The Daily Gardener

We are on the cusp of continuous warm nights. Warm soil temps will take a few more weeks. Recently, I had a gardener ask me about their hearty hibiscus that was planted last year. They were worried it wasn't coming back; they didn't see any sign of life yet. In Minnesota, gardeners often start to freak out a bit if they don't see signs of life during these first sunny days in May. But remember, warmer weather plants won't start to do their thing until soil temps warm up. The soil temp has about a 2-3 week lag on the night time air temp. We are still about a week away from warm nights - nights over 60 degrees. Warm soil will happen at the end of the month or the beginning of June. So, don't be alarmed if some of your summer perennials still seem dormant, that's because they are waiting for warmer soil temps to get going. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1742, Jean Senebier, a Swiss pastor and botanist, is born. Where would we be without Senebier? Still breathing... but not appreciating the role Senebier played in getting the world to realize that carbon dioxide is consumed by plants and in turn, plants produce oxygen as part of the process of photosynthesis. Senebier's work is important because he had learned the function of leaves: capturing carbon for food. Prior to Senebier, the purpose of leaves and what they did for plants and people was unknown. It was Jean Senebier who said, "Observation and experiment are two sisters who help each other." #OTD Today, in 1806, along the banks of Idaho's Clearwater River, Lewis and Clark discoverd the Nine-leaf lomatium, Lomatium triternatum. A species of flowering plant in the carrot family and known by the common name nineleaf biscuitroot, the nine-leaf lomatium is so-named because each leaf divides into three narrow leaflets that, in turn, divide into three more (triternatum, from the Latin, means "three times three"). Lewis and Clark collected many varieties of lomatiums which are found only west of the Mississippi River. Lomatiums are used by herbalists as a remedy for viral illnesses. In 2018, the NIH reported the case of a woman who had taken lomatium extract - marked LDM-100 - for the flu and ended up with a severe rash all over her body for a week. The title of the article, "Worse than the Disease? The Rash of Lomatium Dissectum" #OTD The naturalist and Alexander Von Humboldt died today in 1859, he was 89 years old. In 1806, Friedrich Georg Weitsch painted his portrait, in 1806, two years after he returned from his five-year research trip through Central and South America. Humboldt didn't go alone; he was accompanied bythe French botanist Aimé Bonplant in 1799. Weitsch painted a romantic, idealized vista of Ecuador as the setting for the painting. Humboldt had climbed the Chimborazo Mountain in Ecuador, believed at the time to be the highest mountain in the world, so perhaps Weitsch imaged Humboldt viewing the landscape from Chimborazo. Surrounded by a jungle paradise, a large palm leaves shade Humboldt's resting spot.In the painting, a very handsome Humboldt is seated on a large boulder, his top hat is resting upside down on the boulder behind him. Weitsch shows the 37-year-old Humboldt wearing a puffy shirt that would make Seinfeld proud, a pinkish-orange vest, and tan breeches. In his lap, he holds open the large leather-bound Flora he is working on and in his right hand he has a specimen of "Rhexia seciosa" (aka Meriania speciosa). A large barometer leans against the boulder in the lower left corner of the painting. It symbolized Humboldt's principle of measuring environmental data while collecting and describing plants. King Ferdinand was so pleased with the portrait (which he had hung in the Berlin Palace), that he ordered two more paintings to be made featuring Humboldt's time in the Americas. Humboldt was a polymath; he made contributions across many of the sciences. He made a safety lamp for miners. He discovered the Peru Current (aka the Humboldt Current). He believed South America and Africa had been joined together geographically at one time. He named the "torrid zone"; the area of the earth near the equator. Apropos the area he was exploring, torrid means hot, blistering, scorching. He went to Russia and it was there that he predicted the location of the first Russian diamond deposits. Humboldt was also a pragmatist. It was the Great Alexandre Von Humboldt who said "Spend for your table less than you can afford, for your house rent just what you can afford, and for your dress more than you can afford." Humboldt developed his own theory for the web of life. "The aims I strive for are an understanding of nature as a whole, proof of the working together of all the species of nature," "Everything is Interaction," he noted in his Mexican diary in 1803. #OTD After afive-year, £41 million restoration Temperate Housere-opened to the public on this day in 2018. The ironwork was stripped and repainted with many coats, 15,000 pains of glass were replaced, 69,000 sections of metal, stone and timber repaired or replaced. Home to 10,000 plants - some are the world's rarest and most threatened plants - Kew's Temperate House is the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world. Unearthed Words #OTD On this day The annual meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was held at Horticultural Hall at 3 :00 p.m. on May 6, 1946. Here's an excerpt from their delightful minutes: From the President's Address: At the end of the war we were met with this question, "Will interest in gardening continue to grow or will there be a falling off ... with the coming of peace and a greater opportunity for other recreational pursuits?" We proceeded on the assumption that fewer vegetable gardens would be made but that, on the other hand, a greater number of people than ever before would turn their attention to the growing of ornamental plants... It is a duty for each one of us to plant a home garden. Membership in the Society has shown a remarkable growth and now numbers well over 8,000. Our magazine Horticulture has been remarkably successful in attracting members for the Society from all parts of the country. Report of the Secretary Interest in horticultural pursuits is steadily increasing, if it can be measured by the increase in membership shown by this Society in the past year. Twelve months ago we had 7,200 members. As of today, the Society has 8,151 members. Membership figures are always of interest as indicating trends. The high point of this Society was in 1938, when the total membership was slightly greater than 9,000. Ten thousand members was the goal at that time but, because of the necessity of increasing revenue, the dues were raised from $2.00 to $3.00 a year. This increase in dues was followed by an immediate drop in membership which continued until 1942 when the Society reached its low point of the last decade with a membership of 6,633. Since that time it has been climbing steadily, year by year, and it seems reasonable to believe that in another year or two the 9,000 mark will again be reached. The present figure is, of course, far beyond that of any similar organization in the country, although it is pleasant to learn that the New York and Pennsylvania societies are also showing an upward trend. Edward I. Farrington. Secretary. Report of the Library Committee Almost all the events and developments of 1945-1946 center... upon our return to peace-time living. In the reading room, for instance, visitors are no longer predominantly in uniform. The questions a year ago were often about the plants of the Pacific areas or what a gardener should visit while stationed in Boston. Now they are most often on the design of small home properties, the choice of good plant materials, the fine points of flower gardening, or the management of a greenhouse. Today's book recommendation: The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World by Andrea Wulf "The Invention of Nature" reveals the extraordinary life of the visionary German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) and how he created the way we understand nature today. Though almost forgotten today, his name lingers everywhere from the Humboldt Current to the Humboldt penguin. Humboldt was an intrepid explorer and the most famous scientist of his age. His restless life was packed with adventure and discovery, whether climbing the highest volcanoes in the world, paddling down the Orinoco or racing through anthrax–infested Siberia. Perceiving nature as an interconnected global force, Humboldt discovered similarities between climate zones across the world and predicted human-induced climate change. He turned scientific observation into poetic narrative, and his writings inspired naturalists and poets such as Darwin, Wordsworth and Goethe but also politicians such as Jefferson. Wulf also argues that it was Humboldt's influence that led John Muir to his ideas of preservation and that shaped Thoreau's 'Walden'. Wulf traces Humboldt's influences through the great minds he inspired in revolution, evolution, ecology, conservation, art and literature. In The Invention of Nature Wulf brings this lost hero to science and the forgotten father of environmentalism back to life. Today's Garden Chore If you're a mom, Mother's day is coming up. Start thinking about the colors and plants you'd like for your front containers and then make a list for your kids. You can give them some license as well - ask the plants person to help you find something green and viney, or purple and tall, and so forth. For years, I did this with my kids and they spent a decade of Mother's Days helping me plant their annuals in the front planters and hanging baskets. It was a fantastic photo op, a wonderful way to get them involved in setting the stage for beauty around the front door, and getting them to notice annuals. Many happy memories with this chore. Something Sweet to ignite the botanical spark in your heart #OTD On this day, last year was the 50th Anniversary of the Hudson, Massachusetts Garden Club on May 6, 2018. With a familiar genesis story, the club began in 1968 as a group of sixteen friends and neighbors (Grace Adams, Helen Doyle, Phyllis Dyson, Peggy Gilroy, Elvira Jacobs, Sandra Joyce, Sharon Kearney, Teresa Landry, Jean Laviano, Waldro Lynch, Arline Parker, Jeanne Piecewicz, Viola Ross, Claire Shepard, Jeanne Simkins, and Cynthia Sylvia). All shared a love of flowers and gardening. Today the club has 41 members and the club's purpose is to promote interest in gardening, horticulture, conservation, and floral arranging, as well as serve the community in civic betterment. It's a lovely thing to combine your love for gardening and beautifying the community - all while having a good time. Most monthly meeting programs consist of guest speakers or hands-on activities, but over the years club members have taken out-of-town day trips to Arnold Arboretum, Elm Bank Reservation, Garden in the Woods, Tower Hill Botanic Gardens, Pickity Place, and Fuller Gardens. Camaraderie and having fun are the club's primary goals. All are welcome to join the club and members are not required to reside in Hudson. For more information, contact Diane Durand at 978-621-9665 or Patricia Main at 978-562-6910. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today is National Garden Meditation Day. Forget about your troubles Go to the garden (if you're not there already). Feel the breeze or the sprinkles. Smell the rain. Look at all the signs of life around you... all the shades of green emerging from the ground. Listen to the sound of spring. Garden time is restorative and resetting. Use #GardenMeditationDay today when you post on social media. Brevities #OTD Born on this day in 1863, Walter Elias Broadway; a kew gardener and authority on West Indian plants. Broadway was recognized by George V for his work in horticulture, although his career was shaded by bad blood with his supervisor John Hart and a drinking problem. In 1888, Kew sent Broadway to Trinidad and Tobago to take up the newly created role of Assistant Superintendent of the Royal Botanic Garden. Initially, everything seemed wonderful; the islands were a tropical plant-lovers paradise and there was already a botanic garden and herbarium in place. All Broadway needed to do was launch himself into learning everything he could about the tropical plants without a definitive reference to guide him. How hard could that be? Along the way, his eagerness to get plant id's from Kew and the British Museum, led him to go around his boss. It wasn't long before Hart required Broadway to funnel all of his collected specimens through him. Things deteriorated further when Hart ordered Broadway to devote his discretionary time to the garden - calling him in from his beloved field time and severely limiting his ability to collect new plant specimens. Broadway found other pursuits to bring him joy and satisfaction. He adored learning about the history of Trinidad. He found he loved to collect insect specimens. He helped found the Trinidad Field Naturalists' Club. Despite Hart's limitations, Walter Broadway truly mastered the art of plant collecting. Broadway took the chance to get away from the day to day with Hart when the curator of the Botanic Gardens in Grenada opened up. It was there, that he started collecting for private herbariums. It didn't make him rich, but it helped alleviate his frequent financial difficulties. Broadway spent over a decade in Grenada before heading to neighboring Tobago. By 1908, Hart had been forced to retire. Broadway resumed collecting with great zeal; he even sent mosses to Elisabeth Britton. By 1915, Broadway was transferred back to Trinidad. He continued exploring remote parts of the island to collect plants. Broadway retired in 1923 and he lived his final years in Trinidad - the island that had stolen his heart. His devotion to the natural world never waned and he was always on the lookout for new or interesting plants to sell to his private clientele. Although a flora of Trinidad and Tobago was published in 1928, Broadway was not a part of it. That said, much of the works cited references Broadway's collections - there was simply no disputing his collecting contributions. botanist Andrew Carr described Broadway as "an exceptionally fine man. Entirely unselfish in spirit, he was always ready to share his vast knowledge of the botany of the island with other interested persons. I shall never forget his joy at discovering a new species of moss in a drain in Oxford Street. He was regarded, and justifiably so, as a walking encyclopedia on the botany of these parts ... " Today, at the annual flower show of The Trinidad & Tobago, the Walter Elias Broadway Memorial Trophy is awarded for the best foliage plant exhibit. #OTD On this day in 1819, botanist and philanthropist Henry Shaw arrived in St. Louis. St. Louis had been founded over fifty years before Shaw's arrival, and the population by 1820 was just over 10,000 people. Shaw is commemorated on the St. Louis Walk of Fame with this epitaph: Henry Shaw, only 18 when he came to St. Louis, was one of the city's largest landowners by age 40. Working with leading botanists, he planned, funded and built the Missouri Botanical Garden, which opened in 1859. Shaw donated the land for Tower Grove Park and helped with its construction. He wrote botanical tracts, endowed Washington University's School of Botany, helped found the Missouri Historical Society, and gave the city a school and land for a hospital. Of Shaw's gifts, the Botanical Garden is best-known. Said as early as 1868 to have "no equal in the United States, and, indeed, few anywhere in the world." In addition to the Botanical Garden, Shaw built the Linnean House in 1882. It is the oldest continuously operated public greenhouse west of the Mississippi River and was originally designed to be an orangery; a place to overwinter citrus trees, palms and tree ferns. #OTD On this day in 2015, all Saks Fifth Avenue stores simultaneously revealed their month-long May spring theme of Glam Gardens and each store was transformed into a garden paradise. Beauty-themed garden installations flourished in windows and throughout the stores with floral themes in the Glam Gardens catalog and on saks.com. With the help of 35 beauty and fragrance vendors, Saks Fifth Avenue created individual gardenscapes within each window; woven into magnificent floral façades. To achieve the look, over 120 boxwood balls, ten full-grown climbing topiary trees, and more than 100,000 flowers were installed. Like the store's iconic holiday windows, each garden vignette offered a distinctive botanical world to inspire customers and create conversations. Mark Briggs, Chief Marketing Officer, Saks Fifth Avenue lauded the Glam Gardens event, saying, "Through Glam Gardens we have created a breathtaking living tribute to Mother Nature. Spring fragrance and color inspirations will be brought to life through blooming cascades of floral artistry. We hope to bring an element of delight to all who visit Saks this season." Today, Friday, May 3 - Sunday, May 5 marks the annual Valleyof Flowers Festival in Florissant, Missouri. One of the oldest settlements in the state of Missouri, the Flowers Festival has been held in Florissant every year since 1963. Established by French settlers, the village was originally called "Fleurissant", meaning "Blooming". Originally a separate town, it's now an inner suburb of St. Louis. Unearthed Words #OTD An esteemed son of Toronto was born on this day in 1904: Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol, (May 3, 1904 – December 16, 1995); a one man conservation powerhouse - saving of many natural areas in Ontario and across Canada. Here's a sweet diary entry for today by Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") from 1938 shared by the Toronto Archiveson their fabulous twitter feed - which is a wonderful thing to follow: Charles Sauriol owned property in the Don River valley and was an advocate for the valley's preservation. Even as a teenager, he loved it, writing in an unpublished manuscript: "The perfume I liked was the smell of a wood fire. Planting seed or trees was preferable to throwing one's seed around recklessly... The dance floor I knew best was a long carpet of Pine needles." In 1927 he purchased a 40 hectare property at the Forks of the Don. He used this as a cottage and every year he and his wife and four kids stayed there during the summer. There were ducks, a goat and a pet raccoon named Davy who followed Sauriol around like a dog. At the end of his first summer at the cottage in Don Valley, Sauriol wrote about leaving the place he loved: With summer's heat the weeks sped by, And springtime streams did all but dry. But days grew short and followed on, Oh, blissful memory of the Don. Of you we think with saddened heart, Our time is up and we must part. Today's book recommendation American Eden: David Hosack, Botany and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic, by Award-winning historian and author Victoria Johnson Johnson will deliver the 2019 John Dwyer Public Lecture at 4 p.m. today in the Shoenberg Auditorium at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Johnson's illustrated lecture features her new book, American Eden, which both the Wall Street Journal and Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton, have called "captivating." David Hosack established the nation's first public botanical garden, including plants from South America, Asia and Australia, in the early 1800s. Today, his former garden is the site of Rockefeller Center. Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday in the Garden. In honor of garden meditation day, bring your smartphone to the garden and take a panoramic photo of your favorite spot. You might have to practice doing this a few times; and if you don't know how you can watch a quick YouTube video for help. Once you've finished, you'll have your favorite spot with you at all times and you can meditate in your garden even you're away. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart While researching Henry Shaw, I stumbled on a story that reveals Shaw's great love for the plants in his garden. It was posted in the St. Louis Star and Times on April 5, 1933 "Mr. Shaw was escorting a lady through his gardens, pointing out objects of interest. The visitor said: " I cannot understand, Sir, how you are able to remember all of these difficult names." He replied, with a courtly bow, "Madame, did you ever know a mother to forget the names of her children? These plants and flowers are my little ones." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Ah May... the Month of Plant Sales. When I started gardening, I would Plant Sale away my Saturdays in May with my dear friend Judy. We would plan our way to a successful sale day, waking up while it was still dark out. Then we'd arrive at the church or the building where the sale was to be held, we'd set up our lawn chairs at the door, and we'd pat ourselves on the back for being first and second in line. Then, we'd wait another hour or two for the doors to open. All the while, sharing our dreams for our gardens, checking our wishlists for the unusual plants we might find at the sale; and figuring out which plants we'd discovered the previous year that we wanted more of and which we deemed not worthy of getting again. Brevities #OTD Today May 2, maybe the original April Fools Day. In Geoffrey Chaucer'sThe Nun's Priest's Tale a fox tricks a rooster on a day32 days after March - which would be May 2, but many took it to mean March 32 or April 1. Many scholars now think Chaucer actually did mean May 2 as the foolish day. I guess you could say, the joke's on us! #OTD Today is the last day of Ridvan. The Ridvan ("Rez-vän") Festival is a holiday celebrated by those of the Baha'i faith, commemorating the 12 days when their prophet and founder resided in a garden outside of Baghdad. He called the garden Ridvan which translates to paradise. Today, Ridvan is a festival of renewal and peace. It celebrates the beginnings of the Baha'i Faith and the first law of the religion was an admonition to humanity to cease all warfare. #OTD Today is the Annual White House Gardens Symposium. It's an all-day event focuses on the history and the role of the White House Gardens. There are expert speakers and panelists, as well as a lunch program - and a surprise take away. This year's symposium highlights the gardens of Beatrix Jones Farrand and Rachel "Bunny" Lambert Mellon, as well as the present-day White House Gardens. #OTD On this day in 1969, Jimi Hendrix performed at the Cobo Center in Detroit. It reminded me of a story about a succulent that ended up being named for Hendrix. In 1995, Mark Dodero, was listening to Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child" while on a little botanizing trip in Mexico with fellow students Kim Marsden, and Scott and Brenda McMillan. They had stopped to investigate a mesa in the Colonel Peninsula, about 70 miles south of Ensenada. They group had made a new succulent discovery years earlier. Dodero thought he saw something about the terrain that made him think he might find another. He hiked up the mesa and came upon a little plant - a succulent - that he suspected was new. Years later, University of California, Santa Cruz professor Stephen McCabe, "rediscovered" the plant in the same area described by Dodero during his original discovery. In 2016, the plant, Dudleya hendrixii, or "Hendrix's live forever," in honor of Jimi Hendrix, was recognized in the California Botanical Society's publication, Madrono. Unearthed Words #OTD Today in1863 Stonewall Jackson was shot by his own men and I thought his life story contained many moving passages. In an article in the Washington Post called, Stonewall Jackson had a soft side, it was revealed that just before the start of the civil war, Jackson had developed a love for gardening. If you read any biographies on Jackson, his life was one tragedy after another. His father and sister died of typhoid when Jackson was two years old. His mother died when he was seven. By the age of seventeen, he had only one sister left from his immediate family. His first wife died after giving birth to his stillborn son. His first daughter with his second wife, Anna, died within a month of her birth. After all this personal loss and battling life-long mental and physical health problems, Jackson fell in love with gardening. It was, no doubt, a reprieve for Jackson. Jackson, who once wrote in a schoolbook, "A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds", used botanist Robert Buist's book for guidance. It was Buist's "The Family Kitchen Gardener: Containing Plain and Accurate Descriptions of All the Different Species and Varieties of Culinary Vegetables, that became Jackson's gardening bible and he wrote little notes in the margins as he worked his way through the guide. In the WaPo article, it noted that After tomatoes, asparagus, watermelon, spinach and turnips was the one-word notation "plant." Jackson dearly loved his wife, Anna. In his garden, he planted and picked flowers for her. Ever the military man, his garden was ordered and neat. In the Spring and Summer of 1859, Jackson wrote letters to Anna who sick and in New York for treatment. He loved to refer to her with romantic names and he often wrote about the garden... Here's an example: "I was mistaken about [our] large garden fruit being peaches... It turns out to be apricots and I enclose one which I found on the ground today... just think, my little Dove has a tree full of them." In another letter, he wrote: "Our potatoes are coming up and I shall send you a sample of a leaf. . . . [our] garden has been thirsting for water until last evening." And in another, Jackson wrote, "I watered [our] flowers this morning, and hoed another row of turnips, and expect to hill some celery this evening." That fall, Jackson responded to the request from the governor to help maintain order in Virginia. Four years later, on this day in 1863 in the evening, Jackson and his men were returning from an attack. They were fired on by Confederate soldiers who incorrectly thought Jackson's group was Union soldiers. Jackson was aware of the dangers of friendly fire, and he once suggested that "I recommend that we should strip ourselves perfectly naked," in order to avoid being shot at. Nonetheless, that fated evening, Jackson (in full uniform) was hit by two bullets in his left arm, which was then amputated at nearby Wilderness tavern. Jackson's chaplain, Beverly Tucker Lacy was so moved by the trauma of this event that he personally carried Jackson's arm across the fields to his brother's nearby family home called Ellwood. There, behind the herb garden, was a family cemetery. Today, Ellwood's cemetery has many civil war dead, but the most famous interment is the only marked grave in the cemetery: "Stonewall" Jackson's left arm. As Jackson tried to recover, General Lee wrote that Stonewall may have "lost his left arm, but I have lost my right." Eight days after being shot, Jackson died of complications from pneumonia. He was 39. His last words were, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of trees." Today's book recommendation Didier Decoin's poetic, sensual novel The Office of Gardens and Ponds - out May 2 (translated from the French by Euan Cameron). That's a stunning cover - with a foiled carp fish. Gorgeously gilded hardback copies of The Office of Gardens and Ponds are released to go swimming into the world today! Just look at these beauties! Are you ready to travel back to Japan 1000 years ago and relive this beautiful fable where an impoverished heroine Miyuki embarks on a hazardous mountain trek to the Imperial Palace - along with scheming monks, rampaging pirates, dancing storks and an unusual perfume contest. This is a book of historical fiction, "a string of enchantments, transforming mud into gold". Today's Garden Chore You've put it off long enough; this is the year you divide your iris. Iris are doing their thing right now. Fighting the tulips for the best in show. Iris were once commonly called flags. While anyone can grow iris - not everyone does right by them. If you want them to maintain their vigor, vow to divide them late this summer when it starts to cool down. You can divide them the same way you divide other rhizomatics like dahlias and lily of the valley. Just dig them up, break them apart, wash them in a 10-percent bleach bath, and replant so that the rhizome is visible on the surface of the soil. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart #OTD On this day in 1987, the Enid A. Haupt Garden was formally dedicated. It took three years to complete and was named for Haupt after she insisted on funding the entire project with $1.5 million and an equal gift to ensure their continued maintenance. As the garden was nearing completion, the Landscape Architect, Paul Lindell had prepared for the 81-year-old Haupt to preview it. "We had arranged for several means of conveyance... including a golf-cart-like surrey. Despite the four to six inches of dust, Mrs. Haupt insisted on walking through the site, dressed to the nines and in her patent leather shoes." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Happy May Day! Today, the tradition in France is to give a sprig of Lily of the Valley to loved ones. Originally from Japan, Lily of the Valley has long been considered lucky. It's sweet scent, belies it's high toxicity. Other names for Lily of the Valley include May Bells, Our Lady's Tears, and Mary's Tears. The French name, muguet, is a diminutive form mugue or muguete and means "musk". Brevities #OTD Today we celebrate the May 1st birthday of French BotanistAimee Antoinette Camus ("kah-MEW") in 1879. In terms of ranking among female scientists, Camus is second in authoring land plants - with a total of 677 species. It's especially impressive given that only 3% of land plants are authored by women! Best known for her study of orchids, Camus was the daughter of botanist and pharmacist Edmond Gustave Camus. Together, Camus and her father collected more than 50,000 specimens for their family herbarium. Her father sparked her passion for orchids and plant anatomy. More than that, he offered connections with some of the best French botanists of her day. She gave the name of Neohouzeaua ("Neo-who-zoh-ah")to a genus of seven tropical bamboo, in honor of the lifelong work that Jean Houzeau de Lehaie ("Who-zoh-do-lou-ay")had devoted to the understanding of the botany and propagation of bamboo in Europe and Africa. Camus also authored horticulture books to appeal to the masses and she was always forecasting the latest in botany. When plants arrived from the French colonies, she would attempt to calculate the economic value of the plants. She spent her entire professional career at the Museum d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. To this day, Camus's monumental work remains the most comprehensive classification of the oak genus Quercus ("Qirkus"). Her book is simply called, The Oaks, and Camus wrote this in her introduction, "The oak forest that enabled our ancestors to fight against hunger, cold, darkness, that gave them shelter, weapons, construction materials, furniture, boats, means of transport, is today in part free from these obligations. Coal, iron, cement, concrete are all replacing wood; but the Oak with its qualities remains of great usefulness to man and its protection is of the utmost importance. Further, while industrial expansion has brought ugliness to so many places, is not the forest one of the last havens of beauty?" #OTD On this day in 1893, The Chicago World's Fair opened and drew in more than 27 million visitors. Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame, designed the Exposition's landscape. The vision for Chicago was to have it live up to its founding motto, "urbs in horto," or "City in a Garden". Flower Painter Augusta Dohlmann's work was displayed at the Fair. The Fair itself was a display of flora the likes of which the world had never seen. Designed by the inventor of the skyscraper, William LeBaron Jenney, the Horticultural building covered more than 4 acres of the fair grounds. There were eight different greenhouses at the Fair to help coordinate the elaborate schedule of flowers to be displayed over the Fair's six-month run. The various state buildings brought their own native flowers and fruits. The Midwest exhibit had a building made from corn-on-the-cob and Missouri created a St. Louis Bridge made entirely out of sugar cane. In the Agricultural Building, the Japanese exhibit included a garden. Denise Otis wrote in her book Grounds for Pleasure: "After Americans saw the Japanese garden ..., they became prized features on the estates of those who collected gardens in different styles." #OTD On this day in 1943, botanist Arthur Galston realizes that excessive use of a plant growth hormone causes catastrophic defoliation. Galston recognized that the effects of using the hormone could be harmful to humans and the environment. Nonetheless, the Army moved forward, using Galston's work to develop herbicides during war to destroy enemy crops and it would be shipped in steel drums marked with an orange stripe; inspiring in the common term for the herbicidal weapon: Agent Orange. Galstondecried the use of his early research saying:"I thought it was a misuse of science. Science is meant to improve the lot of mankind, not diminish it - and its use as a military weapon I thought was ill-advised." #OTD It's the birthday of Wolcott Andrews, a New York City landscape architect who lived in Wiscasset ("Wis-cass-it"), Maine. Andrews received a master's degree in landscape architecture from the Harvard School of Design in 1930. Andrews started out working with New York City's Parks Department. That experience afforded him the chance to partner with Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. in designing and constructing Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan, the site of the Cloisters. Andrews eventually became the senior landscape architect for the New York City Housing Authority for more than 20 years, retiring in 1966. A noted NYC landscape architect, Andrews was president of the New York chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and of the American Federation of Fine Arts of New York City. He was also a trustee of the Municipal Arts Society. Back home in Wiscasset, Maine's prettiest town , Andrews left his mark. He teamed up with fellow Wiscasset resident Marguerite Spilsbury Rafter; a direct lineal descendant of José Maria Castro Madriz, the first president of Costa Rica. Together, they accomplished their proudest achievement in 1977, registering Wiscasset in the National Register and creating the Wiscasset Historic District. Today - The Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival in Buffalo, New York kicks off. The festival runs May 1st - 5th. Unearthed Words Today is the birthday of the poet Phoebe Hinsdale Brown, poet, was born at Canaan, New York in 1783, of New England parentage. A religious woman, she was the first notable American female hymn-writer. The story of how she came to composethe lines, " I love to steal awhile away from every cumbering care," will pierce your gardener's heart. She'd developed a ritual of going to the edge of neighbor's garden for meditation and prayer. When her well-worn path along her neighbor's garden was discovered, she was ridiculed.In tears later that evening, Brown wrote "Twilight Hymn" and she recalled, "After my children were all in bed, except my baby, I sat down in the kitchen, with my daughter in my arms, when the grief of my heart burst forth in a flood of tears. I took pen and paper, and gave vent to my oppressed heart... In the original the first stanza was: 'I love to steal awhile away from little ones and care.' This was strictly true. I had four little children; a small, unfinished house; a sick sister in the only finished room; and there was not a place, above or below, where I could retire for devotion, without [being] interrupted... But there was no dwelling between our house and the one where that lady lived. Her garden extended down a good way below her house, which stood on a beautiful eminence,... I used to steal away... going out of our gate, [strolling] along under the elms that were planted for shade on each side of the road. And, as there was seldom any one passing that way after dark, I felt quite retired and alone with God. I often walked quite up to that beautiful garden, and sniffed the fragrance of the peach, the grape, and the ripening apple, if not the flowers. I never saw any one in the garden, and felt that I could have the privilege of that walk and those few moments of uninterrupted communion with God without encroaching upon any one; but, after once knowing that my steps were watched and made the subject of remark and censure, I never could enjoy it as I had done. I have often thought Satan had tried his best to prevent me from prayer, by depriving me of a place to pray." Here is the original version of her poem. Yes, when the toilsome day is gone, And night, with banners gray, Steals silently the glade along In twilight's soft array, I love to steal awhile away From little ones and care, And spend the hours of setting day In gratitude and prayer. I love to feast on Nature's scenes When falls the evening dew, And dwell upon her silent themes. Forever rich and new. I love in solitude to shed The penitential tear, And all God's promises to plead Where none can see or hear. I love to think on mercies past. And future ones implore, And all my cares and sorrows cast On Him whom I adore. I love to meditate on death! When shall his message come With friendly smiles to steal my breath And take an exile home? Today's book recommendation Straight from the Des Moines Botanic Garden - hosting their first-ever Botanical Book Club today on May 1st, they will discuss "The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession" by Susan Orlean. It's a fascinating story - why would someone steal orchids?The Orchid Thief is based on Orlean's investigation of the 1994 arrest of John Laroche ("La Rōsh") and a group of Seminoles in south Florida for poaching rare orchids in the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. The book is based on an article that Orlean wrote for The New Yorker, published in the magazine's January 23, 1995 issue. Plant dealer Laroche was determined to find and clone the rare ghost orchid for profit. Today's Garden Chore Learn to plant bare root roses. There's a first time for everything and once you get comfortable with planting bare root stock, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Chris Van Cleve over at The Redneck Rosarian has a nice step by step guide.And, I love this piece of advice he shares - a good general reminder for us all: When you are working with bare root stock, "Notice the large and then small fibrous type roots. The fibrous roots are feeder roots. Do not remove them, they are essential for taking in nutrients to the plant." Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart While I was researching the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, I learned that it was the origin for the concept of the state flower. At the Fair, each state was asked to chose an emblematic flower for a national garland. Remember, this was the floweriest Fair the world had ever seen. After the Fair, states began adopting floral emblems. Some states acting quickly, others taking their time. Some picking flowers that other states had already adopted. Others insisting on something unique. Seldom were the selections made without some controversy. May 1st has seen the adoption of State Flowers for two states: Illinois and Massachusetts. On this day in 1908, Illinois adopted the Purple Violet as the State Flower. On this day in 1918 Massachusetts adopted the Mayflower (Epigaea repens) also commonly known as trailing arbutus or ground laurel, as the flower or floral emblem of the Commonwealth. And, here's a quick final thought about the trailing arbutus. It is often mentioned as a sweet harbinger of spring. Longfellow referred to the arbute in his lines "To a Child," from 1846. He tells how an Indian peasant made a discovery of silver, when he fell and accidentally grabbed the trailing arbutus to break his fall: In falling, clutched the frail arbute, The fibres of whose shallow root, Uplifted from the soil, betrayed The silver veins beneath it laid, Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

I realize you are very excited to get going in your own garden. But don't forget to schedule some time this spring to visit other gardens. The gardens of friends, neighbors, or public gardens can provide you with inspiration and teach you something new - even when you didn't think you'd learn anything. #BTW This entire week, April 27-May 4, is Historic Garden Week at Monticello ("MontiCHELLo") in Virginia . If you visit today, April 30, you can learn more about their flower and vegetable gardens. Brevities It's National Raisin Day. California is the biggest supplier of the sun-dried grapes. The California Associated Raisin Company (later known as Sun-Maid) was created with the idea for an ingenious co-op and the credit for this novel approach went to vineyardist, oilman, and attorney Henry H. Welsh. Welsh came up with the idea for a three-year grower contract, subject to a two-year renewal, binding the raisin grower to deliver all of his crop for a guaranteed price. Naturally low in fat, raisins contain healthy nutrients... unless you're eating the yogurt- or chocolate-covered raisins. In their natural state, they are good for humans, but not for dogs. Small quantities of grapes and raisins can cause renal failure in dogs. #OTD On this dayin 1789, Washington was sworn in as the first president of the United States. A gardening President, George Washington oversaw all aspects of the land at Mount Vernon. Washington had a personal copy of Batty Langley'sNew Principles of Gardening. Inspired by the 18th century author, Washington adopted a less formal, more naturalistic style for his gardens and he supervised a complete and total redesign of his Mount Vernon. On Mount Vernon's website, they review in detail the four gardens that make up Washington's landscape: the upper (formal) garden, the lower (kitchen) garden, the botanical (personal or experimental) garden, and the fruit garden and nursery. #OTD On this day in 1873, bryologist William Starling Sullivant died. Sullivant was born to the founding family of Franklinton, Ohio. His father, Lucas, was a surveyor and had named the town in honor of the recently deceased Benjamin Franklin. The settlement would become Columbus. In 1823, William Sullivant graduated from Yale College, his father would die in August of that same year. Sullivant took over his father's surveying business, and at the age of thirty, he began to study and catalog the plant life in Central Ohio. In 1840, he published his flora and then he started to hone in on his calling: mosses. Bryology is the study of mosses. The root, bryōs is a Greek verb meaning to swell. It's etymology of the word embryo. Bryology will be easier to remember if you think of the ability of moss to swell as it takes on water. As a distinguished bryologist, Sullivant not only studied and cataloged various mosses from across the United States, but also from as far away as Central America, South America, and from various islands in the Pacific Ocean. Mosses suited Sullivant's strengths; requiring patience and close observation, scrupulous accuracy, and discrimination. His first work, Musci Alleghanienses, was: "exquisitely prepared and mounted, and with letterpress of great perfection; ... It was not put on sale, but fifty copies were distributed with a free hand among bryologists and others who would appreciate it." In 1864, Sullivant published his magnum opus,Icones Muscorum. With 129 truly excellent illustrations and descriptions of the mosses indigenous to eastern North America, Icones Muscorumfixed Sulivant's reputation as the pre-eminent American bryologist of his time. In 1873, Sullivant contracted pneumonia - ironically, an illness where your lungs fill or swell with fluid - and he died on April 30, 1873. During the last four decades of his life, Sullivant exchanged letters with Asa Gray. It's no wonder, then, that he left his herbarium of some 18,000 moss specimens to Gray's beloved Harvard University. When Gray summoned his curator at Cambridge, Leo Lesquereux, to help Sullivant, he wrote to botanist John Torrey: "They will do up bryology at a great rate. Lesquereux says that the collection and library of Sullivant in muscology are magnifique, superbe,and the best he ever saw.'" On December 6, 1857, Gray wrote to Hooker, "A noble fellow is [William Starling] Sullivant, and deserves all you say of him and his works. The more you get to know of him, the better you will like him." In 1877, four years after Sullivant's death, Asa Gray wrote to Charles Darwin. Gray shared that Sullivant was his "dear old friend" and that, "[Sullivant] did for muscology in this country more than one man is likely ever to do again." The Sullivant Moss Society, which became the American Bryological and Lichenological Society, was founded in 1898 and was named for William Starling Sullivant. #OTD On this day in 1943, the noted botanist who became president of Huguenot College in South Africa and founded of the South African Association of University Women; Bertha Stoneman died. Born on a farm near Jamestown, New York, the Stoneman family had many notable achievements. Her aunt, Kate Stoneman, was the first woman admitted to the New York State bar, another aunt became the first policewoman in Buffalo, and her uncle George Stoneman, who was a general in the American Civil War, became the 15th governor of California. (Ronald Reagan being the 33rd, and Arnold Schwarzenegger being the 38th.) Bertha Stoneman completed her undergraduate and doctorate degrees in botany at Cornell University in 1894 and 1896, respectively. She jumped at the chance to lead the botany department at Huguenot College, a women's college in Wellington, South Africa. More precisely, Huguenot College was the only woman's college on the African continent. Later she would recall, "It was the courtesy, culture and hospitality of certain Africans that held me... there." The college called on Stoneman to not only teach botany; but also zoology, mathematics, logic, ethics and psychology. Stoneman's textbook, Plants and their Ways in South Africa(1906), an instant classic, was widely assigned as a textbook in South African schools for several decades. Surrounded by the new and exciting flora of South Africa, Stoneman set about building a herbarium for Huguenot. She either went out herself to collect specimens, or she sent others to add to the collection. When talking to Americans during visits home, Stoneman praised South African plant life, saying: "South Africa provides 42 species of native asparagus. Why should it not be cultivated as a vegetable? ...There are fine citrus fruits, avocado, pears, figs, mangoes, and paw-paws... You need not seek employment. Employ yourself. Come soon, and you will be warmly and courteously welcomed." Stoneman was a wonderfully engaging teacher. As Carolize Jansen wrote in her blog, "If Bertha Stoneman were my biology teacher at school, maybe I would've considered choosing the subject for the final three years. In the opening chapter of Plants and their ways in South Africa, a 1906 textbook for school biology, her introduction ranges from the baking of bread to the Wonderboom in Pretoria, with a final encouragement regarding Latin names: ''...the reader may skip any name in this book longer than Hermanuspetrusfontein." Stoneman was good at many endeavors. Her Cornell Delta Gamma biography noted, "She entered with enthusiasm into all phases of [college] life, seeming equally at home on the hockey-field, as captain of a team, or in dramatics, writing, and coaching plays... We... are not surprised to learn that she has written many a song for Huguenot College, including its "Alma Mater." Thanks to Google, I was able to track down the lyrics to the song - although one word had a transcription failure. I edited the text as best I could. [Tune—" Sweet and Low."] Joyfully, joyfully, ever of thee we'll sing, Loyally, loyally, honor to thee we'll bring : " Earnest for truth " shall our life's effort be. Time shall unite us still closer to thee, [Wisdom] from thee shall come. Lend thy beams afar. Shine, thou brilliant Star, Shine. Thou our Queen, pure, serene. Ever our hearts wilt cheer. While with thee never we Danger or care shall fear. Knowing our sorrows, thou'lt help us to bear. And widen rejoicing, our joys thou wilt share. Thou, our noble Queen. As we honor thee, we shall sing of thee. Praise. Stoneman was tremendously proud of her scholars. Among her notable students was South African botanical illustrator, Olive Coates Palgrave (noted for her richly illustrated 1956 book Trees of Central Africa) and British born, South African mycologist and bacteriologist, Ethel Doidge. Twenty-four years after arriving in South Africa, Stoneman became president of Huguenot University College. She retired twelve years later. She requested that her ashes be returned to the United States upon her death. #OTD It's the birthday of botanist and USDA agronomistSamuel Mills Tracy, born in 1847. Born in Hartford, Vermont, Tracy's family eventually settled in Wisconsin. At the start of the Civil War , he enlisted with the Union Army, served with a branch of the Wisconsin Volunteers. After the war, he started farming; but then a year later, he decided to go to college. Tracy wound up getting a Master's from Michigan State Agricultural College. By 1877, Tracy secured a Professor of Botany spot at the University of Missouri. A decade later, he was hired as first Director of the Mississippi Experiment Station. Tracyis perhaps best known for his two works Flora of Missouri and The Flora of Southern United States. Today, the Tracy Herbarium, at Texas A&M is a special part of the department of ecosystem science and management. A research plant collection with close to 325,000 specimens, it hosts the largest grass collection in Texas and across much of the southern U.S. Unearthed Words #OTD On this day in 1827, Scottish botanist David Douglas (Sponsored by Sir William Hooker), took a break from collecting for the Royal Botanic Institution of Glasgow. His was lagging behind the others in his party as he was making his way through the Athabasca Pass west of present day Jasper, Alberta, Canada. On a whim, he decided to abandon the trail and ascend the northern peak of Mount Brown in deep snow. Here's what he recorded in his journal: After breakfast at one o'clock... I became desirous of ascending one of the peaks, and accordingly I set out alone on snowshoes ... The labour of ascending the lower part, which is covered with pines, is great beyond description, sinking on many occasions to the middle. Halfway up vegetation ceases entirely, not so much a vestige of moss or lichen on the stones. Here I found it less laborious as I walked on the hard crust. One-third from the summit it becomes a mountain of pure ice, sealed far over by Nature's hand ... ...The ascent took me five hours; ... This peak, the highest yet known in the northern continent of America, I feel a sincere pleasure in naming Mount Brown, in honor of Robert Brown, the illustrious botanist... A little to the southward is one nearly the same height, rising into a sharper point. This I named Mount Hooker [after his sponsor, William Hooker] ..." Douglas' trip was a success; he collected over 200 new plants. Douglas was the first Englishman to bring back cones of the Sugar Pine, the Lodgepole Pine, the Ponderosa Pine, and, of course, the Douglas-fir. Within a year of his return in 1827, they would all would all be growing in English gardens and on Scottish estates. Special Note: The Douglas-fir is not a true fir, which is why it is spelled with a hyphen. Anytime you see a hyphen in the common name , you know it's not a true member of the genus. Book Recommendation Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening: Rare Varieties - Unusual Options - Plant Lore & Guidance – by Matt Mattus Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening is your "201" level course in cultivating produce. Expand your knowledge base and discover options that go beyond the ordinary! Prepare to encounter new varieties of common plant species, learn their history and benefits, and, most of all, identify fascinating new edibles to grow in your own gardens. Written by gardening expert Matt Mattus, Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening offers a wealth of new and exciting opportunities, alongside beautiful photography, lore, insight, and humor that can only come from someone who has grown each vegetable himself and truly loves gardening. Today's Garden Chore Diversify your tulip plantings for next Spring: If you garden south of zone 7, try Tulip Turkestanica. You'll find a sudden soft spot for the early blooming, sweet little-faced tulips. Not your typical tulip, this is a species tulip. Species tulips are the most perennial of all tulips. They are petite, long-lived beauties, ideal for rock gardens, or the front of borders. They are adorable in containers and must be protected from freezing north of zone 7. Like daffs, they look amazing planted right in the grass. Such pretty little blooms! Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart When I was researching Mount Vernon, I was struck by Washington's intentions and methods. He was naturally curious and wanted to see what plants would be able to survive in the harsh climate of Virginia. Of his four gardens, Washington referred often to his favorite of the four gardens, the botanical garden, during his lifetime. He called it "the little garden by the salt house," or rather fondly, his "little garden." Washington used the botanical garden as his trial garden; testing alfalfa and oats which, he happily surmised correctly, would increase the productivity of his fields. Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."