January 6, 2020 Small Gardens, Julio Betancur, William MacGillivray, Gregor Mendel, Charles Gardner, Alwyn Howard Gentry, January Prose, A Garden Miscellany by Suzanne Staubach, Plant Clips, and Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd
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Today we celebrate the one of the 19th century’s top orchidologist and the birthday of a man who used his wealth to purchase an American garden treasure. We'll learn about one of the most prolific female plant collectors and the florist who shocked London with her floral displays. Today’s Unearthed Words feature a beloved American poet and children’s book author celebrating her 93rd birthday. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us grow edibles indoors - a great topic for January. I'll talk about a garden item that can help define the look of your garden space, and then we’ll wrap things up with the birthday of a master storyteller who incorporated descriptions of real and fictitious plants in his landscapes. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Curated Articles How to make a small garden feel more spacious | Blog at Thompson & Morgan “If you can hone down the style of your space in terms of colors & style, keep the number of different materials used to a minimum and pare down your planting palette, you’ll find the overall look is more coherent and pleasing to Colombian Botanist Risking His Life To Preserve Nature's Memory | @IBTimes From @IBTimes The botanist Julio Betancur is a 59-year-old, a biologist, university professor and "collector of bromeliads -- which include the pineapple, Spanish moss and queen of the Andes -- says it's worth taking the risks so his country can 'know about' its biodiversity. "Every time I take a botanical sample it's like writing a page in the book of our forests," he said. In the future, once the vegetation has disappeared from somewhere, people "will know what species lived there at a certain time and with that will reconstruct the natural history of this territory." Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1796 Today is the birthday of the Scottish artist, naturalist, and ornithologist William MacGillvray. He once walked 838 miles from Old Aberdeen to London in order to visit the natural history museum there. Along the way, MacGillvray documented all the flora and fauna he encountered. You can read about it in a book by Dr. Robert Ralph called A Walk to London. It’s a brilliant read. (Btw, In his journal, MacGillvray also kept a tally of all the whiskeys he drank on the way to London!) At the bottom of every day he would right his miles walked that day, the total miles walked, and the number of whiskies drank. Here’s one humorous account from September 11, 1819: “As I have no Botanical accounts for my readers tonight I shall try to patch up a story somehow or other...My readers will recollect that I came here on a dark night, wet and weary. At the door I met a woman of whom I am required if I might stay all night. Like other honest women of her kind she thought fit to scrutinize my exterior in order to regulate her conduct by the result. So a candle was held to my face, and adore then opened for me. The results of my examination was not favorable to me as I was informed that I would be obliged to sleep with a man to whom she pointed in bed, and as I grumbled told me to reconsider the matter.” MacGillvray was a Professor of Natural History at the University of Aberdeen from 1841 until his death. He founded the Zoology Museum, which still houses some of his specimens. The MacGillvray warbler is named after MacGillvray. 1884 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Austrian botanist and monk Gregor Mendel. He pioneered the study of heredity when he gave peas a chance. In all seriousness, he discovered the basic principles of heredity through experiments with peas in his garden at the Augustinian monastery he lived in at Brno in the Czech Republic. During a seven-year. In the mid-1800s, Mendel grew nearly 30,000 P plants Dash taking notes of their height and shape and color. This work resulted in the laws of hereditary heredity. And Mendel came up with genetic terms that we still use today like dominant and recessive genes. 1896 Today is the birthday of the botanist and prolific plant collector Charles Austin Gardner. Gardener was born in England, but his family immigrated to Australia in the early 1900’s. Gardener had a tremendous love for plants and landscape painting. During his 20s he received painting intruction and encouragement from the Landscapeape painter JW Linton and the wildflower painter Emily Pelloe. He created a impressive herbarium with Nearly 10,000 specimens specimens from all over Australia. He helped start the Western Australian naturalist Club. And although he had become a repository for information about Western Australian Flora, he never did publish a book on the Flora of Western Australia. in part because he didn't work well with other botanists it is much more of an individual list. He received a number of honors and medals for his work but Macho his much of his information about Australian plant geography and distribution and plant biology was lost when he died. Today in Tammin in Western Australia, there is a Charles Gardner Memorial that is surrounded by over 50 species of native wildflowers. There's also a Charles Gardner National Park I was named in his honor. 1945 Today is the 75th birthday of the American botanist Alwyn Howard Gentry. Gentry's life was tragically cut short when his plane crashed in fog into a forested mountain during a treetop survey in Ecuador. At the time, Gentry was just 48 years old and he was at the peak of his career Dash A towering figure in tropical biology and ranking among the world's leading field biologist. He also was the senior curator at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Theodore Parker the third was also on the plane with Gentry. Parker was a world expert ornithologist. Parker's fiance survived the crash and she told a reporter that Gentry and Parker had survived the crash but without immediate medical attention and remaining traps in the wreckage of the plane they died the following morning. Gentry and Parker both died doing what they loved Gentry recognized the powerful pull of the rainforest, writing: "The Amazon is a world of lush green vegetation and abundant waters, has inspired naturalists, fortune hunters, dreamers, explorers and exploiters" According to conservation International Gentry had collected more specimens then any other living botanist at the time. A staggering 70000 plants. To this day, botanist ReliOn Gentry's Guide to the Woody plants of Peru for understanding neotropical and tropical plants. Unearthed Words Here are some verses about the beginning of the new year: January is here, with eyes that keenly glow, A frost-mailed warrior striding a shadowy steed of snow. — Edgar Fawcett, American poet (1847-1904) Janus am I; oldest of potentates; Forward I look, and backward, and below I count, as god of avenues and gates, The years that through my portals come and go. –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (1807–82) Time has no divisions to mark its passage, there is never a thunder-storm or blare of trumpets to announce the beginning of a new month or year. Even when a new century begins it is only we mortals who ring bells and fire off pistols." — Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain Anyone who thinks that gardening begins in the spring and ends in the fall is missing the best part of the whole year. For gardening begins in January with the dream. — Josephine Nuese Grow That Garden Library A Garden Miscellany by Suzanne Staubach The subtitle to this book is: Turn Your Home Into a Year-round Vegetable Garden - Microgreens - Sprouts - Herbs - Mushrooms - Tomatoes, Peppers & More. Great Gifts for Gardeners baotongle 100 pcs Plant Clips, Orchid Clips Plant Orchid Support Clips Flower and Vine Clips for Supporting Stems Vines Grow Upright Dark Green $6.49 These clips are high quality. .They are non-toxic and eco-friendly. You can use it for outdoors and indoors plant. They are suitable for small and medium sized plants. These plant clips hold stems and delicate flowers securely, non-slip, provide great and steady support for plants to grow upright and towards sunlight. Can be used to tomato support, orchid, vine or seedlings. Just clip the stem to bamboo stakes, tomato cage or anything that can provide support. Today’s Botanic Spark 1946 Today is the birthday of the guitarist, singer, songwriter and co-founder of Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett. After his immense success with Pink Floyd, Sid released to solo LPS and then disappeared into a self-imposed 30 year exile where he spent most of his time painting and gardening. Before his life with Pink Floyd he'd attended the camberwell art school and one of the pieces he is still remembered for is a still life of dried flowers that he had created with watercolor. Sid died of cancer at the age of 60 In 2006. Before he died, Sid was a patient at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge. In 2017, following his death his friend the sculptor Stephen Pyle and a garden designer named Paul Harrington were working to install the Syd Barrett Garden at the hospital. Stephen’s sculpture of Sid shows him riding on his bicycle - hands-free - with a guitar in one hand and artist brushes in the other