Stay ConnectedThe Daily Gardener is a weekday podcast celebrating garden history, literature, and the small botanical stories that shape how we garden today.
Each episode follows an “on this day” format, uncovering the people, plants, books, and moments that have quietly influenced gardens across time.
New episodes are released Monday through Friday, and each show features a thoughtfully chosen garden book.
Copyright: Copyright ©2019-2020, Jennifer Ebeling|The Daily Gardener All rights reserved
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1533 Birth of Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (books by this author), also known as Lord of Montaigne, French Renaissance philosopher. He was a prolific writer and was famous for his anecdotes. He once wrote, I want death to find me planting my cabbages, neither worrying about it nor the unfinished gardening." 1828 On this day, Frederick William Beechey (books about this person) wrote to William Jackson Hooker (books about this person) to apologize for sending an inferior collection of specimens. He explained that the expedition's collector opted to play the violin seven hours each day instead of exploring and gathering plants. 1844 The New England Journal published a little notice about a use for the milky sap of Sumac: [It] is the best indelible ink that can be used. Break off one of the stems that support the leaves, and write... In a short time it becomes a beautiful jet black, and can never be washed out. 1877 Birth of André Simon (books by this author), French wine merchant, wine expert, and writer. In The Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy (1952), André wrote, Beans... possess over all vegetables the great advantage of being just as good, if not better, when kept waiting, an advantage in the case of people whose disposition or occupation makes it difficult for them to be punctual at mealtime. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Hill House Living by Paula Sutton This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is The Art of Creating a Joyful Life. Paula's book is a delight. It's part antique-hunting, part gardening, and part a celebration of the seasons. A beloved British design and fashion influencer, Paula left her busy life in London at age 50 and started over in a gorgeous cottage home in the country. Paula likes to say she traded catwalks for dog walks (she has a beautiful lab) and couture for manure. A master of styling with vintage treasures in the home and outside in the garden, Paula shares all of her top tips and tricks for bargain hunting, repurposing, and incorporating old and new in a way that feels fresh, simple, and stylish. As a person, Paula is positive, generous, and authentic. You will love following her on social and having a little bit of her genius right on your bookcase, coffee table, or bedside table (which is where mine is as I write this ;). You can get a copy of Hill House Living by Paula Sutton and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $15. Botanic Spark 1865 Birth of Arthur William Symons (books by this author), British poet, critic, and magazine editor. Here's an excerpt from his poem, Lillian, which appreciates the green powers of the hot-house: This was a sweet white wildwood violet I found among the painted slips that grow Where, under hot-house glass, the flowers forget How the sun shines, and how the cool winds blow. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1872 Birth of Anna Gilman Hill, Director of the Garden Club of America (1920-1926) and assistant editor of the Club's Bulletin (1921-1945). Anna and her husband own an estate in East Hampton called "Grey Gardens," which was purchased by the American socialite Edith Bouvier Beale. Anna once wrote, Above all, in your absence, do not allow the children, the ignorant visitor, your husband, or your maiden aunt to play the hose on your poor defenseless plants. 1943 Birth of George Harrison (books about this person), English musician and singer-songwriter, and lead guitarist of the Beatles. His original song compositions include While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Here Comes the Sun. Sometimes referred to as the "Quiet Beatle," George relished his life out of the spotlight and said, I'm not really a career person. I'm a gardener, basically... Sometimes I feel like I'm actually on the wrong planet. It's great when I'm in my garden, but the minute I go out the gate, I think, 'What the hell am I doing here?" 1989 On this day, The Age newspaper out of Melbourne, Australia, ran a story about a brand new play written by Suzanne Spunner called "Edna for the Garden." The play featured the charismatic Australian gardener, designer, conservationist, and writer Edna Walling. During her lifetime, her garden design clients would say to their friends, You must have Edna for the garden. The familiar saying inspired the name of the play. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Secret Gardeners by Victoria Summerley This book came out late in 2017, and the subtitle is Britain's Creatives Reveal Their Private Sanctuaries. This book features the private gardens, the secret gardens, of some of Britain's most famous artists. In all, twenty-five gardens are featured in this drop-dead gorgeous book. You'll get to see the gardens of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Anish Kapoor, Jeremy Irons, Cath Kidston, Terry Gilliam, Prue Leith, Ozzy Osbourne, Sting, Julian Fellowes, and Rupert Everett, just to name a few. For the most part, these private sanctuaries - these great spaces - are not for public consumption. Without Victoria and Hugo's book, these gardens would remain hidden; they would remain secret gardens. But thankfully and generously, they all agreed to be part of this incredible book. In the introduction, Victoria reveals how she and Hugo have connected with these beautiful spaces. They've done a couple of great books together: Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds (2015) Great Gardens of London (2019) Victoria writes, When planning this book, Hugo Ritson Thomas and I did not set out to feature famous people who had lovely garden. Our original concept was a book on artist's gardens, looking at how those who had some training or background in the visual arts organize their outdoor spaces. We were all very enthusiastic about the idea, but realized that it might have a broader appeal if we included people who were involved in the performance arts as well. I'm often asked how I choose the garden for my books. The answer is that I don't — Hugo does. I have a power of veto… but Hugo is the one who persuades people to open their gates and let us in. How he does this I have no idea. I am firmly of the belief that Hugo could persuade St. Peter to open the gates of heaven... If our publisher decided to... commission a book on the Garden of Eden. Hugo and Victoria make a lovely garden book team. Hugo's indelible images transport us to these wonderful spaces, and Victoria helps us appreciate them on a much deeper level than we would otherwise without her lovely commentary. When you pick up a Victoria Summerly/Hugo Rittson Thomas book, you know it's going to be beautiful, you know that the gardens will be world-class, and you know that you're buying a book that is not for the bookshelf. It's way too pretty for that. This is a book that is set out so that when you walk by, you're tempted to stop and to read it — or when someone visits your home, they see that beautiful book and fall in love. This book is 272 pages of gorgeous, sublime, unforgettable, imaginative, secret gardens that are sure to knock your socks off. You can get a copy of Secret Gardeners by Victoria Summerley and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $30. Botanic Spark 1881 Birth of Olive Mary Edmundson Harrisson, British horticulturist. In 1898, Olive was the top student at Swanley Horticultural College and placed first on her exams with 285 points. By rights, she should have earned a spot at the RHS garden in Chiswick, £5,000, and a scholarship. But Olive was born just a bit too early because the RHS declined to recognize Olive's accomplishment since they were still an all-male institution. Women made up 10 of the top 25 test scores for 1898. So, two Marys, three Ethels, one Jessie, a Lillian, a Eunice, and an Ada, would not have been able to work at the RHS either. Olive's story was uncovered by a researcher at the RHS Lindley Library and then picked up by the BBC. The media attention led to a connection with Olive's descendants, who confirmed Olive's lifelong love of gardening. After her exam, Olive did eventually find work as a gardener. In 1901, she worked for the Cadbury family (the Cadbury's loved their gardens). Once she married in 1904, Olive stayed home to raise her family. Olive died in 1972 in Seattle. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1743 Birth of Joseph Banks (books about this person), English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Joseph is best known for his study of Australian flora and fauna as the botanist on board the Endeavor with Captain James Cook. Before returning to England, Cook worried the Endeavor wouldn't make it around the Cape of Good Hope. In a fateful decision, Cook brought the ship to Batavia, a Dutch colony, to fortify his boat. Batavia was rife with malaria and dysentery. As a result, Cook lost 38 crewmembers. Joseph and fellow botanist, Daniel Solander, became gravely ill but managed to survive. Even as they battled back from illness, they still went out to collect specimens. As gardeners, we owe a great debt to Joseph. When he returned to England, Joseph Banks advised George III on creating the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. And, in 1778, when Linnaeus died, Joseph acted with haste to buy Linnaeus's belongings on behalf of the Linnaeus Society. When the king of Sweden realized Linnaeus' legacy was no longer in the country, he sent a fast ship to pursue the precious cargo. But Joseph was too quick, and that's how Linnaeus's collection came to reside in London at the Linnaeus Society's Burlington House and not in Sweden. Earlier this month, there was breaking news that the HMS Endeavor was discovered lying at the bottom of the Newport Harbour in the United States. In 1778, 35 years after the Endeavor brought Joseph Banks and Captain Cook to Australia, the ship was sold. HMS Endeavor was renamed Lord Sandwich, and then during the Revolutionary War, the British deliberately sunk her off the coast of Rhode Island. 1955 Birth of Steve Jobs (books about this person), founder of Apple. A lover of simplicity and elegance, Steve once said, The most sublime thing I've ever seen are the gardens around Kyoto. To Steve, the ultimate Kyoto garden was the Saiho-ji ("Sy-ho-jee") - and most people would agree with him. The dream-like Saiho-ji garden was created by a Zen priest, poet, calligrapher, and gardener named Muso Soseki ("MOO-so SO-sec-key") in the 14th century during the Kamakura ("Comma-COOR-rah") Period. The Saiho-ji Temple is affectionately called koke-dera or the Moss Temple - a reference to the over 120 moss species found in the garden. Steve Jobs wasn't the only celebrity to find zen at Saiho-ji - David Bowie was also a huge fan. And when it comes to design, there's a Steve Jobs quote that garden designers should pay attention to, and it goes like this: Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But... if you dig deeper, it's really how it works. 1963 On this day, The Anniston Star out of Anniston, Alabama, published a little retrospective on the adventures of Joseph Rock, the great Austrian-American botanist, and explorer, who had passed away almost three months earlier in Honolulu at 79. Joseph was born in Austria but ended up immigrating to the United States and eventually settled in Hawaii, where he was beloved. He became Hawaii's first official botanist. Before he died, the University of Hawaii granted Joseph an honorary doctor of Science degree. In addition to plants, Joseph had a knack for languages. He cataloged and transcribed Chinese manuscripts and wrote a dictionary of one of the tribal languages. He had an enormous intellect and was multi-talented. In addition to being a botanist, he was a linguist. He was also regarded as a world-expert cartographer, ornithologist, and anthropologist. From a gardening standpoint, Joseph Rock introduced blight-resistant Chestnut trees to America. He also brought us more than 700 species of rhododendron. Some of his original rhododendron seeds were successfully grown in the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Joseph spent much of his adult life - more than 20 years - in southwestern China. There were many instances where he was the first explorer to enter many of the locations he visited. Joseph became so embedded in the country that there were many times that his counterparts in other parts of the world thought that he might have died in the Tibetan or Yunnan ("YOU-nan") mountains. And so it was on this day that The Anniston Star shared a few of Joseph's most hair-raising adventures, including this little story called Night Amid Coffins. Two of Dr. Rock's expeditions (1923-24 and 1927-30) were sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Reporting on the first of these in September 1925. National Geographic Magazine. Rock [was] trapped by bandits in the funeral chamber of an old temple in a small settlement north of Yunnanfu. While the small army he had hired for protection kept the brigands at bay, the explorer (Rock) sat amid coffins, with two .45 caliber pistols (one in each hand), and his precious plant collection nearby. By morning, the bandits had disappeared, though Dr. Rock noticed several heads hanging from poles outside the village. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Claudia Roden's Mediterranean by Claudia Roden This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is Treasured Recipes from a Lifetime of Travel. A legendary cookbook writer, anthropologist, and regional cuisine expert, Claudia Roden ("Roe-din") began traveling the Mediterannean when her kids left home. She traveled extensively through the area and fell in love with Mediterranean food. And in this book, Mediterranean means favorites from France, Greece, Spain, Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco. Claudia knows the slight differences that make the flavors of these regions. Listen to how the ingredients - like herbs, vegetables, and citrus - get used in different places. Claudia writes: Despite the similarities, there are distinct differences. Where the French use cognac, Sicilians use Marsala, and Spaniards sherry. Where Italians use mozzarella, Parmesan, pecorino or ricotta; the French use goat cheese or Gruyère ("groo-yair"), and the Greeks Turks Lebanese and Egyptians use feta or halloumi ("huh-loo-mee"). Where an Egyptian or Syrian would use ground almonds or pine nuts in a sauce, a Turk uses walnuts. Crème fraîche is used in France, where yogurt and buffalo-milk cream are used in the eastern Mediterranean. In the northern Mediterranean, the flavors are of herbs that gow wild; in the eastern and southern Mediterranean, they are of spices, flower waters, and molasses. In Turkey they flavor their meats with cinnamon and allspice, in Morocco they use cumin, saffron, cinnamon, and ginger. While a fish soup in the French Midi includes orange zest and saffron, in Tunisia it will have cumin, paprika, cayenne, and cilantro leaves. It's as if the common language of the Mediterranean is spoken in myriad dialects. Claudia grew up in Egypt. She was born there in 1936. She also spent lots of time with extended family in France and Spain. The cookbook shares some of her personal stories as well. Claudia's dishes are a little bit of everything - simple to sophisticated. But the recipes take center stage and speak for themselves - magnified by spectacular photography. Recipes range the gamut from appetizers to desserts and include:
This book is 320 pages of what Josep Pla called cooking: the Landscape in a saucepan You can get a copy of Claudia Roden's Mediterranean by Claudia Roden and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $25. Botanic Spark 1749 Birth of Mary Eleanor Bowes (books about this person), English Countess of Strathmore, grandmother of John Bowes, and ancestor to the late Queen Mother. After her father died when she was 11, she became the wealthiest and most educated woman in England. After the death of her first husband, she was tricked into marrying a man who abused her nearly to death more than once. But before this torturous time in her life, she loved learning, she loved collecting, and she loved botany. Her father created an amazon garden at the family's beloved Gibside estate in Northumberland. For Lady Eleanor, botany was not only a genuine passion but a way to stay connected to her father and his legacy. Lady Eleanor was very interested in plant exploration and the latest plant discoveries. She had hothouses installed at Gibside and at Stanley House in London near the Chelsea Physick Garden. She hired the Scottish botanist, William Paterson, to collect plants on Cape of Good Hope in South Africa during four expeditions between 1777 and 1779. Lady Eleanor came up with some unique ways to showcase her love of botany. Around 1780, she commissioned an extraordinary mahogany botany cabinet that featured long drawers on the side of the cabinet for dry specimens and live specimens. The side of the cabinet flipped down to create a little desktop and to make it possible to access the drawers. The front of the cabinet was adorned with holly swags and seven medallions with the heads of great men like Shakespeare, Theophrastus, and Alexander Pope. The cabinet also had a bottom shelf that would have had a lead-lined tray for plants. The lead-lined legs of the cabinet had taps and would have held water. The water could have been used for the live plants sitting on the tray or perhaps the humidity somehow helped preserve the dried specimens. Obviously, the combination of water and wood never works well, but nonetheless, that was the original design idea. Up until the 1850s, the cabinet was known to hold some of her most prized herbarium specimens, but after Lady Eleanor's death, they were lost to time when the cabinet was sold. The other unique botanical element Lady Eleanor enjoyed was an adorable little plant theatre at Gibside. The theater was essentially a little alcove or niche recessed into the brick wall that wrapped around the garden. The niche was then filled with prized potted plants. Today there is an adorable pale blue painted wooden frame around the alcove with the words "Plant Theatre "written across the top of the frame. During her disastrous and tortured second marriage, which lasted for nearly a decade, Lady Eleanor was forced to give up her botanical endeavors and almost everything she enjoyed in life. In the end, one of her maids helped her escape her husband. Lady Eleanor became the first woman to keep her property after divorce. Shortly thereafter, she signed her properties over to her eldest son - including her most precious possession: her beloved Gibside and its garden - her father's legacy. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1723 Birth of Sir William Chambers (books about this person), Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. William designed Somerset House on the Strand in central London. He also designed Great Pagoda at Kew (1761) as a gift for Princess Augusta. The Great Pagoda was built with grey brick and is ten stories tall. It took just six months to build. Initially, the various roofs of the Great Pagoda featured eighty golden dragons. But by 1784, the dragons were removed. And although they most likely deteriorated naturally from the elements, rumors swirled that they were sold to satisfy the Prince Regent's gambling debts (scandalous). William Chambers had a special admiration for Chinese gardens. He went to China on three occasions in the 1740s. He even published a Dissertation on Oriental Gardening. Here are a few of his takeaways from Of the Art of Laying Out Gardens Among the Chinese, Nature is their pattern, and their aim is to imitate her in all her beautiful irregularities. The Chinese are not fond of walking, we seldom meet with avenues or spacious walks. The Chinese artists, knowing how powerfully contrast operates on the mind, constantly practice sudden transitions, and a striking opposition of forms, colors, and shades. Their rivers are seldom straight, but serpentine, and broken into many irregular points. When there is a sufficient suply of water, and proper ground, the Chinese never fail to form cascades in their gardens. The weeping willow is one of their favorite trees, and always among those that border their lakes and rivers... planted to have it's branches hanging over the water. Another of their artifices is to hide some part of a composition by trees, or other intermediate objects. This naturally excites the curiosity of the spectator to take a nearer view. The Chinese generally avoid straight lines; yet they do not absolutely reject them. The Great Pagoda underwent a 12-year renovation period that began in 2006. On July 13, 2018, the grand reopening revealed a fully restored Great Pagoda complete with 80 chinoiserie dragons perched on the roofs. The dragons were back. And since the roofs would not have supported wooden dragons or other heavy materials, the dragons were ingeniously made of nylon with the help of a 3D printer. Only the bigger dragons on the lowest roof are made of cedar. 1856 On this day, Henry David Thoreau writes in his journal: 9 am to Fair Haven Pond upriver – A still warmer day – The snow is so solid that it still bears me – though we have had several warm suns on it. I sit by a maple on a maple – It wears the same shaggy coat of lichens summer & winter. 1863 On this day, John Lewis Russell, an American botanist and Unitarian minister, sent a letter to his adult nephew. By all accounts, John was a lovely man, a great conversationalist, and a font of wisdom regarding the natural world. John Lewis Russell was an expert in lichens and cryptograms. The fungus Boletellus russelli was named in his honor. His friends included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. John's letter to his nephew illustrates his love of nature and personal charisma. When this reaches you spring will have commenced, and March winds... will have awakened some of the sleeping flowers of the western prairies, while we shall be still among the snow-drifts of [the] tardy departing winter. As I have not learned to fly yet I shall not be able to ramble with you after the pasque flower ("pask"), or anemone, nor find the Erythronium albidum ("er-rith-THRONE-ee-um AL-bah-dum"), nor the tiny spring beauty, nor detect the minute green mosses which will so soon be rising out of the ground. But I can sit by the Stewart's Coal Burner in our sitting room and... recall the days when ... when we gathered Andromeda buds from the frozen bushes and traversed the ice-covered bay securely in the bright sunshine of the winter's day. I will not trouble you to write to me, but I should like a spring flower which you gather; any one will be precious from you to your feeble and sick Old uncle and friend, J.L.R. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Seasons at Highclere by The Countess of Carnarvon This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is Gardening, Growing, and Cooking Through the Year at the Real Downton Abbey. If you are a lover of Downton Abbey and gardening, you must get a copy of this book. This book was written by the actual Lady of the Manor, Fiona- the Countess of Highclere, and she gives the reader complete access To the English Country House and the garden. As with the fictitious Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle is governed by the seasons, which provide the backdrop to country life on this incredible estate. Written by the Lady of the manor, this book gives complete access to the world-renowned historic country house and showcases the rhythm of the seasons at Highclere, focusing on gardening, harvesting, cooking, and entertaining. Imagine being a guest at Highclere and having the countess, Fiona, be your host. Well, this book gives you that opportunity. Fiona Carnarvon ("cah-NAR-vin") is a generous authority on the history and daily life of the castle. She gives us an in-depth tour of the gardens, the country folklore, the harvesting, the menus, the cooking (with the fantastic recipes - baked broccoli with parmesan eggs and pineapple cake with vanilla icing - OMG!), and the spectacular entertaining with all the little touches. As you might expect, the photographs are beautiful. They were commissioned specifically for this book. What is sure to charm about this book are the people of Highclere, Fiona and her staff, the incredible grounds, the traditions, the ideas, the sheer pure enjoyment of the seasons, and the love of English country life. This book is a big one - 321 pages - of Highclere - it's not stuffy, and it's not impractical - but it's something very special - authentic and unapologetically inviting. You can get a copy of Seasons at Highclere by The Countess of Carnarvon and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $25. Botanic Spark 1879 Birth of Georges Bugnet ("Boon-yay"), French-Canadian plant breeder and writer. In the early 1900s, George and his young wife left France and settled in Canada, with dreams of prosperity and hopes of returning to their homeland. Instead, George and Julia spent the rest of their lives in Canada. In 1905, George purchased a homestead north of Edmonton in an area later named Rich Valley. Together, he and Julia built a home and a way of life for their ten children. Despite the physical toll of homesteading in the wilds of Canada, George did not let his classically-trained intellect go to waste. In the spring of 1906, when he and Julia arrived on their desolate land, George immediately set about finding trees and plants that would grow in their northern climate. He requested cold-hardy trees and shrubs from Canada's Department of Agriculture. He began propagating his own cold-hardy plants and had no qualms asking anyone for seeds. George thought strategically about the places on earth with climates as cold or colder than Alberta, and he began studying what they grew. The Edmonton Bulletin reported George even sent letters to …(the French botanist) Mr. Vilmorin ("Veel-morah"), (the Canadian horticulturist) William Tyrrell Macoun, to Charles Sprague Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum,...to Kew, to the Botanical Gardens of Lausanne ("low-sahn"), Switzerland, and… to the Imperial Gardens of Petrograd, asking everywhere for seeds of flowers, trees and shrubs that were found ripening in the very far north, or at the highest altitudes in the mountains. And from everywhere came a generous response, so generous that they had more than they could properly handle. They at once sowed in rows… the shortest-lived seeds, and kept on sowing year after year the toughest of the tribe. The newly born seedlings were cultivated for a year or two, the plan being to give them a fair start, and after that, catch as catch can the survival of the fittest. George became a self-taught master of plant breeding. And whenever he had success, he always shared his work with the experimental farms and research centers in Canada. But there are three plants, in particular, that, I think, had significant personal meaning to George. When George longed for the plums of his native France, he began breeding cold-hardy plums. The result was the Claude Bugnet plum, named in honor of George's father. George bred an apple he called the Paul Bugnet in honor of he and Julia's 14-month-old son, who died in a fire. His most successful effort became known worldwide: the Thérèse Bugnet ("Tur-ez Boon-Yay") rugosa rose named for his sister. Thérèse debuted in 1950 after nine years of trials and became instantly popular because it was so floriferous and cold-hardy (zone 2). The Missouri Botanical Garden says, 'Thérèse Bugnet,' a hybrid rugosa rose, is a vigorous, dense, upright, rounded shrub that typically grows 5-7' tall and as wide. Old fashioned form which somewhat more resembles a damask rose than a rugosa. Features fragrant, ruffled, pink, double blooms (to 4" across). George lived to be 102. He and Julia were lifelong devout Catholics. In 1945, he wrote these words: Provided, I suppose, that if you pray: "Thy will be done", and try to listen often enough, and respond sincerely, to your conscience, life, like a Christmas tree, becomes fully ablaze and loaded with marvels of all shapes and colors. Mine is no exception: Had any gypsy, when I was twenty-one… truly told my future, I would have laughed in her face. It would have sounded too unbelievable. As a plant breeder, I thought, at first, our location not at all suitable, yet, out of the very failure in those first attempts to grow "hardy" plants, arose the discovery that we had been led to a most-carefully selected spot to manufacture special [plants], possibly the hardiest in the world. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1756 Birth of the handsome and tall Swedish botanist, Pehr Loefling. Pehr met Carl Linnaeus at the University of Uppsala, where Carl was his professor. Early on, Carl dubbed Pehr his "most beloved pupil," and he started calling Pehr "the Vulture." Carl came up with the moniker after observing that Pehr had an intuitive way of finding plants and observing the most minute details of plant specimens. After graduating, Carl recommended Pehr for an opportunity in Madrid. Pehr landed the position, learned Spanish, and was soon called Pedro by his friends. In short order, Pehr joined a Royal Spanish Expedition to South America. His mission was to find and learn about an improved cinnamon species. Two years into the trip, Pehr was botanizing in Venezuela when he died of malaria on the banks of the Caroní River. He was buried beneath an orange tree. He was 27 years old. By the end of the year, over half of the expedition's men would be dead from disease compounded by hunger and fatigue. When Linnaeus heard the news about Pehr, he wrote to a friend, The great Vulture is dead. 1801 Birth of William Barnes (books about this person), English polymath, writer, and inventor. He wrote over 800 poems and had familiarity with over 70 different languages. The English writers Thomas Hardy and Edmund Gosse visited William on his deathbed. Edmund later wrote that William was dying as picturesquely as he lived... We found him in bed in his study, his face turned to the window, where the light came streaming in through flowering plants, his brown books on all sides of him save one, the wall behind him being hung with old green tapestry. Any gardener who loves their garden has likely thought about the day they'll have to say goodbye. William wrote about that moment in a little poem called To a Garden—On Leaving It. Sweet garden! peaceful spot! no more in thee Shall I ever while away the sunny hour. Farewell each blooming shrub, and lofty tree; Farewell, the mossy path and nodding flower: I shall not hear again from yonder bower The song of birds, or humming of the bee, Nor listen to the waterfall, nor see The clouds float on behind the lofty tower. My eyes no more may see, this peaceful scene. But still, sweet spot, wherever I may be, My love-led soul will wander back to thee. 1870 Birth of Adolph G. Rosengarten, Sr., American businessman. His family pharmaceutical company would become part of Merck in the 1920s. In 1913, Adolph and his wife Christine wanted to escape the heat of Philadelphia and find a place suitable for a country home. They settled on a piece of land in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and commissioned their former friend and classmate Charles Borie to design the house and Landscape architect Thomas Sears to work on the terraces. After 1924, the family lived there year-round. Adolph named the estate Chanticleer as a tongue-in-cheek nod to "Chanticlere" in William Makepeace Thackeray's The Newcomes(1855), wherein the estate was "mortgaged up to the very castle windows." Adolph always said he sympathized with the fictional Chanticlere owner from the novel. The etymology of Chanticleer means rooster, and that's why there are so many rooster motifs at Chanticleer (books about this garden). Today the public garden at Chanticleer is among the best in the United States. The grounds occupy 35 of the 50 acres owned by the foundation. The garden opened to the public in 1993. The job of maintaining and designing Chanticleer now falls to seven full-time horticulturists who strive to preserve and improve a garden that's been called America's most romantic and creative garden. 1939 Birth of Phyllis Theroux (books by this author), American writer and journalist. She grew up in San Francisco following World War II. She once wrote, I think this is what hooks one to gardening: it is the closest one can come to being present at creation. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Flower Hunter by Lucy Hunter This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is Seasonal flowers inspired by nature and gathered from the garden. Lucy Hunter is a floral whisperer. She knows how to create beauty - true, artistic, Raphaelian, dreamy, sumptuous beauty. For a first book, Lucy has given gardeners quite a gift. Gardeners love nothing better than chatting with other gardeners and seeing their gardens. How do you do this? Why do you grow that? What do you do with this flower? In The Flower Hunter, Lucy Hunter welcomes us to a year in her North Wales garden. And trust me; you want to see what Lucy is doing with the beauty she finds in her own backyard. Lucy is generous with her step-by-step tutorials. She inspires with her essays on working with natural elements. She's funny, too. And Her photography is top of the top. Even if you feel no match for Lucy's level of mastery, she manages to help connect the reader to the well of creativity, the tiny spark of inspiration that each of us possesses. As gardeners, we see the beauty in the every day. We know how to find peace in nature. Lucy extends that serenity and joy and puts it to work in creating more than just exquisite floral arrangements. She also demonstrates other projects like drying flowers for a fall wreath, making natural dyes (easier than you think), and creating your own journal (more fun than you think!). Lucy Hunter has two decades of floral, photography, and landscape design experience. She is a naturalist at heart. She is an edge-softener, an evocateur, a seasonal transition lover, a rose lover and guru, a believer in potential, and a pathfinder to your own creative voice. You'd better believe that her Instagram is amazing. You can follow her @lucytheflowerhunter. This book is 208 pages of Lucy Hunter doing what Lucy Hunter does best: florals, beauty, softness, nature, and sparks. You can get a copy of The Flower Hunter by Lucy Hunter and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $25. Botanic Spark 1892 Birth of Edna St. Vincent Millay (books by this author), American lyrical poet and playwright. Gardeners know many of Edna's verses like: April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. I would blossom if I were a rose. I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one. But there's a touching little poem of Edna's that was published posthumously. that I thought I'd end the show with today. It's a lovely spring poem called, If It Should Rain. The American actress Kathleen Chalfant once said that her friend Sloane Shelton would repeat the last three lines before going to sleep at the end of particularly hard days. If it should rain --(the sneezy moon Said: Rain)--then I shall hear it soon From shingles into gutters fall... And know of what concerns me, all: The garden will be wet till noon-- I may not walk-- my temper leans To myths and legends--through the beans Till they are dried-- lest I should spread Diseases they have never had. I hear the rain: it comes down straight. Now I can sleep, I need not wait To close the windows anywhere. Tomorrow, it may be, I might Do things to set the whole world right. There's nothing I can do tonight. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter Facebook Group The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend and request to join. Historical Events 1554 Death of Hieronymus Bock (books about this person), German botanist, physician, and Lutheran minister. Regarded as one of the fathers of modern botany, he tended the gardens of Count Palatine Ludwig for nearly a decade. He also was one of the first true field botanists and searched for plants throughout the German empire. He coined the term Riesling as a type of wine in his herbal. His surname was translated in Latin to Tragus ("Trah-goos"); he was honored by the grass genus Tragus and the spurge genus Tragia. 1801 Birth of John Henry Newman (books by this author), English theologian, scholar, and poet. His words are in the intro to Abram Linwood Urban's My Garden of Dreams: The garden mystically… a place of spiritual repose, stillness, peace, refreshment, delight. 1885 Birth of Lady Joan Margaret Legge ("LAY-gee"), English botanist and the youngest daughter of the sixth Earl of Dartmouth. Lady Joan's story ends in the Himalayas. It can be linked to a 1931 expedition of three English mountaineers who got lost in the Himilayas and stumbled on a valley of incredible beauty. Blooms of exotic wildflowers made it seem like they were in a fairyland. One of the climbers was a botanist named Frank Smythe. In his book, Kamet Conquered, he called the area the Valley of Flowers. The Valley of Flowers is a seven-day trip from Delhi. It is now a protected national park. As the name implies, it is a lush area famous for the millions of alpine flowers that cover the hills and slopes and nestle along icy flowing streams. Along with daisies, poppies, and marigolds, there are primulas and orchids growing wild. And the rare Blue Poppy, commonly known as the Himalayan Queen, is the most coveted plant in the Valley. The Valley of Flowers remains hidden through most of the year, buried under several feet of snow throughout a seven-to-eight-month-long winter. But in March, the melting snow and monsoon activate a new growing season. This spring season opens a brief 3-4 month window when the Valley of Flowers is accessible to humans – generally during the months of July, August, and September. Lady Joan traveled to the Valley of Flowers as a direct result of Frank Smythe's book. Smythe's work inspired many, and it attracted the attention of Edinburgh's Royal Botanic Garden, and they decided to sponsor Lady Joan's trip. Although some of her friends were against her going to India, Lady Joan was eager to go. She was 54 years old and unmarried. And she likely needed a break from her regular duties of caring for her father, the poor, and herself ( she had just gotten over a bout of pneumonia). In 1939, Lady Joan arrived in the Himilayas, accompanied by guides and porters. As she made her way over the lower foothills, she collected alpine specimens. On the day she died, Lady Joan slipped on the slopes of Khulia Garva. After she fell, her porters recovered her body. They buried her in the Valley at the request of her older sister, Dorothy. Then, all of Lady Joan's belongings were packed up and sent home to England. The following summer, in 1940, Dorothy visited her sister's grave and placed a marker over the spot where she had been buried. Today, tourists still visit Lady Joan's grave, and it includes poignant words from Psalm 121: I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills From whence cometh my help Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker by Ray Desmond This book came out late in 2007, and the subtitle is Traveller and Plant Collector. Joseph Dalton Hooker is remembered as a Victorian British botanist, explorer, President of the Royal Society, and director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. When he died at 94, he had accomplished a great deal. He had established a network of botanic gardens around the world to facilitate discovery and classification, which enhanced the world's economy and promoted trade. In 1877, Hooker was knighted for scientific services to the British Empire, and he was awarded the Linnean Medal in 1888. As Charle's Darwin's closest friend, he learned of Darwin's theory long before it was made public. And Hooker was instrumental in getting Darwin's work published. Many regard Hooker as Darwin's PR man. Hooker traveled the world in search of new plants. He nearly drowned in the Antarctic Ocean during his first major expedition on Sir James Clark Ross' epic voyage to Antarctica in 1839-43. During his trip to the Himalayas, he was imprisoned by the Rajah of Sikkim. He remarked after seeing the Rheum nobile in bloom: It is the most wonderful-looking plant in the whole of the Himalayas. Here are a few fun factoids about Joseph Dalton Hooker. His wife was named Hyacinth. And Kew Gardens recently shared that, during his travels, Hooker would address letters to his young son to "my dear little Lion" or "my dear cub." You can get a copy of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker by Ray Desmond and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $16. Botanic Spark 1903 Birth of Anaïs Nin ("Ana-ees") (books by this author), French-Cuban-American author. For over twenty years, she led two different lives and was married to two men simultaneously. Every six weeks, she would travel between New York to be with her first husband and LA to be with her second husband. In 1977, she died of cervical cancer in Los Angeles. Her unabridged diaries that spanned 63 years were published posthumously. Anaïs once wrote, And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter Facebook Group The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend and request to join. Historical Events 1515 Birth of Valerius Cordus, German physician, botanist, and pharmacologist. He wrote one of the most popular herbals in history and discovered a way to synthesize ether, which he called oleum dulci vitrioli, or "sweet oil of vitriol." Centuries later, the botanist Thomas Archibald Sprague re-published "The Herbal of Valerius Cordus" with his older sister. In 1544, Valerius spent the summer botanizing in Italy with two French naturalists. At some point, he waded into marshes in search of new plants. When he became sick, his friends brought him to Rome. Then, they continued on to Naples. When they returned to Rome, they found Valerius had died. He was 29. The Swiss botanist Konrad Gesner collected and preserved Cordus' work, which was significant. One expert once said, There was Theophrastus; there was nothing for 1,800 years; then there was Cordus. The plant genus Cordia is named for him. Cordia's are in the borage family, and many cordias have fragrant, showy flowers. Some cordias produce edible fruits called clammy cherries, glue berries, sebesten, or snotty gobbles. 1896 Birth of André Robert Breton (books by this author), French writer and poet. He is remembered as the co-founder of surrealism and he wrote the first Surrealist Manifesto. He once wrote, The man who can't visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot. 1931 Birth of Toni Morrison (books by this author), American writer, book editor, and college professor. In her book, Jazz, she wrote of the change in seasons. What can beat bricks warming up to the sun? The return of awnings. The removal of blankets from horses' backs. Tar softens under the heel, and the darkness under bridges changes from gloom to cooling shade. After a light rain, when the leaves have come, tree limbs are like wet fingers playing in woolly green hair. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Secrets of the Great Botanists by Matthew Biggs This book came out late in 2018, and the subtitle is What They Can Teach Us About Gardening. Matthew Biggs loves to research botanists and share their stories. In this book, he profiles 35 botanists who significantly increased our understanding of plants. As with most RHS books, this book is beautifully illustrated with that RHS look and feel. It is loaded with plenty of drawings, portraits, and photographs to make each story come alive. This book is 224 pages of pioneering botanists and how knowing their work can make us better gardeners. You can get a copy of The Secrets of the Great Botanists by Matthew Biggs and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $16. Botanic Spark 1827 Death of Antoine Nicolas Duchesne ("do-shayn") (books about this person), French botanist, gardener, and professor at Versailles. As a young botanist, Antoine was a student of Bernard de Jussieu at the Royal Garden in Paris and made many scientific discoveries. Antoine recognized that mutation was a natural occurrence and that plants could be altered via mutation at any time. In his work with mutation, Antoine began experimenting with strawberries. Ever since the 1300s, wild strawberries have been incorporated into gardens. But on July 6, 1764, Antoine changed the trajectory of wild strawberries when he created the modern strawberry - the strawberry we know today. Strawberries are members of the rose family, and they are unique in that their seeds are on the outside of the fruit. Just how many seeds are on a single strawberry? The average strawberry has around 200 seeds. To get your strawberry plant to produce more fruit, plant your strawberries in full sun, in well-drained soil, and trim the runners. Of the strawberry, Toni Morrison wrote, I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer – its dust and lowering skies. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter Facebook Group The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend and request to join. Historical Events 1880 Birth of Reginald Farrer ("Fair-rur")(books by this author), the legendary English rock and alpine gardener, plant explorer, nurseryman, writer, and painter. A son of a wealthy family in the Yorkshire Dales, Reginald repeatedly referenced Yorkshire in his writing. Reginald was born with many physical challenges. He had a cleft palate, speech difficulties, and what Reg himself called a "pygmy body." He had many surgeries to correct his mouth, which meant he was homeschooled. But the silver lining of his solitary childhood was his connection to nature. Reginald found happiness among flora and fauna, and he particularly loved the rocks, ravines, and hills around his home. At 14, he created his first rock garden, which eventually became a Craven nursery specializing in Asian mountain plants. Every time Reginald went on expeditions, he sent new alpine plants and seeds to Craven. After college, Reginald became a devout Buddhist, and he liked to say that he found "joy in high places." The European Alps became a yearly touchstone. And although he saw some of the most incredible mountains vistas in the world - they held no sway with Reginald. For Reginald - it was always about the plants. Reginald wrote, It may come as a shock and a heresy to my fellow Ramblers when I make the confession that, to me, the mountains… exist simply as homes and backgrounds to their population of infinitesimal plants. Reginald's book, The Garden of Asia, launched his writing career and showed garden writers a new way to write about plants. The botanist Clarence Elliot observed, As a writer of garden books [Reginald] stood alone. He wrote… from a peculiar angle... giving queer human attributes to his plants, which somehow exactly described them. His passion for rock gardens was perfectly timed. The British gardening public latched on to rock gardening with a frenzy. Rockeries were in every backyard. Reginald's book My Rock Garden (1907)was an instant success and earned him the moniker Prince of Alpine Gardeners. In 1919, at the age of 40, Reginald took a trip to Myanmar. He would never see his beloved Yorkshire again. He met his end alone on a remote Burmese mountain. Most reports say he died of Diptheria, but the explorer and botanist Joseph Rock said he heard Reginald drank himself to death on the night of October 17th, 1920. And I thought of Reginald up on that mountain alone when I researched the etymology of the name of his nursery, Craven, which means defeated, crushed, or overwhelmed. Today Reginald is remembered in the names of many plants like the beautiful blue Gentiana farreri ("jen-tee-AYE-na FAIR-ur-eye"). And the Alpine Garden Society's most highly-prized show medal is the Farrer Medal, which honors the best plant in the show. It was Reginald Farrer who said, I think the true gardener is a lover of his flowers, not a critic of them. I think the true gardener is the reverent servant of Nature, not her truculent, wife-beating master. I think the true gardener, the older he grows, should more and more develop a humble, grateful and uncertain spirit. He also said, All the wars of the world, all the Caesars, have not the staying power of a lily in a cottage garden. 1918 On this day, Dora Hughes wrote an article for the New-York Tribune called, The Carrot Comes into its Own, (carrot cookbooks). She wrote, Time was when the carrot held high estate, for in the days of King Charles I, the ladies of the royal court used its feathery plumes in place of feathers for their adornment. Physicians prized the roots for their diuretic properties, from which came the general impression that eating carrots beautified the complexion and hair. Possibly the reason why carrots are not more often served is that, as a rule, they are prepared always in the same way. But one may serve carrots each day for a week and never have them twice in the same form. It is a pity that so few housekeepers seem to realize this. Then Dora offers up a diverse list of options for serving carrots: CRECY SOUP ("Chrissy") Crecy soup takes its name from the town in France where it was first made. MASHED CARROTS AND CARROT CAKES Carrots are excellent simply mashed and dressed with butter. CARROT CROQUETTES ("krow-kets") Carrot croquettes are made of mashed carrot and cracker crumbs, seasoned and mixed with egg. FRIED AND CANDIED CARROTS Fried carrots are prepared by cutting cooked carrots in long slices, dipping in egg and bread crumbs, and then brown in hot fat. Candied carrots: Butter a baking dish, lay in it slices of cold carrot.. sprinkle sugar ...and cinnamon or mace, add water or milk. FRENCH CARROTS AND PEAS Carrots and peas are a favorite French dish and their method is to cut the carrot in dice not much larger than the peas... heated together in a saucepan with oil for the dressing. SALAD OF CARROTS AND PEAS CARROT AND CELERY ON TOAST Carrot and celery make another good combination. Have an equal amount of each, the celery in thin slices and the carrot in small pieces. Boil the carrots till tender and drain. Scald the celery; mix the two and put to cook in a pint of milk. Thicken with a teaspoonful of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold milk, season with salt, pepper and butter and serve as soon as boiled. For a supper dish serve on toast. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Small Garden Style by Isa Hendry Eaton This book came in 2020, and the subtitle is A Design Guide for Outdoor Rooms and Containers. Little gardens, petite gardens, mini-gardens - whatever you call them, they are manageable, doable, and fun. Now Isa's approach is to layer in big style to these little marvels so that you end up with a garden that is lush and lovely. Her designs have a dramatic flare - no doubt thanks to her background in graphic design. There's a time in all our lives for small gardens. When I first lived at the cabin during the pandemic, I was quite content with a small kitchen garden on the deck compared to my wrap-around full-scale garden set up in the suburbs. What Isa shows us how to do is to embrace the smaller size but not sacrifice style. Isa's gardens are joyful, elegant, inviting, and exciting - and she has mastered creating outdoor living in small spaces for entertaining or relaxing. Now, if you don't even know where to start, never fear. Isa has a style quiz to help you pinpoint your own personal garden style. She also gets you thinking about your small space in new ways so that you can utilize all of the space - factoring in horizontal, vertical, and overhead spaces. Isa shows you some design tricks with pots and containers to create stunning planters, and she loves to tuck in succulents and grasses and all kinds of textures to add that drama - that graphic design approach - that Isa is known for. Isa also shares what she's learned from garden pros and reveals her favorite plants and decor for small spaces. She offers ideas for lawn alternatives and guides you through how to add in all kinds of elements like a fire pit, an instant mini orchard (my favorite!), a boulder birdbath, a perfumed wall, and a faux fountain with cascading plants - just to name a few. You'll learn from Isa that Small Gardens do not have to be dull or unimaginative. Isa is all about helping you transform your space into a jewel of Pinterest-worthy garden style - a modern garden oasis. You can get a copy of Small Garden Style by Isa Hendry Eaton and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $4. Botanic Spark 1864 Birth of Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald, Canadian poet, and short-story writer. She was a teacher at the School for Blind in Halifax. She's remembered for her 1906 collection of poems called Dream Verses and Others. Here's the last stanza from her poem A Song of Seasons, in which she praises the virtues of every season and then ends with these words: Sing a song of loving! Let the seasons go; Hearts can make their gardens Under sun or snow; Fear no fading blossom, Nor the dying day; Sing a song of loving, That will last for aye! (forever) Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter Facebook Group The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend and request to join. Historical Events 1911 Birth of Marie Clark Taylor, American botanist. In 1941, she became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in botany from Fordham University. She spent her career at Howard University, becoming a beloved professor and mentor. Marie herself taught biology at Cardozo high school in Washington D.C early in her career. At Howard, she was passionate about training future generations of science teachers. And every summer, Marie's summer science institute helped high school teachers become better at teaching biology. Today, an auditorium at Howard University is named in her honor. 1926 Birth of David Austin (books by this author), English a rose breeder and writer. His technique was to breed roses with the best of both the old and new roses: blending the charm and fragrance of heirloom roses and the repeat-blooms and color options of modern roses. To his excellent staff, he was known simply as "Mr. A." David died in December 2018 at the age of 92. Today David Austin Roses is run by his son David and his grandson Richard. His niece is landscape architect, journalist, and radio personality Bunny Guinness. Her mother was David's sister. David once said, The work of the plant breeder should always be to enhance nature, not to detract from it....we should strive to develop the rose's beauty in flower, growth, and leaf. 1971 On this day, the New Jersey State Flower, the Violet, was officially adopted by the legislature after a proposal from Senator Josephine Margetts. Josephine and her husband, Walter, owned a nursery and an apple and peach orchard. She was a crusader for the environment and introduced legislation to protect the land and waterways of New Jersey. She worked to ban the use of DDT. By the time Josephine put forth her legislation for the Violet, New Jersey was the last state without an official state flower. When it came time for Josephine's bill to be debated, Senator Joseph J. Maraziti, R-Morris, read this poem: Roses are red, Violets are blue If you vote for this bill Mrs. Margetts will love you. Josephine's legislation was passed 30-1. The sole dissenting vote was Senator Frank Guarini, D-Hudson. He told the press, I'm a marigold man. As Josephine no doubt knew, Violets are spring flowers. They've been around for a long time - even the ancient Greeks loved violets. In floriography or the language of plants, their heart-shaped leaves are a clue to their meaning: affection, love, faith, and dignity. And the color of violets adds another layer of meaning. Blue violets symbolize love, white violets symbolize purity, and yellow violets convey goodness and high esteem. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Sleepy Cat Farm by Caroline Seebohm This book came out late in 2021, and the subtitle is A Gardener's Journey. The Sleepy Cat Farm Story begins in 1994 on six acres of land purchased by a retired CEO. Over twenty years later, those six acres have become a sprawling baker's dozen. With the help of landscape architect Charles stick, Fred Landman transformed Sleepy Cat into a true garden-lovers experience. (I do believe it is my new favorite garden…) The connective tissue between the garden spaces is the golden path that swoops past signature elements in the garden like a grotto, a celestial pavilion, a garden devoted to Japanese Iris, a spirit bridge, a koi pond, a reflection pool, a maze, serpentine hedges fashioned out of European hornbeam, and an enormous Atlas statue. The garden has become a popular stop for gardeners in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Fred is often found leading tours. If Sleepy Cat sounds like it appeared out of nowhere, well, it kind of did. There's also a bit of a mismatch between the name Sleepy Cat and the place's grandeur. The title references a dozen cats that get to live there. Even Ken Druse, who wrote the forward to this book, was a bit dubious about Sleepy Cat the first time he was invited to visit. As was the photographer for the book Curtis Taylor. As Ken shares in the forward, Curtis has a way of figuring out if a garden is worth his time. He casually asks the garden's owner, "How many daffodils have you planted recently?" When he asked Fred this very question, the answer was, "Only 5000". This book tells the Sleepy Cat story, and the stunning images by Curtice Taylor make that story unforgettable. In fact, if you don't want to visit Sleepy Cat after getting the book, then you are not a gardener. This book is 192 pages of a garden transformation that would make Beatrix Farrand smile. You can get a copy of Sleepy Cat Farm by Caroline Seebohm and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $30. Botanic Spark 2006 On this day, the 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love, by American author Elizabeth Gilbert (books by this author) is released. Chronicling the author's trip around the world after her divorce, the book was on The New York Times Best Seller list for 187 weeks and made into a movie (2010) starring Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem. In the book, Elizabeth wrote, Then there was a pop-surprise bonus side order brought over by the waitress for free—a serving of fried zucchini blossoms with a soft dab of cheese in the middle (prepared so delicately that the blossoms probably didn't even notice they weren't on the vine anymore). Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1564 Birth of Galileo (books about this person), Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and philosopher. Galileo believed that the book of nature was "written in the language of mathematics." He recognized the complexity and the simplicity of that language when he wrote, The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do. 1803 Birth of Karl Friedrich Schimper, German botanist and poet. He was born into a family of scientists. His mother was a botanist. At university, he befriended botanists, Alexander Braun and Louis Agassiz. Karl made several keen scientific observations. He proved the association between the golden angle and the Fibonacci numbers. Karl also devised a theory of phyllotaxy which explained the serial addition of new leaves on a stem appearing in a spiral. And after studying mountain landscapes, he began questioning how enormous rocks came to be positioned on the foothills of the Alps. Realizing the many-ton slabs could have only been moved by ice, he began devising a theory of an ice age - something he called an eiszeit. Karl was a poet at heart, and he revealed his theory in a light-hearted 22-stanza poem - an Ode to the Iceage to honor Galileo on their shared birthday. One verse says, Ice of the Past! Of an Age when frost In its stern clasp held the lands of the South Dressed with its mantle of desolate white Mountains and forests, fair valleys and lakes! In his book Humans: from the beginning, Christopher Seddon acknowledged Karl's discovery. He wrote: 2,588 million years ago... the Earth entered an Ice Age. Cooler, arid conditions alternated with warm, wet conditions as ice sheets ebbed and flowed in higher latitudes... This alternation between a cooler and a warmer climate has continued right up to the present day... In fact the warm spells – interglacial periods – are no more than breaks in an on-going ice age... The term Eiszeit ('ice age') was coined in 1837 by the German botanist Karl Friedrich Schimper. 1876 Birth of Ernest Henry Wilson (books by this author), English plant collector and explorer. He introduced over 2000 plant species from Asia to the West. Of the regal lily, he wrote, Tis God's present to our gardens... Anybody might have found it, but — His whisper came to me. On his first trip to China, Ernest located the lost Dove tree, Also known as the Handkerchief Tree. He brought the tree to England in 1899. Ernest found the yellow Chinese poppy, the Regal lily, rhododendrons, roses, and primulas on his second trip. During that second trip, Ernest's leg was crushed in a landslide. His leg was splinted with his camera tripod. But before Ernest could be moved, a mule caravan came upon Ernest and his party. Ernest was forced to lie down on the narrow trail and let some 40-50 mules step over him on their way across the mountain. Ernest himself marveled at this experience, and he later said, The sure-footedness of the mule is well-known, and I realized it with gratitude as these animals one by one passed over me - and not even one frayed my clothing. A year later, Ernest could walk without crutches, but not with a limp - something he called his lily limp. He once reflected, The regal lily was worth it and more. Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation Sanctified Landscape by David Schuyler This book came out ten years ago in 2012, and the subtitle is Writers, Artists, and the Hudson River Valley, 1820–1909. David's book, the Sanctified Landscape, is about the first iconic American landscape: the Hudson River Valley. The title references a passage written by landscape painter Thomas Cole. In the early 1800s, the picturesque Hudson was home to writers and artists like Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Thomas Cole. As far as the artistic community was concerned, there was no better place on earth. But the landscape was not immune to the changes happening in the country at large. The artist community in the Hudson Valley were among America's earliest conservationists and did their best to protect their slice of Eden. The Catskill and Hudson Valley remain a beloved areas of the country. David's book adds context and images that provide a deeper appreciation for the beauty and inspiration found in this Sanctified Landscape. You can get a copy of Sanctified Landscape by David Schuyler and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for $15. Botanic Spark 1843 Birth of Russell Herman Conwell, American Baptist minister, lawyer, and founder of Temple University in Philadelphia. He once wrote, I ask not for a larger garden, but for finer seeds. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
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