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
Last night I shared the trailer for The Secret Garden remake which just dropped. It is a visual feast for lovers of gardens everywhere. The new adaptation of the children's classic stars Colin Firth and Julie Walters and is set for release in April (2020). It looks fantastic. The Secret Garden is a children's novel written by American author and gardener Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was first released in the early 1900's as a serial in The American Magazine. The story is about a young girl, Mary Lennox, who was living in India with her wealthy British family. She is a spoiled, neglected little 10 year old girl. When cholera kills her parents, she is sent to England to live with a widowed uncle, Archibald Craven, at his huge Yorkshire estate. Mary learns that her dead aunt had a walled garden which has been locked away 10 years, ever since her death. Determined to find it, Mary finds the key to open the garden and she discovers a lost paradise. Spending time in the garden is transformational for her; she becomes softer and kinder and more optimistic. That's why the trailer ends with this quote, "This garden; it's capable of extraordinary things. Now will you believe in the magic?" Brevities #OTD Today is the birthday of the Irish-born botanical steward of the plants collected by Lewis and Clark; the Philadelphia nurseryman, Bernard McMahon, who was born on this day in 1816. McMahon's lasting legacy was his American Gardener's Calendar. Packed with monthly directions and information about all things gardening, McMahon's Calendar was the most popular and most comprehensive gardening publication of the first half of the nineteenth century. Through his work, McMahon was helping to shape the gardening identity of America; which was becoming more distinct and defined as it transitioned away from English traditions. The Calendar was like a gardening bible to Thomas Jefferson and it was that connection that led McMahon to become his gardening mentor. It also meant that when it came time for Jefferson to pick a curator for the Lewis and Clark expedition, McMahan was his pick. Lewis and Clark are forever remembered for their famous expedition which led to many botanical discoveries. The live plants and the seeds they had collected were expertly curated by McMahon who didn't dither; especially with the seeds. Once the specimens were in his hands, he immediately set about cultivating them. There were constraints placed on McMahon. As the sole nurseryman fortunate enough to steward the collection, he could not propagate the plants for profit (they were the property of the United States Government) and he could not tell anyone about the collection (at least not until Lewis and Clark had a chance to write about it). In honor of his work, the botanist Thomas Nuttal named the genus Mahonia for McMahon. Mahonia is an evergreen shrub, also known as Oregon holly. The low-growing shrub can be kept tidy with pruning and looks like a holly, although it belongs to the barberry family. The Mahonia produces yellow flowers followed by clusters of bluish-green berries that turn red in the fall. The red berries attract birds and gardeners love that it is a favorite of cardinals. Mahonia has a glossy, dark green foliage that turns a gorgeous bronze in autumn. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist and chemist John M. Darby who died on this day in 1877. In 1841, Darby wrote one of the earliest floras and he focused on the south eastern United States. His flora was practical and regional, so it's no surprise that his work became a textbook for botany in the South East. After John Torrey and Asa Gray had released their North American Flora, Darby's work was one of many regional floras that started popping up all over the United States. Sadly, Darby's work was basically dissed by Asa Gray who felt that Darby's work was amateurish. This dismissal was too hasty and ignored the rigorous botanizing performed by Darby throughout the South East and his obvious grasp of the distribution of plants throughout the South. Darby taught at Auburn University; at the time it was known as the East Alabama Male College. Darby was the "Julia Ann Hamiter" Professor of Natural Science. Darby taught there until 1861, when the college closed due to the Civil War. It reopened again in 1866 and Darby resumed teaching botany. #OTD Today is the birthday of the Panama Orchid Hunter and son of Lincoln, Nebraska, Abel Aken Hunter, who was born on this day in 1877. In a biography of his older brother, it was mentioned that all the kids in the Hunter family were, "born naturalists, for they knew all the birds and many of the plants and insects around Lincoln, [Nebraska]." When Hunter was just 15 years old, he was appointed to the United States Postal Service. It was a career choice that would supplement his collecting efforts all through his life. Hunter was like many Plant Collectors; he worked his regular job with the post office for almost 30 years while pursuing his passion for botany on the side. Hunter attended the University of Nebraska to study botany. Hunter was appointed botanical collector for the University of Nebraska in 1899. In 1905, when Hunter was promoted to mail clerk, he was making $58 a month. Eighteen months later, Hunter transferred to the post office in Gorgona in the Canal Zone in Panama. The move was an excellent one for Hunter; his pay jumped to $1,250 a month and he was smack dab in the middle of a botanical paradise. 1910 brought a fateful friend to Hunter. The amateur horticulturist Charles Powell was a nurse and he had been transferred to Gorgona. Although he was two decades older than Hunter, the two got on famously. They shared a mutual passion for fishing. Early on in their friendship, while they were fishing, they spied an incredible sight. Hunter is recorded as saying, "Look, Powell–orchids! Oodles of orchids! Treefuls of orchids! Let's get some of 'em." Needless to say, that day they literally brought home a "boat-load of orchids" and the orchids made their way to collectors across the globe. A year or two later, the Canal work in Gorgona wrapped up and both Hunter and Powell transferred to Balboa. From that point on, the two men would coordinate their vacation requests so that they could go on botanizing trips together in Panama. Powell created a special relationship with the Missouri Botanical Garden after he gave them 7,000 plants. In return, Mobot established a Tropical Station in Balboa, Panama. Powell was its first director. Hunter was his successor. The Station became a jewel in the crown of remote locations owned by Mobot. By the mid 1920's, Hunter was collecting with MOBOT experts like George Harry Pring. They once traveled to a remote part of southwest Panama to hunt for orchids where Pring recalled the perilousness of their quest and the natural instincts of Hunter. He said, "To obtain varied genera and new species it is necessary to climb the 'barrancas' [steep, rocky slopes], ford streams, cut one's way through the jungle, and hunt for the coveted orchid, and it is truly a hunt. Hunter's sharp eyes detected almost everything within range." A week before Thanksgiving in 1934, the Director of Mobot sent a party of three researchers including Paul Allen down to work with Hunter; their primary mission was to find where the Sobralia powellii orchid originated. Hunter's gut told him it would be near the head waters of the river they were exploring. For three days, they made their way through rapids and a tropical rain storm. Nothing was going their way; they were ready to give up. They were standing at the edge of a natural pool of water near the crater of an ancient volcano when Allen decided to jump in for a swim. As he climbed out, Allen's journal records this fantastical moment: "Climbing out [of the pool] on the opposite side my astonished gaze was met by a plant with great milky white buds nearly ready to open. The long-sought prize, Sobralia powellii, had been found. Its native home was no longer a mystery." Allen called this area "a garden of orchids" and would not disclose the exact location. Allen and Hunter found hundreds of small orchids in this spot; incredibly many were new to even Hunter. It was a veritable orchid treasure trove. This trip was everything to Hunter. He had been diagnosed with intestinal cancer. It was his last run. When it was clear he could not go on, Allen brought him to a hospital in Panama City where he died on April 6, 1935. Allen finished the expedition alone. After his death, Hunter's wife, Mary, operated the station at Balboa for 18 months until, fittingly, Paul Allen was appointed Director. Allen went to Balboa with his new bride, Dorothy. They had been married for 10 days. As for Abel Aken Hunter, many orchids have been named in his honor, including the Coryanthes Hunteranum, or the Golden Bucket orchid. Unearthed Words "Caught in the doldrums of August we may have regretted the departing summer, having sighed over the vanished strawberries and all that they signified. Now, however, we look forward almost eagerly to winter's approach. We forget the fogs, the slush, the sore throats and the price of coal, we think only of long evenings by lamplight, of the books which we are really going to read this time, of the bright shop windows and the keen edge of the early frosts." ― Denis Mackail, Greenery Street Today's book recommendation: Straw Bale Gardens Complete by Joel Karsten In May of 1994, Joel Karsten experimented with 50 straw bales on his childhood farm in Southwest Minnesota. He was trying to come up with a new way to grow vegetables at his new home in the Twin Cities which was on terrible clay soil. By June, he realized the plants in the bales were twice as tall as the plants growing in the soil. He kept refining his methods until his Straw Bale Gardens were discovered by a local reporter in 2007. Now, twenty-five years later, Joel Karsten is the recognized pioneer of Straw Bale Gardening, with his first book an acclaimed NY Times Best Seller and fans around the world. You can hear Joel's incredible story on the Still Growing gardening podcast. I interviewed Joel in a three-part episodes 515 - 517 and you can hear his incredible personal story and his method of growing in straw bales. And, you can hear about the amazing impact his technique has had around the globe in Episode 556. Today's featured book, Straw Bale Gardens Complete contains all of the original information from Joels first books, but it also goes much deeper, with nearly 50 pages of all-new advice and photos on subjects such as growing in a tight urban setting and making your straw bale garden completely organic. There is even information on using straw bale techniques to grow veggies in other organic media for anyone who has a hard time finding straw. If you've attempted a straw bale garden without using Joel's expertise, you really should get his book, or at least listen to those very thorough interviews we did, and give it another go. It's an incredible way to garden in the most challenging situations and in Cold Climates, you can gain extra growing time - somewhere around 6-8 weeks - in the shoulder seasons of Spring and Fall - that alone makes it worth doing. Today's Garden Chore Winterize your strawberry beds. Prune out runners that you don't want for next year. You can begin the thinning process by potting up your strawberry runners so that you can have even more strawberry plants next year to share at a plant swap, to share with friends or to add to your own garden. I just sink my pots into the ground and then I can deal with them in the spring by snipping them off the mother plant - I let them remain tethered to her throughout the winter. While you're at it, now is the perfect time to clean up the bed. It's also THE time to add a final boost of fertilizer. This time of year, I like to add a fresh layer of protective mulch around my plants to help them survive the winter. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 2005, The Boston Globe shared a little Q&A Segment written by Matt McDonald. A reader had asked, Why is there a large statue of a woman on the south bank of the Charles River in South Natick? Matt's Answer was as follows: "The 9-foot-tall statue represents Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, a Roman Catholic name for Mary, the mother of Jesus. It can be seen from a dirt pullover area on the shoulder of Route 16. But, from a distance, it's not obvious that the statue is of Mary. And its placement, on a rock outcropping overlooking the river with no structures nearby, is unusual. So, the statue has led to imaginative theories about why it's there. "I can't tell you how many call up and ask who it was that drowned," said Janice Prescott, president of the Natick Historical Society." Turns out the statue was put in place by Daniel Sargent, a grandson of the wealthy horticulturist Horatio Hollis Hunnewell. Sargent converted to Catholicism as a graduate student at Harvard. He placed the statue in the back of his beautiful property overlooking a bend in the river. "A 1938 newspaper clipping shared the Latin inscription at the [base of the statue which translates] as "May flowers bloom on this earth." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
There's are some lines from a TS Eliot poem that go like this :
Oh, Do not ask, "What is it?"
Let us go and make our visit."
If you've never visited your local botanic garden this time of year, you really should go. I have a friend who recently did this, and she posted amazing pictures from her visit to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. She said this:
"This is my PSA : Get yourself to the Arb ....now . Don't wait to go just to see the change in color of the trees (like everyone else ) Go now ! The colors of the flowers are crazy ! This is just a couple quick snaps with my phone ( which doesn't do justice) no filters, editing or enhancing. The colors are just THAT bright and bold . I've never gone this time of year . I go in the spring, a few times mid summer then I wait like everyone else for the leaves to change and go again. I've even gone in the winter but never late late summer /early fall . For some reason I thought there wouldn't be anything to look at. I thought the flowers would be half dead ( like my potted plants at home 😜) I won't make that mistake again."
Brevities
#OTD Today is the birthday of the botanist professor Mildred Mathias who was born on this day in 1906 in Sappington, Missouri.
Mathias was a professor at UCLA from 1962 until 1974.
Mathias also served as president of the American Society for Plant Taxonomists and the Botanical Society of America.
Matthias was a pioneer in the area of ecotourism. She enjoyed bringing brightness and amateurs alike all over the world to study and discover plants. From her early days with Dr. Lincoln Constance at Berkeley and 1937, Matthias began to focus on the umbrella for I family or the carrot family The envelope for Reiff is a family of aromatic flowering plants and it's commonly referred to as the carrot or sell celery or parsley family. But it also includes other important herbs like Angelica and Annis Carraway and chervil, dill, fennel, luggage, and parsnip, just to name a few. The taproots of carrot and parsnip are big enough to be harvested as food. Plants like coriander and cilantro and dill and parsley or harvested for their leaves which contain essential boils that are very aromatic. In addition the seeds of these plants, like fennel and cumin and coriander are also harvested for cuisine. On both prefer soil that is cool; they grow breast in the shoulder seasons. The umbrella for I family is named because of the tiny flowers that are clustered together to form in amble – a little flower overhang reminiscent of an umbrella The above are favorites among ladybugs and parasitic wasps. Over the course of Matthias's career she published over 100 articles and books about the ambler fry.
Mathias became an authority on #Apiaceae #taxonomy. Here's her namesake Mathiasella bupleuroides. She served as the president of the Botanical Soc. of America @Botanical_ & American Soc. of Plant Taxonomists @AmSocPlantTaxon
When volume 26 of Madrono was dedicated to you, the final sentence of the citation read: "Mildred, your pioneering spirit, unbelievable energy, wit, humor, warmth, and effectiveness as a leader have made the world a brighter, greener, and more compassionate place for all of us." With these same words we also salute you, as you honor The Society for Economic Botany by accepting our award as Distinguished Economic Botanist for 1993.
#OTD Today in 1907, Orville Redenbacher, was born.
Redenbacher was a U.S. agricultural scientist and the co-creator of a new hybrid of popcorn called "snowflake." It was lighter and fluffier than traditional popped kernels and Redenbacher became a household name with his commercials for his popcorn.
To this day, Orville Redenbacher is the number one selling popcorn in the world. Nebraska produces more popcorn than any other state in the country.
#OTD Today is the birthday of the third son of Charles Darwin, Francis Darwin - known to his family as Frank.
Francis published the results of his work with his dad in a book called The Movement of Plants. The book details their experiments which showed that young grass seedlings grow toward the light.
In 1887, Frank shared a portrait of his father in a book called life and letters of Charles Darwin. The letters revealed Darwins fluid pros and Clarity Frank said that correcting his fathers proof sheets made him a better writer. Frank had been taught by a master teacher and intern he became a teacher as well. At Cambridge he taught students of pure science and medicine. Frank Darwin received many honors during his lifetime including The president of the British Association in the 1908 1909 year And in 1913 he was knighted. It was Frank Darwin who said "the personal affective teacher on people cannot be bought at a price, nor can it be paid for in any coin but gratitude. It is the possibility of earning this payment that makes the best part of a teachers life."
#OTD On this day in 1991 The NY Times printed printed an announcement about an upcoming symposium at the NYBG featuring Dr. James Duke.
Duke was sharing his research and the topic was plants for health and healing their role in modern medicine. The article share Duke's incredible personal experience using plants for health: "DR. JAMES DUKE is one of those rare botanists who actually eat what they preach. He loves to watch the evening primrose open within 60 seconds. But he also munches its seeds, which are high in tryptophan, an essential amino acid that can relieve pain and depression. Purple coneflowers thrive in his rather rumpled wild garden in Fulton, Md. He eats their roots to boost his immune system. To cure a cold, he mashes up the stems and leaves of forsythia. To help strengthen weak capillaries, he makes "rutinade" from violet and buckwheat flowers, lemon grass and rhubarb stalks, and herbs high in rutin (anise, camomile, mint, rosehips)."
Unearthed Words
"Spring flowers are long since gone. Summer's bloom hangs limp on every terrace. The gardener's feet drag a bit on the dusty path and the hinge in his back is full of creaks." - Louise Seymour Jones
Today's book recommendation: The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
Today's Garden Chore
Start moving houseplants back indoors, so they get used to limited sun exposure and humidity. Do this while the windows are still open, to ease the transition.
Move your tropical houseplants indoors by the end of the month.
Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart
I recently had the opportunity to rewatch a video featuring Dr. Oliver Sacks who practiced medicine in NYC across from the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). In the video, Sacks reflected on the garden and what it meant to him. I've cobbled together a few of his inspiring thoughts. Here's what he said: "I think of this garden as treasure. First, it's a haven. In a noisy, crowded New York, we need a haven; we wander around and time doesn't matter too much. When I worked at the hospital opposite the garden, I used to come in every day. Specifically, I would come in after seeing my patients but before writing up my notes. And, I would walk around the garden and put everything out of consciousness except the plants and the air. But, by the time I got back the patient's story would have crystallized in my mind [and then] I could then write it straight away. But I needed this sort of incubation in the garden and to go for a walk in the garden; that sort of thing is an essential thing for me in writing. I think nature has a healing effect; the garden the closest one can come to nature. The garden has affected me and does affect me in various ways; it's not just the pleasure of walking around but [also] the very special virtues of the library and the museum and the fact that, in some ways, this is a university as well as a garden. I just feel very comfortable in the garden and whenever people come to New York from out of town or out of the country I say let's go to the garden. I would like quote a couple of lines from a TS Eliot poem: "Do not ask what is it, Let us go and make our visit." and so I think you can't really describe the garden you have to have to visit it.
Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
#NationalIndoorPlantWeek is this week! Be sure to follow my friend, Lisa Steinkopf - the @HouseplantGuru- on twitter for a chance to win copies of her books and some houseplants. And remember, it's all week long - so Happy Indoor Plant Week. Go get yourself something new for the Indoor season which is just around the corner if you live in a colder climate. Brevities #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of Charles V of France who died on this day in 1380. He commissioned his cook, Guillaume Tirel, to create the first cookbook. The full title of the book is an exceptionally long one. In English, it translates to: "Hereafter follows the [recipe collection] describing the preparation of all manner of foods, as cooked by Taillevent, the cook of our noble king, and also the dressing and preparation of boiled meat, roasts, sea and freshwater fish, sauces, spices, and other suitable and necessary things as described hereafter." As the Culinary World was getting underway, it is interesting to note that during Charles V's reign, the first forks were found to be included in an inventory. And gardeners with some knowledge of mushrooms will find the death of Charles V intriguing; some historians believe that Charles V died as a result of eating the highly poisonous amanita mushrooms. #OTD Today is the birthday of the Scottish plantsman Robert Fortune who was born on this day in 1812. Robert Fortune's name is inextricably bound to China and to tea and the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. For centuries, China had a monopoly on tea. They, alone, grew the plants. They made black tea and green tea, and the rest of the world had no idea how they did it. By the 1700's, the British had started enjoying exports from China: porcelain, silk, and yes, tea. But, China was not interested in goods from Britain. The lop-sided relationship was a problem. This is where Robert Fortune enters the scene. By the early 1800's, he was a trained botanist learning at the hem of some of England's finest gardens and he gets hired to go to China by the Royal Geographic Society the RGS. At the time, China was off-limits to foreigners. So, in order to collect plants, Fortune figured out a way to blend in: he shaves his head and wears clothing like the locals, he picks up some of the Mandarin language and he learns about China more than any other westerner at the time. China is vast and Fortune stayed for three years before returning home to England. When he returned, Fortune wrote about his time in China and he drew the attention of The British East India Company. They were serious about obtaining tea plants from China. And, they were desperate to learn how to make tea. So, they wisely select Fortune, with his unique combination of botanical and Chinese expertise, and they send him back to China. This time Fortune was on a much more specific mission and he knew what he needed to do to. He went to China incognito; dressed as a Mandarin. He had shaved the front of his head he basically had extensions sewn in to the hair on the back of his head so he looked like he has this amazingly long ponytail. He looked 100% the part. Then, he hired guides to do the talking for him and since there was no national language, it all flew under the radar. Once in China, Fortune immediately began visiting tea plantations. He learned the methods and ways of harvesting tea plants to make tea. He learned that green tea and black tea come from the same plant; it's just the processing method that makes them different. Thanks to the Wardian case, Fortune was able to get live plants to India. All told, Fortune managed to smuggle out 20,000 tea plants and ships them to India. He even managed to get some of the Chinese tea farmers with their tools to leave China and help set up tea production in India. Sara Rose, one of the authors who has written a biography on Fortune, said that what Fortune accomplished was no less than the greatest single act of corporate espionage in the history of the world. Today, China is still the top tea producer with over 2.4 million tons of production. Followed by India at a little less than half and then Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam make up the next spots. So, tea being grown outside of China is a direct result of Robert Fortune and India, as the number 2 tea producer in the world (behind China) was a feat that was accomplished in a less than two centuries. And, again, it wouldn't have happened without Robert Fortune. #OTD 1835 Charles Darwin arrived at the Galapagos islands on board a ship called the HMS Beagle. Once he's on the islands, Darwin begins to check out all of the varied and unique plants and it gets him thinking. The experience basically shapes his theory of natural selection. Unearthed Words "But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on." - Robert Finch, Nature Writer Today's book recommendation: The Chinese Kitchen Garden by Wendy Kiang-Spray Back in 2018, I had the opportunity to interview Wendy and it remains one of my favorite conversations about growing and using edibles from the garden. The Chinese Kitchen Garden is half how to grow, half how to cook, and half an amazing glimpse into the wonderful Kiang-Spray Family - so that's 150% worth of yummy, beautiful, love in one book. As gardeners, sometimes we can get a little restless - searching for a new variety - something new to try - and when nothing strikes our fancy, we can feel unsatisfied. Well, Wendy's introduction to Asian Vegetables is a spark and it opens the door to growing a whole new cast of edibles. What I learned from Wendy is that often the Asian vegetables she learned to grow and eat are often upgrades from the standard varieties. Now THAT's exciting. If you are looking for something new to grow, if you're a foodie or if you want to start a kitchen garden, The Chinese Kitchen Garden is perfect for you. And, if you want to check out my interview with Wendy over at the Still Growing podcast, just search for Episode 601 and hit play. During that episode, Wendy read excerpts from many of my favorite parts in the book and she'll also shares many of the Chinese vegetables — like lotus root, bitter melons, stem lettuce, day lilies, and Chinese cucumbers — and traditional recipes that will make you drool. Finally, Wendy's book is organized by season, so handy - you'll learn what to grow in spring and what to cook in winter. Today's Garden Chore Make one last push to plant the trees, shrubs, and perennials that are on your list or that you find discounted at the store. Do it now, so they can get established. And remember to water them well. Depending on where you are at, you have 3-4 weeks before the sprinkler system needs to get shut off. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1978, the New Castle News out of New Castle, PA, shared an article written by Mike Finsilber with a headline that read: Exhibit depicts female scientists. "When curator Deborah Warner suggested to her superiors at the Smithsonian Institutition that she put together an exhibit documenting the accomplishments of American women in science in the 19th century, her superiors were skeptical. Women scientists in the 19th century? Would there be enough of them to fill an exhibit? They doubted it. Ms. Warner didn't. Yesterday her display opened in the Museum of History and Technology, telling of, among others: —Kate Furbish, the botanist who discovered the now-famous Furbish Lousewort. It is now famous because it is endangered and for a time threatened to block construction of the Lincoln-Dickey Dam in Maine." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
What's the secret to beautiful begonias? I asked this to a friend recently who has the most gorgeous begonias every single year. Her answer: fish emulsion. This means you should feed your begonias with fertilizer. Since we love that begonias flower and they do flower their hearts out, that makes begonias are heavy feeders. Since fish emulsion (5-1-1) is a low-intensity total fertilizer it's perfect for promoting large, healthy, beautiful begonias. Just feed every 3-4 weeks and follow the label directions. And remember, most begonias do best with plenty of filtered light but little or no direct hot sun. So don't fry them. At the same time, water and begonias don't play nice together in the sense that begonias can rot pretty quickly. They need a soil that's going to drain quick. They need to be in pots - like terra cotta- that breathe. Add perlite or leaf mold to your soil mix to make a very coarse, quick-draining potting mix to add more air pockets to the soil. Then, don't forget that those air pockets mean you need to water more frequently - especially during warm weather. One thing you can also do is mist begonias. They like humidity - but too much of that can invite fungus or powdery mildew, so keep an eye on them. Brevities #OTD Today is the birthday of Caspar Wistar the Younger who was born on this day in 1761. His grandfather was also Caspar Wistar, so the Younger distinction helps people tell them apart. Wistar was a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania. The botanist Thomas Nuttall named the genus Wisteria in his honor (some people say Wistaria to reflect the proper spelling of Wistar's last name. Either is fine because guess what - the misspelling is preserved for all time under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature). It's like one of my kid's birth certificate - it can be amended but the original is wrong and will be until the end of time. Wistar had some pretty impressive friends: his best friend was probably Thomas Jefferson and his most famous botany friend was probably Alexander von Humboldt. Wistar died of a heart ailment unexpectedly on January 18, 1818. His final utterance was: "I wish well to all mankind." During his life, every Sunday Night, Wistar would hold a salon - an open house - at his home on the corner of Fourth and Locust Street. His friends would stop by - along with any members of academia, or the elite or high society, along with other accomplished people who happened to be in Philadelphia that evening. They all knew that Wistar's house was the place to go to meet up with the best minds of the day. When Wistar died, his friends continued holding Wistar parties for a core group of 50 members. They would each take turns hosting and the kept the tradition going for another forty years. #OTD Today is the birthday of the British author, Roald Dahl who was born on this day in 1916. Today, his birthday, is celebrated all over the world as Roald Dahl Day. Dahl was an avid gardener. In fact, his garden shed doubled as his writing nook where he wrote many books, including Charlie and the Chocolate factory. As romantic a notion as this sounds to a gardener's ears, it was also a pragmatic decision on the part of Dahl's wife. Dahl chain-smoked as he wrote and the garden shed kept the smoke out of the house. For Dahl's part, he loved the idea of using the garden shed as a place to write, especially after seeing the little writing hut used by the author Dylan Thomas. Gardeners with a passion for roses will no doubt praise the Roald Dahl Rose which honored Dahl's love of gardening. It's an absolutely stunning English shrub rose bred by David Austin. It's got a very blousy habit and scrumptious peach blooms that just go non-stop. They have a lovely fragrance as well - and not many thorns, so that's a bonus. Dahl's diaries have marvelous entries about his garden, and he was often inspired by his garden which you can ascertain when you read in his work. H ere are some examples: From Matilda: "I liked The Secret Garden best of all. It was full of mystery." From My Year: "There is just one small bright spark shining through the gloom in my January garden. The first snowdrops are in flower." From James and the Giant Peach: "And now suddenly, the whole place, the whole garden seemed to be alive with magic..." From The BFG: "But Mr Tibbs didn't hesitate for long. 'Tell the head gardener,' he whispered, 'that I require immediately a brand new unused garden fork and also a spade. And for a knife we shall use the great sword hanging on the wall in the morning-room. But clean the sword well first. It was last used to cut off the head of King Charles the First and there may still be a little dried blood on the blade." From Roald Dahl: "Mary, Mary, quite contrary How does yr garden grow? 'I live with my brat in a high-rise flat, So how in the world would I know.' Unearthed Words All week long The Daily Gardener has been sharing quotes from the author Beverley Nichols, who was born on Monday of this week in 1898. A prolific writer, Nichols is best remembered for his gardening books. Today I'm featuring excerpts from his book called Forty Favourite Flowers. It is exactly as described, Nichols sharing his top selections; the flowers he loved most in his garden; which he described this way: "A great deal of weeping goes on in my garden, but it is a happy sort of weeping, for all this bending of branches and bowing of heads is simply due to the fact that so much beauty is displayed on so small a stage." Nichols arranged this book simply; using alphabetical order. Then he just shares some of his favorites. Here are some excerpts for you: Algerian Iris: One of my grandfathers died of a clump of Iris stylosa; it enticed him from a sick bed on an angry evening in January, luring him through the snow-drifts with its blue and silver flames; he died of double pneumonia a few days later. It was probably worth it. Magnolia: "I must confess that, for me, the flower of the magnolia is most beautiful when life has almost ebbed from it. These are the twilit hours when the petals flag and falter, when their immaculate ivory texture dims, when they glow with a ghostly radiance that seems to come from another world" Regal Lily: "The regal lilies do indeed praise the Lord. Some of my own, last summer were so exultant that they praised Him through no less than thirty snow-white trumpets on a single stem, and even the most accomplished angel could not do much better than that." Iris Siberica: How can one ignore... that singular infinitely sinister blossom Iris siberica? This latter flower can certainly claim to be exclusively dressed; for the petals of no other blossom has Nature designed so curious of fabric, vein with slate and violet and purple. Fritillairies: Each Stage of our lives has its "signature" flower and those of us who keep diaries would have a little difficulty in assigning to each year those flowers which are especially evocative... Fritillairies are linked with my years as an undergraduate... Year after year, for generation after generation, these flowers have danced in the background through the lives of England's youth. Mesembryanthemum: The flower is a startling proof of the fact that when nature decides to be vulgar - really vulgar - she can achieve affects of almost blinding beauty. For nothing could be more opulent, more blatant, more shamelessly exhibitionist than a bed of the Mesembryanthemum in full bloom. Magenta jostling scarlet, screaming at cinnamon, fighting with shocking pink, yelling against a dozen shades of orange and vermilion. Caryopteris: Paradoxically, blue is the color that makes many people see red; by which I mean that fears arguments are constantly developing as to which flower is the bluest... The Caryopteris is a radiant in any weather... The blue of its petals seems to have the quality of caring for great distances, as though it were some sort of floral evangelist with a message of good tidings for all the world. Summer Hyacinth: On an August night, when the moon is full, there is an almost ectoplasmic radiance around its petals. Golden-bell clematis: If I had to confine my choice of creepers to a single family – what a hideous thought! – I should probably choose the family of clematis. And if I were limited to a single member of the family, I should probably choose Clematis tangutica. I said "probably" because these hypothetical decisions are so very painful. Finally, in FFF, Nichols offered some sweeping thoughts that will undoubtedly strike a chord: "One of the many reasons why gardens are increasingly precious to us in this day and age is that they help us to escape from the tyranny of speed. Our skies are streaked with jets, our roads have turned to race-tracks, and in the cities the crowds rush to and fro as though the devil were at their heels. But as soon as we open the garden gate, Time seems almost to stand still, slowing down to the gentle ticking of the Clock of the Universe." Today's book recommendation: English Cottage Gardening by Margaret Hensel This book is a wonder for anyone who loves the intimacy of the English cottage garden and who endeavors to capture the feel of that for their own space. Hensel has come up with core elements from ten cottage gardens―eight in England and two in the United States. Once you master those elements, you are well on your way to having a cottage garden of your own. Hensel explains each element and how to achieve it, and she shares the stories of beginners that are sure to inspire new gardeners. The last part of this book is especially helpful; It reviews 76 selected cottage-style plants and how to use them to create the cottage garden. Hensel wants her readers, "[to] feel moved, even inspired, to imagine what magical things might happen in their own front and backyards". The books is chockfull of information and photos. Hensel is an exceptional photographer in her own right which makes her photographs of the gardens and plants extra meaningful. So overall, there's tons of information and Inspiration for gardeners looking to create their own cozy cottage garden. Today's Garden Chore Just because it's September, doesn't mean you can't divide bearded irises because you can - and I just recently did this myself. If you have older clumps of irises or irises out of place, it's a great time to divide them and move them. Be sure to remove any bad parts of the rhizomes and then plant them high. I like to nestle mine on top of the soil and then stake them in instead of digging them or half-burying them. To each his own - but no matter what - do not bury them deep. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1843, the New England Farmer out of Boston, Massachusetts published this little article about toads. "Never destroy the toad. In the season of bugs and flies, a toad will do more towards the preservation of a garden, than a man, and all that ho requires at your hands for this valuable assistance, is the freedom of your garden walks and beds, and the paltry shelter of a chip or turf. He meddles with no one's business but his own constantly avoiding company, and intent only on extirpating those voracious insects by whose jaws the beauty of the garden is so frequently laid low." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
How's your garden doing? Is there something blooming that is stealing your heart? In my garden, I'm especially enjoying the Yellow wax-bells or Kirengeshoma palmata ("kih-ren-gesh-OH-mah palm-AY-tah"). Heidi Heiland installed these for me last summer during my garden renovation. They are right up by my front door in a North-facing garden - and I see them every day as I go in and out the front door. I have to say that this plant has slowly won my heart. All season, I watched this perennial grow into a clump of maple-leaves (the leaves look just like the maple tree but smaller and a lighter green.) Then as August comes on, you begin to see these pendulous pale yellow buds. They are quite enchanting and they hang there through September. Fine Gardening describes the plant this way: "This hardy, clump-forming perennial bears pendulous, shuttlecock-shaped soft-yellow blossoms in late August and early September. The plant has attractive, glossy, 4- to 8-inch-long, maple-leaf-shaped leaves. Noteworthy Characteristics This unusual flowering perennial is native to mountainous areas of Japan and Korea. Survives the -20ºF winters of USDA Zone 5, as well as winters of warmer climates. Care Grow in rich, moist, acidic soil. Shelter from wind." Anyway, when you think of yellow blossoms in the garden, that spectrum of color can be pretty wide; there are so many shades of yellow. I'm personally not a fan of the super bright yellows and I end up eliminating flowers if their bloom is too jarring to my taste. But, I've decided that the soft pastel, creamy-buttery yellow of yellow wax-bells, has to be hands-down my favorite yellow in the garden. Brevities #OTD Today is the birthday of America's first pteridologist, Daniel Cady Eaton, who was born on this day in 1834. A pteridologist is a person who studies ferns. The botanist Charles Frost told a charming story about how Eaton had fallen in love with ferns after going on a walk with his fiancé. At some point on their walk, she had apparently called Eaton's attention to a beautiful fern and Eaton's desire to please her was the origin of his hyper-focus on ferns. Eaton was born in to a botanical family. His grandfather, Amos, was an American pioneer in the field of botany. Amos actually was a teacher to John Torrey. His father was also interested in collecting. For his undergraduate work, Eaton went to Yale and then received another degree at Harvard. While he was in college, he excelled in Latin and he loved and used the language for the rest of his life. Eaton studied under Asa Gray. Asa Gray would have learned about botany as a student by reading Amos Eaton's textbooks. In any case, Daniel and Asa were kindred spirits; so much so, that Eaton dedicated his work on "The Ferns of the United States of America and British North American Possessions" to his beloved instructor. #OTD Today is the birthday of the Landscape Architect Arthur Shurcliff who was born on this day in 1870. Shurcliff's path to Landscape Architecture was not clear cut. His dad had been a successful businessman. Arthur was supposed to follow in his dad's footsteps and become a Mechanical Engineer. But after receiving his degree from MIT, the field of Landscape Architecture was making waves thanks to the Olmsteds, Charles Eliot, and the Chicago World's Fair. Since no formal degree programs existed at the time, Shurcliff cobbled together his own curriculum at the Lawrence School of Science at Harvard. All his life, Shurcliff loved being outside. He loved camping and canoeing. He loved scenery. He love sketching the landscape. Looking back on his decision to pursue Landscape Architecture, Shurcliff remembered, "All led me away from mechanics toward scenery, toward planning and construction for the scenes of daily life..." In 1904, Shurcliff opened his own firm. Shurcliff designed recreational spaces in and around Boston like the Rose Garden, the Washington Garden at old North, and the park Back Bay Fens. But, Shurcliff will forever be remembered for the work he did at Colonial Williamsburg. It was the first time an entire American community was to be restored. John D. Rockefeller financed the project. Shurcliff had over 30 years of experience behind him when he officially started the project on St. Patrick's Day of that year. He didn't just bring his Landscape Architecture skills; he brought everything he had; his training in engineering, his meticulousness, and his ability to get things done through his personal clarity, energy, and charm. It took Shurcliff 13 years to finish the project. But, once it was done, Shurcliff had redefined Williamsburg; helping it to lay claim to it's past and ensuring that Colonial Revival garden design found legitimacy in 20th Century Landscape Architecture. #OTD Today in 1930, Dr. Ernest H. Wilson also known as "Chinese" Wilson spoke at a banquet room at the Hotel Bond as part of the Connecticut Horticultural Exposition. Wilson's speech drew loud applause when he predicted that people would have more and more spare time on their hands in the future. His advice on how to handle it was simple, "Teach the youth the joys of gardening." #OTD On this day in 1959, The Illustrated London Newsshared a fantastic image of Agatha Christie and her gardener holding large trophies for their entries at the Brixham Horticultural Flower Show. In the photo, Christie's gardener is grasping three trophies and Agatha, wearing a bright floral dress, looks pleased as punch to be holding a large trophy of her own. No doubt the entries were from Greenway, which Agatha described as "the loveliest place in the world". Agatha set two of her novels at Greenway; Five Little Pigs and Dead Man's Folly. Greenway was her holiday home, along the River Dart. Greenway is now managed by the National Trust. It's a great place to visit. British Heritage Travel says, "The house itself is surrounded by gardens—walled gardens, conservatories, orchards and woodland gardens. Through the spring months here on the English Riviera, the climate produces an early profusion of rhododendron, camellias and the like. The gardens at Greenway have been open to the public since 2003. They are elegant and well-tended." Unearthed Words All week long The Daily Gardener is sharing quotes from the author Beverley Nichols, who was born on Monday of this week in 1898. Nichols wrote over 60 books - but he is best remembered for his gardening books - which include not one, not two, but three trilogies. His final trilogy began with the book called Garden Open Today which was first published in 1963. This trilogy was different than his first two because this series is about imparting wisdom. By the time Nichols wrote this trilogy, he had been gardening for 30 years and he was attempting to pour all of that hard-won expertise and passion into this final series. Here's my favorite quote from Garden Open Today: "The design [a gardener] imposes must be constantly modified and sometimes totally transformed by a hand stronger than his own—the hand of Nature. Maybe the art of gardening is simply the knowledge of how to hold that hand, and how to clasp it in friendship." Today's book recommendation: Lemon Herbs by Ellen Spector Platt My yellow wax-bells reminded me to recommend this book to you guys. This lovely lemony resource came out in 2002. The book features only herbs with lemon scents and flavors - 18 of them - including lemon catmint (which I didn't realize was a thing), citronella grass, lemon eucalyptus, lemon geranium, lemon grass, lemon mint, and lemon verbena. Best of all, the book offers ideas for using them in potpourris, wreaths, and lemon-flavored recipes for salads, entrees, and desserts. Today's Garden Chore Tend to your hanging baskets to keep them looking sharp. If you didn't go with something super easy like a Boston fern, (mine are almost 3 feet across now thanks to drip irrigation), your hanging baskets could likely use a tune-up. Sometimes we forget about hanging baskets - especially if they are filled with non-stop blossoms . That said, they often benefit from a little attention this time of year. Cut them back a bit, clean up spent flowers, evaluate their appropriateness for the change of seasons. You can easily fill blank spots with transitional items to help you ease into Fall. Birds nests make awesome spot fillers. Permanent stems can add a little extra color without the work. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart In 1843, the New England Farmer reported a record-sized apple from a Mr. John Waite and it definitely got their attention; weighing in at 18 ounces and measuring 14 inches in circumference. The article ended with this question posed by a Philadelphia editor: "How many such apples would it take to make a barrel of cider?" Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
If, over the course of the summer, you found yourself driving down the road and spying a little electric blue blossom by the side of the road; chances are, you are looking at chicory. Listener Danny Perkins shared a post at the end of August sharing beautiful photos of chicory. A few years ago, I used to drive the boys into St. Paul for basketball camp and when I pulled off the free way, there it was. Chicory. Impossibly growing in between cracks in the cement along the sidewalk. I went straight to my Mac when I got home and order seeds on the spot. The blue of chicory is positively luminescent. The plant is where chicory coffee and tea come from. Listener Diane Lydic posted this: "My father use to pick it on his way home from work. He made a map of all the patches so he could remember for next year. Delicious with olive oil and vinegar with hard boiled eggs. Always a treat!" Diane's father is a man after my own heart. Anyone who makes a map of roadside patches of precious plants is a friend in my book! Brevities #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of Rudolph Jacob Camerarius the botanist who demonstrated the existence of sexes in plants. He died in 1721. Camerarius was born in Germany. He was a professor of natural philosophy. He identified and defined the male parts of the flower as the anther and he did the same for the female part; the pistol. And, he figured out that pollen made production possible. His work was recorded for the ages in a letter he wrote to a peer in 1694 called On the sex of plants. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the Spanish priest, botanist, physician, and naturalist José Celestino Mutis who spent almost 50 years in Columbia where he is regarded as a national treasure for his scientific work. In the 18th century, Columbia and the area around it was known as New Granada. Given his lifetime spent in Granada, Mutis was able to leave a lasting legacy. He created an impressive library complete with thousands of books on botany and the natural world. He also built a herbarium with over 24,000 species. Only Joseph Banks had a herbarium that rivaled Mutis; and Banks had more resources and more support from the English government. Mutis approached the job of documenting the flora of Granada in a very unique way; he accomplished his mission by enlisting others. During his time in Granada, Mutis worked with over 40 local Creole artists. He recruited them and trained them. He brought them to a studio where they could work all day long in silence. In short, Mutis set up a botanical production machine that was unsurpassed in terms of the output and the level of excellence for the times. At one point, Mutis had up to twenty artisans working all at one time. One artist would work on the plant habit while another would work on specific aspects or features. The Mutis machine created over 6,500 pieces of art; botanical sketches and watercolors painted with pigments made from local dyes which heightened their realism. On the top of the Mutis bucket-list was the dream of a Flora of Bogata. Sadly it never happened. Mutis died in Granada in 1808. Eight years later, the King of Spain ordered all of the output from the Mutis expedition to be shipped back home. All the work created by the Creole artisans and the entire herbarium were packed into 105 shipping crates and sent to Spain where they sat and sat and sat and waited... until 1952 when a handful were used in a large folio series. Then the Mutis collection waited another 60 years until 2010 when they were finally exhibited at Kew. Today, the thousands of pieces that make up the Mutis collection are housed at the Botanical Garden in Madrid, Spain. The pieces are large - mostly folio size - and since they haven't really seen much daylight over the past two centuries, they are in immaculate condition. #OTD Today is the birthday of the Harvard and Smithsonian botanist, taxonomist and plant collector Lyman Bradford Smith who was born on this day in 1904. Smith was homeschooled by his mother, but it was his mother's Aunt Cora that nurtured his love of horticulture. He went to college and pursued botany at Harvard where he found another passion: wrestling. Smith continued wrestling into his 60's. When he started his Ph.D. he attempted to focus on grasses. But that work required the use of a microscope and Smith didn't have good eye sight. It was the botanist Ivan Murray Johnston who encouraged Smith to choose Bromeliaceae because they didn't require so much microscope time. When he married his wife in 1929, their honeymoon was a tour of European herberia. When he returned home, Smith worked at the Asa Gray herbarium at Harvard. All through the Depression, Smith rode his bike to and from the Gray; 14 miles round trip. Smith began focusing on four Brazilian plant families Bromeliaceae, Begoniaceae, Velloziaceae, and Xyridaceae early in his career. Despite discouragement from older academics who felt the topic of North American Bromeliaceae was too broad for a new taxonomist, Smith proceeded anyway. His work ethic surpassed most of his peers. He was known for saying, "Press it and I'll identify it." Smith was a publishing master. He wrote extensively on his signature genera. Much of what is known about bromelaids is thanks to Lyman Bradford Smith. It is his lasting legacy. Today, twenty-one bromelaids are named in Smith's honor. 1947 brought big changes to the Smith family after an offer from the Smithsonian to be the curator of South American Plants. It was an offer that was too good to refuse - better pay, the chance to travel, and more stability. Yet, Lyman brought the same work ethic and habits to the Smithsonian - riding his bike to the Smithsonian Castle every day until his seventies. When Lyman arrived the Smithsonian he hired Alice Tangerini to be an illustrator - it's a position she still holds. Unearthed Words All week long The Daily Gardener is sharing quotes from the author Beverley Nichols. Today I'm sharing some excerpts from his fabulous book Merry Hall. Merry Hall was part of Nichol's later trilogy written between 1951 and 1956. It shares Nichols's highs and lows of renovating Merry Hall, a Georgian manor house in Surrey. Nichols lived here for ten years from 1946 to 1956. Here are two excerpts from Merry Hall: "...If you are picking a bunch of mixed flowers, and if you happen to see, over in a corner, a small, sad, neglected-looking pink or peony that is all by itself and has obviously never had a chance in life, you have not the heart to pass it by, to leave it to mourn alone, while the night comes on. You have to go back and pick it, very carefully, and put it in the centre of the bunch among its fair companions, in the place of honor." "Long experience has taught me that people who do not like geraniums have something morally unsound about them. Sooner or later you will find them out; you will discover that they drink, or steal books, or speak sharply to cats. Never trust a man or a woman who is not passionately devoted to geraniums." Today's book recommendation: Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening by Matt Mattus When I first saw the book Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening, I knew it would be amazing. Mattus is a conscious competent in the world of vegetables and his advice along with the images will make even an ornamental gardener want to grow these beautiful, common to unusual, great-tasting vegetables. Mattus will appeal to new gardeners who need a master to teach them the basics. But he'll also appeal to seasoned growers who are looking for more complex techniques or higher level insight. Mattus writes with a personable, helpful voice. He's funny and he shares great stories as well. This book could only come from someone like Matt who has grown each vegetable himself and truly loves gardening. Today's Garden Chore Prepare your cold frames, shed, and greenhouse in preparation for fall if you haven't already. Autumn sowing and growing time for late autumn greens, radishes and other shoulder-season crops is right now. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart September's birthday flower is the aster. Asters offer that happy yellow face encircled with rayed petals. Asters are part of the sunflower or daisy family. The Aster is named from the Greek word for star. In the 'Language of Flowers', reflecting the changing season, it signifies 'farewell'. Farewell to the lazy days of summer, to swimming pools and picnics, and farewell to the summer harvest. There was a little anonymous poem about September and asters printed in The Bluff CIty Newsout of Kansas in 1903. Here's what it said: "September's fields are golden. Her skies are azure fair. And In her beauty holden Are gifts beyond compare. Who longs for May-time blossoms? Who cares for roses sweet? When all September's asters Are flowering at our feet." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
Right about now is the perfect time to get out the power washer. Clean your water features, edging, rocks, fountains, and your outdoor entertaining spaces. The reality is that once you start up that power washer, the list of things that you can clean with it goes on and on. As you're working, you invariably find more things to wash. When it comes to our maintenance free decking, I'll add a little Dawn dish soap to help release the dirt out of the grooves. And, this week and next is the exact best time of year to get your ponds netted so you can catch those falling leaves and save yourself some major cleanup. My neighbor has a huge maple tree that hangs over part of our yard. When that tree starts to let go the helicopter seeds, I'll cover some of the raised beds and planters with wedding tulle to minimize the number of baby maples growing in the garden.
I thought I'd start today's show off with a quote by Beverley Nichols from his book, Sunlight on the Lawn: "Why do insurance companies, when they want to describe an act of God, invariably pick on something which sounds much more like an act of the Devil? One would think that God was exclusively concerned in making hurricanes, smallpox, thunderbolts, and dry rot. They seem to forget that He also manufactures rainbows, apple-blossom, and Siamese kittens. However, that is, perhaps, a diversion." This quote by Nichols came to mind when I heard the wondrous story about the little tomato plant that had sprouted on a piling by the Brooklyn Bridge. It made the Nightly News after the story was first published by the New York Times on Wednesday along with a photo taken by a passerby, Matthew Frey. Paddle-boarding between Pier 1 and 2 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Frey saw the leaves first. His incredible image of a lone tomato plant growing straight up with no supports and with one perfectly red little tomato was heartwarming. It reminded me of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree but with only one red ornament hanging proudly in the middle of the plant. Frey, who is 54, told the times: "I'm used to seeing things grow here, but nothing as special as that... Things like that just make me happy." Beverley Nichols would have loved seeing the little tomato plant that could. To him, it would have been heaven sent - a little gift to us all from above. Brevities #OTD On this day in 1513, James IV of Scotland, along with other Flowers of the Forest, were killed in the battle of Flodden. The Scottish army led by James, was taking advantage of Henry VIII's absence in France but they were resoundingly crushed by an army organized by Katherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's 1st wife. It was the largest battle ever fought between England & Scotland, and it was a devastating defeat for the Scots who remembered the pain of an estimated 12,000 dead sons of Scotland in an old Scottish folksong called "The Flowers of the Forest." There are many variations of the lyrics that have surfaced over the years. One of the oldest verses ends this way: "'The Flowers of the Forest that fought at the foremost, The prime of the land are cold in the clay'" In 1765, the socialite Alison Cockburn wrote her own lyrics to the Flowers of the Forest. Here's the first verse: I've seen the smiling Of fortune beguiling, I've tasted her pleasures And felt her decay; Sweet is her blessing, And kind her caressing, But now they are fled And fled far away. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist and the incomparable botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret who died on this day in 1770. Ehret was born in Heidelberg, Germany to Ferdinand Christian Ehret, who was a gardener and also had a talent for drawing. He taught his son both skills- gardening and drawing - before he died. Ehret made his way to Regensburg. There, he met an apothecary who hired him to draw of specimens from his herbarium and garden. Ehret earnestly took on the job; drawing over 500 pieces in one year. Taking advantage of his young employee, the apothecary fired Ehret and told him he should have completed 1,000 drawings and was fired. It was basically his way of avoiding paying Ehret. After this dreadful experience, Ehret made his way to England and worked at the major botanical gardens - Including Chelsea Physic. Isaac Rand, the first director of the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, told Ehret to paint the rare plants in the garden. The uniqueness of the specimens added to the demand for Ehret's work. As a result, Ehret was on friendly terms with the plant collectors and naturalists of his time. Chelsea was formative professionally and personally for Ehret; He married the head gardener's sister-in-law, Susanna Kennet. In The Art of Botanical Illustration, Wilfrid Blunt noted that, "By the middle of the century he had become a popular figure in London society: the highest nobility in England clamored to receive instruction from him," Indeed, the wealthiest woman in England, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, (the Duchess of Portland) gladly retained Ehret as a drawing instructor. Struck by the luminescence of his work, and ultimately she would buy over 300 of his paintings. In 1737, Ehret was hired to draw by Sir Charles Wager, First Lord of the Admiralty. In August of that year, Wagner's personal garden is where Ehret first observed the Magnolia grandiflora flowering. The bloom was so inspiring that Ehret walked for an hour each way, from Chelsea to Wagner's house (in Fulham), to see and sketch every stage of the Magnolia grandiflora; from bud to full flower. Ehret's work provided the world with the first Magnolia to be illustrated in England. Beyond his work in England, Ehret traveled throughout Europe in pursuit of his craft. He met Linnaeus in Holland when he was visiting the botanical garden in Leiden. Linnaeus taught Ehret exactly how he wanted plants to be dissected and drawn. By this time, Ehret felt that his drawings were already aligned with Linnaeus, but the calibration didn't hurt; Ehret's work made it possible for Linnaeus to show the differences between plants for his books. When Linnaeus released his catalog of rare plants, "Hortus Cliffortianus," in 1737, it featured 20 meticulous plates made by Ehret. As a result of partnering with Linnaeus, Ehret understood plant structure on a level that rivaled most botanists. Ehret's style of drawing is referred to as the Linnaean style. Ehret's father could have never predicted the impact of teaching his son both gardening and drawing; but the two skills had come together in Ehret in a very special way. One expert wrote that, "[Ehret] was the greatest artist illustrator that Linnaeus had." Today, Ehret's work is difficult to source. Given the rarity of an Ehret drawing, they are expensive to acquire; pieces generally start around $1k (if you can find one.) Just this year, the NYBG organized an exhibit called, "Georg Ehret: The Greatest Botanical Artist of the 1700s." They featured 48 Ehret watercolors and engravings. #OTD Today is the birthday of James Arnold who was born on this day in 1781 and who was the namesake for Harvard's Arnold Arboretum. The Arnold Arboretum was the very first arboretum in the United States. Arnold was born to a Quaker family in Providence Rhode, Island. In 1807, Arnold married Sarah Rotch. Had Arnold not married Sarah, there would have probably never been an Arnold Arboretum. Sarah's father was part of a wealthy whaling family. Through his marriage to Sarah, Arnold eventually became a partner in his father-in-law's business. Arnold used his wealth to buy an 11-acre estate. There he built a mansion and installed beautiful gardens and lawns. The property was so stunning, that the Arnolds opened their gardens to the public on Sundays. It was a rare opportunity. The Unitarian minister, William Potter, called the Arnold estate, "a home the most conspicuous among all our homes for culture, for hospitality, for charity." John Quincy Adams was a guest of the Arnolds in 1835 and 1843. When Arnold died in 1868, he had outlived both his wife and daughter. As part of his will, he left $100,000 in the hands of threetrustees: Francis Parker, John James Dixwell, and George Emerson. Emerson and Dixwell were essential to the founding of the Arboretum because they personally knew Asa Gray at Harvard and they also knew that Harvard wanted a Botanic Garden. When the arrangements for the arboretum were finally settled, the instructions were to collect every kind of tree and shrub that would grow outdoors in Massachusetts. In 1873, Charles Sprague Sargent was hired to be the Arnold Arboretum director - a position he would hold for over four decades. His vision combined with the stability provided by his long leadership, established a solid foundation for the Arnold Arboretum. With the gift from James Arnold, the Arboretum had the means; and with the leadership of Sargent, it had the expertise. Both were needed to create the world-class arboretum we enjoy today. Unearthed Words This week I'm going to do a special tribute to the author Beverley Nichols, who was born on this day in 1898. Nichols is remembered for his writing and his love of gardening and cats. Nichols wrote over 60 books - but he is best remembered for his gardening books. In 1932, Nichol's wrote Down the Garden Path. It became an instant best seller on both sides of the Atlantic. In the book, Nichols wrote about his 1928 purchase of a weekend retreat; a thatched cottage in the village of Glatton. Nichols knew nothing about gardening when he bought the cottage, so he shared every discovery and disaster in his books. Based on the positive response to his first book, Nichols wrote two more books on his Glatton experiences. The second book was "A Thatched Roof" (released in 1933) and the third was "A Village in a Valley" (released in 1934). The books are referred to as "The Glatton Trilogy" or "The Allways Chronicles." Here are some excerpts from Nichol's first book, Down the Garden Path: "...a cyclamen that looks like a flight of butterflies, frozen for a single, exquisite moment in the white heart of Time..." "It was not till I experimented with seeds plucked straight from a growing plant that I had my first success...the first thrill of creation...the first taste of blood. This, surely, must be akin to the pride of paternity...indeed, many soured bachelors would wager that it must be almost as wonderful to see the first tiny crinkled leaves of one's first plant as to see the tiny crinkled face of one's first child." "I had never 'taken a cutting' before… .Do you not realize that the whole thing is miraculous? It is exactly as though you were to cut off your wife's leg, stick it in the lawn, and be greeted on the following day by an entirely new woman, sprung from the leg, advancing across the lawn to meet you." Today's book recommendation: The Proven Winners Garden Book by Ruth Rogers Clausen and Thomas Christopher This book is the ultimate gardening guide for all reader levels. It is super easy to read with excellent, clear instructions. Proven Winners is known as the #1 Plant Brand - and just like their quality plants, this book does not disappoint. In this book you get three awesome things. First, Garden Plans. But, not just any garden plan; Simple Garden Plans. Plans for attracting pollinators, plans for creating the most fragrant garden, plans for an entertaining garden, and so on. Second, Clausen and Christopher have put together dozens of recipes for beautiful containers. Just like a cookbook, these recipes are proven and they are geared toward providing curb appeal, color, texture and pizzazz to everything from small spaces to the average home lot. Finally, this guide offers really helpful lessons on how to buy the best plants and also on maintenance; the aspect of gardening so many struggle with. If you are a new gardener, this book will be your bible for getting started in the right way, maximizing your effort, avoiding hours of research on plants and design; helping you achieve stunning results in a single season. Today's Garden Chore Start saving seeds and make cuttings of the plants you want to increase for next year. Focus on your top performers and sentimental favorites in order to cultivate even better stock next year. Stay active in your garden now - don't leave the best of this year's garden to history. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1903, the Akron Beacon Journal out of Akron, Ohio announced Carnation Day. Here's what it said: "The Anniversary of President McKinley's Death Will be Noted by the Wearing of His Favorite Flower by Akron Citizens. Next Monday will be the second anniversary of the death of President McKinley, and has been called "Red Carnation day," in honor of his favorite flower. President McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz, in the Temple of Music at the Buffalo exposition, September 6, 1901. The shooting occurred late in the afternoon and inside of an hour, every man, woman, and child within reach of the telegraph instrument heard the sorrowful news, and were sending up prayers for the recovery of the president. After the shooting, President McKinley was taken to the home of John G. Milburn, president of the exposition company, where he lingered; while hopeful and then depressing bulletins were issued from his bedside, until finally on September 14, he passed from life. Last year the president's favorite flower was worn by hundreds in this city, and it is expected that next Monday will see nearly every one wearing the flower that usually adorned the lapel of the third martyr president." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
September is my favorite month for planting trees, shrubs, and perennials. The cool air makes outdoor exercise a joy and the ground temperatures add the perfect amount of warmth for plants to get established. Planting in the fall is preferred because it's the time of year when perennials experience less transplant shock. At the same time, there is still sufficient time for plants to establish their roots in the garden in time for winter. After their season of dormancy, when the ground warms again, fall-planted perennials grow and bloom more vigorously than if they were planted in the spring. Bottomline: Now is NOT the time to stop planting. It's the perfect time to get your dig on. Brevities #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Jean-Baptiste Van Mons who died on this day in 1842. The name of the game for Mons was selective breeding for pears. Selective breeding happens when humans breed plants to develop particular characteristic by choosing the parent plants to make the offspring. Check out the patience and fortitude that was required as Mon's described his work: "I have found this art to consist in regenerating in a direct line of descent, and as rapidly as possible an improving variety, taking care that there be no interval between the generations. To sow, to re-sow, to sow again, to sow perpetually, in short to do nothing but sow, is the practice to be pursued, and which cannot be departed from; and in short this is the whole secret of the art I have employed." Jean-Baptiste Van Mons produced a tremendous amount of new pear cultivars in his breeding program - something north of forty incredible species over the course of his lifetime. The Bosc and D'Anjou pears, we know today, are his legacy. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the day in 1847 when Henry David Thoreau left Walden Pond and moved in with Ralph Waldo Emerson in Concord, Massachusetts. His two years of simple living at Walden Pond were over. #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of James Veitch Jr. who died on this day in 1869. Veitch was born into the famous family nursery business known the world over as Veitch Nurseries. His grandfather, John, had started the business. After growing up and learning the business from his father and grandfather, Veitch went to London to train with other nurserymen. After he quickly became a partner in the nursery, he married Harriott Gould. In addition to being a wonderful plantsman himself, James Jr. was an exceptionally bright businessman. He acquired a nursery called the Royal Exotic Nursery in London to ensure the Veitch Nursery stayed competitive and he turned Royal Exotic into the largest specialty nursery in Europe. James Veitch Jr created the RHS Fruit and Floral Committees which still exist today. His love of the plants and the business were carried on in his three sons. The oldest, John Gould Veitch, was one of the first plant hunters to visit Japan. The second son, Harry James, oversaw the business during a period of peak growth. The third son, Arthur, worked with Harry to send Plant Explorers on missions all over the globe. Of the brothers, it was the middle son, Harry, who outlived them both. His older brother John Gould died young at age 31 from tuberculosis. Harry outlived his younger brother, Arthur, who died young as well - he died after a short illness when he was just 36 years old. #OTD Today is the birthday of the Belgian botanist and dendrologist Joseph Hers who was born on this day in 1884. Dendrology is the science and study of wooded plants, like trees and shrubs, and their taxonomic classifications. Hers made his first trip to China in 1905; he was an interpreter for the Belgium ministry. He later founded organizations to promote good relations between China and Belgium. Later, Hers spent five years collecting in the north-central provinces of China from 1919-1924. The Arnold Arboretum had hired him to collect for them. As a dendrologist, Hers was especially focused on trees. The rapid rate of deforestation in China was especially alarming to Hers. Among Hers discoveries was the snakebark maple Acer tegmentosum. #OTD Today is the birthday of the British Botanist Kathleen Basford who was born on this day in 1916. As a young girl, Basford's nanny, Winny, taught her about the natural world; she learned to identify wildflower and trees. In the 1940's, Basford had three children of her own. She began gardening. When she wasn't with the children, she started breeding orchids. She became so interested in botany, she took evening classes on the subject. By the early 1950's, Basford published a paper on a fuchsia she discovered. It proved that the fuchsia had existed 20-30 million years ago - before the break-up of the continents. Her paper caught the attention of the chair of the botany department at Manchester University; a geneticist named Sydney Harland. He offered Basford a job on the spot. Later in life, Basford also wrote a book called "The Green Man." Before her book, this topic was largely unknown to the world. The Green Man, is a mythical figure - portrayed as a man with a head that sprouts leaves. It is a relic of the middle ages. Unearthed Words "It's designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything is new again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains comes, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone." - Bartlett Giamatti Today's book recommendation Montrose by Nancy Goodwin This is a book that was released in 2005 and it's still one of my favorites. Nancy Goodwin and her husband, Craufurd, searched for 10 years before finding a 61-acre property in 1977. The place had been in the Graham family for three generations. They had named it Montrose in honor of their Scottish ancestry. This book is the story of how the Goodwins transformed the property; it's a beautiful biography of the many gardens of Montrose. You can get used copies of this treasure on Amazon for $4 using the link in today's show notes. Today's Garden Chore If you live in a cold climate, late fall is a wonderful time to sow flower seeds in your garden. Sweet Alyssum, Bee Balm, Coreopsis, Delphinium, Lady's Mantle, Penstemon, and Sweet Pea are just a handful of the flowers you can sow in your fall garden. Additionally, many annuals, like cosmos, nigella, and cleome, will seed themselves after a summer in your garden. If any seeds germinate in places where you don't want them, it's pretty easy to remove them in the spring or early summer. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart I was researching a family tree on Ancestry recently, and I came across this little notice in The Mower County Transcriptout of Lansing Minnesota from this in 1893. Here's what it said: "The parties who recently took flowers from the garden of Mrs. M. E. Nancarrow are known and must call and pay for them or be subjected to serious trouble." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
If you have struggled to grow tomatoes successfully, maybe it's time to give cucumbers a try. They are much easier to grow than tomatoes. Just add some organic matter to the soil and mulch around the base of the plant. Cucumbers benefit from support, so install a trellis for the vines to climb. That's it. The saying, "cool as a cucumber" refers to the fact that it's about 20 degrees cooler on the inside of a cucumber. And, cucumbers contain loads of nutrients like magnesium, vitamin C, and potassium. Cucumbers are 96 percent cool water. The phytochemcials in cucumbers kill the bacteria that causes bad breath. Just press a slice of cucumber to the roof of your mouth with your tongue and in 30 seconds, you'll have better-smelling breath. Brevities #OTD Today is the birthday of the first collector and cataloguer of Canadian plant specimens, Naturalist Michel Sarrazin, who was born on this day in 1659. In France, Sarrazin was a trained to be a surgeon. By the age of 25, he was appointed to help the troops headed to colonize Canada. When he arrived in Canada he tended to both the troops and civilians in Québec and Montreal. Helping sick people was dangerous work. In his early thirties Sarrazin himself became ill and in short order he returned to France to receive more training. He spent three years in France - obtaining his doctorate of medicine and finding himself spending more and more time at the Botanical Garden in Paris. It wasn't long before he met the nobleman and botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. Tournefort was an excellent teacher. He was the first botanist to develop the idea of creating a genus for plants. Later, Sarrazin would report that it was Tournefort who "stimulated [his] lifelong interest in collecting and classifying [plants]". Rested, educated, and passionate about horticulture, Sarrazin returned to Canada and he kept in touch with Tournefort through correspondence. He would send back various specimens of North American plants. Tournefort, in turn, would share Sarrazin's discoveries with the Royal Academy of Science back in France. Sarrazin's most noted discover was Sarracenia purpurea, the pitcher plant - which Linneaus would name in his honor. The pitcher plant grew in wetlands, bogs and marshes around Québec. From a medicinal standpoint, the pitcher plant was discovered to be an effective against smallpox. Ever the doctor, Sarrazin had studied the powerful pitcher plant. Incredibly, it was Michel Sarrazin who first suspected that the plant actually caught insects and ate them. When he shared his thoughts in writing, the academic community rejected his theory. Nearly 200 years later, Charles Darwin would validate Sarrazin's hypothesis in his work called Insectivorous Plants. There's a fascinating side-note in the Sarrazin biography; Sarrazin was the first doctor to perform a mastectomy in North America. His patient was a 38-year-old nun and her prognosis was so grim that Sarrazin was certain she would die without the surgery. Sarrazin acted quickly, the nun recovered, and lived a full life until the age of 77. #OTD Today in 1857, Harvard botanist Asa Gray received a confidential letter from Charles Darwin. In the letter, Darwin wrote: "I will enclose the briefest abstract of my notions on the means by which nature makes her species....I ask you not to mention my doctrine." Two years later, Darwin revealed his concept of natural selection in his book, "On the Origin of Species. #OTD Today is the birthday of the botanist Katherine Warington who was born on this day in 1897. Warington was a twin in a family with five girls. After college, Warington ended up working with an entomologist who was researching the black fly. The point of the research was to make beans taste bad to the fly. Researchers took turns applying various elements to the beans and in the process, Warington discovered that Boron was essential to plant growth. Two years later, Warington published her work - amazing the scientific community at her discovery and the unlikely scenario of a scientist making a major discovery with their first research project after college. Unearthed Words "What wondrous life is this I lead! Ripe apples drop about my head; The luscious clusters of the vine Upon my mouth do crush their wine; The nectarine and curious peach Into my hands themselves do reach; Stumbling on melons, as I pass, Ensnared with flowers, I fall on grass." - Andrew Marvell, Thoughts in a Garden Today's book recommendation: Tussie-Mussies by Geraldine Laufer This book on Tussie-Mussies is subtitled The Victorian Art of Expressing Yourself in the Language of Flowers and it came out in 1993. Laufer's book does a wonderful job of explaining the art of sending floral messages. Tussie-Mussies were originally called "talking bouquets" or "word posies." She describes how to make them (it's simpler than you might think). She also shares how the meanings of herbs and flowers have changed over time. Laufer has been called a Floral Poet - and she give step-by-step instructions for how to make 60 different bouquets or tussie mussies to express love, wish someone a Happy Birthday or Congratulations, express Sympathy, and commemorate celebrations like the birth of a baby, a wedding anniversary or a family gathering. Today's Garden Chore Reconsider adding coleus to your garden. Coleus went through a resurgence a decade or so ago. For many gardeners it is a yearly addition to the garden. If you have a shady garden, coleus can add tremendous color to the garden. Nowadays, there are sun coleus that can handle sunny gardens as well. The Brazilian garden designer, Roberto Burle Marx, considered coleus a favorite. Over the years, your attraction to coleus may subside. But as with any old favorite, they can find their way back into your heart. Visit one garden with a beautiful planting of coleus, complementing the perfect perennials, and you'll be looking to add coleus back into your garden. And here's a little tip about coleus; coleus has a natural rooting hormone, so use coleus water as you would willow water or plant coleus next to other plants to help them get established. Something Sweet Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1882, The Ipswich Journalout of Suffolk, England, included this little snippet in an article reviewing some of the oldest tombstones in Suffolk. "In [a] secluded, unpretending graveyard, the [is an] epitaph to " Edward Ward, aged 92, who died in 1804," who, it appears, was gardener at Troston Hall for upwards of seventy years : Thus, thy long Round of Years and Toils fullfill'd Rest, Good Old Man : no more to fear or hope From the returning Seasons & their change, Till the Great Spring arrive ; & call the forth To Bloom, we trust, &; Fruits, on earth unknown. The above forcibly illustrates the long servitude prevailing in Suffolk above a century ago, for it was reckoned that the family of Wards had been employed by the same family for 200 years." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."
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