Podcasts about sir joseph banks

In today's summer special, Betty takes Nick and the listeners through 12,000 years of the cannabis plant. Starting in the ancient world, through the age of sail and into the modern era, we follow the cannabis plant on its global journey and its role in human politics and development. We finish with a discussion on cannabis pharmacology, drug prohibition and challenges facing the revival of the hemp industry in modern times.Music has been removed from the podcast version of the show due to copyright. Please check out the music featured on the live show through these links or on our Spotify playlist.Music featured:Hemp – Yellow Blue Bus: https://youtu.be/FGIfNF5qO8w?si=8DRAG01hWmqRixhxGanja Farmer – J Boog: https://soundcloud.com/jboogmusic/ganja-farmerHashish – Ibrahim Maalouf: https://soundcloud.com/ibrahim-maalouf/hashishFreedom of Species Spotify playlist:https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3TJQujKYjGFoFP6LhBbaTS?si=6ghUWmzkQpyvsPJM9PNB-w&pi=rl23HPZQS1ins&fbclid=IwY2xjawHoEuJleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHRsgsJ5WkFD9Dx9vuiubNXtF1GMaFOFYw8cXDD3UdwkuYHBSswptwIw8wA_aem_AiO4AOLyNFOoqz5PRlkU5Q&nd=1&dlsi=0efe6436f2fe4f8bReferences and links:Abel, E. L. (2013). Marihuana: the first twelve thousand years. Springer Science & Business Media.Ayonrinde O. A. (2020). Cannabis and psychosis: revisiting a nineteenth century study of 'Indian Hemp and Insanity' in Colonial British India. Psychological medicine, 50(7), 1164–1172.Bania G. (2022). Shifts in therapeutic practices and decline of medicinal cannabis in Indian North-Eastern Frontier (1826-1925).  Journal of cannabis research, 4(1), 52.Borougerdi, B. J. (2014). Cord of empire, exotic intoxicant: Hemp and culture in the Atlantic world, 1600-1900 (Order No. 3626432). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global; ProQuest One Academic. (1558183077).Clarke, R. C., & Merlin, M. D. (2016). Cannabis Domestication, Breeding History, Present-day Genetic Diversity, and Future Prospects. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 35(5-6), 293-327.Fike, J. (2016). Industrial Hemp: Renewed Opportunities for an Ancient Crop. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 35(5-6), 406-424. Gülck, T., & Møller, B. L. (2020). Phytocannabinoids: Origins and Biosynthesis. Trends in Plant Science, 25(10), 985-1004. Hart, C. L. (2022). Drug use for grown-ups: Chasing liberty in the land of fear. Penguin.Jiggens, J. (2012). Sir Joseph Banks and the question of hemp : hemp, seapower and empire, 1776-1815Mead, A. (2019). Legal and Regulatory Issues Governing Cannabis and Cannabis-Derived Products in the United States. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10.Nutt, D. (2022) Cannabis (seeing through the smoke): The New Science of Cannabis and Your Health. Yellow Kite BooksRen, G., Zhang, X., Li, Y., Ridout, K., Serrano-Serrano, M. L., Yang, Y., Liu, A., Ravikanth, G., Nawaz, M. A., Mumtaz, A. S., Salamin, N., & Fumagalli, L. (2021). Large-scale whole-genome resequencing unravels the domestication history of Cannabis sativa. Science Advances, 7(29), eabg2286.Schluttenhofer, C., & Yuan, L. (2017). Challenges towards Revitalizing Hemp: A Multifaceted Crop. Trends in Plant Science, 22(11), 917-929.Talk from Dr. Carl Hart: Drug Use for Grownups, A Human Rights Perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6PHC4p1Ohw&t=1226sDr Carl Hart Democracy Now interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKXWelf-ZvA

Bread Fruit, Buah Lokal yang Mendunia Oleh. Haifa Eimaan(Tim Penulis Inti NarasiPost.Com) Voice over talent: Nonny Irayanti NarasiPost.Com-Pernahkah mendengar nama buah roti (bread fruit)? Belum ya? Bagaimana kalau buah sukun? Untuk buah yang satu ini pasti sudah familier bahkan sering mengudapnya ‘kan? Atau adakah yang juga belum tahu sama sekali dengan keberadaan buah ini? Bread fruit adalah sebutan bangsa Eropa untuk buah sukun. Saat muda kulitnya berwarna hijau terang, bentuknya bulat memanjang, sepintas tampak berduri tajam seperti nangka, tetapi faktanya tidak berduri tajam. Saat tua warna kulitnya berubah menjadi kuning hingga kecokelatan. Teksturnya yang empuk ketika matang dan aromanya setelah dipanggang yang sangat mirip roti, maka jadilah dinamakan buah roti oleh bangsa Eropa. Sukun mengkal rasanya juga mirip kentang. Ya, karena cita rasanya yang unik dan enak inilah bangsa Eropa banyak yang menyukai buah sukun. Awal perkenalan bangsa Eropa dengan buah sukun dimulai pada tahun 1769. Sir Joseph Banks yang merupakan ketua perkumpulan kaum ningrat Inggris (President Royal Society) sekaligus seorang ahli botani berusaha mencari sumber pangan yang murah, tetapi kaya energi untuk konsumsi para budak. Ia memulai perjalanan lautnya ke wilayah Asia Tenggara bersama James Cook. Di kawasan tropis inilah untuk pertama kalinya Banks bertemu buah sukun dan menjulukinya bread fruit. Misinya menemukan sumber pangan baru terjawab oleh buah sukun (bread fruit). Naskah selengkapnya: https://narasipost.com/2023/02/14/bread-fruit-buah-lokal-yang-mendunia/food/   Terimakasih buat kalian yang sudah mendengarkan podcast ini, Follow us on: instagram: http://instagram.com/narasipost Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/narasi.post.9 Fanpage: Https://www.facebook.com/pg/narasipostmedia/posts/ Twitter: Http://twitter.com/narasipost

A big flower with a big name. This week we discuss the bull banksia (Banksia grandis) and the prolific capitalist-botanist it's named after, Sir Joseph Banks of the Royal Society. Completely Arbortrary is produced by Alex Crowson and Casey Clapp Artwork - Jillian Barthold Music - Aves & The Mini Vandals Join the Cone of the Month Club patreon.com/arbortrarypod Follow our Instagram @arbortrarypod --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/completely-arbortrary/support

ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) er sálfræðilegt meðferðarform sem sífellt fleiri sálfræðingar tileinka sér í dag og er byggt á nýjustu rannsóknum sálfræðinnar á því hvernig hugur mannsins og tungumálið virkar. Það er að hluta byggt á öðrum grunni en ríkjandi aðferðir klínískrar sálfræði undanfarinna áratuga og eru notaðar viðtöku- og núvitundaraðferðir, ásamt skuldbindingar- og atferlisbreytingaaðferðum til að auka sálrænan sveigjanleika. Haukur Sigurðsson sálfræðingur kom til okkar í dag, en hann er einn helsti sérfræðingur okkar Íslendinga í ACT. Í tilefni af því að 250 ár eru liðin síðan fyrsti breski vísindaleiðangurinn sótti Ísland heim árið 1772, heldur Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands málþing í Þjóðarbókhlöðunni í dag, í samvinnu við sænska sendiráðið á Íslandi. Í dag eru nákvæmlega 250 ár frá því Sir Joseph Banks steig hér fyrst á land ásamt fjölmennu liði vísinda- og listamanna. Ferð hans til Íslands vakti mikla athygli samtímamanna og í Napóleonsstyrjöldunum reyndist Banks íslensku þjóðinni einstaklega vel sem verndari landsins og bjargvættur. Sumarliði Ísleifsson, dósent í hagnýtri menningarmiðlun við Háskóla Íslands, og annar höfundur sýningarinnnar um Banks og leiðangurinn í Þjóðarbókhlöðunni, kom í þáttinn í dag og fræddi okkur um Joseph Banks og leiðangurinn. Lesandi vikunnar í þetta sinn var svo Anna Gunnarsdóttir, þýðandi, landvörður og þýskukennari. Við fengum að vita hvaða bækur hún hefur verið að lesa undanfarið og hvaða bækur og höfundar hafa haft mest áhrif á hana í gegnum tíðina. Tónlist í þættinum í. dag: Þokkabót / Litlir kassar (Lagið erlent, texti Þórarinn Guðnason) Stakir jakar / Hljómsveit Ingimars Eydal (Finnur Eydal) Girl from before / Blood Harmony (Örn Eldjárn) Sólarsamban / Rebekka Blöndal (Ásgeir Ágeirsson, Rebekka Blöndal og Stefán Örn Gunnlaugsson) UMSJÓN: GUÐRÚN GUNNARSDÓTTIR OG GUNNAR HANSSON

ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) er sálfræðilegt meðferðarform sem sífellt fleiri sálfræðingar tileinka sér í dag og er byggt á nýjustu rannsóknum sálfræðinnar á því hvernig hugur mannsins og tungumálið virkar. Það er að hluta byggt á öðrum grunni en ríkjandi aðferðir klínískrar sálfræði undanfarinna áratuga og eru notaðar viðtöku- og núvitundaraðferðir, ásamt skuldbindingar- og atferlisbreytingaaðferðum til að auka sálrænan sveigjanleika. Haukur Sigurðsson sálfræðingur kom til okkar í dag, en hann er einn helsti sérfræðingur okkar Íslendinga í ACT. Í tilefni af því að 250 ár eru liðin síðan fyrsti breski vísindaleiðangurinn sótti Ísland heim árið 1772, heldur Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands málþing í Þjóðarbókhlöðunni í dag, í samvinnu við sænska sendiráðið á Íslandi. Í dag eru nákvæmlega 250 ár frá því Sir Joseph Banks steig hér fyrst á land ásamt fjölmennu liði vísinda- og listamanna. Ferð hans til Íslands vakti mikla athygli samtímamanna og í Napóleonsstyrjöldunum reyndist Banks íslensku þjóðinni einstaklega vel sem verndari landsins og bjargvættur. Sumarliði Ísleifsson, dósent í hagnýtri menningarmiðlun við Háskóla Íslands, og annar höfundur sýningarinnnar um Banks og leiðangurinn í Þjóðarbókhlöðunni, kom í þáttinn í dag og fræddi okkur um Joseph Banks og leiðangurinn. Lesandi vikunnar í þetta sinn var svo Anna Gunnarsdóttir, þýðandi, landvörður og þýskukennari. Við fengum að vita hvaða bækur hún hefur verið að lesa undanfarið og hvaða bækur og höfundar hafa haft mest áhrif á hana í gegnum tíðina. Tónlist í þættinum í. dag: Þokkabót / Litlir kassar (Lagið erlent, texti Þórarinn Guðnason) Stakir jakar / Hljómsveit Ingimars Eydal (Finnur Eydal) Girl from before / Blood Harmony (Örn Eldjárn) Sólarsamban / Rebekka Blöndal (Ásgeir Ágeirsson, Rebekka Blöndal og Stefán Örn Gunnlaugsson) UMSJÓN: GUÐRÚN GUNNARSDÓTTIR OG GUNNAR HANSSON

ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) er sálfræðilegt meðferðarform sem sífellt fleiri sálfræðingar tileinka sér í dag og er byggt á nýjustu rannsóknum sálfræðinnar á því hvernig hugur mannsins og tungumálið virkar. Það er að hluta byggt á öðrum grunni en ríkjandi aðferðir klínískrar sálfræði undanfarinna áratuga og eru notaðar viðtöku- og núvitundaraðferðir, ásamt skuldbindingar- og atferlisbreytingaaðferðum til að auka sálrænan sveigjanleika. Haukur Sigurðsson sálfræðingur kom til okkar í dag, en hann er einn helsti sérfræðingur okkar Íslendinga í ACT. Í tilefni af því að 250 ár eru liðin síðan fyrsti breski vísindaleiðangurinn sótti Ísland heim árið 1772, heldur Sagnfræðistofnun Háskóla Íslands málþing í Þjóðarbókhlöðunni í dag, í samvinnu við sænska sendiráðið á Íslandi. Í dag eru nákvæmlega 250 ár frá því Sir Joseph Banks steig hér fyrst á land ásamt fjölmennu liði vísinda- og listamanna. Ferð hans til Íslands vakti mikla athygli samtímamanna og í Napóleonsstyrjöldunum reyndist Banks íslensku þjóðinni einstaklega vel sem verndari landsins og bjargvættur. Sumarliði Ísleifsson, dósent í hagnýtri menningarmiðlun við Háskóla Íslands, og annar höfundur sýningarinnnar um Banks og leiðangurinn í Þjóðarbókhlöðunni, kom í þáttinn í dag og fræddi okkur um Joseph Banks og leiðangurinn. Lesandi vikunnar í þetta sinn var svo Anna Gunnarsdóttir, þýðandi, landvörður og þýskukennari. Við fengum að vita hvaða bækur hún hefur verið að lesa undanfarið og hvaða bækur og höfundar hafa haft mest áhrif á hana í gegnum tíðina. Tónlist í þættinum í. dag: Þokkabót / Litlir kassar (Lagið erlent, texti Þórarinn Guðnason) Stakir jakar / Hljómsveit Ingimars Eydal (Finnur Eydal) Girl from before / Blood Harmony (Örn Eldjárn) Sólarsamban / Rebekka Blöndal (Ásgeir Ágeirsson, Rebekka Blöndal og Stefán Örn Gunnlaugsson) UMSJÓN: GUÐRÚN GUNNARSDÓTTIR OG GUNNAR HANSSON

Welcome to the Juras-Sick Park-Cast podcast, the Jurassic Park podcast about Michael Crichton's 1990 novel Jurassic Park, and also not about that, too.  Find the episode webpage at: Episode 13 - Choteau  In this episode, my terrific guest Phil Hore chats with me about:  The X-Men, Australia, the Outback, Alpha Flight, the Australian theatrical release of Jurassic Park, nerds, Matilda, Walzing Matilda, Diamantinasaurus, and Banjo Paterson, Australovenator, Wolverine, sauropod babies and nesting, The Goodies, Triceratops evasive manoeuvers, arctometacarpals on Tyrannosaurs, Land of the Lost, hot tips on how to get the job you want at a museum, type specimens of fish, HMS Beagle and Charles Darwin, HMS Endeavor and Sir Joseph Banks, Dry Store Room No. 1, cataloguing pubic hair, Dr. Livingston and Tanzania, The inside scoop on Dinosaur Train, real estate in London, unbelievable strokes of circumstance, David Attenborough, The Prehistoric Times, John Hammond's characterization in the film compared to the novel, biting compys, Crichton's original dinosaur story, Grant's unaffected perception of Maiasaura and velociraptors, and much more! Plus dinosaur news about: Introducing the megaraptorid Maip macrothorax and; Also introducing the newly named Paralitherizinosaurus! Featuring the music of Snale https://snalerock.bandcamp.com/releases  Intro: Sleepyhead. Outro: Atom-Age Vampire-Cat In The Brain. The Text: Our chapter this week is Choteau spanning from pages 63 – 64. Discussions surround: Costly digging, Donald Gennaro, Ellie Sattler, Believe me!, Feminism, Timeline, Building a Mystery, and more.  Side effects: may cause wandering eye syndrome. Find it on iTunes, on Spotify (click here!) or on Podbean (click here). Thank you! The Jura-Sick Park-cast is a part of the Spring Chickens banner of amateur intellectual properties including the Spring Chickens funny pages, Tomb of the Undead graphic novel, the Second Lapse graphic novelettes, The Infantry, and the worst of it all, the King St. Capers. You can find links to all that baggage in the show notes, or by visiting the schickens.blogpost.com or finding us on Facebook, at Facebook.com/SpringChickenCapers or me, I'm on twitter at @RogersRyan22 or email me at ryansrogers-at-gmail.com.  Thank you, dearly, for tuning in to the Juras-Sick Park-Cast, the Jurassic Park podcast where we talk about the novel Jurassic Park, and also not that, too. Until next time!  #JurassicPark #MichaelCrichton

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee    Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community   Historical Events 1815 On this day, Mary Russell Mitford wrote about the changing times in a letter to her friend, Sir William Elford, English banker, politician, and amateur artist. Our grandmothers, when about to make a beau-pot (A large ornamental vase for cut flowers.), proceeded, I fancy, much as their gardeners when clipping a yew hedge or laying out a parterre.  Every stalk and stem was in its place; tulip answered tulip, and peony stared at peony.  Even a rebellious leaf was reduced to order, and the huge bouquet spread its tremendous width as flat, as stiff, and almost as ugly as its fair framer's painted fan.  We, their granddaughters, throw our honeysuckles and posies into their vases with little other care than to produce the grace of nature by its carelessness and profusion.  And why should we not...?   1896 Death of Nora Perry, American poet, newspaper correspondent, and writer. In her poem, What May Be, Nora wrote, When the days are longer, longer, And the sun shines stronger, stronger, And the winds cease blowing, blowing, And the winter's chance of snowing Is lost in springtime weather. Here's an excerpt from her poem, The Coming of Spring. All this changing tint,  This whispering stir and hint  Of bud and bloom and wing,  Is the coming of the spring. So, silently but swift, Above the wintry drift, The long days gain and gain, Until on hill and plain— Once more, and yet once more, Returning as before, We see the bloom of birth Make young again the earth   1906 Birth of Enid Annenberg Haupt, American publisher and philanthropist.  The president of the New York Botanical Garden called Enid, The greatest patron American horticulture has ever known. Enid was one of eight children; her parents, Sadie and Moses, had one son and seven daughters. Her father was the founder of a large publishing empire. Enid followed in his footsteps and became an heiress to the large family fortune. Enid's first marriage ended in divorce. Her second marriage to Ira Haupt launched her philanthropic activities and introduced her to the world of gardening. When they got engaged, Ira gave Enid a cymbidium orchid. Enid was immediately enthralled by it. She told Ira that for her wedding present from him, she would be very happy with a gift of 13 cymbidium orchids. Enid's brother, Walter, put her in charge of the magazine Seventeen in 1953. During her tenure, Seventeen magazine was more popular than Glamor and twice as popular as Mademoiselle. At one point, more than half of the teenage girls in the United States were reading Seventeen magazine. Enid ran the magazine until 1970. When Enid died in 2005, she had donated more than $140 million to charities. Her favorite charities involved gardening. This is how Enid became known as "the fairy godmother of American horticulture" and "the patron saint of public gardens." One of Enid's most significant gifts was to the New York Botanical Garden. Over her lifetime, Enid gave them over $34 million – $5 million of which was dedicated to restoring the stunning Victorian glass greenhouse now called the Enid Haupt Conservancy. Without Enid, the greenhouse would have been demolished. After she retired from Seventeen magazine, Enid learned that the Soviet Union was considering purchasing River Farm, the 27-acre property once owned by George Washington as part of his Mount Vernon estate. The news was abhorrent to Enid. In 1973, she donated a million dollars to the American Horticultural Society to buy the property with the stipulation that it would remain open to the public. In November 2020, the American Horticultural Society attempted to sell River Farm for $32.9 million. AHS Board Chair Terry Hayes argued that selling River Farm was the only way to effectively carry out its national mission of “connecting people with plants and to help all Americans learn about sustainable gardening.” The move caused a rift on the board after five board members — Skipp Calvert, Tim Conlon, Holly Shimizu, Marcia Zech, and Laura Dowling — argued that it was "not only morally and ethically wrong, but... fraught with serious legal issues.” A year later, in the fall of 2021, the AHS officially took River Farm off the market. The AHS board had shrunk to the five board members who had fought to keep the historic property. In a statement, they said River Farm would remain as the permanent headquarters of the AHS and as a green space open to the public in honor of Enid Annenberg Haupt.   1823 On this day, William Bartram, American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian, and explorer, wrote in his diary that there were, numerous tribes of small birds, feeding on the aphids on the apple, pear trees - towhe buntings building their nests in the garden. Sharon White summarizes William Bartram's May garden life in her book Vanished Gardens: Finding Nature in Philadelphia (2011). May was misty sometimes with a morning wind and cruel with cold rains for a week "injurious to vegitation and to the farmers. Wheat just begining to ear appears to be blasted in many instances," and young birds drowned in their nests on the ground.   Now and then Bartram's notations look different, smaller script, less detail.    In the last year he kept the diary his writing scrawls across one page as if his hand slipped.   The green twig whortleberry is in flower on May 6 in 1802, and the next May he records that a bullfrog swallowed: large mole instantly. That May there was hard frost on the seventh that killed the young shoots of trees and shrubs.    Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation The Multifarious Mr. Banks by Toby Musgrave This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is From Botany Bay to Kew, The Natural Historian Who Shaped the World. Toby Musgrave is a plant and garden historian, independent scholar, and consultant. He is the author or coauthor of eighteen books. By the way, a multifarious person has many sides or different qualities, and you can see for yourself that Banks was a tremendous personal force in Toby's introduction: Sir Joseph Banks was only twenty-five years old when in 1768 he convinced both the prestigious Royal Society and the bureaucratic Admiralty that he should join HMS Endeavour as expedition natural historian. He personally paid a fortune toundertake the three-year voyage led by James Cook, and en route became the first European to make an extensive study of the natural history and anthropology of Tahiti,' New Zealand and Australia. He is said to have had an affair with the 'queen of Tahiti' and, upon his return, he jilted his fiancée. Later, as a close personal friend of King George III, he persuaded the monarch that he was the man to develop the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. Under Banks's leadership it became the world's leading botanic garden, a position it still holds today.   This book is 386 pages of the biography of Joseph Banks and all he accomplished during his incredible life of adventure and botany. You can get a copy of The Multifarious Mr. Banks by Toby Musgrave and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $39.   Botanic Spark 1907 Birth of the English author and playwright Daphne du Maurier (“Mor-ee-aya”)(books by this author), who was born in London. She was the middle daughter of a well-to-do family of creative bohemian artists and writers. Her father was a famous actor and a favorite of James Barrie - the author of Peter Pan. Daphne's writing inspired Alfred Hitchcock - especially her novels Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, and her short story, The Birds. In 1938 Daphne published her popular book, Rebecca. It has never gone out of print. During the pandemic in 2020, Netflix released their movie version of Rebecca starring Lily James, Armie Hammer, and Kristin Scott Thomas. In Rebecca, Daphne writes about the beautiful azaleas that grow on the estate at Manderley. And she says that the blooms were used to make a perfume for its late mistress. Yet, most azalea growers know that this is likely an example of artistic license since most evergreen azaleas have little to no fragrance. That said, some native deciduous azaleas can be very fragrant. In the opening pages of Rebecca, Daphne's narrator vividly describes the wild and wooly garden of Manderley: I saw that the garden had obeyed the jungle law, even as the woods had done. The rhododendrons stood fifty feet high, twisted and entwined with bracken, and they had entered into alien marriage with a host of nameless shrubs, poor, bastard thing that clung about their roots as though conscious of their spurious origin. A lilac had mated with a copper beech, and to bind them yet more closely to one another, the malevolent ivy, always an enemy to grace, had thrown her tendrils about the pair and made them prisoners.   Daphne du Maurier incorporated gardens into many of her books. Her daughters recall that their mother loved flowers and flower arranging. Their home was always filled with flowers.  Yet, in her book, The King's General, as in Rebecca, the garden can feel like a dangerous place at times. I was a tiny child again at Radford, my uncle's home, and he was walking me through the glass houses in the gardens. There was one flower, an orchid, that grew alone; it was the color of pale ivory, with one little vein of crimson running through the petals. The scent filled the house, honeyed and sickly sweet. It was the loveliest flower I had ever seen. I stretched out my hand to stroke the soft velvet sheen, and swiftly my uncle pulled me by the shoulder. ‘Don't touch it, child. The stem is poisonous.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.

PLANT OF THE WEEK Banksia ericifolia and Banksia spinulosa: what's the difference? Scientific Name: Banksia spinulosa Common Name: Hairpin Banksia Family: Proteaceae Plant height: Mostly a multi-stemmed lignotuberous shrub. Varies greatly in height 1 -3 m  Position: Full sun, frost hardy including Canberra winter frosts. Leaves:long and narrow, 3-8 cm long by 2-7 mm wide, and variably toothed. Leaf margins often recurved which is an adaptation to dry environments. Flowering:The flower spikes range from 10-20 cm in length. A spike may contain hundreds or thousands of individual flowers, each of which consists of a tubular perianth made up of four united tepals, and one long wiry style. Position: Prefers to grow in the open where it makes a nice rounded shrubs. Shade makes it spindly. Banksias are an import source of nectar during autumn and winter when flowers are scarce. Scientific Name: Banksia ericifolia Common Name: Heath Banksia Family: Proteaceae Plant height: Mostly a multi-stemmed shrub. Varies greatly in height 3-6 m Position: Full sun, frost hardy including Canberra winter frosts. Leaves: The linear dark green leaves are small and narrow, 9–20 mm long and up to 1 mm wide, generally with two small teeth at the tips.  The leaves are crowded and alternately arranged on the branches.. Flowers: cylindrical flower spikes are quite large at 4-6 cm wide and up to 30 cm long Differences: Banksia ericifolia has much narrower leaves and is fire-sensitive in that it does not have a lignotuber for vegetative regeneration after bushfires. The species relies on seed for regeneration - seeds are retained in the cones for many years and are released by the heat of a fire. Pruning: People are afraid to prune Banksias because they think of them as being a bit tricky. If you're not sure what type of Banksia you have, then only light pruning. If you know your Banksia has a woody rootstock (lignotuber) then it can be heavily pruned.  Only low phosphorus fertilisers should be used if at all. I'd recommend Blood n Bone. Here's an interesting tidbit: Historically B. ericifolia is supposed to be the first specimen collected by Sir Joseph Banks at Botany Bay in 1770.  For some reason, Banks did not describe this new discovery however and it was left to Carl Linnaeus who later named the genus Banksia in honour of Banks in 1782. Have a listen to the podcast. I'm talking with Adrian O'Malley, qualified horticulturist and avid native plant expert.  

Today we celebrate a botanist and orchidologist who saved Kew, We'll also learn about an orchid hunter who collected plants on behalf of the London Horticultural Society. We hear some words about the challenging experience of a botanist in 1874. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about one of America’s earliest botanists and the father of America’s first female botanist. And then we’ll wrap things up with a story of a plant that Joseph Dalton Hooker described as "The ugliest yet [most] botanically magnificent plant in the world."   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   Curated News Carnation – A Little History and Some Growing Instructions | Harvesting History   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.   Important Events February 5, 1799 Today is the birthday of the British botanist, pomologist, pioneer orchidologist, and flower show organizer, John Lindley. John's dad was a nurseryman, and he ran a commercial nursery in England. Despite his array of botanical talents and knowledge, the family was always under financial duress. Growing up in his father's nursery helped John acquire the knowledge to land his first job as a seed merchant. This position led to a chain of events that would shape John's life. First, he met the botanist William Jackson Hooker. And, second, Hooker introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks. As a result of these connections, John ended up working as an assistant in Bank’s herbarium. In 1838 after Banks died, when the fate of Kew Gardens hung in the balance, John recommended that the gardens belonged to the people and that they should become the botanical headquarters for England. The government rejected John's proposal and decided to close the garden. But, on February 11, 1840, John ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. His advocacy brought the matter to the people; the garden-loving public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, so, John saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as the new director. From his humble beginnings to his incredible standing in English Botanical History, John is remembered fondly for so many accomplishments. For 43 years, John served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society, which is why the RHS Library is called the Lindley Library. And, there are over 200 plant species named for John Lindley. There is "lindleyi," "lindleyana," "lindleya," "lindleyoides," etc., and they all pay homage to John. John once told his friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, "I am a dandy in my herbarium." John did love his plants. But, without question, John's favorite plants were orchids. Before John, not much was known about orchids. Thanks to John, the genus Orchidaceae was shortened to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce. And, when he died, John's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew. John's friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, wrote a touching tribute after John died. He wrote, "We cannot tell how long Botany, how long science, will be pursued; but we may affirm that so long as a knowledge of plants is considered necessary, so long will Lindley's name be remembered with gratitude." And here's a little-remembered factoid about John - he was blind in one eye.   February 5, 1848 It was on this day, the botanist Karl Theodor Hartweg boarded a Hawaiian ship on his way back to England. The London Horticultural Society had hired Karl to collect plants in California. Yet when he reached London, the Hort Society was a little frustrated with Karl because he hadn’t secured something they really wanted: Bristlecone Fir seeds. A short while later, Karl severed ties with London, and he ended up south of Frankfurt tending gardens for the Duke of Baden for thirty years until he died in 1871. Karl’s journey as a plant collector began in the botanical garden in Paris. After working for the Chiswick garden in London, Karl began to turn his attention to plant exploration. Eager to travel and explore, Karl left for America in 1836. Although Karl was only supposed to stay for a three-year project, he actually ended up staying for over seven years. During the early to mid-1800s, native plants from Mexico, like dahlias and cacti, were all the rage. As for Karl, he became a noted orchid hunter. According to Merle Reinkka, the author of A History of the Orchid, Karl’s work was significant, and he contributed, "The most variable and comprehensive collection of New World Orchids made by a single individual in the first half of the [19th] century." A man of the world, Karl himself once dryly remarked, “All the way from London just to look after weeds.”   Unearthed Words In 1874, the English botanist WEP Giles (William Ernest Powell) explored the vast deserts of central Australia. Setting out with his hunting partner from a base camp at Fort McKellar,  he discovered a leak in one of his large water bags. The two men decided to continue, even though the temperature had already climbed to 96 degrees Fahrenheit. Camping that night, they hung their remaining bags of water in a tree to protect them. But one of their horses attacked a bag with her teeth— spraying the water all over the ground. Now neither the men nor the animals had enough water. — Anita Silvey, American children’s author, The Plant Hunters, Bringing Themselves Home Alive   Grow That Garden Library Cadwallader Colden by Seymour Schwartz This book came out in 2013, and the subtitle is A Biography. In this book, Seymour gives us the first complete biography of the American botanist Cadwallader Colden. Cadwallader was the longest-serving Lieutenant Governor of New York. He was incredibly intelligent and multi-talented - a true Renaissance man of America's colonial times. A trained physician, Cadwallader improved public health, and he wrote the first scientific paper published in the colonies, as well as the first map of New York. Cadwallader was also the father of America’s first female botanist: Jane Colden. This book is 230 pages of the life of a multifaceted colonial Renaissance man: Cadwallader Colden. You can get a copy of Cadwallader Colden by Seymour Schwartz and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $4   Today’s Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart February 5, 1806 Today is the birthday of the Austrian botanist and explorer Friedrich Welwitsch. Friedrich found a second home in the country of Portugal, where he served as the director of the Botanic Gardens in Lisbon. Friedrich had some fantastic experiences during his lifetime, but the pinnacle was clearly the day he discovered the Welwitschia mirabilis. The mirabilis refers to its unusual form. Portugal had to send him to Africa to collect plants -  which he did for seven years. In 1860, Friedrich discovered a strange-looking plant that is actually a tree - a conifer and a gymnosperm - in terms of botanical classification. The Africans called it "Mr. Big." Now the Welwitschia is endemic to Namibian deserts, and it's also present on the country's coat of arms. When Friedrich discovered this unique plant, which can live for more than 1500 years and bears only two leaves in its entire lifecycle, he was so astonished that he, "could do nothing but kneel down and gaze at it, half in fear lest a touch should prove it a figment of the imagination." Imagine a two-tentacled octopus with very long arms and a red floral bouquet for a head, and you have the Welwitschia mirabilis. Welwitschia's two leaves grow continuously throughout the life of a plant. The pair of leaves are broad, leathery, and belt-shaped. Incredibly, some specimens, tested with carbon 14, are over 2000 years old. Today, if you search online, there is a spectacular photo of Friedrich seated behind a large welwitschia mirabilis. He's wearing a pith helmet, and the plant's leaves are clearly many times longer than Friedrich's arms and legs, which are mostly obscured by the plant. In 1862, Joseph Dalton Hooker described the plant in The Gardener's Chronicle as, "The ugliest yet [most] botanically magnificent plant in the world."   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

1788 to 1820s Australian Grape Vine Stories; A race to the other side of the world Ambitions for a wine industry in New South Wales were caught up in the British Government's aspirations of expanding trade routes and wealth creation. From 1788 to the 1820s, colonial wine was a cottage industry but the pioneers from Sir Joseph Banks in London to John Macarthur and nurseryman Thomas Shepherd in Sydney believed that Australia could become the France of the Southern Hemisphere. But the first years of settlement were not without political troubles and serious economic challenges.

This week Laura Turner is joined by acclaimed author and journalist Grantlee Kieza. Grantlee has just published his 17th book Banks. Banks is a rich and rollicking biography of one of the most colourful and intriguing characters in the history of exploration Sir Joseph Banks. Banks is available HERE or in all good bookshops. Great Australian Lives is proudly brought to you by Tobin Brothers Funerals - to see videos of our some of our guests like Tobin Brothers on Facebook page HERE.Great Australian Lives is produced, engineered and edited by Jane Nield for Sports Entertainment Network.

Today we celebrate the man who wrote Species Plantarum and gave us binomial nomenclature. We'll also learn about the Boston Landscape Architect, who kept a journal of his favorite walks. We salute the British orchidologist who saved Kew Gardens. We also recognize the man who designed the garden at the Frick Museum in New York City. We’ll hear one of my favorite poems about November. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that teaches us to cook with Garden-Fresh Vegetables. And then we’ll wrap things up with a little story about a young botanist who dreamed of going to Sumatra.   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.” It's just that easy.   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 blog posts 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. 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 November 1, 1783   Today is the anniversary of the death of Carl Linnaeus. Thirty years earlier, on May 1st, 1753, the publication of his masterpiece Species Plantarum changed plant taxonomy forever. Linnaeus earned the moniker Father of Taxonomy; his naming system is called binomial nomenclature. Binomial means "two names," which in the naming game includes the plant's genus (which is capitalized or could be abbreviated by its first letter) and species or specific epithet (which is all lowercase and can be abbreviated sp.) If you have trouble remembering taxonomy, I like to think of it as the given name and surname of a person, but in reverse order. The names Linnaeus assigned live on unchanged and are distinguished by an “L.” after their name. And, it was Linnaeus himself who said: “God created, Linnaeus ordered.”   November 1, 1859  Today is the birthday of the Boston Landscape Architect Charles Eliot. Charles was the son of a prominent Boston family. In 1869, the year his mother died, his father Charles Sr. became the president of Harvard University. In 1882 Charles graduated from Harvard with a degree in botany. A year later, Charles began apprenticing with the landscape firm of Frederick Law Olmsted. As a young landscape architect, Charles made a list of his favorite walks, and he titled it A Partial List of Saturday Walks before 1878. Between 1885 and 1886, Charles spent 13 months touring England and Europe. The trip was actually Olmsted’s idea, and the trip provided Charles with a smorgasbord of landscapes. During the trip, Charles kept a journal where he wrote down his thoughts and sketched the places he was visiting. Charles's benchmark was always Boston, and throughout his memoirs, he was continually comparing new landscapes to the beauty of his native landscape in New England. Sadly, Charles's story ended too soon. He died at 37 from spinal meningitis. Before he died, Charles had been working on plans for The Arnold Arboretum at Harvard, where he'd gotten to know the arboretum director Charles Sprague Sargent. Poignantly, it was Sargent who wrote a tribute to Charles after he died, and it was featured in Sargent’s weekly journal called Garden and Forest. Charles's death had a significant impact on his father, Charles Sr. In tribute to his son, Charles Sr. compiled all of his son's work into a book called Charles Eliot Landscape Architect. The book came out in 1902, and today it is considered a classic work in the field of landscape architecture.   November 1, 1865  Today is the anniversary of the death of the British gardener, botanist, and orchidologist John Lindley. John served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society for 43 years. This is why the Lindley Library at the RHS is named in honor of John Lindley. When he was little, John‘s dad owned a nursery and an orchard. John grew up helping with the family business. In 1815, John left his small hometown and went to London. He became friends with William Jackson Hooker, who, in turn, introduced John to Sir Joseph Banks, who hired John to work in his herbarium. When Banks died, the fate of the Royal Botanic Gardens was put in jeopardy. Banks' death corresponded with the death of King George III, who was the patron of the garden. These deaths created an opening for the British government to question whether the garden should remain open. On February 11, 1840, John ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. John’s advocacy brought the matter to the publics' attention; the garden-loving British public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, that’s how John Lindley saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as Kew’s new director. In terms of other accomplishments, John shortened the genus Orchidaceae to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce - and when he died, John's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew. As for John, there are over 200 plant species named for him. There is "lindleyi", "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides". And here’s a little-remembered factoid about Lindley - he was blind in one eye.   November 1, 1906 Today is the birthday of the British gardener, garden designer, and landscape architect Montague Russell Page. Russell Page is best known for his garden classic called The Education of a Gardener. In his book, Russell shares his vast knowledge of plants and trees and design. The book ends with a description of his dream garden. First published in 1962, Russell's book shares his charming anecdotes and timeless gardening advice. He wrote: "I know nothing whatever of many aspects of gardening and very little of a great many more. But I never saw a garden from which I did not learn something and seldom met a gardener who did not, in some way or another, help me." ”I like gardens with good bones and an affirmed underlying structure. I like well-made and well-marked paths, well-built walls, well-defined changes in level. I like pools and canals, paved sitting places, and a good garden in which to picnic or take a nap.”  Russell is considered the first modern garden designer. Like Piet Oudolf, Russell used flowers to create living, natural paintings. And although he designed Gardens for the Duke of Windsor and Oscar de la Renta, it was Russell Page who said: "I am the most famous garden designer you’ve never heard of." And here’s a recent twist to Russell’s legacy. In 1977, Russell designed the Gardens at the Frick Collection in New York City. However, in 2014 when the Frick was making plans to expand, they decided to demolish the Russell Page garden. After a year of facing public backlash in support of the garden (something the museum never anticipated), the Frick backed down when Charles Birnbaum, the founder of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, discovered an old 1977 Frick press release that proudly introduced the Page landscape as a permanent garden. Birnbaum shared his discovery on the Huffington Post, and thanks to him, the 3700 square-foot Page garden lives on for all of us to enjoy.   Unearthed Words Show's over, folks. And didn't October do A bang-up job? Crisp breezes, full-throated cries Of migrating geese, low-floating coral moon. Nothing left but fool's gold in the trees. Did I love it enough, the full-throttle foliage, While it lasted? Was I dazzled? The bees Have up and quit their last-ditch flights of forage And gone to shiver in their winter clusters. Field mice hit the barns, big squirrels gorge On busted chestnuts. A sky like hardened plaster Hovers. The pasty river, its next of kin, Coughs up reed grass fat as feather dusters. Even the swarms of kids have given in To winter's big excuse, boxed-in allure: TVs ricochet light behind pulled curtains. The days throw up a closed sign around four. The hapless customer who'd wanted something Arrives to find lights out, a bolted door. — Maggie Dietz, American editor, and poet, November   Grow That Garden Library The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook by Andrea Chesman This book came out in 2005, and the subtitle is Harvest of Home-Grown Recipes. Andrea shares 175 recipes developed based on her experience as a successful Vermont vegetable gardener in this fantastic cookbook. Her recipes are organized seasonally. To address those nights when the mounds of vegetables are just too overwhelming to try a whole new recipe, Chesman includes fourteen master recipes for simple preparation techniques that can accommodate whatever is in the vegetable basket. Andrea’s book is an old favorite of mine. After using her cookbook, I can tell you she’s both thoughtful and entertaining. This book is 512 pages of cooking ideas for any gardener looking to add both foolproof and tasty variety to their cooking with fresh produce. You can get a copy of The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook by Andrea Chesman and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $5   Today’s Botanic Spark When I was researching John Lindley, I stumbled on an adorable story about him. When John Lindley arrived in England as a teenager, he needed a place to stay. So, Sir Joseph Hooker graciously took him in and gave him a room at his home called Halesworth. The story goes that, over the course of a few weeks, the Halesworth housekeeper had observed that John‘s bed was always neat as a pin. It was clear to her that John never slept in it. This led the housekeeper to wonder what Lindley was up to and where he was sleeping. She began to worry that he might not be the kind of person they wanted at Halesworth. When her worry got the best of her, she brought the matter to Hooker's attention. In short order, Hooker confronted John and asked him to account for his unused bed. John calmly explained that he was hoping to go to Sumatra to collect plants. Anticipating the physical difficulties of plant exploration, John had been spending every night sleeping on the boards of the hardwood floor in his room. The net result was that John got to keep living at Halesworth, where he wrote his first book called Observations on the Structure of Fruits. Sadly, John never made it to Sumatra.

¿Quieres escuchar el audiolibro completo? Visita http://www.penguinaudio.com5 de enero de 1800En los albores de un nuevo siglo, en un invierno característico de Filadelfia, nace Alma Whittaker. Su padre, Henry Whittaker, es un explorador botánico audaz y carismático cuya vasta fortuna oculta unos orígenes humildes: comenzó de pilluelo en los jardines Kew de Sir Joseph Banks y de grumete a bordo del Resolution del capitán Cook. La madre de Alma, una estricta holandesa de buena familia, sabe tanto de botánica como cualquier hombre.Niña independiente, con una sed de conocimientos insaciable, Alma no tarda en adentrarse en el mundo de las plantas y de la ciencia. Sin embargo, a medida que el minucioso estudio de los musgos la acerca más y más a los misterios de la evolución, el hombre al que ama la arrastra en la dirección opuesta: al mundo de lo espiritual, lo divino y lo mágico. Ella es una científica de mente despejada; él es un artista utópico. Pero lo que une a esta pareja es la pasión compartida por el saber: el desesperado deseo de comprender cómo funciona el mundo, de qué están hechos los mecanismos de la vida.La firma de todas las cosas es una novela grandiosa que narra la historia de un siglo grandioso. Recorre todo el mundo, desde Londres hasta Perú, Filadelfia, Tahití o Ámsterdam. Habitada por personajes extraordinarios (misioneros, abolicionistas, aventureros, astrónomos, capitanes de mar, genios y locos), cuenta, por encima de todo, con una heroína inolvidable: Alma Whittaker, una mujer de la Ilustración que se yergue desafiante en la cúspide de la era moderna. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Tüm varlığını ve yaşamını doğa tarihine adayan Banks bağlantılarıyla dünyadaki egzotik bitki ve hayvan trafiğini yöneten, toplayıcıları dünyanın dört bir tarafına göndererek tüm bu zenginliğin Kral adına Londra’ya akmasını sağlayan kişilerin başında geliyor.

Today we celebrate one of Britain's great explorers and the first apple parer. We'll learn about the wonderful willow, and we'll celebrate the very first field trip of the Philadelphia Botanical Club, which happened 128 years ago today. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems from the author of Anne of Green Gables. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that essentially offers an herb seasoning master class in between its pages I'll talk about a garden item that comes in handy for gifting natural elements from the garden along with a whole host of other uses... and then we'll wrap things up with the story of a woman who married a botanist and then wrote about her adventures with him. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Curated Articles 10 Ideas For What To Do With Broken Plant Pots | Joy Us Garden Don't toss that old, broken pot out just yet! Whether you nestle it, fill it with herbs, stack it, lay it sideways, create a layered planting, or add cacti/succulents, the options are endless!   10 Benefits of Growing Chives | Great Post @GrowForCookFerm: 10 Benefits of Growing Chives in the Spring Garden! They are perennial with a long growing season and are the perfect garnish. They also attract pollinators, have edible blossoms, tasty greens, and are high in Vitamins K & A.   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. 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 1779 Today is the anniversary of the death of one of the great British explorers, and he commanded a vessel called The Endeavor, Captain James Cook. At the age of 26, Cook joined the Royal Navy later than most, at the age of 26. He drew attention with his Superior map-making skills, which helped the British Launch a successful attack in Quebec. Later, when Cook took command of his own ship, he was usually accompanied by artists, scientists, astronomers, and botanists like Sir Joseph Banks - who accompanied Cook on the first successful voyage to Australia. A year later, Cook sailed again, but this time Banks would not be going. Instead, a German, Johann Reinhold Forster and his son Georg—would be the botanists for his next voyage. Cook's death on this day in 1779  in Hawaii was gruesome. Angered when Hawaiian natives stole one of his cutter ships, Cook ordered the bay sealed off. Cook went ashore at the North end of the bay and asked the King and his sons to come away as hostages. The King's wife broke down, crying and begged him not to go with Cook. The King's people suddenly rose up and defended him and threw stones at Cook. Meanwhile, on the South end of the bay, a high-ranking chief had tried to break through the barricade. Cook's men shot him. A battle started that swept up the bay just as Cook was attempting to leave the King. Cook signaled for boats to come and get them off the beach. As Cook was making his way to the shore to escape, a native clubbed him with a piece of fencing and ran off. As Cook attempted to rise, another native stabbed in the back of the neck with a dagger. Cook's head was held under the water as he was killed with clubs and stones. Afterward, the islanders prepared a Royal Funeral for him, removing his hands from his body and preserving them in salt. The rest of his body was roasted in a pit so that his bones could be picked clean. Last year, the Australian government announced they were budgeting $50 million to redevelop Cook's 1770 landing place. The plans include turning the area into a major tourist attraction and include the addition of a $3 million statue of Cook himself. Australia Treasurer Scott Morrison said it would be, "a place of commemoration, recognition, and understanding of two cultures and the incredible Captain Cook." The redevelopment is slated to be ready this year, 2020, in time to mark the 250th anniversary of the landing.   1803Today a patent for an Apple Paring Machine, was given to Moses Coates of Downington, Pennsylvania. Over the next hundred years, 150 different patents would be issued for apple parers - and most would be variations in improvements on Coates's original machine. The parer that Moses created was a cranked wooden gadget that had a metal blade and prongs that would hold the apple. If you're able to find one of Moses Coates apple parers today, you will pay between $200 and $400. Coatesville, Pennsylvania, was named by Moses Coates. And, Moses patented a number of pieces of equipment, including a machine that was used to cut straw. Before the invention of the apple parer, people used to host apple harvest festivals where are all the apples would be gathered in paired in a paring spree. All the apples would be pared by hand. The apple slices and quarters would end up and huge kettles that would have to be stirred all day - for about 8 hours. Then, when the mixture started to turn dark, biscuits would be made, and then everyone would line up for a biscuit with a slab of apple butter.   1856 Today Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal about a natural willow hedge. "I was struck today by the size and continuousness of the natural willow hedge on the east side of the railroad causeway... Some twelve years ago, when that causeway was built through the meadows, there were no willows there or near there, but now, just at the foot of the sand-bank, where it meets the meadow, and on the line of the fence, quite a dense willow hedge has planted itself. I used to think that the seeds were brought with the sand from the Deep Cut in the woods, but there is no golden willow there; but now I think that the seeds have been blown hither from a distance, and lodged against the foot of the bank, just as the snow-drift accumulates there... They plant themselves here solely, and not in the open meadow, as exclusively as along the shores of a river. The sand-bank is a shore to them, and the meadow a lake. How impatient, how rampant, how precocious these osiers ("OH-see-ers")! They have hardly made two shoots from the sand in as many springs when silvery catkins burst out along them, and anon golden blossoms and downy seeds, spreading their race with incredible rapidity. Thus they multiply and clan together. Thus they take advantage even of the railroad, which elsewhere disturbs and invades their domains. May I ever be in as good spirits as a willow! How tenacious of life! How withy! How soon it gets over its hurts! They never despair. Is there no moisture longer in nature which they can transmute into sap? They are emblems of youth, joy, and everlasting life. Scarcely is their growth restrained by winter, but their silvery down peeps forth in the warmest days in January." Willow (Salix) trees are native to northern China. They can reproduce from seeds, broken twigs, or even leaves. A speedy grower, Willows can grow 10 feet in a single year. In the spring, weeping Willows silver-tinged green catkins appear on the branches. The fuzzy catkins that contain either male or female flowers depending on the sex of the tree. You can force cuttings of willows to bloom by bringing them indoors. The catkins will open and flower in a vase of water. Don't forget to save your willow water for rooting. Willow water contains a natural rooting hormone. A mix of 50% fresh water and 50% willow water is an excellent solution to get cuttings to root.   1892 Today the Philadelphia Botanical Club took their very first field trip to Bartram's Garden. In 1850, Andrew McCalla Eastwick (1806-1879), an engineer and the inventor of the steam shovel, bought the 46-acre Bartram estate from John Bartram's granddaughter, Ann Bartram Carr. Eastwick had banked a personal mint after building railroads for Czar Nicholas I of Russia. Unlike the fate of many old homes, Eastwick decided not to tear down the existing house. Instead, he kept the Bartram family homestead as a memorial, building his own mansion beside Bartrams. He also made sure the historic garden was kept intact. He vowed not to harm "one bush" planted by the Bartrams. In 2015, Bartram's Garden, in Philadelphia, was designated an American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) Horticultural Landmark. The prestigious award commemorates sites based on their historical, scientific, environmental, and aesthetic value. The award was first presented to Monticello, home of President Thomas Jefferson. Other recipients include Longwood Gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, Arnold Arboretum, and Fairchild Botanical Garden.   Unearthed Words Here are wintery poems from the beloved author of the Anne of Green Gables series: Frosty-white and cold it lies Underneath the fretful skies; Snowflakes flutter where the red Banners of the poppies spread, And the drifts are wide and deep Where the lilies fell asleep. — But the sunsets o'er it throw Flame-like splendor, lucent glow, And the moonshine makes it gleam Like a wonderland of dream, And the sharp winds all the day Pipe and whistle shrilly gay. — Safe beneath the snowdrifts lie Rainbow buds of by-and-by; In the long, sweet days of spring Music of bluebells shall ring, And its faintly golden cup Many a primrose will hold up. Though the winds are keen and chill Roses' hearts are beating still, And the garden tranquility In the summer days of blue All its dreamings will come true. — Lucy Maud Montgomery, The Garden in Winter   Above the marge of night, a star still shines, And on the frosty hills the somber pines Harbor an eerie wind that crooneth low Over the glimmering wastes of virgin snow. Through the pale arch of orient the morn Comes in a milk-white splendor newly-born, A sword of crimson cuts in twain the gray Banners of shadow hosts, and lo, the day! — Lucy Maud Montgomery, A Winter Dawn   Grow That Garden Library A Taste for Herbs by Sue Goetz The subtitle of this book is A Guide To Seasonings, Mixes, and Blends from the Herb Lover's Garden. Sue's book helps you become an herbal taste master. The preview to this book challenges us to think of this book as an herb seasoning Master Class - filled with simple secrets for capturing the power of flavor from your herb garden. And here's how Sue describes her book. She writes: In these pages, you'll find all you need to know about 20 of the most commonly used and flavor-rich herbs: how to grow them (which is easy), the best varieties to choose, what parts to use, essential information, and tips throughout. I'll take you step-by-simple-step, through harvesting, preserving the herbs, and capturing all those precious flavors.  And, as promised, there are the recipes - over a hundred - showing you how to flavor, mix, mingle, and blend herbs into almost any meal. The big takeaway is that you become a creator of flavors, a master of blends, an infusion maven. And, you deepen your relationship with the plants that you bring to your table and the garden that produces them. Now, this book just recently celebrated its one-year anniversary on February 1st. You can get a used copy of and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $8.   Great Gifts for Gardeners Made in USA Brown Kraft Paper Jumbo Roll 17.75" x 1200" (100ft) Ideal for Gift Wrapping, Art, Craft, Postal, Packing, Shipping, Floor Covering, Dunnage, Parcel, Table Runner 100% Recycled Material $13.89  100% Recycled Brown Kraft Paper MADE IN USA Industrial Grade 40# Paper Weight makes it Ideal for Wrapping and Multiuse Un-Waxed and Uncoated, Eco-Friendly Traditional Brown Craft Paper, Not a Butcher Paper Ideal to Use For Wrapping, Packaging, Decor, Mailing, Holiday Gifts Wrapping, Cover Table for Parties, Gift Wrapping Roll, Brown Gift Wrapping Paper Roll Christmas, Kids Art, and Craft Projects, Protection of Furniture and Floors, Writing, Drawing, Painting, Coloring, Package Filler and lot more. 100% SATISFACTION GUARANTEED: We Practice Fair Trade, and Customer Satisfaction is Our Priority. If You are Not Satisfied with Our Product, Please Just Drop Us a Line, and We will Initiate Refund Right Away! MONEY BACK GUARANTEE!   Today's Botanic Spark 1897 Today is the birthday of the English writer Eleanor Constance Rundall Bor. Eleanor is remembered for her book "The Adventures of a Botanist's Wife" - a book I own multiple copies of - it's a favorite of mine. In 1931, Eleanor went to India, where she married her Irish botanist husband, Norman Bor. Norman became the Director of the Forest Research Institute at Dehra Dun. After establishing himself as a world authority on Asian grasses, Norman returned to England to become Assistant Director of Kew Gardens. Eleanor wrote and illustrated "The Adventures of a Botanist's Wife" about their life together in India. In 1952, the newspaper in Melbourne Australia featured Eleanor's book in an article called "On Top of the World." Here's an excerpt: SHE WORE SAND SHOES for a simple reason. They were the only comfortable shoes she could buy in Shillong and, since she was determined to miss none of the mountain trips made by her botanist husband, she accepted the shoes. Surprisingly, they proved comfortable, and, as she clambered around the incredible cliff edge paths, thousands of feet above deep Himalayan gorges, she was grateful for the firm grip of the rubber. Mrs. Bor had expected to share exciting plant discoveries and, at least, to give her name to a rare orchid. Instead, she found her husband was a specialist in grasses, and it was a new species of grass extremely rare but, to her, looking no more than a "mangy bit of fur" that finally bore her name. Once [ on a mountain] stepping from mist and snow, they saw below them, on the white mountain slopes, a blaze of rhododendrons and magnolias, and In their camp that night burned rhododendron logs. Their mountain trips were often dangerous. Mrs. Bor hated crossing the cobweb-like cane bridges strung hundreds of feet above foaming torrents. The Rupa bridge was especially terrifying, with only strands of cane for a foothold and tall hoops set a yard apart for the hands to grip. More menacing than cane bridges and cliff tracks were the insects. Wild animals were not alarming, but the hornets, centipedes, horse flies, dam dims, and above all, the leeches made camping In the Jungle foothills a nightmare. One reviewer wrote: "Here is a story told with the charm and simplicity of a life spent in the foothills of the Himalayas where Eleanor Bor and her botanist husband tramp through jungled terrain establishing friendly relations with hill tribes and villagers, discovering the enchantments of mysterious undergrowth and carrying with them the domestic problems of household pets and family happenings. Their years in the jungle, as told by the author, are those of a true traveler."

Today we celebrate the savior of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, and the fir tree described by Meriwether Lewis as "Fir No. 5." We'll learn about the man who discovered a plant that was called "the ugliest yet most botanically magnificent plant in the world" by Joseph Dalton Hooker. And, we celebrate the 124th birthday of the founding of the New England Botanical Club as well as the Landscape architect who helped create the New American Garden. Today's Unearthed Words feature poems about February We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that reveals the Ingenuity of Animal Survival - in and out of our gardens. I'll talk about a lovely gift for a gardener - something that will likely become an heirloom in your garden family. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the Happy Huntsman's Tree. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Curated Articles Turn To Turnips For Early Vegetables Gardening: Turn to turnips for early vegetables Nancy Szerlag, master gardener and @detroitnews freelance writer, had a chance to try Burpee Gardening @burpeegardens new turnip, 'Silky Sweet'!   Terrace Garden Of A Townhouse In Bruges By Piet Blanckaert | House & Garden The magnificent terrace garden in Bruges ("Brooj") by @_houseandgarden Piet Blanckaert says: "Small gardens are a puzzle in 3D. You need all the pieces, big & small, & every centimeter counts. You need less of everything so that you can choose top-quality materials."   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. 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 1799  Today is the birthday of the British botanist, pomologist, pioneer orchidologist, and flower show organizer, John Lindley. Lindley's dad was a nurseryman, and he ran a commercial nursery in England. Despite his array of botanical talents and knowledge, the family was constantly under financial duress. Growing up in his father's nursery, helped Lindley acquire the knowledge to land his first job as a seed merchant. This position led to a chain of events that would shape Lindley's life. First, he met the botanist William Jackson Hooker. And, second, Hooker introduced him to Sir Joseph Banks. Lindley worked as an assistant in the Banks herbarium. In 1938 after Banks died, when the fate of Kew Gardens hung in the balance, it was Lindley who recommended that the gardens belonged to the people and that they should become the botanical headquarters for England. The government rejected Lindley's proposal and decided to close the garden. But, on February 11, 1840, Lindley ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. His advocacy brought the matter to the people; the garden-loving public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, so, Lindley saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as the new director. From his humble beginnings to his incredible standing in English Botanical History, Lindley is remembered fondly for so many accomplishments. For 43 years, Lindley served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society, which is why the RHS Library is called the Lindley Library. And, there are over 200 plant species named for Lindley. There is "lindleyi", "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides". Lindley once told his friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, "I am a dandy in my herbarium." Without question, Lindley's favorite plants were orchids. Before Lindley, not much was known about orchids. Thanks to Lindley, the genus Orchidaceae was shortened to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce. And, when he died, Lindley's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew. Lindley's friend, the botanist Ludwig Reichenbach, wrote a touching tribute after his Lindley died. He wrote, "We cannot tell how long Botany, how long science, will be pursued; but we may affirm that so long as a knowledge of plants is considered necessary, so long will Lindley's name be remembered with gratitude." And here's a little-remembered factoid about Lindley - he was blind in one eye.   1806   Today Meriwether Lewis described a tree he referred to in his journal as "Fir No. 5." The tree in question was the Douglas-fir. Later, on February 9, Lewis added more details about the fir and sketched the distinctive bract of the cone in his journal. On their way back across the northern Rocky Mountains of Idaho and Montana, Lewis and Clark would encounter the inland variation of the species, the Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir. The Douglas-Fir gets its name from the botanist David Douglas, who was the first to grow the tree in England successfully. When Douglas met an early death, his friend and teacher, the botanist John Goldie, planted a Douglas-Fir next to his house to remember his young friend. The lifespan of a Douglas-Fir Tree ranges from 500 to 1,000 years. And, Douglas-Firs are very large trees - reaching heights of 60 feet tall and up to 25 feet wide. In the wild, they sometimes reach over 200 feet tall. This massive tree is too big for residential landscaping. The bark of a Douglas Fir gets thicker over time, and that dense layer of bark enables the tree to survive forest fires with only some blackened bark.   1806  Today is the birthday of the Austrian botanist and explorer Friedrich Welwitsch. Welwitsch found a second home in the country of Portugal, where he served as the director Of the botanic gardens in Lisbon. Welwitsch had some amazing experiences during his lifetime, but the pinnacle was clearly the day he discovered the Welwitschia mirabilis. The mirabilis refers to its unusual form. Portugal had to send him to Africa to collect plants -  which he did for seven years. In 1860,  Welwitsch discovered a strange-looking plant that is actually a tree - a conifer and a gymnosperm - in terms of botanical classification. The Africans called it "Mr. Big." The Welwitschia is endemic to Namibian deserts, and it's also present on the Namibian coat of arms. When Welwitsch discovered this unique plant which can live for more than 1500 years and bears only two leaves in its entire lifecycle, he was so astonished that he "could do nothing but kneel down and gaze at it, half in fear lest a touch should prove it a figment of the imagination." Imagine a two-tentacled octopus with very long arms and a red floral bouquet for a head, and you have the Welwitschia mirabilis. Welwitschia's two leaves grow continually throughout the life of a plant. The pair of leaves are broad, leathery, and belt-shaped. Incredibly, some specimens, tested with carbon 14, are over 2000 years old. There is a spectacular photo of Welwitsch seated behind a large welwitschia mirabilis. He's wearing a pith helmet, and the plant's leaves are clearly many times longer than Welwitschia's arms and legs, which are mostly obscured by the plant. In 1862, Joseph Dalton Hooker described the plant in The Gardener's Chronicle as "the ugliest yet botanically magnificent plant in the world among centuries-old plants."   1896   Today the New England Botanical Club was founded by seven Professional and ten amateur botanists. The club was established to study New England and Alpine Flora. Dues were set at $2/year.  The late 1800s ushered in several scientific organizations - like the American Philosophical Society, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. What distinguished the New England Botanical Club was the fact that it welcomed amateurs as well as professionals. The early meetings were held in member's homes. Charles Sprague Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum was reputed to be a wonderful host. The club began as a gentleman's club; it would not officially admit women until 1968. Focused on botany, the group went on regular field trips - and they published a scholarly Journal called Rhodora. The group was looking for a one-word title, and so they held a vote. The options were Rhodora, Oakesia, Wasonia, Bigelovia, Gayia, and Nova anglia.  The name Rhodora was created to reflect the clubs focus on studying the flora in the natural range of Rhododendron lapponicum - with the common name Lapland rosebay. Today, the NEBC is a non-profit organization that promotes the study of plants of North America, especially the flora of New England and adjacent areas.   1935    Today is the birthday of the influential landscape architect and author James Van Sweden. Van Sweden was an early pioneer in developing a new look and feel for American Landscapes, and his style is called The New American Garden.  signature elements of the new American Garden are broad sweeps of flowering perennials and wild grasses.  In 1975, van Sweden partnered with Wolfgang Oehme, and together they started their firm now known as Uehme van Sweden or OvS. Many gardeners remember that James created a purple Meadow for Oprah Winfrey's South Bend Indiana estate. In his book, architecture in the garden, Van Sweden wrote, "As I pulled up to Oprah Winfrey's front door for the first time, my immediate impression was that her house was divorced from its setting. Built in an elegant French-Chateau style, the house was visibly uncomfortable with the matter-of-fact Midwestern farmland that surrounded it. Nothing had been done to ease the transition from one to the other—  the house and the site weren't talking. Over the next four years, we worked together to create an architectural context around the house, including newly-installed terraces and walls. The materials we selected, brick framed with the Limestone, echo the house, yet this architecture also conformed to the surrounding countryside, adopting its long, horizontal lines. In this way, we quite literally pulled out into the site." Van Sweden's books include The Artful Garden: Creative Inspiration for Landscape Design (2011), Architecture in the Garden (2003), and Gardening with Nature (1997). You can get a used copy of James van Swedens books and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $5.   Unearthed Words Here are some words about February: "Probably more pests can be controlled in an armchair in front of a February fire with a garden notebook and a seed catalog than can ever be knocked out in hand-to-hand combat in the garden." —  Neely Turner, State Entomologist & Vice Director, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, 1927 - 1968   Come when the rains Have glazed the snow and clothed the trees with ice, While the slant sun of February pours Into the bowers, a flood of light. Approach! The incrusted surface shall upbear thy steps And the broad arching portals of the grove Welcome thy entering. —  William Cullen Bryant, American Romantic poet, A Winter Piece   I stood beside a hill Smooth with new-laid snow, A single star looked out From the cold evening glow. There was no other creature That saw what I could see-- I stood and watched the evening star As long as it watched me. —  Sara Teasdale, American Lyric poet, February Twilight   Grow That Garden Library Winter World by Bernd Heinrich The subtitle of this book is: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival. The author of numerous bestselling and award-winning books, Bernd Heinrich, is a professor of biology at the University of Vermont. He divides his time between Vermont and the forests of western Maine. From flying squirrels to grizzly bears, and from torpid turtles to insects with antifreeze, the animal kingdom relies on some staggering evolutionary innovations to survive winter. Unlike their human counterparts, who must alter the environment to accommodate physical limitations, animals are adaptable to an amazing range of conditions. Examining everything from food sources in the extremely barren winter landscape to the chemical composition that allows certain creatures to survive, Heinrich's Winter World awakens the largely undiscovered mysteries by which nature sustains herself through winter's harsh, cruel exigencies. You can get a used copy of Winter World by Bernd Heinrich and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $9.   Great Gifts for Gardeners Okatsune Precision Hedge Shears, 7 5/8" blade, 22" overall length by Okatsune $62.25 These short garden shears are used by professional gardeners throughout Japan. Total Length:21in(535mm) Blade Length:6.9in(175mm) Weight:1lb12oz(800g) The handles are made of slick Japanese White Oak Today's Botanic Spark 1917   On this day, the Happy Huntsman's Tree was planted, which stands beside the Harrington family crypt. The Happy Huntsman's Tree is an Oak tree that honors the 8th Earl of Harrington -  Charles Augustus Stanhope, who died on this day at the age of 73. When he died, Charles was one of the largest landowners in England, with estates totaling over 13,000 acres. Charles was the first business person to open a store in London under his own name. Selling fruit from his garden, his store closed after a few seasons. Gardeners would be delighted by his home at Elvaston Castle, which was settled among the most magnificent topiary; trees shrubs and hedges were fashioned into men, animals, pyramids, and fans. Even though one of his arms was useless, Charles was an active person.  He was one of the pioneers of polo in England, and he also played as an old man.  Vanity Fair published a caricature of him playing polo - sitting atop his horse with his potbelly and white flowing beard. And, Charles was an avid Huntsman. He was a master of the South Knot Hunt for over 30 years. During hunting season, he hunted six days a week. His obituary said that he never missed a hunt unless he happened to be laid up with broken bones from a fall. At Elvaston castle, there was a little workshop where Charles liked to tinker with projects. At the end of his life, Charles was badly burned while working there. He was making a picture frame, and he accidentally bumped his left hand against the pipe of a stove. After treating it with oil, he developed blood poisoning and died. Charles left specific instructions in his will that upon his death, his hounds should be let out to hunt.  Family lore says that when Charles was buried, the hounds bounded into the graveyard and gathered around the oak tree near the family crypt. They would not leave and could not be coaxed away. The tree the hounds were fixated on was dubbed the Happy Huntsman's Tree. There's a small plaque beneath it oh today it still stands in the graveyard of Saint Bartholomew's Church Derbyshire ("Dar-bee-shur").

Today we celebrate the plant named in honor of Queen Victoria and the President of Peru and Bolivia. We'll learn about the Mother of Balboa Park and how the world seed bank was saved during WWII. We'll hear the Garden Poem that celebrates the end of the apple-picking season. We Grow That Garden Library with a book from the author who was pulled out of her grief by nature walks with Marion Satterlee.  I'll talk about an on-trend and portable way to display your houseplants, and then we'll wrap things up with a set of botanical stamps that commemorated the bi-centenary of Captain Cook's first voyage to New Zealand.   But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   How to lift and divide herbaceous perennials Now's the time for all good men to come to the aid of their... Whoops - nope - Really now is the perfect time to lift and divide perennials with @GWmag - It's not too late! Dividing or not - you should check out the garden in this video. Swooning now...     11 things to know about the Agius Evolution Garden Here's a Behind the Scenes Look at Kew's Brand New Garden called the Agius. Learn about the mulch @kewgardens makes for the garden, the pergola that supports 26 roses & the drought-resistant asterids - like sages, olives, and rosemary.      What to grow in a medieval herb garden - English Heritage Blog Medieval Herb Gardens grew the tried & true herbs. Learn more about Sage, Betony, Clary Sage, Hyssop, Rue, Chamomile, Dill, Cumin, & Comfrey in this post by @EnglishHeritage featuring a beautiful pic of @RievaulxAbbey     Never Underestimate the Intelligence of Trees Gardens are plant communities that need these pillars of protection- yet many gardens are treeless. As gardeners, we should plant Micro Forests. Dr. Suzanne Simard - Professor of Forest Ecology: Older, bigger trees share nutrients w/ smaller trees & they pay it back later. @NautilusMag    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 track down links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.         Brevities     #OTD   On this day in 1849, the very first Victoria cruziana flowered in a custom-built greenhouse at the Duke of Devonshire's estate at Chatsworth.  After that initial bloom, the other specimens began blooming as well. And, one of the blossoms was, appropriately, given to Queen Victoria (Santa Cruz Water Lily). The Victoria cruziana is an exotic plant. It is named in honor of two people: Queen Victoria & Andres de Santa Cruz, President of Peru & Bolivia, who sponsored the expedition where the plants were first collected. In the wild, Victoria cruziana is native to open waters in northern Argentina and Paraguay. Sadly, the Victoria cruziana is endangered due to deforestation. Although in recent years, the Santa Cruz Water Lily has been returning by the hundreds in the Salado River in Paraguay. Locals take tourists out to see them in little canoes. Victoria cruziana produces enormous lily pads that can grow up to 2 meters or almost 7 feet wide. Today, greenhouses grow the Santa Cruz Water Lily from seed. In cultivation, pollination takes place by hand in the evenings when the plant is flowering. But in its native habitat, the pollination process of the Santa Cruz Water Lily is a fantastic spectacle: When the big flower bud  initially opens - it is pure white and it emits a pineapple aroma. Then, as night falls, the flower goes through a chemical change that causes it to heat up.The pineapple scent and the warmth draw flying scarab beetles who venture far into the depths of the flower to find feast of starch. It's likeThanksgiving in there. While they are feasting through the night, the morning sunlight causes the flower to close up, and the feasting scarab beetles are trapped inside. During the day, the flower goes through a tremendous transformation. The pineapple scent goes away, and the flower turns from pure white to pink - all in the course of a single day. What's more, the sex of the flower changes from female to male.  When the Santa Cruz Water Lily flower opens again on the second night, the scarab beetles are ready to go, and they fly off, covered in pollen to find the next freshly opened pineapple scented female flowers. Isn't that incredible? Now the underside of the giant Amazonian water lily, Victoria cruziana, is quite something to see. It consists of this intricate vaulted rib structure, which is perfectly designed by Mother Nature. The air pockets give it the buoyancy and allow it to handle the load of the enormous lily pad. Those ribs are what allows the lily pad to float. This pattern so inspired Joseph Paxton that he incorporated it into his design for Crystal Palace in 1851. And, to illustrate the strength of the lily pads, there's a famous old photo from the 1800s that shows five children sitting on top of individual lily pads - one of them looks to be about three years old, and she's sitting on a rocking chair that was put on top of  the Lily pad, and they are all just calming staring into the Camera. It's quite the image. There is one more surprise for people who get the chance to really study the giant water lily. Everything except the smooth top surface of the lily is ferociously spiny to protect it from being eaten by nibblers under the water.    Back in July, I shared a video in the Facebook Group for the Show from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh which showed their Senior Horticulturist, Pat Clifford, teaching an intern, how to remove older Giant Water Lily pads so the pond doesn't get overcrowded. Using a pitchfork, Pat carefully folded the giant lily pad first in half, then quarters, and then once more. Then he stabbed the large folded pad with the pitchfork, hoists it in the air to let the water drain out, and then flops this huge beast of a pad down on the edge of the pond. Then, the camera zooms in to reveal the incredibly savage thorns that grow on the underside of the lily pad and all down the stem of the plant. For folks who watch that video, It is a shock to see how vicious the thorns are - rivaling any rose.       #OTD   Today is the birthday of American botanist, horticulturist, and landscape architect Kate Sessions, who was born on this day in 1857. As a young woman, Kate had traveled to San Diego to teach, but she ended up following her passion and bought a local nursery in 1885. Before long, Kate owned a flower shop as well. And, she didn't leave her teaching roots behind. Kate is remembered for going from grammar school to grammar school, teaching thousands of young children basic horticulture and botany. In 1892, she managed to convince the City of San Diego to lease her 30 acres of land to use for growing in Balboa Park so that she could grow plants for her nursery. The arrangement required Session to plant 100 trees in balboa park every single year in addition to another 300 trees around the city of San Diego.  Over a dozen years, Kate planted close to 5,000 trees, forever changing the vista of San Diego. The Antonicelli family, who later bought Kate's nursery, said that Kate was tough and plants were her whole life.  "When she would go out on a landscape job, rather than put a stake in the ground, she had these high boots on, and she'd kick heel marks in the ground, and that's where she would tell the guys to plant the trees." Thanks to her nursery and connections, Session planted hundreds of cypress, pine, oak, pepper trees, and eucalyptus. And although she never married or had any children, it was thanks to her dedication to the trees of San Diego that Sessions became known as The Mother of Balboa Park. But there is one tree that Sessions will forever be associated with, and that is the jacaranda, which is a signature plant of the city of San Diego. Sessions imported the jacaranda, and she propagated and popularized it - it which wasn't difficult given its beautiful purple bloom. In September of 1939, Kate broke her hip after falling in her garden. The following march, newspapers reported she had died quietly in her sleep, "At the close of Easter Sunday, when the broad lawns, the groves, the canyons, and the flower beds were aglow with a beauty that has become her monument."   #OTD  On this day in 1941, Hitler gave a speech where he said that "Leningrad must die of starvation.” The following year, that's nearly what happened as hundreds of thousands starved to death in the streets of Leningrad. People were so desperate, that some people attempted to eat sawdust.  As the Nazis arrived in St Petersburg, the dedicated scientists at the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry locked themselves inside the seed vault to protect the world's seed collection, which was housed in bins that went from the floor to the ceiling in 16 rooms. The workers came up with a strategy where no one was allowed to be alone with the seed. They were always paired up, and they guarded the collection in shifts. The siege lasted for 900 days, and one by one, the people in the vault started dying of starvation.  In January 1942, Alexander Stchukin, a peanut specialist, died at his desk. And, ironically, as he was guarding rice, the Botanist Dmitri Ivanov also died of starvation. When the siege ended in the Spring of 1944, nine scientists had starved to death while defending the world's seeds.       #OTD On this day in 1974, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington dedicated the Bluethenthal Wildflower Preserve.   The 10-acre preserve is in the middle of the campus and is home to a marvelous example of unique native plants like the Venus flytrap, sundew, and white and yellow jasmine.   An article reporting on the preserve said,   "In this hurly-burly rush-around world of ours, there are still those who care about the natural beauty of the area and about preserving it for future generations."             #OTD On the same day in 1974, London's famous flower, fruit, and vegetable market moved from Covent Garden to Battersea.   In 1661, King Charles II established Covent Market under a charter. After an incredible transformation from a 9-acre pasture in the heart of London, the streets and alleys of Covent Garden served as a market for Londoners for 305 years. Back in 1974, 270 dealers were buying and selling 4,000 tons of produce every day, as well as flowers and plants worth $28.8 million.   One newspaper reported that when a trader was asked if he would miss the location of the old market, he replied,   "We deal in fruit and vegetables, not sentiment."   Covent Gardens was the spot where Professor Henry Higgins met a flower seller named Eliza Doolittle in "My Fair Lady."   And, in Dicken's story, "The Old Curiosity Shop," a stranger went to the Covent Market, "at sunrise, in spring or summer when the fragrance of sweet flowers is in the air, overpowering even the unwholesome streams of last night's debauchery and driving the dusky thrush, whose cage has hung outside a garret window all night long, half-mad with joy." Unearthed Words "My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree Toward heaven still, And there's a barrel that I didn't fill Beside it, and there may be two or three Apples I didn't pick upon some bough. But I am done with apple-picking now. Essence of winter sleep is on the night, The scent of apples: I am drowsing off." - Robert Frost, After Apple Picking     Today's book recommendation: How to Know the Ferns by Frances Theodora Parsons Parsons was an American naturalist and author, remembered most for her book on American wildflowers. But her book, How to Know the Ferns, is also a favorite and it's a personal favorite of mine. One of the reasons I'm a huge Parsons fan is because of her incredible life story. After her first husband and baby died, Parsons finally broke her grief when her friend Marion Satterlee managed to get her to take nature walks, which rekindled her love for wildflowers. In 1893, Fanny published her famous book, How to Know the Wildflowers.   It sold out in five days and was a favorite of Theodore Roosevelt and Rudyard Kipling. Three years later, in 1896, Fanny married a childhood friend, a professor, politician, and diplomat, James Russell Parsons. The following year, Fanny gave birth to their son. Parsons was not well off, so Fanny wrote today's book, "How to Know the Ferns" in an effort to financially help her family.    In the first page of the book, Parsons shares this beautiful quote about ferns by Henry David Thoreau:   “If it were required to know the position of the fruit dots or the character of the indusium, nothing could be easier than to ascertain it; but if it is required that you be affected by ferns, that they amount to anything, signify anything to you, that they be another sacred scripture and revelation to you, helping to redeem your life, this end is not so easily accomplished.”   A year after Ferns, Fanny gave birth to their only daughter, Dorothea, who tragically died at two and a half years old five days before Thanksgiving in 1902. Three years later, Fanny's husband, James,  was killed when his carriage collided with a  trolley car.     A widow for the second time, Fanny published this poem in Scribner’s Magazine in 1911: When Laughter is Sadder than Tears.   The marshes stretch to the dunes and the dunes sweep down to the sea, And the sea is wooing the meadow which waits with an open door; Then a melody sweet to the hearer floats up from the murmuring lea Till the sea slips seaward again and the land is athirst as before. And athirst is the heart whose worship is not the worship of yore, Whose visions no magic can conjure, whose plenty is suddenly dearth; And parched as the desert the soul whose tears no grief can restore, Whose laughter is sadder than tears and whose grief is as barren as mirth.   The days are alive with music, the nights their pleasures decree; The vision the morning fulfills is the dream that the evening wore, And life is as sweet to the living as the flower is sweet to the bee, As the breath of the woods is sweet to the mariner far from shore. But singing and sweetness and laughter must vanish forevermore, As the petals fall from the flower, as the waters recede from the firth, When hopes no longer spring upward as larks in the morning soar, Then laughter is sadder than tears and grief is as barren as mirth.   Friend, if shaken and shattered the shrine in the heart that is fain to adore, Then forsake the false gods that have held you and lay your pale lips to the Earth, That in her great arms she may take you and croon you her melodies o'er, When laughter is sadder than tears and grief is as barren as mirth.       Today's Garden Chore Enjoy a portable and dazzling spot for your houseplants by repurposing a bar cart.  Bar carts are super trendy once again, and they offer gardeners a stylish space for displaying houseplants. If you get a cart with glass shelves, light can filter through to plants on the bottom shelf as well. Or, you can use the bottom shelf to store extra soil, horticultural charcoal, pots, and other gear. I've had tremendous luck sourcing bar carts on Facebook Marketplace. I recently put a gold cart in my botanical Library. It's a mid-sized oval cart, and it holds about a dozen small houseplants for me - from Swedish Ivy to a variety ferns. I have to say, my little glass misting bottle looks extra elegant on the bar cart. And remember, if you happen to find a metallic cart - whether it's gold or silver - those are all considered neutrals in interior design. And, don't forget, that you can repurpose ice buckets - whether they are crystal or have a beautifully textured exterior - you can use them as cache pots for your plants. Along with the bar cart, they add a touch of sparkle and glimmer during the holidays.     Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1969, the Johnson City Press, out of Johnson City Tennessee reported on a new batch of postage stamps out of New Zealand that commemorated the bi-centenary of Captain Cook's first voyage to New Zealand: The 4c stamp featured a side portrait of Captain Cook with the planet Venus crossing the sun - together with an old navigational instrument, the octant. The 6c stamp featured the naturalist Sir Joseph Banks with an outline of the 'Endeavour.' The 18c stamp showed Dr. Solander. He was the botanist aboard the 'Endeavour,' together with a native plant bearing his name and known locally as the Matata. The 28c stamp displayed a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and Captain Cook's 1769 chart of New Zealand.     Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Today we celebrate the botanist who is considered the Father of Taxonomy and the young Landscape Architect who learned by taking weekly walking tours of gardens. We'll learn about the botanist who saved Kew Garden and the most famous garden designer you’ve never heard of. We'll listen to a little garden folklore for November and an amusing poem about daylight savings. We Grow That Garden Library with today's book which features the gardens of Russell Page, and you can get it on Amazon for under $4, which is highway robbery - or Landscape robbery in this case. I'll talk about digging up those dahlias and then share the super cute story about a young botanist and the housekeeper who was sure he was up to no good.     But first, let's catch up on a few recent events. National Fig Week  It’s the start of National Fig Week which runs through the 7th of November.   All of the figs that are growing in the United States are growing in the Central Valley of California where 28 million pounds of figs are harvested every year.   It was Captain Bligh, who is honored as the planter of the very first fig in Tasmania back in 1792.   The Greek word for fig is syco. It’s why one species of the fig tree is called the sycamore.   Fig trees are in the ficus genus and the Mulberry family. The popular house plant, the rubber plant, is also a species of ficus.   And, figs are the sweetest of all fruits. They are made up of 55% sugar.         Today Fine Gardening shared a great post called Treasures in the November Garden, and it featured posts from a gardener named Carla Zambelli Mudry   Carla shared beautiful images from her November garden, where she commented that the fall witch hazel had started blooming, and her Sochi tea plant is still producing lovely white flowers.   The post features pictures of her witch hazel in bloom. Gardeners have soft spots for the delicate yellow spidery flowers of the witch hazel.   The common Witch Hazel virginiana can grow in zones 3 - 8.   Sochi tea Camellia sinensis is hearty in zones 7 to 10. Now, to make the tea, the leaves are harvested. But again, as with the witch hazel, it’s the beautiful blooms of this camellia that will steal your heart.   This post was part of Fine Gardening’s garden photo of the day. If you’d like to share your garden with Fine Gardening, you can send them 5 to 10 images of your garden to GPOD (which is short for a Garden picture of the day) at Fine Gardening.com (GPOD@FineGardening.com) along with a few comments about the plants in the photos. You can share anything your successes and failures funny stories or favorite plants.     Finally, my good friend, Kathy Jentz, over at Washington Gardener Magazine, shared 10 Things To Do With a Pumpkin After Halloween.   Her list is so great I wanted to share with you here: 1. Compost it. 2. Puree and cook it. 3. Make it into a birdfeeder. 4. Turn it into a planter. 5. Use it as a serving bowl for soup. 6. Pickle the peel. 7. Apply a face mask. 8. Make doggie treats. 9. Wash and roast the seeds. 10. Save a few seeds to grow another pumpkin next year!     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 track down links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Brevities     #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of Carl Linnaeus, who died on this day 1783. Thirty years earlier, on May 1st, 1753, the publication of his masterpiece Species Plantarum changed plant taxonomy forever.   It gave Linnaeus the moniker Father of Taxonomy; his naming system is called binomial nomenclature. And, it was Linnaeus himself who said: “God created, Linnaeus ordered.”   One side note worth mentioning is how Linnaeus' collection ended up leaving Sweden and finding a home in London:   When Linnaeus died in 1778, his belongings were sold. Joseph Banks, the president of the Linnean Society, acted quickly, buying everything of horticultural value on behalf of the society. Linnaeus' notebooks and specimens were on a ship bound for England by the time the king of Sweden realized Linnaeus' legacy was no longer in Sweden. He sent a fast navy ship in pursuit of Banks' precious cargo, but it was too late.  And so, Linnaeus’s collection is in London at the Linnaeus Society's Burlington House. And, it was Joseph Banks who secured the legacy of Linnaeus. Banks spread Linnaeus's ideas across the globe, which was easier for him to accomplish since he was based in London, the hub for the science of botany.         #OTD  Today is the birthday of Charles Eliot, who was born on this day in 1859.   Eliot was the son of a prominent Boston family. In 1869, the year his mother died, his father Charles William Eliot became the president of Harvard University.   In 1882 Charles went to Harvard to study botany. A year later, he began apprenticing with the landscape firm of Frederick Law Olmsted.    As a young landscape architect, Eliot enjoyed visiting different natural areas, and he conducted regular walking tours of different nature areas around Boston.   In his diary for 1878, Eliot did something kind of neat; he made a list. It was basically what we call a listicle nowadays. He titled it "A Partial List of Saturday Walks before 1878".  Isn't that fabulous?   As a young architect, Eliot spent 13 months touring England and Europe between 1885 and 1886. The trip was actually Olmsted’s idea, and it no doubt added to Eliot's appreciation of various landscape concepts. During this trip, Eliot kept a journal where he wrote down his thoughts and made sketches of the places he was visiting. Eliot's benchmark was always Boston, and throughout his memoirs, he was continually comparing new landscapes to the beauty of his native landscape in New England.   Eliot's story ended too soon. He died at 37 from spinal meningitis.   Since Eliot had been working on plans for The Arnold Arboretum, he'd gotten to know Charles Sprague Sargent. So, it was Sargent who wrote a tribute to Eliot and featured it in his weekly journal called Garden and Forest.    Eliot's death had a significant impact on his father. At times, the two had struggled to connect. Charles didn’t like it when his dad got remarried. And, their personalities were very different, and Charles could be a little melancholy.   When Charles died, his dad, Charles Sr., began to cull through his work and he was shocked to discover all that he had done.   In April 1897, Charles Sr. confided to a friend,   "I am examining his letters and papers and I am filled with wonder at what he accomplished in the 10 years of professional life. I should’ve died without ever having appreciated his influence. His death has shown it to me."   Despite his heavy workload as the president of Harvard, Charles Sr. immediately set about compiling all of his son's work and used it to write a book called Charles Eliot Landscape Architect. The book came out in 1902, and today it is considered a classic work in the field of landscape architecture.             #OTD    Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist John Lindley who died on this day in 1865. Lindley was a British gardener, a botanist, and an orchidologist. He also served as secretary to the Royal Horticultural Society for 43 years. This is why the Lindley Library at the RHS is named in honor of John Lindley.   Lindley‘s dad owned a nursery and an orchard. And Lindley grew up helping with the family business.   In 1815, he went to London. He became friends with William Jackson Hooker, who, in turn, introduced Lindley to Sir Joseph Banks, who hired Lindley to work in his herbarium.   When Banks died, the fate of the Royal Botanic Gardens was put in jeopardy. Banks' death corresponded with the death of King George III, who was the patron of the garden. These deaths created an opening for the British government to question whether the garden should remain open. To explore their options, the Government asked Lindley, as well as Joseph Paxton and John Wilson, to put together a recommendation. Ultimately, Lindley felt the institution should be the people’s garden and the headquarters for botany in England. The government rejected the proposal and decided to close the garden. On February 11, 1840, Lindley ingeniously demanded that the issue be put before the Parliament. His advocacy brought the matter to the publics' attention; the garden-loving British public was not about to lose the Royal Botanic. And, so, Lindley saved Kew Gardens, and William Hooker was chosen as the new director.    Lindley shortened the genus Orchidaceae to orchid – which is much more friendly to pronounce - and when he died, Lindley's massive orchid collection was moved to a new home at Kew.   As for Lindley, there are over 200 plant species named for him.  There is "lindleyi", "lindleyana", "lindleyanum", "lindleya" and "lindleyoides".   And here’s a little-remembered factoid about Lindley - he was blind in one eye.              #OTD   Today is the birthday of the British gardener, garden designer, and landscape architect Russell Page who was born on this day in 1906. His full name was Montague Russell Page.   Page's is known for his book called The Education of a Gardener. The book is a classic in garden literature. In it, Page shares his vast knowledge of plants and trees and design. The book ends with a description of his dream garden.   In the book, there are many wonderful quotes by Page.    Page wrote:   "I know nothing whatever of many aspects of gardening and very little of a great many more. But I never saw a garden from which I did not learn something and seldom met a gardener who did not, in some way or another, help me."   First published in 1962, Page's book shares his charming anecdotes and timeless gardening advice. He wrote: ”I like gardens with good bones and an affirmed underlying structure. I like well-made and well-marked paths, well-built walls, well-defined changes in level. I like pools and canals, paved sitting places and a good garden in which to picnic or take a nap.”   and   "If you wish to make anything grow, you must understand it, and understand it in a very real sense. 'Green fingers' are a fact, and a mystery only to the unpracticed. But green fingers are the extensions of a verdant heart."    Page is considered the first modern garden designer. Like Piet Oudolf, Page used flowers to create living, natural paintings.   And although he designed Gardens for the Duke of Windsor and Oscar de la Renta, it was Russell Page who said:   "I am the most famous garden designer you’ve never heard of."   Page designed the Gardens at the Frick Collection in New York City in 1977   In 2014 when the Frick was making plans to expand, they initially considered demolishing the Page garden. After a year of facing public backlash in support of the garden - which was something the museum never anticipated - in May 2015, the Frick decided to keep the garden.   During the year of debating the fate of the garden, the Frick indicated that they believed the garden was never meant to be a permanent part of the museum. But, all that changed when Charles Birnbaum, the founder of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, decided to do his homework. Birnbaum discovered an old Frick press release from 1977, where they proudly introduced the Page landscape as a permanent garden. Birnbaum shared his discovery on the Huffington Post, and thanks to him, the 3700 square-foot Page garden lives on for all of us to enjoy.       Unearthed Words   If there’s ice in November that will bear a duck, There’ll be nothing after but sludge and muck. ~English folk-lore rhyme, first printed c.1876     "In spring when maple buds are red, We turn the clock an hour ahead; Which means each April that arrives, We lose an hour out of our lives. Who cares? When autumn birds in flocks Fly southward, back we turn the clocks, And so regain a lovely thing That missing hour we lost in spring." -   Phyllis McGinley, Daylight Savings Time     Today's Grow That Garden Library book recommendation: The Gardens of Russell Page by Gabrielle Zuylen and Marina Schinz Schinz and van Zuylen researched and photographed all of Page's best work, both early and late, and some now no longer extant. They share some of his private files and unpublished writing and help us get to know Page and his work more keenly.  The book shares over 250 photographs that capture the exceptional beauty of Page creations in England, America, and throughout continental Europe. I love the tidbit about Page that is shared in the introduction: "In his youth, he had wanted to be a painter, but acquaintances in Paris intent on making gardens helped change his direction. In later years, when he was asked whether he was more of a plantsman or a designer, his answer was understated: "I know more about plants than most designers and more about design than most plantsmen." In fact, he had an exceptional understanding, knowledge, and feel for, plants allied to a strong sense of architecture." This book came out in 2008. You can get used copies using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $4.     Today's Garden Chore If you've had your first frost, that's the signal to gardeners to dig up their dahlia and canna tubers and get them stored for next spring. Once they are out of the ground, I brush them off; removing any extra soil, and then I put them in a basket or a container with plenty of perlite and keep them on a nice cool, dark shelf in the basement storage room. The perlite keeps the tubers dry and allows them to breathe.      Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart   When I was researching John Lindley, I stumbled on an adorable story about him.   Lindley arrived in England when he was a teenager. Naturally, he needed a place to stay, so Hooker graciously took him in and gave him a room at his home called Halesworth.   The story goes that, over the course of a few weeks, the Halesworth housekeeper had observed that Lindley‘s bed was always neat as a pin. It was clear he never slept in it.   The housekeeper immediately began to wonder what Lindley was doing and where was he sleeping. She began to worry that he might not be the kind of person they wanted living at Halesworth.   When her worry got the best of her, she brought the matter to Hooker's attention. Anxiety is contagious, and the housekeeper's concern made Hooker worry. So, he confronted Lindley and asked him to account for his unused bed.   Lindley calmly explained that he was hoping to go to Sumatra to collect plants.  In anticipation of the physical difficulties of plant exploration, Lindley had been spending every night sleeping on the boards of the hardwood floor in his room.   Lindley got to keep living at Halesworth. He wrote his first book there called Observations on the Structure of Fruits. He never made it to Sumatra.     Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Graduate student and Auckland Library Heritage Trust Cook/Banks Scholar, Jake Bransgrove illuminates a couple of key figures from the age of intrepid discovery. He personalises these larger than life figures by looking at their historical context and in particular the relationship between the two as revealed through manuscripts held in Auckland Libraries' Sir George Grey Special Collections. You can access the manuscripts mentioned in the talk, along with their transcriptions, through the library's research platform Kura: https://bit.ly/2JJBkvZ Recorded at the Auckland Central Library on Wednesday 20 March 2019. Image: "The great South Sea Caterpillar, transform’d into a Bath Butterfly" by James Gillray. Text read at beginning of track is taken from this work. Music: Plutian - Sailing. Released by DreamScape Records

Dr Gillian Dooley presented on 19 June 2018 'Matthew Flinders and his Friends'. In all the ups and downs of his career, Matthew Flinders always knew he would get nowhere without his friends – and we have a vast amount of evidence from his letters and journals about what friendship meant to him and whom he regarded as his friends. ‘How extremely happy I have been in my friendships’, he wrote to George Bass. His wife, Ann, was ‘not only a beloved wife, but my most dear and most intimate friend’. He called Sir Joseph Banks ‘my greatest and best friend,’ but the Investigator ship’s cat Trim was also his friend and in turn Matthew was Trim’s ‘affectionate master and friend’. When he wrote towards the end of his life that he had gone to sea ‘against the wishes of my friends,’ he meant his father, who had opposed his wish to join the navy. Detained on Mauritius for more than 6 years, he made many life-long friends among the French inhabitants. He took friendship and its obligations extremely seriously and often went out of his way to repay a friend’s kindness. In this talk, Dr Gillian Dooley, Honorary Senior Research Fellow from Flinders University with a long-standing interest in the life and times of Matthew Flinders, visited Flinders’ own writings and other contemporary sources, to explore his affections and allegiances, and establish who his real friends were. This free public lecture was part of the History Trust of South Australia's Talking History series. For upcoming events visit: history.sa.gov.au/whats-on/events/

Australians might know Banks as 'that plant guy’ but he was actually a wealthy playboy who inspired Star Trek and discovered surfing. Captain Cook just steered the ship for Banks and his groupies.

In 1947 an ambitious project began to survey and catalogue the biodiversity of plants in East Africa. It was to take 60 years and turned out to be one of the largest regional "floras" ever assembled, involving 135 botanists from 21 countries amassing a host of new species to science. Professor Kathy Willis examines the deceptive simplicity of creating Floras - books in which plants are catalogued, described and often lavishly illustrated. She explores how they're proving powerful tools for unlocking the range of newly discovered species for plant enthusiasts and conservationists. And she unlocks the secrets of the rigorous art of botanical illustration, a tradition that goes back as far as when the botanical impresario Sir Joseph Banks first employed an illustrator on board the Endeavour. Kathy Willis discovers why this discipline is unlikely to ever be superseded by photography. With contributions from Henke Beentje, former editor of Flora of Tropical East Africa, senior botanist Iain Darbyshire, Quentin Luke of National Museum of Kenya and illustrator Lucy Smith Producer: Adrian Washbourne

The 18th-century botanical impresario Sir Joseph Banks was convinced that Britain's destiny was as the major civilising power in the world, and this could be achieved by harnessing botany and imperial progress to each other's mutual benefit. Professor Kathy Willis talks to Linnaean Society honorary archivist, Gina Douglas, on how Britain's acquisition of Carl Linnaeus' collection of books and specimens proved the tool to promote, identify, and trade plants across the Empire. She hears from Richard Barley, Director of Horticulture at Kew and former director of Melbourne's Botanic Gardens, who discusses Banks' influence on the choice of plants taken with the first settlers to Australia. But how central were plants to Britain's colonial project? Historian Jim Endersby weighs up Joseph Banks' 18th-century vision to use Kew as a centre to gather as many plants and plant products as possible, not only to enrich the Royal Garden's collection but for Kew to also function as a botanical exchange house between the colonies. Producer: Adrian Washbourne Presenter: Kathy Willis is director of science at Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. She is also professor of long-term ecology and a fellow of Merton College, both at Oxford University. Winner of several awards, she has spent over 20 years researching and teaching biodiversity and conservation at Oxford and Cambridge.

'Cash Crop' consists of a vitrine filled with little sculptures of fruit and vegetables carved from a variety of natural soaps. These pieces of 'fruit' are accompanied by labels and painted bank notes. The terms appearing on the labels are taken from the language of economic activity. The juxtapositions are both amusing and sharply critical: 'liquid asset' is a grape; 'share market float' is a lotus; 'tax return' is a peanut; 'global liquidity' is a cola nut. In 'Cash Crop', Fiona Hall explores the connections between trade, natural resources and botany. These concerns have been central to Hall's body of work since the 1970s. Soap is destroyed by water: it is ephemeral and changing. Commerce and trade, too, change with the slides in 'global liquidity'. Botany, like trade, is a system: of classification and collection. Botany is a science developed in order to 'collect' the world of nature. Cash Crop is about the exploitation of natural resources for commercial interests and the artifice of classification. Julie Ewington writes, "Sir Joseph Banks created elaborate cabinets for the exploration voyages of James Cook, in which numerous specimens of plants were taken back to England, studied, dissected, analysed and planted. Later, the economic uses of collected plants were investigated, for medicine, cosmetics, prophylactics and profit... Fiona Hall has selectively emphasised the tendency towards conjoined terms in systems of Western classification. This is not a merely whimsical rubbing together of similarities, differences, binaries: it is a purposeful play between different orders of things, set up to embrace, pull apart, to slip and to slide".

As part of the BBC's year of science programming, Melvyn Bragg looks at the history of the oldest scientific learned society of them all: the Royal Society. Programme two begins in the coffee house Isaac Newton and the fellows of the early 18th century frequented. At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, we learn how Newton's feud with the Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed tested the lines between government-funded research and public access. In the age of exploration, senior fellows accompany naval expeditions, such as Cook's expedition to Tahiti and subsequent discovery of Australia. International relations are fostered between scientists such as Benjamin Franklin, whose house in London serves as live-in lab and de facto American embassy. By the end of the century the President, Sir Joseph Banks, successfully embeds the Royal Society in the imperial bureaucratic hub of the new Somerset House. But while senior fellows concentrated on foreign fields, a more radical, dissident science and manufacturing base wrought the Industrial Revolution right under their noses.

As part of the BBC's year of science programming, Melvyn Bragg looks at the history of the oldest scientific learned society of them all: the Royal Society. Programme two begins in the coffee house Isaac Newton and the fellows of the early 18th century frequented. At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, we learn how Newton's feud with the Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed tested the lines between government-funded research and public access. In the age of exploration, senior fellows accompany naval expeditions, such as Cook's expedition to Tahiti and subsequent discovery of Australia. International relations are fostered between scientists such as Benjamin Franklin, whose house in London serves as live-in lab and de facto American embassy. By the end of the century the President, Sir Joseph Banks, successfully embeds the Royal Society in the imperial bureaucratic hub of the new Somerset House. But while senior fellows concentrated on foreign fields, a more radical, dissident science and manufacturing base wrought the Industrial Revolution right under their noses.

The scene is idyllic; abundant cabbage-tree palms sway on the beach as sea fowls soar above Pellew’s Group of Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria. In December 1802 the Investigator, under the command of Captain Matthew Flinders, sailed into the Gulf, continuing its arduous circumnavigation of Australia. Aboard the sloop was the young artist William Westall, who produced a wide range of sketches during his Australian voyage. Upon his return to England the Admiralty commissioned nine oil paintings of New Holland, including View of Sir Edward Pellew’s Group, Gulph of Carpentaria 1802. Art historians such as Bernard Smith have recognised that this is an innovative and remarkable painting.1 It is notable both for its heightened sense of light and the well-defined horizontal lines, delicately intersected by palms. In standard Picturesque paintings the foreground is dark and brooding, receding to a light background, usually with one tall feature, such as a tree or a mountain, placed at the side to frame the composition. By placing the palms in the centre of a sun-drenched vista, Westall negates this customary sense of recession and avoids neatly enclosing the scene; instead it is left open, clear and light. Painted nearly a decade after he was in the Gulf, Westall has made significant alterations to the original pencil sketch.2Most obvious is the addition of the mia-mia, a small shelter under which are housed rangga, sacred objects. In his account of the voyage, Flinders mentions ‘a small monument’ made up of ‘two cylindrical pieces of stone’, as well as nutmeg ‘growing upon a large spreading bush’ and ‘a pretty kind of duck’, all incorporated into Westall’s work.3 For the artist, the ‘monument’ and other additions are useful because they give the painting that variety and interest demanded of Picturesque landscapes. Westall was clearly aware of Picturesque formulas when he made the changes to his original rough sketches. While in Australia scientific accuracy was Westall’s priority, in London the paintings were intended to win him artistic acclaim. According to theorists such as William Gilpin, the Picturesque should stimulate the imagination to reverie or admiration, and must include a variety of elements. Westall believed the real Australia contained none of these fundamentals: he was scathing in his description of the ‘barren’ coastline, writing that his New Holland subjects could neither ‘afford pleasure from exhibiting the face of a beautiful country, nor curiosity from their singularity’.4 It was therefore incumbent upon him to use his artistic skills to compensate for the dull landscape by making improvements and adjustments. View of Sir Edward Pellew’s Group, Gulph of Carpentaria 1802 is an intriguing work. Westall has conformed to the Picturesque, adding the obligatory variety and interest, while also demonstrating how a new aesthetic can evolve in a new land. Elisabeth Findlay 1 Bernard Smith, European vision and the South Pacific, 2nd edn, Sydney: Harper and Row, 1985, p. 196. 2 Collection of the National Library of Australia, Canberra. 3 Matthew Flinders, A voyage to Terra Australis, London: G. & W. Nicol, Vol II, 1814, entry for 25 December 1802. 4 Letter from William Westall to Sir Joseph Banks, 31 January 1804, Banks Papers CY3008/171-6, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.