The Daily Gardener

Well, it's time to get serious about remaking our containers – especially on the front porch and around the front door. Editing containers from time to time is essential to keep them looking great. Sometimes combinations don't work well, other times plants can grow in unexpected ways – too tall, too bushy, or just an abject failure. With the arrival of fall, it's the perfect time to remove spent plants and replace them with selections that are more seasonally appropriate. Fall pansies are wonderful to incorporate if you live in a cold climate. They can take the colder temperatures with no problem. Of course mums and asters and even grasses are wonderful in fall pots. I always like to look for bargains at my local nurseries and big box stores. Sometimes those finds get placed in containers temporarily before they find a home in the garden. And don't forget you can include houseplants when you're working with your fall containers. Pathos and Croton, even chopped up sections from an overgrown Boston fern are tremendous additions to fall containers. Brevities

#OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the Irish botanist and friend of Linnaeus, Patrick Browne who died on this day in 1790. There are no photographs of Patrick Browne - who was also a physician; but we was described this way: "The Doctor is a tall comely man, of good address and gentle manners, naturally cheerful, very temperate and in general health." Browne's major work was The Civil and Natural History of Jamaicapublished in 1756 in which he described 104 new species. In fact, Browne's work was the first book in the English language to use Linnaeus' classification system. Linnaeus was very pleased with Browne's work. He told the botanist Peter Collinson (who was friends with John Bartram and Benjamin Franklin) that after he had read Browne's book he reflected "No author did I ever quit more instructed" and he gushed that Browne, "ought to be honored with a Golden Statue." Browne named the genus to which cloves belong: Syzygium aromaticum. #OTD Today is the birthday of the German Austrian rosarian Rudolf Geschwind who was born on this day in 1829. As a child, Geschwind loved gardening. As a young man, he studied Forestry and his first job was working for the Austro-Hungarian Department of Forestry. Although he performed excellent work in the field of forestry, Geschwind's true passion was roses. At the age of 30, Geschwind began experimenting with breeding roses. It was a pursuit he would perfect over the next five decades. Geschwind's speciality was breeding roses that were frost resistant. Geschwind created close to 150 rose cultivars. His prized collection of climbing roses were displayed at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris. When Geschwind died in 1910, the Countess Maria-Henrieta Chotek, known as "The Countess of Roses," or "The Pink Countess," purchased Geschwind's entire collection - including some which had never been made public. As a member of one of the most distinguished families of the Czech nobility, Chotek had the means to handle this impressive transfer. In fact, Chotek was so serious about the effort to preserve Geschwind's work that she sent two of her gardeners to oversee the transfer of the collection. It was no small affair - it involved packing and moving over 2,000 roses to her estate - the Manor House or Castle known as Dolna Krupa. Over a century before Dolna Krupa was the place where Beethoven is presumed to have written his Moonlight Sonata. Maria-Henrieta's great grandfather, Jozef, was friends with Beethoven and he allowed Beethoven to live at Dolna Krupa for nearly a decade. Maria-Henrieta Chotek was born almost 60 years after Beethoven's stay at Dolna Krupa in 1863. As a woman who never married, her inheritance allowed her to pursue her passion for roses with abandon - and she did. She was in her 30's when she inherited Dolna Krupa. Once it was all hers, she set about creating one of the top three rosaria in Europe. During its prime, the rosaria at Dolna Krupa rivaled the roseria in France and the Rosarium of Sangerhausen in Germany. Chotek was a woman of action and she didn't just direct activities - she was very hands on. As a rosarian herself, Chotek developed new cultivars and conducted experiments. One time while visiting an exhibition, Chotek watched as a German horticulturist named Johannes Böttner presented a rambling rose called the Fragezeichen which means the "Question Mark" (What a great name!) The rose intrigued Henrieta Chotek so much, that she immediately left for Frankfurt to see the Fragezeichen trials personally. The year 1914 marked a turning point in Chotek's life and in the fate of many of Geschwind's roses. That year, in June, the Rose Congress was held at Zweibrücken. Chotek's work and rosaria were honored. But in the days following the event, Marie Henrieta's cousin, Sophie Chotek Ferdinand, wife of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was murdered alongside her husband in Saraevo and World War I had begun. Chotek swung in to action; this time as nurse caring for wounded soldiers. When the war was over, her rosarium was destroyed. Chotek immediately set about rebuilding her rosarium. She even began a rose breeding school right on the grounds pf Dolna Krupa. But, lacking the means and the energy of youth, Chotek was never able to restore Dolna Krupa to its former glory. During WWII, Dolna Krupa was ransacked by the Russian Army. In February, 1946, destitute and sick, Chotek died while in the care of nuns. She was 83 years old. Today, the Music Museum at Dolna Krupa holds a Rose Celebration in honor of Chotek. Tourists visit Dolna Krupa, primarily to see the place Beethoven lived. Visitors bring their own baskets and collect leaves of the wild garlic that grows rampant on the grounds of the estate. Unearthed Words Here's an excerpt from a poem called A Year's Windfallsby the English poet, Christina Rossetti: "In the parching August wind, Cornfields bow the head, Sheltered in round valley depths, On low hills outspread. Early leaves drop loitering down Weightless on the breeze, First-fruits of the year's decay From the withering trees." Christina Rossetti wrote the words to two of my favorite Christmas Carols: "In the Bleak Midwinter" and "Love Came Down at Christmas". It was Christina Rossetti who said, "My garden cannot be anything other than "my self." Today's book recommendation: Colors from Nature by Bobbi McRae Colors from Nature was published in 1993. McRae shares how to grow plants to collect, prepare and use natural dyes. Today's Garden Chore Now's the perfect time to relocate your hostas to improve the aesthetic of your garden. It's hard to know sometimes when you plant a hosta how you will feel about it once it's matured. When they are little, we often place hostas in a haphazard fashion - here's an empty spot - let's stick a hosta there. If you're not careful, the garden can end up looking like the hosta version of a patchwork quilt. And while you're placing them, remember that your blue or darker hostas like more shade - while the lighter colors of the yellowy green hostas and variegated hostas can take more sun. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart #OTD On this day in 1915 Ingrid Bergman, the actress, was born in Stockholm, Sweden. (She also died on the same day in 1982 at the age of 67.) Bergman appeared in a number of films including the iconic Casablanca. In 1969, Bergman appeared in a movie called Cactus Flower. Bergman was portraying a nurse named Stephanie Dickinson working in a Dentist's office. The dentist was played by Walter Matthau. Gardeners adore the movie Cactus Flower for the following lines read by Bergman: Early in the film Bergman is talking to Matthau and she puts him in his place by saying, "Doctor, you once compared me to my cactus plant. Well, every so often, that prickly little thing puts out a flower." Then, later in the film she memorably exclaims, "My cactus! It's blooming!" Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

This past week, I started looking for perennials I want to divide. After the hail storm and siding installation we had earlier this month, I don't feel too bad about digging up the plants. The garden looks tough. Might as well dig up old plants.

I always start with my hostas - in part, because they recover so quickly. Next spring, you'll never know that they were transplanted this fall. In addition, they, like the ferns, get used make great ground covers. Got a chronic creeping charlie, creeping buttercup, or creeping anything... plant a hosta. It can handle the creepers and even if they manage to survive under the dense canopy, they aren't as vigorous and you won't see them anyway.

Brevities

#OTD On this day in 1773, French explorer and botanist Aimé Bonpland was born.

Bonpland had traveled with Alexander von Humboldt in Latin America for five years - from 1799-1804, collecting & classifying 6,000 new plants. He co-authored many books about his discoveries.

One of his journal entries says this:

"We just arrived at a town where the locals invited us to eat a dish called enchiladas. When I tried it, my tongue burned and I started to sweat. I was told that this feeling is due to a fruit called "chili." I have to analyze it ..."

#OTD Today in 1798, the first American vineyard was planted 25 miles from Lexington, Kentucky.

It was started by a Swiss immigrant named John James Dufour. He established the first successful commercial vineyard and winery in America. He called it "The First Vineyard."

Dufour had read newspaper accounts of the American Revolution as a young boy in Switzerland. What struck him most was something the French fighters had said. They were fighting alongside the colonists and they bemoaned the fact that they didn't have any wine to drink in America. It left an impression on DuFour. His grandfather and father were both vine dressers in Switzerland. Dufour wanted to bring their winemaking skills to America.

In 1796, Dufour arrived in America. Initially, he made a point of visiting Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and other estates. DuFour noticed they were working with the wild grapes, which Dufour felt were inferior.

After one year of success with "The First Vineyard", Dufour wrote to his father, brothers and sisters in Switzerland and invited them all to join him. Seventeen members of his family made the voyage.

After his family arrived, Dufour petitioned congress for the privilege of getting land in Indiana. The area had a steep valley that reminded the family of Switzerland. Congress granted a special approval for Dufour. By 1806, the first wine was made from the vineyard in Indiana, known as "The Second Vineyard" and the area became known as New Switzerland.

#OTD Today is the birthday of the man known as the King of Colorado Botany, Charles Christopher Parry, who was born on this day in 1823.

Parry discovered both the Torrey pine and Engelmann spruce which gives you a clue about his impressive mentors. Although he rubbed shoulders with the best botanists of his time, Parry's focus was not academic. He was more interested in making sure the public and the common man benefitted from his work.

In 1845 while he was at college, Parry's teacher was the great John Torrey. Parry was good friends with Asa Gray - who was also a student of John Torrey. In 1848, Parry learned about the botanical trade from the star of the Missouri Botanical Garden: George Engelmann.

In the summer of 1862 he brought Elihu Hall and J. P. Harbour on an expedition to Colorado. The men gathered ten sets of over 700 species. According to William Weber, their effort remains "the largest [collection ever] made in Colorado in a single season".

Parry spent 20 summers in Colorado - in a cabin nestled between Torrey Peak and Gray Peak - mountains he named after John Torrey and Asa Gray. Parry named another mountain Eva Peak in honor of his wife. He even named one Mount Flora.

In 1870, during a visit to England, Parry met the master botanist of his age: Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In fact, it was Hooker who referred to Parry as the "King of Colorado Botany".

And it wasn't just Colorado that Parry explored. He traveled throughout the West, amassing over 30,000 specimens for his herbarium. When Parry was collecting in California, he continued his habit of recording his thoughts into notebooks. Occasionally, he waxed poetic about the landscape. In one example from his time in California, he wrote:

"A newborn moon hangs her crescent over the western hills and by its full-orbed light we hope to see our way to winter quarters on the Pacific."

#OTD Today is the birthday of Roger Tory Peterson of Peterson's Field Guide to Birds fame - he was born in 1908.

Peterson not only wrote the guides, he also illustrated them.

Peterson was the noted American naturalist who brought the natural world to the masses in the 20th century. A son of Jamestown, New York, Peterson helped new generations of people fall in love with ornithology.

Peterson admired the gumption of the common starling. He felt blue jays had "a lot of class" and he said the house sparrow was "an interesting darn bird."

Peterson once famously described a purple finch as a "Sparrow dipped in raspberry juice (male)."

When it came to the Audobon Oriole, Peterson quipped that its song was like "a boy learning to whistle."

What was Roger Tory Peterson's favorite bird? The King Penguin.

Here are some famous Peterson quotes:

"Few men have souls so dead that they will not bother to look up when they hear the barking of wild Geese."

"Birds have wings; they're free; they can fly where they want when they want. They have the kind of mobility many people envy."

"Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we'll soon be in trouble."

Unearthed Words

Today's book recommendation: Midwest Foraging by Lisa M. Rose

If you're a beginner forager, and most of us fall in to that category, this beautifully formatted guide will be your go to resource - even advanced foragers find it helpful. Lisa's plant profiles include color photos, tips for identification, and excellent ideas for both eating and preserving your treasures. Lisa's friendly and matter-of-fact approach shines through in this work; she takes the fear out of foraging!

Today's Garden Chore

August is the perfect time to sow winter salads for the greenhouse or cold frame.

Thought it's tempting to say, "Let us wait," wise gardeners know that WSR's(Winter Salad Requirements) are more fully satisfied when effort is made in August.

Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart

It was on this day in 2002, that Spaniards threw 120 tons of tomatoes at each other at the annual Tomatina festival in Bunol, Spain.

Every year, on the last Wednesday of August, the town of Buñol, in #Spain, celebrates the biggest tomato fight in the world and Spain's messiest festival: ¡¡¡¡LA TOMATINA!!!!

Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today is National Banana Lovers Day.

Botanically speaking, the banana is a berry - a many seeded fruit.

And, banana trees are not trees. The banana plant is a giant herb. Inside the guts of the banana tree trunk is a white tube. It may be cooked, and tastes like bamboo shoots.

Under a black light (ultraviolet or UV), ripe bananas glow a beautiful bright blue. Scientists believe this is a signal to banana eating animals like insects and bats that can see UV light.

In 1690, the first shipments of bananas reached Salem, Massachusetts. They tried boiling them with pork. Needless to say, it took another 200 years for bananas to catch on in North America.

Today, average U.S. banana consumption is almost 30 pounds per year.

Until the early 1800s in Hawaii, most banana varieties were 'kapu' - forbidden for women of Hawaii to eat, under penalty of death.

Banana's are facing a huge threat in the form of a pathogenic fungus called Fusarium wilt tropical race 4 (TR4) or Panama Disease. TR4 was first discovered in Taiwan in the 1990s. It has slowly made its way around the world. Just this month, on August 8th, researchers confirmed that TR4 is infecting banana plants in Latin America - Columbia declared a national state of emergency. This may seem extreme or over-reactive to people who don't realize that the fungus, TR4, lives in the soil for decades, making the land unlivable for future banana crops. TR4 first attacks the roots before spreading through the rest of the plant. Unfortunately, fungicides do not work against the disease.

Thanks to Sir Joseph Paxton, the English gardener, architect and politician, who cultivated the Cavendish banana - who named it after William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire who fancied them. In November 1935, five years after receiving a specimen imported from Mauritius, Joseph Paxton's plant finally flowered and by the following May it was loaded with more than 100 bananas, one of which won a medal at that year's Horticultural Society show.

Today, bananas still grow on the Devonshire estate and the Cavendish banana is the most-consumed banana in the western world - it accounts for 99.9% of bananas in the western world - it accounts or 99.9% of bananas traded globally. It replaced a tastier variety who was wiped out be a fungal disease in the 1950s.

Today, work is underway to create a Cavendish banana replacement. Although, earlier this month, a scientist predicted, "Eventually, it will not be possible to produce the Cavendish banana variety for international trade."

We eat the variety of banana known as the Cavendish banana.

Brevities

#OTD Today is the birthday of Maria van Oosterwijck who was born on this day in 1630.

Oosterwijck was an incredible Dutch Golden Age painter, specializing in flower paintings and still life. Her art was rich, vividly detailed, and incredibly realistic. Her still lifes of flowers in ornate vases were often set against a dark background and featured flowers like sunflowers, roses, carnations, hyacinths, parrot tulips, berries and her most famous paintings included a red admiral butterfly.

In her 40's, her studio was opposite another flower painter by the name of Willem van Aelst. He attempted to woo Maria, but her heart belonged really only to her art. When he kept asking her, she finally agreed to marry him if he could prove that he could match her work ethic - he needed to paint every day, for 10 hours a day, for a year... only then would she marry him. Well, he couldn't do it and Maria remained single throughout her life.

Oosterwijck's paintings were purchased by Kings and Emperors after she smartly secured an agent to market her work.

#OTD Today is the birthday of the botanist Edwin James who was born on this day in Vermont in 1797.

As a young man, James compiled the very first Flora of Vermont plants.

James went on one of the first expeditions of the American West from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. He discovered the mountain Columbine, Aquilegia caerulea which ultimately became known as the Colorado Blue Columbine and the State Flower of Colorado.

An account of James' climb of Pikes Peak on July 13, 1820, states:

"A little above the point where the timber disappears entirely, commences a region of astonishing beauty . . . covered with a carpet of low but brilliantly flowering alpine plants. . ."

James' phrasing, "a region of astonishing beauty," became the title of a 2003 book on the botanical history of the Rocky Mountains by Roger Lawrence Williams.

After the expedition, James married and settled in Burlington, Iowa. His home was a stop on the Underground Railroad. James died in 1861 after an accident. A monument to James was installed on Pike's Peak and the Des Moines County Medical Society planted Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine on his grave in the Rock Springs Cemetery. Newspaper accounts said the location was in the most picturesque part of southeastern Iowa.

#OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Emil Christian Hansen, who died on this day in 1909.

#OTD Today is the birthday of the English botanist Brian Lawrence Burt who went by "Bill."

Unearthed Words

Today's book recommendation: Nueva Salsa by Rafael Palomino

Rafael Palomino is a world-famous chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author. This cookbook, Nueva Salsa, was published in 2003.

Salsas offer tremendous flavor, variety, and spice. They are quick and easy to make at home. Nueva Salsa features over 60 fantastic recipes including tomato-based versions as well as salsas that are Asian-inspired. There's a decadent Fruit Salsa and Three Berry Salsa which is the perfect accompaniment to desserts, shortbreads, and ice creams.

You can get used copies of Nueva Salsa on Amazon using the link in today's show notes for a little over a dollar!

Today's Garden Chore

Incorporate more tall herbs into your garden by utilizing the area in the back of your beds.

Herbs like dill, comfrey, hyssop, fennel, and lovage work great in the back of your ornamental beds.

Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart

110 years ago today, a little article appeared in The St. John Weekly News out of St. John, Kansas. it was titled "Making Home Attractive" and it was written by Ruth Cameron.

Here's what it said:

"There ought not to be such thing as an unlovely home outside the city the next two months.

For all the threadbare, barren spots of the poorest home may be covered and healed by the beauty brought in from outside.

It takes but a very little time to bring some of the flowers that bloom In the fields and gardens into the house.

And yet many a time I've seen the garden gay with rose and poppy, pansy and nasturtium, and the house flowerless or maybe illy decorated with one or two bowls of half decaying flowers.

You haven't just the little time necessary?

Then make it the children's daily 'task to keep the flower vases freshly filled.

Teach them to have pride in it. Remember occasionally to comment in their presence to a visitor on some tasteful arrangement they have made, and you need never have an empty vase as long as the flowers last.

And not only will you have beautified the house thereby, but you will also have curtailed Satan's proverbial chance of hunting up mischief for idle hands.

If you can possibly manage it - and It's worth while to try to make the time even if you have to leave a few specks of dust on the mopboard behind the bookcase - go out occasionally with the children and help them gather the flowers.

Teach them harmony of color and grace of arrangement.

Perhaps in doing the latter, a principle [that] an artist friend taught me may help:

"If possible never rearrange flowers," he said. "Just as you gather them is nature's arrangement and it Is best."

And if you do manage to make some of these morning excursions with your children into the garden or field, the chances are that you will bring back to your work something even better than flowers.

Don't be satisfied with a few vases. Have two or three in every room.

Not just in the dining room and living room, but in every chamber and the kitchen for good measure.

A vase of nasturtiums over the sink or a bowl of pansies on the kitchen table isn't going to make it any harder to do the dishes or fill the lamps.

So many vases cost, you say?

How much? For ten cents you can get a slim, tall glass vase that, filled with your peonies or roses, would be a fit ornament for a duchess' piano.

For eleven cents you can buy a blue Japanese bowl that overflowlng with your nasturtiums, wouldn't look bad on a queen's breakfast table.

And when you are picking the flowers that probably you've had too many of to half appreciate, don't forget the people who are unlucky enough to know how to appreciate a single flower.

Probably, there is a flower mission handy ready to take anything you may give to these who need.

If there isn't, try at least once or twice this summer being a flower mission to some poor shut-ins all by yourself."

Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Sometimes I think cutting your bangs are a great analogy for pruning in the garden. You know how when your bangs are growing out - maybe a little past your eyebrows - and you think, "I am gonna grow these bangs out. I'm gonna have amazing hair." Then, they start to go past your nose and you realize that this was a complete mistake. Then, you don't have the stamina to make it all the way to having no bangs, and it's time to get this crazy idea back in check. Sometimes, the thing same thing happens with the flowers that are spilling into your paths and walkways. Today, the student gardeners and I clipped back the cat mint that of been allowed to go wherever it wanted - in addition to the sumac and artemisia. Sometimes, even though it requires extra courage, it's necessary to prune things back. When it's done, your garden looks a little lighter, a little more put together, and everybody seems happier that work was done. The garden feels brand new and ready to show off it's new haircut to the world. Brevities

#OTD Today is the day that Catholics celebrate the patron of gardeners and flowers - it's at Saint Rose of Lima day. Saint Rose worked to serve the poor. She was a Dominican. There was a malaria epidemic during the 1600s and Saint Rose worked to heal the sick and in some cases, she did. Saint Rose was the first saint born in the Americas. When she was born, her parents named her Ysabelle but she became known as a Rose. One time, when she was sleeping in her cradle, her mother saw the figure of a rose on the side of her cheek and she started calling her Rose. She was also called Rose because of her beauty. Sadly, Rose died in 1617; she was just 31 years old. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the Scottish ornithologist and poet Alexander Wilson. Wilson immigrated to the United States from Paisley Scotland. His family called him Sandy. He quickly became one of the foremost naturalists of his time. Before John James Audubon, there was Alexander Wilson - who was born the 20 years before Audubon. Wilson is known as the father of American ornithology. Wilson wrote the very first ornithology of American birds. When Wilson completed his publication, which he had prepared in nine volumes, it was sold for an exorbitant price: $120. Even John James Audubon passed on owning a copy for that sky-high price. Wilson ended up living at Gray's Ferry, where he took charge of a school founded by John Bartram. Right down the street, lived William Bartram, of all people. Bartram operated his own nursery called Bartram Botanical Gardens and he became a mentor for Wilson. Bartrum was the best kind of mentor; encouraging and honoring of Wilson's unique talents and interests. In fact, it was actually William Bartram who helped Wilson learn to draw birds.

#OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of Eliza Sullivant. She had been taught by her husband about botany and other subjects. When she died in 1850, her husband William Starling Sullivant praised her drawings of mosses. Eliza was his second wife. His first wife died following the birth of their child. Sullivant fell in love with Eliza about the same time he fell in love with botany. The Sullivants lived in a gorgeous Italianate home that they called Sullivant Hill. There was a large pasture there and Sullivant would get up early in the morning and walk through it; identifying the flowering plants, grasses, and sedges. He got curiouser and curiouser about botany. Before you know it, he was corresponding with Dr. Asa Gray from Harvard and Dr. John Torrey from Princeton. Once when Sullivan was botanizing in Highland county, Ohio. He ran across a little plant with tiny delicate white flowers and ornate leaves. He sent it to Gray and Torrey. They, in turn, named it Sullivantii ohioensis. Sullivant's herbarium, which had nearly 10,000 specimens, was donated to Harvard through Dr. Asa Gray. #OTD Today is the birthday of Hazel Marguerite Schmoll who was born in McAlester, Kansas on this day in 1890. Schmoll was born in a sod cabin. Her family settled in Colorado when she was just two years old. Schmoll was the first woman to earn a doctorate in botany from the University of Chicago. Schmoll had the opportunity, early on in her career, to work with Alice Eastwood. She mostly mounted and catalog specimens. 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." Unearthed Words "In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil. And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb color effects as from August to November." - Rose G. Kingsley, The Autumn Garden, 1905

Today's book recommendation: The Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer I remember the first time I grew Prickly Pear Cactus in my garden and I fell immediately in love with it. This charming cookbook celebrates the Prickly Pear Cactus. The spines of the plant actually protect it from being eaten. Fortunately, we've found a way around that. The cookbook contains 60 recipes for using the fruit of the cactus, in addition to the pads – all of which are edible and all of which are nutritious. And Niethammer teaches that it is increasingly included in the treatment of diabetes. Niethammer is a wild food expert and a master cook.

Today's Garden Chore

Now is a fantastic time to start thinking about spring plant swaps.

Here's a garden little hack you can try to make your spring rush a little easier. Take your divisions now and pot them up in soil with a heavy amount of perlite. And, then dig the pots into the ground. They'll be thrilled to overwinter there and they'll look fabulous in the spring.

Then, when everyone is going bananas the day or two before the plant swap, you can go and grab a coffee and then pat yourself on the back for making great use of your fall divisions.

Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart

Today in 1942, the Michigan Botanical Club summer meeting was held at the university of Michigan Biological Station at Douglas lake. It was a three day meeting lasting through August 26 and it was held in conjunction of the Sullivant Moss Society, named in honor of William Starling Sullivant mentioned earlier in today's episode. Happy coincidence. During the meeting there were daily field trips and evening discussions about mosses and lichens and liver warts. This focus on mosses was something new to the members of the Wildflower Association who were in attendance. The records show that,

"they were apparently amazed and delighted at having found an entirely new world of nature." It was reported that one of their members, Fred Case, Jr had been stricken with polio and couldn't attend the meeting. So, the members put together a dish garden containing: a seedling pitcher plant, a one-inch tall cedar, 25 or 30 mosses and other woodland plants. Fred was just 15 years old and he had already written a treaty called Orchids of the Western Great Lakes Region which he had dedicated to the botanist Marjorie T. Bingham, who was his teacher and friend. Fred had organized all of the members of the first junior chapter of the Michigan Wildflower Association in Saginaw. The group was really his Boy Scout Troop. They had started up wildflower sanctuary on his dad's place. But, all of the junior members entered the armed services during World War II ... except for Fred - thanks to his polio diagnosis. When the men returned from the war, they went on with their lives and the junior chapter of the Saginaw Wildflower Association closed. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

How do you start adding living mulch to your garden? One of the simplest ways, is just to look for the spots in your garden that are bare. Look for the open areas and start there. Look under your shrubs. Look along the edges of your beds. Instead of adding another layer of mulch, add plants. Think about planting these living mulches in terms of planting families. In other words, planting en masse. This is what the naturalists and ecologists do naturally; They think about plants in terms of population. New gardeners tend to think of A PLANT and not A PLANTING; so think bigger. Think community. Think about the way you see plants occurring naturally. Even the weeds tend to show up with their brothers and sisters. If one finds purchase, they send out an Evite. The next thing you know, there's a family reunion of Canadian Thistle or Creeping Charlie and you get to be the host. With this in mind, it's right about this time of year, that I remind myself how much I like the giant allium. And, how I fervently wish I would've planted that allium as a member of a very, very, very large extended family; the Everybody Loves Raymond kind of family, because one can never have enough allium. Brevities #OTD Today is St. Bernard Tolomeo's Day, the Patron Saint of Olive Growers. Saint Bernard was from Tuscany and he was born there in 1272. He was going to be a lawyer, but then he pursued the church after he recovered his eyesight after an illness. He'd made a deal with God. He chose the name Bernard after the habit of Clairvaux - we mentioned him yesterday - he is the patron saint of bees and beekeepers. Bernard became the patron Saint of Olives because t he Abbey where Tolomeo lived, St Mary of Olivet, was the site of an olive plantation. The location became known as Mount Olivet. Here are some here are a few quick fun facts about Olives: Olives are a fruit and not a vegetable. The first olive harvest occurs after 15 years of growing. The next time you're feeling impatient, remember the olive. Olive trees are some of the oldest live plants on earth. They're considered evergreens. One of the oldest all of trees is on the island of Crete is an Olive and it's estimated to be about 4,000 years old and it is still producing fruit. Finally, the color of the fruit is completely dependent on the maturity – unripe fruit is green and the ripe is dark purple to black (like tomatoes and peppers). #OTD It was on this day that the botanist George Taylor died in 1891. Taylor had immigrated from Scotland at the age of 53. He brought his family to the United States and they settled in Kalamazoo Michigan in 1855. Taylor's brothers were already there, so it was an easy decision. Once he got settled, George became known as "Celery" after he started growing celery commercially. Kalamazoo had what was called "muckland" which was "valueless for anything other than growing to celery." Once, when a botanist visited the area, he said that the land was black muckland of a peaty nature which is best for celery. In Kalamazoo, there is a little plaque dedicated to George Celery Taylor. Thanks to Taylor, Kalamazoo became known as the Celery City or Celeryville In 1880, the Detroit Free Press shared an article that talked about the celery beds that were growing. It said this: "Driving north from Kalamazoo, through the country, one passes great 100-acre farms devoted to the sweet-scented celery, reminding one of that Methodist hymn: 'Sweet fields beyond stand dressed in living green.' One would never forget a drive through the celery gardens in any direction from Kalamazoo; the long rows keeping their bright green till November, as crop follows crop; and the fields being unmarred by fences or anything except the cozy cottages of the thrifty Hollanders." And there was a fun little article that was posted in The Herald Press out of St Joseph Michigan in 1956. It talked about the early days of celery growing and it had an adorable story about George Celery Taylor: "In the fall of 1856, there was a big party that was going to be held at the Burdock House Hotel on December 19. It was going to be a big gathering with lots of people from all over and Mr. Taylor thought it would be a good opportunity to advertise celery. As the unknown vegetable, [Taylor] persuaded the owner of the hotel to put celery on his menu and the people were curious about it. They asked, "how do you eat this?" "Is it grown from seed?" It just grew in popularity from there."

In the 1870s, the celery growers would have children sell it on the street which created a demand for celery. They also met all of the trains that that came into town. They would give it to the conductors on the New York trains and asked them to take a bunch. The next thing you know, the market for celery was off to the races. #OTD It was on this day that the botanist and German poet Adelbert van Chamiso died. When he was 30, Chamiso ended up in Switzerland where he decided to devote himself to botanical research. In 1815, he was appointed the botanist for a Russian expedition. He collected on the Cape of Good Hope. He ended up in the San Francisco Bay area and he wrote about the California poppy which he named Eschscholzia californica after his friend Johanns Friedrich Von Eschscholz. In return, Eschscholz named a bunch of plants after him - a little quid pro quo. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of Dorothy Adlington Cadberry who died on this day in 1987. As a botanist, Dorothy was an expert on pond weeds. Dorothy was also a quaker and she was devout her entire life through. In 1937, she joined the Wildflower Society and every year she would write down records; taking notes on the landscape her. Then, she'd send them to the society as soon as the first signs of life happened in her garden and in the world around her. Sometimes when spring came early, she sent the records as early as the first week of March. Dorothy was also a business person. She was the director of Cadberry; the world's second-largest candy company. #OTD On this day in 2005, we lost the botanist Mary Bowerman, who was the co-author of The Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo California. Bowerman was responsible for the preservation of thousands of acres of Mount Diablo before she died at the age of 97. Bowerman was last person to record the Mount Diablo buckwheat until it was re-discovered, after 70 years, in 2005. She was clearly an expert on the flora of Mount Diablo; she spent over 75 years studying it. Her doctoral advisor was none other than Willis Linn Jepson - the Botany Man. Bowerman was his last surviving student when she died. She wrote once, "Little did I know, 65 years ago, that my senior project would become my life's work." Bowerman worked tirelessly toward her dream, "that the whole of Mount Diablo including its foothills should remain open space and that the visual and natural integrity will be sustained." She got her wish. Unearthed Words "August creates as she slumbers, replete and satisfied." - Joseph Wood Krutch "The brilliant poppy flaunts her head Amidst the ripening grain, And adds her voice to sell the song That August's here again." - Helen Winslow

Today's book recommendation: Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs This is such a good book. You get to learn how to make your own herbal remedies - and Gladstar make it makes it so easy. She's been training herbalists for 25 years at her Sage Mountain Retreat Center in Vermont. This is an excellent guide for figuring out some herb basics and their practical uses from one of the best herbalists in America. Today's Garden Chore Try planting Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis. If you have a wet spot in your garden, Cardinal Flower could be perfect for that spot. Cardinal Flower doesn't have to be red. The easy-care native perennial can sends up spikes of white or pink, (in addition to red), from midsummer to fall. Cardinal flower grows in zone 3 - 9. The plants grow 2-4 feet tall. Cardinal Flower is also a major pollinator plant; the birds love it, the butterflies love it, and even hummingbirds love it. And bonus: it's also deer and rabbit resistant. It grows well in sun or part shade.

Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Finally, here's a little post from a columnist named Ruth Oren, out of a newspaper in Lebanon, Pennsylvania in 1966. I read it and I thought you would enjoy it. It's a little reminder about not overdoing it in the fall: "Midsummer is the time to enjoy a "no-gardening" garden. If you find yourself up to your ears in gardening chores, something is wrong.

This pause in mid-summer is necessary for humans as well as plants. What's the point of creating a lovely garden and never having the time to enjoy it? Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

"You don't have a garden just for yourself. You have it to share." - Augusta Carter, Master Gardener, Pound Ridge, Georgia Pass-along plants have the best stories, don't they? They have history. They have personal history. One of my student gardeners had a grandmother who recently passed away from breast cancer. Her mom was no green thumb. But, when her daughter started working in my garden, she let me know that her mom had some plants and her dad was looking for a place for them. Would I be willing to take one? Sure. Absolutely, I said. Next thing I knew, a few weeks later, Mom is walking up my driveway caring one of the largest Jade plants I've ever seen. The plant was in a container the size of a 5 gallon paint bucket and the plant was just as tall. I took the plant from her with a promise to take good care of it. When she turned to leave, I asked her mom's name. I like to name my pass-along plants after the people I get them from; and, that's when the tears started. When she left, I brought it over to the potting bench and let it sit for a few days. Then, my student gardeners and I set about dividing it and taking care of it. It was a good thing we did it - because the minute we started to take it out of the pot it became very apparent that this plant was severely waterlogged. It wouldn't of made it have a knot rescued it from the pot. We removed as much potting soil as we could. We split the plant in half and put them into separate clay pots which were very heavily perlited; which was just what the doctor ordered. It's the perfect environment and now it's doing fantastic. But, I'd be lying if I didn't say that it had a little more special meaning to me than just your typical jade plant -because of the look on this woman's face when she gave me this plant; passing on this little, living thing that her mom had nurtured. Brevities #OTD Today is Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's day; he was the patron saint of beekeepers. He's also the patron saint of bees and candlemakers. St. Bernard was a doctor of the church and a French Abbot. He was apparently a fabulous preacher, with excellent speaking skills. He became known as the "honey sweet" doctor for his honey sweet language; he would draw people in. When he decided to become a part of the monastery, he had to give up and get up and give a testimony. History tells us that his testimony was so compelling that thirty members of his family and his friends decided to join the monastery. That's how he became associated with bees; all that sweet talk. And it was Saint Bernard who said, "Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters." #OTD Today is the birthday of Edward Lee Green; who was born on this day in 1843. Green performed yeoman's work when it came to the plants of the American West; naming or describing or even re-describing over 4,400 species. Before Green made his way west, he reached out to Asa Gray of Cambridge and George Englemann of St. Louis at the Missouri Botanic Garden. They gave him good counsel and in 1870, he started traveling to Colorado, California, Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona. He eventually settled in Berkeley as a church rector. In the early 1880s, an interesting thing happened: he left the episcopal church and he became a Catholic. While he was becoming Catholic, Green began lecturing at the University of California, where he became the curator of the herbarium. When he and the University's President didn't agree on nomenclature for the plants, he ended up accepting a job at Catholic University in Washington DC, where he worked until 1904. At that point, he ended up going to the Smithsonian. When he was there, he transferred his herbarium and published his masterpiece called Landmarks of Botanical History Part One. Part Two was never completed. #OTD It was on this day in 1863 that a botanist preserved a specimen of milkweed about 15 days after the battle of Gettysburg. Drexel University shared this story back in 2018. A curatorial assistant at the botany department named Elana Benamy was digitizing plant images. She came across an image of milkweed - which is pretty common - but what made her take a double take was the date and location of the plant specimen. The plant was labeled "Battlefield of Gettysburg, August 20, 1863." The battle in Gettysburg had occurred during the first three days of July. So this specimen had been gathered about seven weeks after the battle, and about five weeks after Frederick Law Olmsted had walked the field. Elana asked, "Can you imagine why on earth would someone be out plant collecting [there]?" As it turns out, the reason made perfect sense. The collector was a man named Thomas Meehan. Meehan had worked for Andrew Eastwick who was the owner of Bartrum's garden in Philadelphia. Afterward, Meehan opened up his own nursery in Germantown. In 1853, his younger brother, Joseph, had come to the United States from England. The younger Meehan brother was working in the greenhouses for his brother when he enlisted to fight in the Civil War. As the battle of Gettysburg began, the younger Meehan was taken prisoner; but with the defeat of the army he was given battlefield parole on July 4th. Historians now speculate that Thomas' brother, Joseph, might still of been at Gettysburg or Thomas might've gone out with him on a botanizing trip there. In either case, 33 years later, Joseph would write a beautiful account of the landscape in an article for a gardening magazine called, Battlefield Flowers: Floral Treasures of Gettysburg. Apparently, both brothers had inherited a love of plants. #OTD It was on this day in 1912 that the Plant Quarantine Act was enacted. It gave the Health Inspection Office the authority to regulate, the importation and interstate movement of, nursery stock and other plants that may carry pests or disease. This is why if you've been stopped in the airport with a plant - it's thanks to the Plant Quarantine Act. The Act is thanks, in part, to the work of David Fairchild. When he brought that first shipment in of Cherry trees from Japan, to be placed along tidal basin in Washington DC, they were infected with disease and insects. So that in part, lead to the Plant Quarantine Act - so that something like that would not happen again. #OTD Today we wish a happy birthday to the man with a last name all gardeners covet:the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant, who was born on this day in 1948. Unearthed Words Today we celebrate the birthday of the poet Edgar Albert Guest. Guest was known as the People's Poet during the first half of the 20th century. His poems were happy and hopeful; which is why people like them. Here's his poem called To Plant a Garden: If your purse no longer bulges and you've lost your golden treasure, If at times you think you're lonely and have hungry grown for pleasure, Don't sit by your hearth and grumble, don't let mind and spirit harden. If it's thrills of joy you wish for get to work and plant a garden! If it's drama that you sigh for, plant a garden and you'll get it You will know the thrill of battle fighting foes that will beset it. If you long for entertainment and for pageantry most glowing, Plant a garden and this summer spend your time with green things growing. If it's comradeship you sight for, learn the fellowship of daisies. You will come to know your neighbor by the blossoms that he raises; If you'd get away from boredom and find new delights to look for, Learn the joy of budding pansies which you've kept a special nook for. If you ever think of dying and you fear to wake tomorrow, Plant a garden! It will cure you of your melancholy sorrow. Once you've learned to know peonies, petunias, and roses, You will find every morning some new happiness discloses. Today's book recommendation: Rose Recipes from Olden Times by Eleanor Sinclair Rhode This is an oldie but goodie and it was published back in 1973. The author teaches many applications for working with roses including how to crystallize the petals and preserve the buds, how to use the rose leaves to flavor wines and vinegar, and how to use roses in medicinal ways. So much rose wisdom has been lost to time. It's wonderful to have resources like this still available. This book offers 83 recipes all together thanks to the herbalist Eleanor Sinclair Rhode, who gathered her information from a number of legendary herbalists, such as Sir Hugh Platt, Gervase Markham. Today's Garden Chore Pick herbs for fresh use and also for drying. Most herbs have a more concentrated flavor if they are not allowed to bolt or flower. Frequent harvesting will also accomplish that. As a bonus, harvesting encourages fresh, vigorous growth and keeps them growing longer into the season. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Here's another excerpt from a letter that Elizabeth Lawrence wrote to her sister on August 20, 1940: "I have finished [the chapter on] Summer, and I only have [the chapter on] Fall to do—which is short. I hope I can get it done quickly, and have time to rewrite after your reading. If you get back before I do [from a trip with Bessie and sister Ann], and can find time to look into my garden, will you see if Nerine undulata is in bloom? And if it is, pick it when all of the flowers are out, and put it in your refrigerator until I get back. It bloomed last year while I was gone, and I have never seen it, and it is the most exciting bulb I have. I enclose a map of where it is, and of other things that might bloom. Don't bother about any of them—don't look for Ridgeway [color chart]. I am taking it with me in case we get to any nurseries.…" Nerine undulata is an Amaryllis. It grows 18 inches tall and has umbels of 8-12 slender, crinkled pale pink flowers and it blooms in autumn. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today is National Potato Day. Here are some fun potato facts: The average American eats approximately 126 pounds of spuds each year. And, up until the 18th century, the French believed potatoes called leprosy. To combat the belief, the agronomist Antoine Auguste Parmentier became a one-man PR person for the potato. How did Parmentier get the French people to believe that the potato is safe to eat? Good question. Parmentier cleverly posted guards around his potato fields during the day and put the word out that he didn't want people stealing them. Then, he purposefully left them unguarded at night. As he suspected, people did what he thought they would do; steal the potatoes by the sackful by the light of the moon and they started eating them. Later, Marie Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair. The Idaho Potato, or the Russet Burbank, was developed by none other than Luther Burbank in 1871. Brevities #OTD Today is the birth of Jane Webb who married the prolific writer of all things gardening: John Claudius Loudon. Jane was special. She was an amazing writer in her own right but she also possessed an inner determination; she was a survivor. When her father lost the family fortune and died penniless when Jane was only seventeen, it was the beginning of her career writing Science Fiction. For her times, Jane wrote Science Fiction in a unique way. She incorporated predictable changes in technology and society. For instance, the women in her books wear pants. In any case, her book The Mummy was published anonymously, in 1827, in three parts. In her book, Jane featured something she imagined would come to pass: a steam plow. That's what attracted the attention of John Claudius Loudon - her future husband. Loudon wrote a favorable review of her book but he also wanted to meet the author. Loudon didn't realize Jane had written the book using a nom de plume of Henry Colburn. Much to Loudon's delight, Henry was Jane; they fell in love and married a year later. The Loudons were considered high society and their friends included Charles Dickens. John's arms stopped working as he grew older, after an attack of rheumatic fever. As a result, Jane became his arms; handling most of his writing. When his arms got so bad that surgeons needed to amputate his right arm, they found him in his garden which he said he intended to return to immediately after the operation. Two weeks before Christmas 1843, John was dictating his last book called, A Self Instruction to Young Gardeners. Around midnight, he suddenly collapsed into Jane's arms and died. Jane completed the book on her own. #OTD It was on this day in 1843, that the Massachusetts Horticultural Society held their exhibition of flowers. They kicked things off by writing about their phlox. Here's what they said: "The Phloxes were very splendid, and it gives us great pleasure to see that our friends are engaged in raising seedlings of this beautiful class of plants. Instead of importing Phloxes from England, as we have heretofore done, we hazard but little when we state that it will not be many years (if our friends persevere in raising seedlings) before we shall be able to send our English friends varieties, that will surprise them for their beautiful form and richness of color." #OTD Today is the birthday of Ellen Ann Willmott who was an English horticulturalist who was born in 1858. Ellen was the oldest in her family of three daughters. In 1875, her parents moved to Warley Place, which was set on 33 acres of land in Essex. Ellen lived there for the rest of her life. All of the Willmott's were gardeners and they often gardened as a family. They created an alpine garden complete with a gorge and rockery. This was something that Ellen's father allowed her to do to commemorate her 21st birthday. When her godmother died she received some pretty significant money. When her father died, Warley Place went to her. Ellen planted to her hearts content; and given the size of the property, it's no wonder that she hired over 100 gardeners to help her tend it. Ellen was no shrinking violet. She had a reputation for firing any gardener who allowed a weed to grow in her beds. And, she only hired men. There's a famous quote from her that is often cited, "Women would be a disaster in the border." It was a good thing that Ellen had so much money, because she sure liked to spend it. She had three homes: one in France, Warley Place, and another in Italy. Ellen also paid for plant hunting expeditions. Since she paid for them, the plants that were discovered on those expeditions were often named in her honor. And, Ellen hired some pretty impressive people to do her plant collecting. For example, Ellen even sponsored Ernest Henry Wilson. When Ellen receive the Victoria Medal of Honor in 1897, she was honored alongside Gertrude Jekyll. In the end, Ellen died penniless and heartbroken. Warley Place became a nature preserve. #OTD Today is the birthday of The Botany Man - Willis Linn Jepson - who was born on this day in 1867. Carved on his tombstone are the following words: "Profound Scholar, Inspiring Teacher, Indefatigable Botanical Explorer, ... In the ordered beauty of nature he found enduring communion." Jepson attended college at Berkeley. During his junior year, he decided to start a diary. He collected everything, too - not just dates, but as much as he could. It was a practice Jepson never abandoned and resulted in over fifty Jepson field books. In 1894, Jepson begin to think seriously about creating a Flora of California. As long as he was working on the flora, Jepson thought he might as well create a herbarium, which he considered to be his legacy. Although Jepson often said he disliked common names, he came up with many on his own. He once named a plant Mountain Misery after suffering the after effects of walking through it. By the early 1900s, automobiles were becoming mainstream but Jepson warned, "You must still go afoot if a real botanist. No field botanist should become soft and travel only in an auto." Jepson had started numbering plants for his flora in 1899. His last specimen was No. 27,571 - the Salsola kali - a little plant commonly known as Prickly Russian Thistle. Jepson collected it on October 28,1945. Earlier that year, Jepson suffered a heart attack when he attempted to cut down a dead Almond tree on his ranch. He never fully recovered from it. Jepson passed away her November 7, 1946. #OTD Today is the birthday of Henderina Victoria Scott who shared her images of time lapse photography of plants in 1904. Scott exhibited her pictures at the British Association for the Advancement of Science. She described her set up and her method for taking the pictures. Then, she proceeded to show animated photographs of flowers opening and closing their buds, and expanding and developing into flowers. She also showed the movements of climbing plants and of insects visiting flowers. None of her films or plates are known to exist. Scott's work allowed botanists and horticulturalists to see the changes that happen slowly over time in the plant world. Unearthed Words Today is the birthday of Ogden Nash, the American poet, who said, "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker." He also wrote a number of poems about gardening and flowers. MY VICTORY GARDEN by Ogden Nash Today, my friends, I beg your pardon, But I'd like to speak of my Victory Garden. With a hoe for a sword, and citronella for armor, I ventured forth to become a farmer. On bended knee, and perspiring clammily, I pecked at the soil to feed my family, A figure than which there was none more dramatic-er. Alone with the bug, and my faithful sciatica, I toiled with the patience of Job or Buddha, But nothing turned out the way it shudda. Would you like a description of my parsley? I can give it to you in one word--gharsley! They're making playshoes out of my celery, It's reclaimed rubber, and purplish yellery, Something crawly got into my chives, My lettuce has hookworm, my cabbage has hives, And I mixed the labels when sowing my carrots; I planted birdseed--it came up parrots. Do you wonder then, that my arteries harden Whenever I think of my Victory Garden? My farming will never make me famous, I'm an agricultural ignoramus, So don't ask me to tell a string bean from a soy bean. I can't even tell a girl bean from a boy bean. Today's book recommendation: Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman The Healing Herbs provides an easy-to-use A-to-Z herb encyclopedia. It explains where to find the herbs, how to use them, store them, work with them, and how to grow them. Today's Garden Chore It's never too late to plan a fall herb garden. Here are some herbs that don't mind the cold and they're easily grown from seed; I'm talking about dill, parsley, spinach, lettuce, and cilantro. I always include lettuces among my herbs - wherever I've got a spot. Now, when I make my salads, I love to include little snippets of dill. I get a little perturbed when I forget to clip some - it's ruined me. I can hardly make a salad at home without including dill. Since my son John loves Chipotle, I can't make rice anymore without incorporating cilantro. Parsley is included in so many things I cook, I always like to have Parsley around and it's wonderful that it can hang out in the garden until the bitter end. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart Today, in 1934, Elizabeth Lawrence and wrote a letter to her sister Ann: "I am so happy to get back to my rickety Corona; Ellen's elegant new typewriter made anything I had to say unworthy of its attention. The Zinnias you raised for us are magnificent. There are lots of those very pale salmon ones that are the loveliest of all, and some very pale yellow ones that Bessie puts in my room. The red ones are in front of boltonia and astilbe (white). I knew how awful the garden would be. I have come back to it before, and I knew Bessie wasn't going to do anything by herself. But that doesn't mitigate the despair that you feel when you see it. I worked two days and almost got the weeds out of the beds around the summer house. There isn't much left. There has been so much rain that the growth of the weeds was tropical." (Bessie was Elizabeth's widowed mother who shared her love of the garden.) Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Are you swimming in zucchini yet? Emily Seftel, of The Tennessean, wrote an article in 2006 that was titled Gad zuks!- which I think is hilarious; we don't use that term enough, do we? Anyway, the article started out this way: "Zucchini, the summer squash, is the Rodney Dangerfield of the produce world it gets no respect." Then, the article goes on to share some recipes, which were offered by Chef Laura Slama who said, "When you're cooking with zucchini, all you need to do is add a little olive oil and kosher salt to bring out it's flavor." The three recipes she shared, were for Mexican Zucchini Corn and Black Tostadas - that looked amazing. Then, Sautéed Zucchini Strings; which is basically zucchini that's been turned into spaghetti. And, finally, she shared an Orzo Pasta with Roasted Zucchini. One of my favorite recipes for zucchini is from The New Zucchini Cookbookand Other Squashby Nancy Ralston and Mary Jordan. It's for a zucchini basil tart:

• You drain salted zucchini and tomato slices on paper towels.
• You purée basil in a food processor with ricotta and eggs and you add mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
• Then you line a 9 inch pie shell with zucchini slices.
• Spoon the basil mixture over the top and then put tomato slices on the top.
• Then brush the whole top of it with olive oil and bake it for 40 to 50 minutes. Yum.

I'll put the link to the recipes in today show notes as well as a link to the cookbook. Brevities #OTDToday is the birthday of Magness Holman who was born in 1745. Holman was the painter who completed a portrait of Carla Ness that most people recognize. The portrait was painted around 1780. #OTD Today is the birthday of François-Andre Michaux. He was the son of the botanist Andrea Michaux. His father named an oak in his honor. Michaux's mother died a few weeks after he was born. His father was so despondent, he turned to botany to deal with his grief. His mentors just happened to be some of the top gardeners in the Royal Gardens. When François-Andre was 15 years old, he accompanied his dad to North America. His father established a botanical garden in 1786 on property that's now occupied by the Charleston Area National Airport. As you leave the airport, you'll notice a stunning mural that pays tribute the Michaux's - from the rice fields along the Ashley River to the Charleston Harbor where he introduced one of the first camellia plants. Andre-François and his father are depicted in the potager or kitchen garden. The mural was installed in 2016. François-Andre stayed in America where he established a nursery in Hackensack, New Jersey and also in Charleston, South Carolina. France was still eager to obtain trees from North America to replenish their forests and François-Andre grew them in his nursery. He returned to France briefly in 1790 and participated in the French revolution. By 1801, he returned to the United States because the French government wanted him to get rid of the nurseries in Hackensack and Charleston. François-Andre did as instructed and also explored the United States as far north as Maine, as far south as Georgia, and as far west as the Great Lakes. After his explorations, he returned to France, he had enough material and experience to prepare his masterpiece, North American Silva or North American Forests. #OTD Today in 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition was near the Narrows of the Columbia river when the serviceberry was discovered. Serviceberry are available in a number of different species. There's a wonderful graphic showing the different types of serviceberry featured on the spruce.com. I'll share a link to that in today's show notes. Serviceberries are a member of the Rose family. Now that you know that, you'll be able to recognize the family resemblance the next time you see one. Serviceberry are primarily prized for their four-season interest: you get beautiful blossoms in the spring, fruits in the summer, fantastic autumn color, and wonderful bark coloration in the winter time. The Maryland Department of Resources says that the etymology of the name serviceberry comes from church services which resumed around Easter time. People used to say that when the serviceberries were in flower, the ground had thawed enough to dig a grave. #OTD Today is the birthday of the third son of Charles Darwin, Francis Darwin - known to his family as Frank. Francis published the results of his work with his dad in a book called The Movement of Plants. The book details their experiments which showed that young grass seedlings grow toward the light. OTD It's the anniversary of the death of Kenneth Woodbridge, who died on this day in 1988. Woodbridge was known for his work on the history of garden design in England and France. Woodbridge wrote a book called The Stourhead Landscape, a book about one of England's greatest gardens. Stourhead was the work of an English banker named Henry Hoare who lived during much of the 1700s. Woodbridge's last book was called Princely Gardens it was published in 1986. Princely Gardens analyzes the French formal style of landscape architecture. Despite not having the academic background of many garden historians, Woodbridge was a relentless researcher and writer. His obituary stated that his wife Joanne always balanced his intensity. Unearthed Words "August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time." ― Sylvia Plath "This morning, the sun endures past dawn. I realize that it is August: the summer's last stand." ― Sara Baume, A Line Made by Walking "The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled." ― Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees Today's book recommendation: Plant Parenting by Leslie Halleck This is a new book that just came out in June of this year from Timberpress. The images are gorgeous and this book feels quite modern and very on trend. This is a very beginner friendly introduction to plants, flowers, and seeds. Today's Garden Chore Add more color to your garden with bee balm or monarda. It is also an herb. Plant it in full sun. Pollinators love it, as do hummingbirds. I remember the first time I planted bee balm, I was blown away by the incredible enticing fragrance - a wonderful combination of mint, oregano, and thyme. Once you smell it, you'll never forget it. Bee Balm starts flowering now and will last throughout the summer. When John Bartram was exploring North America, he made contact with the Native Americans who shared with him that they brewed a tea with bee balm to treat chills and fever. He called it Oswego. But, it was made with Monarda. After the Boston tea party, the colonists needed something to drink and Oswego tea tasted pretty good and it also helped with sore throat's and headaches. Manarda is considered both a flower and an herb. And in the fall, you can harvest the leaves and dry them and store them for later - when you want to make your own Oswego tea. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart When I was researching Kenneth Woodbridge, I ran across an article about his son, Tim Woodbridge. The article came out last year in February in the London Economic and it was called, "The incredible story of how a grieving landowner created one of Europe's most celebrated gardens." Tim was piggybacking on the subject his dad wrote about which was Stourhead Garden in Wiltshire. Tim says his dad discovered 95% of everything that is known about the garden today. The garden is breathtaking because it is surrounding this gloriously breathtaking man-made lake. All along people have assumed that the lake was part of the plan by Henry Hoare, the banker, who established the garden as his lasting legacy. But Tim believes he's uncovered a secret about the garden that had been lost to time. In 2005, the National Trust commissioned an underwater survey of the lake. Tim's book, called The Choice, explains that the lake is hiding a first garden – the garden that was built to honor Hoare's dead wife, Susan. The garden was nearly completed when suddenly Hoare's son and only heir, Henry, died of smallpox in Naples. He was just 22 years old. Tim believes that the garden became too painful and that Hoare's shocking next move was to do something about it. Tim believes that Hoare built a dam and then flooded the garden; creating the magnificent great lake that people drive to see from all over the world. Instead of a planned part of the design; The lake was an outward sign of grief of a husband and father whose tears hid the garden he had built for posterity. And I think, if a garden could cry... this is what it would look like. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."