler of the English rural landscape. We'll learn about the mathematician who wrote a book inspired by the Oxford Botanic Garden and the relatively young Botanic Garden that was started in the 90s for the Northern California region. Today's Unearthed Words feature a beloved American poet who wrote a poem about Flowers in Winter. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that dives deep into the behind-the-scenes of Sissinghurst - sharing all of Vita's plant choices and how she created her masterpiece. I'll talk about a garden item that can help you keep your phone clean and useable during the garden season - no more dirty or smudged screens! And then we'll wrap things up with the anniversary of an important antibiotic discovery from a soil sample taken in the great state of Indiana. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Moths And Butterflies Shift Their Symmetry To Improve Camouflage - Discover Wildlife Using predation experiments and image analysis, this new study provides insights into how camouflaged prey have evolved. A symmetrical midline makes the animal more noticeable to predators who can compare closer symmetrical patterns more easily. For The Love Of Peat - By John Walker Peat-free compost for carnivorous plants..."David Morris now grows his cobra lilies and sarracenias successfully in a basic mix of equal parts of Melcourt Growbark Pine, perlite and lime-free grit." (from John's article). Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1679 Today is the birthday of German King Karl Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach. In 1715, Karl founded the city Karl's Ruhe or Charles' Repose after he actually had a dream about building the city. At Karl's castle in Durlach, there was a large flower garden with nearly 1,200 varieties of tulips. He also had over 7,000 orange trees. In 1738, Karl died while he was working in his tulip bed. After his death, The Karlsruhe Pyramid was installed between 1823–1825 over his grave. 1805 Today is the birthday of the English painter, etcher, and printmaker Samuel Palmer. Samuel Palmer is regarded as the greatest artist of the English rural landscape. Palmer's landscapes exude a strong connection with the land and nature. Samuel was one of the lead members of an artist group called The Ancients who followed the visionary artist William Blake in the final years before his death in 1827. The Ancients often expressed their work with a mystical view of nature. For instance, Palmer painted trees with as if they had individual personalities. It was Samuel Palmer who said, "The visions of the soul, being perfect, are the only true standard by which nature must be tried." With regard to the garden, Palmer built a studio in for himself in his garden. He would access it by exiting the house through a secret door that looked like a bookcase. 1832 Today is the birthday of the English mathematician and writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson also known as Lewis Carroll. Lewis had worked as a librarian at Christ Church College in Oxford. His office window had a view of the Dean's Garden. Lewis wrote in his diary on the 25th of April in 1856 that he had visited the Deanery Garden, where he was planning to take pictures of the cathedral. Instead, he ended up taking pictures of children in the garden. The children were allowed in the Deanery Garden But not in the Cathedral Garden, which was connected to the Deanery Garden by a door. The Oxford Botanic Garden inspired Lewis Carroll to write Alice in Wonderland. The same garden also inspired the authors JRR Tolkien and Philip Pullman. In Lewis Caroll's Through the Looking-Glass is this favorite passage among gardeners: "In most gardens," the Tiger-lily said, "they make the beds too soft-so that the flowers are always asleep." 1888 Today the National Geographic Society was officially incorporated. The National Geographic Society was founded by a group of elite scholars, explorers, and scientists. National Geographic celebrates the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling. It was founded to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources." "Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help, shall all be saved." –Jane Goodall 1992 The Humboldt Botanical Garden was incorporated in the State of California. Organized by a small group of volunteers, the goal was to create an educational botanical garden for the Northern California region. The Gardens are constructed on a 44.5 -acre site south of Eureka near the Humboldt Bay adjacent to the College of the Redwoods. Unearthed Words Here's a poem from the American poet John Greenleaf Whittier called Flowers in Winter. Whittier was a Quaker. He was a staunch abolitionist and a great lover of nature. How strange to greet, this frosty morn, In graceful counterfeit of flowers, These children of the meadows, born Of sunshine and of showers! — A wizard of the Merrimac, So old ancestral legends say, Could call green leaf and blossom back To frosted stem and spray. — The settler saw his oaken flail Take bud, and bloom before his eyes; From frozen pools, he saw the pale, Sweet summer lilies rise. The beechen platter sprouted wild, The pipkin wore its old-time green The cradle o'er the sleeping child Became a leafy screen. — And, while the dew on leaf and flower Glistened in moonlight clear and still, Learned the dusk wizard's spell of power, And caught his trick of skill. — The one, with bridal blush of rose, And sweetest breath of woodland balm, And one whose matron lips unclose In smiles of saintly calm. Fill soft and deep, O winter snow! The sweet azalea's oaken dells, And hide the bank where roses blow, And swing the azure bells! Overlay the amber violet's leaves, The purple aster's brookside home, Guard all the flowers her pencil gives A life beyond their bloom. And she, when spring comes round again By greening slope and singing flood Shall wander, seeking, not in vain, Her darlings of the wood. — John Greenleaf Whittier, Flowers in Winter Grow That Garden Library Sissinghurst by Vita Sackville-West and Sarah Raven The subtitle to this book is Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden. The British poet and writer Vita Sackville-West wrote a weekly column in The Observer, where she shared her life at Sissinghurst. Who better than Sarah Raven, who happens to be married to Vita's grandson Adam Nicholson, to write this extraordinary book and to share with us Vitas love of flowers and gardening. Every year, gardeners and non-gardeners alike visit Sissinghurst for inspiration and enjoyment. In fact, Sissinghurst remains one of the most visited gardens in the world. Sarah's book is loaded with beautiful photographs and drawings that help convey the triumph of this special place for gardeners and lovers of beauty. Gardeners will especially appreciate the level of detail regarding almost every plant in the garden - why they were chosen and Vita's personal take on each plant. Vita's plant lists are part of her legacy and gift to gardeners who want to model her gorgeous plant combinations. You can get a used copy of Sissinghurst by Vita Sackville-West and Sarah Raven and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $12 . Great Gifts for Gardeners LIBERRWAY Stylus Pen 10 Pack of Pink Purple Black Green Silver Stylus Universal Touch Screen Capacitive Stylus for Kindle Touch iPad iPhone 6/6s 6Plus 6s Plus Samsung S5 S6 S7 Edge S8 Plus Note $6.98 Here's a great little item for your garden tote - it's a ten pack of stylus pens. Slip them into your garden apron, put them in your shed or garage. Keep one in your purse, pocket, or in your truck. Now when you need to use your phone and your working in the garden, you won't need to remove your gloves to use your phone.

• NO MORE BIG FINGERS - A stylus has a better touchpoint than the tip of your finger, giving better accuracy to little touch focuses like keys on the console. No more big finger troubles.
• ANTI-SCRATCH TIP - The stylus tip is made of soft, and scratch-resistant rubber. Fingerprint resistant and anti-stick screen tip, great for drawing writing, etc.
• EASY TO CARRY - It is very light and compact. The clip design is great for clipping in your pocket, iPad, diary, etc.
• SHARE THEM TO YOUR FRIENDS - Get 10 of the stylus with an unbeatable price instead of a high-priced apple pencil or Samsung pencil. You can share a stylus pen with your friends or family and still have plenty left for you.
• 1 YEAR WARRANTY! - This stylus fits for all kinds of touch screens, like iPhone 4S 5S 6/6s 6Plus 6s Plus/ iPad Samsung S7 S7 Edge S6 Edge Plus S5 Note 2 3 4 5/ Kindle 2/3/4/ Kindle Fire.

Today's Botanic Spark 1950 Science magazine announced a brand new antibiotic made by Charles Pfizer & Company, and it was called Terramycin. Pfizer & Co. Was a small chemical company that was based in Brooklyn, New York. The company developed an expertise in fermentation with citric acid. The method allowed them to mass-produce drugs. When Pfizer scientists discovered an antibiotic in a soil sample from Indiana, their deep-tank fermentation method allowed them to mass-produce Terramycin. Pfizer had been searching through soil samples from around the world - isolating bacteria-fighting organisms when they stumbled on Terramycin - found to be effective against pneumonia, dysentery, and other infections. Later in 1950, it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The name Terramycin is created from the two Latin words: terra for earth and mycin, which means fungus. - thus earth fungus. Terramycin was the first mass-marketed product by a pharmaceutical company. Pfizer spent twice as much marketing Terramycin as it did on R&D for Terramycin. The gamble paid off; Terramycin, earth fungus, made Pfizer a pharmaceutical powerhouse.

Today we celebrate a man who was an avid gardener and a friend of John Bartram's, and we learn about the founder of bacteriology and modern microbiology. We'll learn about The impact of Wardian Cases on plant exploration and the American playwright who designed her own garden on her estate. Today's Unearthed Words feature winter poems from the author of Anne of Green Gables. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a memoir from a modern scientist whose unique commentary on the natural world challenges our thinking, our responsibilities, and our actions. I'll talk about new tech to help you listen to podcasts - no matter where you are, and then we'll wrap things up with a moving editorial about Skunkweed. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles Ruskin Elwood by Fieldwork | HomeAdore You guys - this is still quite the house. Aside from the seamlessness with nature - check out the hidden bar, the light fixtures, the bathroom - basically all of it! This original three-story residence designed in 2017 by Fieldwork is situated in Melbourne, Australia. Feed birds in winter: best food to choose - The English Garden What should you feed birds in winter? Now is the time of year when gardeners can expect to see lots of visiting birds in their gardens. Great post from @tegmagazine Kate Bradbury: "Birds need fat, and plenty of it: peanuts, suet, and sunflower seeds are ideal, while grated cheese, chopped apples, and cake-crumbs help ground-feeding species such as the song thrush and wren." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles 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 1735Today Peter Collinson wrote to John Bartram after receiving Skunk Weed (Symplocarpus foetidus). My good friend, John Bartram: I am very sensible of the great pains and many toilsome steps [you took] to collect so many rare plants scattered at a distance. I shall not soon forget it; ...in some measure to show my gratitude… I have sent thee a small token: a calico gown for thy wife and some odd little things that may be of use amongst the children and family. They come in a box of books… with …. waste paper which will serve to wrap up seeds, etc [You cannot believe] how well the little case of plants survived the [journey], being put under the captain's bed, and not [exposed to any] light [until I received them]. The warmth of the ship [caused] the Skunk-weed to put forth two fine blossoms - very beautiful - it is of the Arum genus. As I hope to make a present of part of the seeds, to a very curious person, Lord Petre, I hope to procure thee some present for thy trouble of collecting. I am thy very sincere friend, P. Collinson. Skunk Weed was one of Bartram's favorite flowers. It is also known as Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), and it's a low growing wetland or marsh plant from eastern North America. The bruised leaves of Skunk Weed release a fragrance reminiscent of Skunk. The botanist William Niering wrote about the odor of Skunk Cabbage in the National Audubon Society's Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: "It's strong, and fetid odor resembles decaying flesh." Skunk Cabbages are thermogenic, meaning they have the ability to generate temperatures up to 15–35 °C (27–63 °F) above the surrounding air temp so that it thaws the frozen ground and snow as it grows in the early spring. Thanks to its ability to thermoregulate, Skunk Cabbage emerges out of the earth and looks like a little teepee of leaves. Inside that teepee, the Skunk Cabbage is warm and working on sending up a bloom. Once it does - on a 42-degree day - you can reach under the hood of a Skunk Cabbage flower, and the spadix will feel warm to the touch. As Collinson mentioned in his letter, the Skunk Cabbage is a member of the Arum family, which makes it a cousin to Jack-in-the-pulpit. In the Pacific Northwest, Skunk Cabbage leaves are still called "Indian wax paper," because the leaves were used to line baskets. And, the leaves were used in steaming pits and in food preservation. In the great Japanese bogs of Hokkaido, 10,000 visitors a day stop to see the emerging Skunk Cabbage in bloom. The visit is a traditional celebration of spring. 1828 Today is the birthday of the Prussian biologist, botanist, and writer Ferdinand Cohn. Regarded as one of the founders of bacteriology and modern microbiology, Ferdinand recognized bacteria as plants. Thanks to Ferdinand, we understand the life cycles of bacteria as well as their metabolic limitations. And, we learned that microbes could be classified by their shape (round, short rods, threads, and spirals). 1842 Today the botanist John Smith wrote a letter to Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward. Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, January 24, 1842. Dear Sir, In reply to your inquiry [regarding] the ... results obtained by [using] close-glazed cases for the transfer of living plants from one country to another, I beg to say that the several cases which have arrived… have shown that although all [some of the] plants [did not make it], still, the deaths are … few in proportion to the number that we have witnessed in cases having open lattice or wire-work lids, covered with tarpaulin ("tar-PALL-in") or some such covering. It is much to be regretted that close-glazed cases were not in use during the years ... botanical collectors were employed in New Holland and the Cape of Good Hope. For this garden: a very great number of the plants which they sent home were … dead on their arrival, [as a result of] the imperfect protection during the voyage to this country; therefore, from my experience, I have no hesitation in considering your [cases] the best for the purpose desired. I am, Sir, Your's truly, J. SMITH. For plant explorers, Wardian cases made all the difference. 1862 Today is the birthday of the American novelist, short story writer, playwright, and designer Edith Wharton. In 1904, Edith wrote Italian Villas and Their Gardens. Edith thought gardens should be a series of outdoor rooms and she wrote, "…In the blending of different elements, the subtle transition from the fixed and formal lines of art to the shifting and irregular lines of nature, and lastly, in the essential convenience and livableness of the garden, lies the fundamental secret of the old garden-magic…" Edith's summer cottage estate in Western Massachusetts was called The Mount. From The Mount, Edith could look down over her property and see her flower gardens. She designed the gardens herself. There's a sizeable French flower garden, a sunken Italien Garden, a Lime Walk with Linden trees, and even grass steps. Edith's niece was the garden designer Beatrix Jones Farrand. Unearthed Words