Today in botanical history, we celebrate the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, an English botanist and a Patron Saint of gardeners. We’ll hear an excerpt from a book by Tim Robbins featuring September in Louisiana. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that inspires us to make plants feel right at home in our homes. And then we’ll wrap things up with a milestone moment in the history of Australia – the stunning loss of the Garden Palace that happened on this day 139 years ago today. Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you’re at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It’s just that easy. The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring:
A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf. Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org Facebook Group If you’d like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you’re in luck. 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, where you’d search for a friend… and request to join. I’d love to meet you in the group. Curated News 2022 Garden Trends Report: From Crisis to Innovation | Garden Media Group Important Events September 22, 1694 Birth of Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, English statesman and writer. He’s remembered for his letters to his son and other notable people of his day. He once advised his son, l recommend you to take care of the minutes, for hours will take care of themselves… Yale University has Chesterfield’s note containing the words to On a Lady Stung By a Bee. To heal a wound a bee had made Upon my Chloe’s face, It’s honey to the part she laid, And bade me kiss the place. Pleased, I obeyed, and from the wound Suck’d both the sweet and smart ; The honey on my lips I found, The sting within my heart. September 22, 1800 Birth of George Bentham, English botanist, writer, and teacher. He was going to be an attorney but pursued botany after living in the country. His thinking was preserved in a diary, which he kept for over fifty years. George once wrote, I decided that my means were sufficient to enable me to devote myself to botany, a determination which I never…. [had] any reason to [regret]. George’s longest professional friendship was with the botanist John Stuart Mills who had lived with the Bentham family as a teenager. A pragmatist, George finished his Flora of the British Islands by writing every morning before breakfast. He purposely used simple language so that his book could reach a wider audience. George wanted everyone to see fundamental differences in plants. The useful way he classified plants laid the foundation for modern taxonomy. Later in his career, George co-authored the three-volume Genera Plantarum with Sir Joseph Hooker. The “Bentham & Hooker system” was widely used and made plant classification easier. George also worked with Ferdinand Mueller to create an impressive nineteen-volume flora of Australia. In 1830, George discovered Opal Basil (purple) which is prized for its flavor and color. But the plant George is most associated with is an Australian sister plant to tobacco, Nicotiana benthamiana. The plant was named in his honor and is used to create vaccines for the Ebola virus and the coronavirus. George died two weeks shy of his 84th birthday. September 22nd Today is the Feast Day of Phocas the Gardener, a Turkish innkeeper and gardener who lived during the third century. A protector of persecuted Christians, Phocas grew crops in his garden to help feed the poor. His garden aided him in living his most-remembered virtues: hospitality and generosity. When Roman soldiers arrived in his village, Phocas offered them lodging and a homemade meal using the bounty of his garden. As they talked, Phocas realized they had come for him. While the soldiers slept, Phocas went out to the garden to dig his own grave and pray for the soldiers. In the morning, Phocas revealed his identity to the soldiers who reluctantly killed him. Although gardening can be a solitary activity, Phocas illustrated how gardens create connection and community. Phocas is the Patron Saint of flower and ornamental gardens, farmers, field hands, and market gardeners. Unearthed Words Louisiana in September was like an obscene phone call from nature. The air–moist, sultry, secretive, and far from fresh–felt as…