Podcasts about William Cullen Bryant

William Cullen Bryant, 1794-1878.  

This episode - the last one of 2024 - is packed with stories, poems, readings, and even songs to celebrate the season. We've been fortunate to assemble an all-star cast of Hudson Valley creatives to bring you comfort and joy, no matter what or how you celebrate. This Hudson Valley Holiday Story Hour is our gift to you; a small token of our enormous gratitude for your support of the Valley Girls so far.  We hope you'll listen all the way through, but if you want to revisit some of your favorite performances, these time stamps should help: 02:40 Excerpt from “The Snow-Walkers,” by John Burroughs; read by Robert Burke Warren10:12 “Caterskill Falls,” by William Cullen Bryant; read by Mat Zucker11:35 Excerpt from “The Bells,” by Edgar Allan Poe; read by Tracey Knapp13:41 Excerpts from ““Christmas Eve” and “The Christmas Dinner,” by Washington Irving; read by Brett Barry18:24 “My Day” column from December 30, 1957, by Eleanor Roosevelt; read by Holley Snaith20:36 The Story of Judith, the Hanukkah Heroine; told by Rabbi Sivan Rotholz 28:04 The Story of La Befana; told by Karen Sangaline Pillsworth37:00 A Visit from St. Nicholas, by Clement Clark Moore; read by Rebecca Ash41:19 Day 100 from Reservoir Year: A Walker's Book of Days, by Nina Shengold; read by the author43:05 “What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?,” performed by Lara Hope46:26 “Angels We Have Heard on High,” performed by John Burton For an extra bonus, visit this episode's page on our website for our easy mulled wine recipe, using a New York State red blend recommended to us by Paul Brady Wine in Beacon. Thank you for listening! We'll be back in January for Season 3! To help support the Valley Girls, please follow our podcast from our show page, leave a rating and review, and please spread the word and share our podcast with others. We really appreciate your support! To stay up to date and for more content you can find us at ⁠⁠valleygirlspodcast.com⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠instagram.com/ValleyGirlsPodNY⁠⁠, at ⁠⁠YouTube.com/@ValleyGirlsPodcast⁠⁠, and starting this season check out the Newsletter and Pod Squad tab on our website to sign up for our e-mail newsletter and join ⁠⁠our new Facebook Group ⁠⁠so you never miss a thing! All links can also be found in our Instagram bio. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the Valley Girls!

Send us a textCan America still claim its title as the native home of liberty? Join us as we unravel the profound insights of Archbishop Ireland on American patriotism, diving deep into the nation's foundational pillars of human dignity and liberty. This episode revisits America's pivotal historical moments, such as the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, highlighting the nation's unique role as a beacon of equality and freedom. With the evocative imagery of William Cullen Bryant, freedom is celebrated not as a fragile ideal but as a battle-hardened force with deep, ancient roots. Discover how America's governance, originating from the people, distinguishes it as a true bastion of individual rights, where liberties are sacred and inviolable.Embark on a timeless journey through the allegorical birth and evolution of freedom, tracing its harmonious beginnings in nature to its current battle against the looming threat of tyranny. This narrative invites listeners to reflect on the perpetual struggle between freedom and tyranny, underscoring the necessity for vigilance to safeguard the liberties we hold dear. As tyranny evolves, becoming a subtler, ever-present adversary, nature offers solace, serving as a refuge from human deceit and turmoil. This episode challenges you to contemplate the enduring battle for liberty and the importance of remaining steadfast in protecting the freedoms we cherish.Support the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribe

What is it about water? The Hudson River is the central fixture of the Hudson Valley, so Mat honors it as the muse and focus of this episode. He shares a poem by William Cullen Bryant about the Hudson, “A Scene on the Banks of the Hudson” which will take you from the shores of Beacon to, well, who knows where you will go. Tune in and come visit. Links highlighted: The Hudson River Maritime Museum Riverkeeper William Cullen Bryant via Academy of American Poets “A Scene on the Banks of the Hudson” (Poem) Friends of Clermont Historical Site The Effects of Water on Mental Well-Being (Espyr) Episode 50 - Hudson River Lighthouses Cidiot® is the award-winning podcast about moving to the Hudson Valley. Please rate & review the show at Cidiot.com, join the mailing list, and get in touch about what you like—and what you'd like to hear about. And come visit. Cidiot® 2024. All Rights Reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cidiot/support

Carl is joined by veteran journalist, writer and tour guide Michael Morgenthal for a journey through the pages of 19th century newspapers.  Michael traces the history of several of our most well known newspapers today including the New York Post and the New York Times as well as how Gilded Age journalists and readers had - in their way - the (nearly) 24 hour news cycle that we are so accustomed to today. By the end of the Gilded Age there were over 20 daily newspapers published in New York City alone. Each has a slightly different focus, much as our papers do today, and they scooped their news in a variety of ways.  This episode takes a look at New York's newspaper history and just what it was like in the Gilded Age. Michael shares the story behind several influential figures including Alexander Hamilton  and famed poet and publisher William Cullen Bryant, leading up to the great wars for sensational journalism fought by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. In addition, you'll discover when newspapers adopted the popular tabloid size, and when actual advertising began to be used to create income.  

Send us a Text Message.Have you ever wondered if your entertainment choices are derailing your spiritual journey? This week on the American Soul Podcast, we kick off by reflecting on the unusually rainy spring at the homestead and posing thought-provoking questions about how we spend our time. We'll share a heartfelt prayer, give thanks for God's blessings, and seek His guidance for our daily lives and leaders. Emphasizing the importance of daily Bible reading and prayer, we encourage listeners to carve out time for these essential spiritual practices, starting with the wisdom-packed Book of Proverbs. Whether you're navigating the balance between faith and entertainment or seeking deeper engagement with your community, this episode offers valuable insights.We also tackle misconceptions about America's founders and their faith. Contrary to popular belief, they sought freedom from religious persecution, not an escape from Christianity. Highlighting a 1665 New York Colony law and the First Amendment, we discuss how these reflect the settlers' commitment to worship and moral conduct without favoring one denomination. By examining the lives of historical figures like George Washington and William Cullen Bryant, we illustrate the importance of genuine presence in our daily interactions with both family and God. Join us as we challenge the tendency to go through the motions and discover how to live with true engagement and purpose.Support the Show.The American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribe

Editor's note: Beacon was created in 1913 from Matteawan and Fishkill Landing. 150 Years Ago (February 1874) Lewis Tompkins of Matteawan planned to start a hat factory at Fishkill Landing. He proposed to spend $25,000 [about $675,000 today] of his own money and raise $30,000 from residents in investments of $500 [$13,500] and $1,000. Tompkins had already built the carpenter shop and purchased 13 carding machines in Boston. The ferryboat Union attempted to cut a channel through the ice between Fishkill Landing and Newburgh but after 3 hours it had gotten only a third of the way across. A few passengers got off the boat to walk. Following speeches by Henry Ward Beecher and William Cullen Bryant at the annual banquet in New York City of the Rural Club, its president asked each guest to name a favorite tree. Beecher cited the tulip tree but suggested that someone should compile a guide to all the best trees in the country, including an elm he admired in Fishkill Landing. Charles Sales of Fishkill Landing was accused of stabbing a man named Graham in the cheek during a fight on Liberty Street in Newburgh. The Fishkill Standard reported that a farmer named Hoyt, driving from Matteawan to Glenham, pulled so hard on the bit that he broke his horse's jaw. A skeptical reporter followed up and learned that G.W. Haight of Glenham had only presumed he broke the animal's jaw because it did not eat for several days after his hard tug. Three years after Nelson Luckey sold the 180-acre Mercellus farm to Chauncy Knapp for $40,000 [$1.1 million], he bought it back at a foreclosure sale for $10,000 [$270,000]. State officials stocked 3,000 salmon from the McCloud River in northern California, 15,000 salmon trout and a healthy number of black Oswego and rock bass in Sylvan Lake, Wappingers Creek, above the dam at Wappingers Falls and above the dam at Brinckerhoffville. G.W. Valentine, who ran the stages from Matteawan to the Fishkill Landing ferry, applied to the state Legislature for a 20-year monopoly. Patrick Balton was finishing a two-story brick dwelling at Fishkill Landing measuring 33 by 37 feet, and with a French roof. The Fishkill Landing Machine Co. received an order for a 125-horsepower steam engine with a 22-inch cylinder. The morning after Joseph Anderson's wife, Clara, asked him for a spoonful of medicine from a bottle borrowed from a Fishkill Landing neighbor with a label that read "paragorie" [a patent medicine that was 4 percent opium] she was found dead in bed. The liquid was instead laudanum [a pain reliever that was 10 percent opium]. W.H. Lyon, a Newburgh jeweler, owned a model of a steam-powered fire engine that was less than a foot long. It could propel water 10 feet through 3 feet of hose and a pin-head nozzle. Prof. Franklin, an "itinerate phrenologist," according to the Fishkill Journal, was hustled out of a boarding house on a Sunday because of his obscene language at the supper table. He left Fishkill Landing that evening on the milk train after being pelted with eggs that the newspaper said stuck in his "luxuriant, flowing hair." In its "Horse Notes" column, The New York Herald reported that Willard Mase of Matteawan had purchased a 6-year-old trotting gelding named Mountaineer that had been raised by Charles Schofield in Putnam County. The horse was 15 hands and 3 inches high [63 inches] and could run a mile in 2:30. 125 Years Ago (February 1899) Matteawan officials were courting Richard Croker to locate his new automobile factory in the village. Two Chinese businessmen from Cold Spring opened a laundry in Matteawan and cut prices so low that they angered all their competitors. The Rev. R.F. Bates of Fishkill Landing wrote to a New York City judge on behalf of his brother, Cary, who had been convicted of assault for shooting two men during the "race riots" in August at 39th Street. At sentencing, Cary's lawyer argued that his client had acted in self-defense and was convicted because he was Black. The judge interru...

William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878) was a Fireside Poet, journalist, and nature writer with ties to the Hudson River School of art. He wrote poems, essays, and articles that championed the rights of slaves, workers, and immigrants, and he was frequently published by the North American Review. He is the author of several books, including The White-Footed Deer and Other Poems (I. S. Platt, 1844), and The Fountain and Other Poems (Wiley and Putnam, 1842). -bio via Academy of American Poets Get full access to The Daily Poem Podcast at dailypoempod.substack.com/subscribe

Today's poem is 'A Song for New Year's Eve' by William Cullen Bryant. It's read by Jemma Guerrier from The Reader. Production by Chris Lynn. Music by Chris Lynn & Frank Johnson.

The history of New York City isn't only found in its museums—it's in the names you find all over the city. This week, we talk to Rebecca Bratspies, author of Naming Gotham, about some of the remarkable people who leant their names to New York's infrastructure: Anne Hutchinson, Adriaen van der Donck, Casimir Pulaski, Tadeusz Kościuszko, William Cullen Bryant, John Jacob Astor, and more. [minor correction: Rebecca mentions Mrs. Astor's “top 200,” but meant to say “400”]

Before Modernism: Inventing American Lyric (Princeton UP, 2023) examines how Black poetics, in antagonism with White poetics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, produced the conditions for the invention of modern American poetry. Through inspired readings of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley Peters, George Moses Horton, Ann Plato, James Monroe Whitfield, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—as well as the poetry of neglected but once popular White poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Virginia Jackson demonstrates how Black poets inspired the direction that American poetics has taken for the past two centuries. As an idea of poetry based on genres of poems such as ballads, elegies, odes, hymns, drinking songs, and epistles gave way to an idea of poetry based on genres of people—Black, White, male, female, Indigenous—almost all poetry became lyric poetry. Jackson discusses the important role played by Frederick Douglass as an influential editor and publisher of Black poetry, and traces the twisted paths leading to our current understanding of lyric, along the way presenting not only a new history but a new theory of American poetry. A major reassessment of the origins and development of American poetics, Before Modernism argues against a literary critical narrative that links American modernism directly to British or European Romanticism, emphasizing instead the many ways in which early Black poets intervened by inventing what Wheatley called “the deep design” of American lyric. Hal Coase is a PhD candidate at La Sapienza, University of Rome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

Before Modernism: Inventing American Lyric (Princeton UP, 2023) examines how Black poetics, in antagonism with White poetics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, produced the conditions for the invention of modern American poetry. Through inspired readings of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley Peters, George Moses Horton, Ann Plato, James Monroe Whitfield, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—as well as the poetry of neglected but once popular White poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Virginia Jackson demonstrates how Black poets inspired the direction that American poetics has taken for the past two centuries. As an idea of poetry based on genres of poems such as ballads, elegies, odes, hymns, drinking songs, and epistles gave way to an idea of poetry based on genres of people—Black, White, male, female, Indigenous—almost all poetry became lyric poetry. Jackson discusses the important role played by Frederick Douglass as an influential editor and publisher of Black poetry, and traces the twisted paths leading to our current understanding of lyric, along the way presenting not only a new history but a new theory of American poetry. A major reassessment of the origins and development of American poetics, Before Modernism argues against a literary critical narrative that links American modernism directly to British or European Romanticism, emphasizing instead the many ways in which early Black poets intervened by inventing what Wheatley called “the deep design” of American lyric. Hal Coase is a PhD candidate at La Sapienza, University of Rome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Before Modernism: Inventing American Lyric (Princeton UP, 2023) examines how Black poetics, in antagonism with White poetics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, produced the conditions for the invention of modern American poetry. Through inspired readings of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley Peters, George Moses Horton, Ann Plato, James Monroe Whitfield, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—as well as the poetry of neglected but once popular White poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Virginia Jackson demonstrates how Black poets inspired the direction that American poetics has taken for the past two centuries. As an idea of poetry based on genres of poems such as ballads, elegies, odes, hymns, drinking songs, and epistles gave way to an idea of poetry based on genres of people—Black, White, male, female, Indigenous—almost all poetry became lyric poetry. Jackson discusses the important role played by Frederick Douglass as an influential editor and publisher of Black poetry, and traces the twisted paths leading to our current understanding of lyric, along the way presenting not only a new history but a new theory of American poetry. A major reassessment of the origins and development of American poetics, Before Modernism argues against a literary critical narrative that links American modernism directly to British or European Romanticism, emphasizing instead the many ways in which early Black poets intervened by inventing what Wheatley called “the deep design” of American lyric. Hal Coase is a PhD candidate at La Sapienza, University of Rome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Before Modernism: Inventing American Lyric (Princeton UP, 2023) examines how Black poetics, in antagonism with White poetics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, produced the conditions for the invention of modern American poetry. Through inspired readings of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley Peters, George Moses Horton, Ann Plato, James Monroe Whitfield, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—as well as the poetry of neglected but once popular White poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Virginia Jackson demonstrates how Black poets inspired the direction that American poetics has taken for the past two centuries. As an idea of poetry based on genres of poems such as ballads, elegies, odes, hymns, drinking songs, and epistles gave way to an idea of poetry based on genres of people—Black, White, male, female, Indigenous—almost all poetry became lyric poetry. Jackson discusses the important role played by Frederick Douglass as an influential editor and publisher of Black poetry, and traces the twisted paths leading to our current understanding of lyric, along the way presenting not only a new history but a new theory of American poetry. A major reassessment of the origins and development of American poetics, Before Modernism argues against a literary critical narrative that links American modernism directly to British or European Romanticism, emphasizing instead the many ways in which early Black poets intervened by inventing what Wheatley called “the deep design” of American lyric. Hal Coase is a PhD candidate at La Sapienza, University of Rome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Before Modernism: Inventing American Lyric (Princeton UP, 2023) examines how Black poetics, in antagonism with White poetics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, produced the conditions for the invention of modern American poetry. Through inspired readings of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley Peters, George Moses Horton, Ann Plato, James Monroe Whitfield, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—as well as the poetry of neglected but once popular White poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Virginia Jackson demonstrates how Black poets inspired the direction that American poetics has taken for the past two centuries. As an idea of poetry based on genres of poems such as ballads, elegies, odes, hymns, drinking songs, and epistles gave way to an idea of poetry based on genres of people—Black, White, male, female, Indigenous—almost all poetry became lyric poetry. Jackson discusses the important role played by Frederick Douglass as an influential editor and publisher of Black poetry, and traces the twisted paths leading to our current understanding of lyric, along the way presenting not only a new history but a new theory of American poetry. A major reassessment of the origins and development of American poetics, Before Modernism argues against a literary critical narrative that links American modernism directly to British or European Romanticism, emphasizing instead the many ways in which early Black poets intervened by inventing what Wheatley called “the deep design” of American lyric. Hal Coase is a PhD candidate at La Sapienza, University of Rome. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Before Modernism: Inventing American Lyric (Princeton UP, 2023) examines how Black poetics, in antagonism with White poetics in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, produced the conditions for the invention of modern American poetry. Through inspired readings of the poetry of Phillis Wheatley Peters, George Moses Horton, Ann Plato, James Monroe Whitfield, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper—as well as the poetry of neglected but once popular White poets William Cullen Bryant and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—Virginia Jackson demonstrates how Black poets inspired the direction that American poetics has taken for the past two centuries. As an idea of poetry based on genres of poems such as ballads, elegies, odes, hymns, drinking songs, and epistles gave way to an idea of poetry based on genres of people—Black, White, male, female, Indigenous—almost all poetry became lyric poetry. Jackson discusses the important role played by Frederick Douglass as an influential editor and publisher of Black poetry, and traces the twisted paths leading to our current understanding of lyric, along the way presenting not only a new history but a new theory of American poetry. A major reassessment of the origins and development of American poetics, Before Modernism argues against a literary critical narrative that links American modernism directly to British or European Romanticism, emphasizing instead the many ways in which early Black poets intervened by inventing what Wheatley called “the deep design” of American lyric. Hal Coase is a PhD candidate at La Sapienza, University of Rome.

Daily Quote What you are afraid of is never as bad as what you imagine. The fear you let build up in your mind is worse than the situation that actually exists. (Spenser Johnson) Poem of the Day 乌衣巷 刘禹锡 Beauty of Words On Poetry in Relation to Our Age and Country William Cullen Bryant

Daily Quote Mishaps are like knives that either serve us or cut us as we grasp them by the handle or blade. (James Lowell) Poem of the Day 浣溪沙·谁念西风独自凉 纳兰性德 Beauty of Words On Poetry in Relation to Our Age and Country William Cullen Bryant

Recorded by Academy of American Poets staff for Poem-a-Day, a series produced by the Academy of American Poets. Published on August 14, 2022. www.poets.org

Season 1, Episode 18 includes: The Titmouse's Nest by Mary Howett, underscored with Song of Summer by Albert Ketelbey; Robert of Lincoln by William Cullen Bryant; Alouette, traditional French Canadian song; and Hootie the Owl by Dolores McKenna. Raggedy Auntie Reads Theme and Closing Song written, performed, and recorded by Jessie McKeon. **Engage with Raggedy Auntie: linktr.ee/raggedyauntie**

WE DID IT AGAIN HE HE HE HE! Welcome to the second edition of Wonka Watch original fanfiction. We have each brought forth new stories to expand upon the Wonka canon, including continuations from our previous fanfic episode (which is episode 9 found here!). We even have a listener submitted fanfic! lololol GET READY. To keep up-to-date on all things Wonka, be sure to follow us on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter @wonkawatch. We'd love to hear your concerns (it'd be unhealthy if you didn't have any). Email us at wonkarapture@gmail.com If you'd like to help us keep this podcast up and running, you can visit buymeacoffee.com/wonkawatch! Alll supporters will get a shout out on the podcast :). Links Referenced (because even Wonka Scholars cite their sources): Poetry AI: https://sites.research.google/versebyverse/ Timestamps 5:00 Wonka Watch: Gordon Ramsey is part of Mr. Beast's YouTube video where he recreates Willy Wonka's factory (and yes, unfortunately, we will be doing an episode covering this). 10:20 The Chocolate River inspired by Emily Dickinson, written by Elaine Best. Argonne. 12:45 Wonka Watch inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar, William Cullen Bryant, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. 14:07 We read listener Kira's fanfiction, The Multiverse of Wonkas! 18:08 Felicia's 13-page epic begins. Chapter 1: Wonka's Favorite Day. 22:40 The Factory Four: Sweet, Sweet Revenge - Chapter 2 33:45 Chapter 2: A Surprise Adventure 35:51 Chapter 3: Wonka Does Some Self-Reflection 39:06 The Chocolate Spies Series 49:45 The final part of Felicia's epic. 1:02:30 Prequel Predictions. Elaine: Target will release a clothing line themed after Wonka. Felicia: Easter egg- one of the factory kids' parents will be in Wonka. ***   Music Der Kleber Sting by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100612 Artist: http://incompetech.com/ Music by ComaStudio from Pixabay Music by SergeQuadrado from Pixabay Music by JuliusH from Pixabay Music by GioeleFazzeri from Pixabay

Inspirational Poetry Reading by KAMEKAism. In this episode: The Journey of Life by William Cullen Bryant

Season 1, Episode 2 includes: Robert of Lincoln by William Cullen Bryant; Table and Chair by Edward Lear; The Story of the Emperors New Clothes recorded by Leonora Blanche Elaine Lang in the Yellow Fairy Book. Raggedy Auntie Reads Theme and Closing Song written and recorded by Jessie McKeon.

Today in botanical history, we celebrate a German-American botanist who reached out to Queen Charlotte, an American poet who found inspiration in nature and the father of ecology. We'll hear an excerpt from The Sugar Queen - a great fiction book. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that's part of a wonderfully informative series from the RHS. And then we'll wrap things up with a little story about the glory of Kansas gardens in November.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there's no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you'd search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Curated News The Almanac A Seasonal Guide to 2021by Lia Leendertz  Mercy Park garden adds 3 new sculptures | The Joplin Globe | Emily Younker   Important Events November 3, 1766 On this day, a young botanist named  William Young returned to America after receiving the title of the Queen's botanist. William Young was born in Germany, and he immigrated to the United States when he was just a little boy at the age of two. His family settled in Philadelphia and eventually became neighbors to one of America's first botanists, John Bartram. Growing up, William spent a great deal of his childhood exploring Bartram's gardens. Bertram even encouraged him to pursue botany, and he took him along on some collecting trips. By all accounts, William was a smart and self-directed young man. When he was in his early twenties, he decided that he wanted to get the attention of the brand new Queen of England, Queen Charlotte. Charlotte was the bride of George III, and William put together a little parcel for her - a little gift of seeds - along with a letter (no doubt congratulating her on her wedding and introducing himself as an American botanist.) Charmed by William's thoughtful gift, Charlotte decided to summon William to England. She wanted him to come to England to study botany for a year and then return to America to collect plants on behalf of the royal family. And so that's exactly what William Young ended up doing. When he left America, he had no formal training in botany. He was, however, full of potential and eager to learn. This opportunity in England was an extraordinary chance for William to learn the science of botany from the worldwide center for botanical research: England. At the same time, this series of events caused a bit of jealousy and a shock in the American botanical community. John Bartram himself was an old man by the time this happened for William, and he made comments along the lines of, "Hey, I've been in America, collecting and cultivating for decades, and I've never received an offer like this." And so many of the American botanists really couldn't believe William's good fortune. His trip was essentially like winning a botanist lottery with the promise not only of training but steady work and support from a generous, well-funded patron. Despite Charlotte's hopes for William, his peers were dubious of William's ability to measure up to the task. While William was passionate about botany, he hadn't demonstrated any particular acumen or success that should have garnered the kind of opportunity that had come his way. The bottom line was, they didn't think William had it in him. Yet, William's critics were not entirely fair. After all, William had been bold enough to send that package of seeds to the new Queen. And he was smart enough to leverage his German heritage when he wrote to her. Charlotte had German heritage as well, and when she first came to England, she surrounded herself with other Germans who spoke her language and shared her history, customs, and culture. Summoning William to England was just another example of Queen Charlotte making herself feel more at home away from home. When William arrived in England, he was in his early twenties. He had a huge learning curve to conquer when it came to his new station in life. He had no idea what it was like to be in front of royalty or how to behave in Royal circles. Of course, William didn't have a ton of life experience as a young person in his twenties. So, he performed exactly as one might imagine he would: dazzled by the luxury and lifestyle, he quickly began racking up bills. With each passing month, he found himself deeper in debt until he ended up arrested and in jail for the large debts that he owed. Incredibly, it was the Queen who bailed him out - but not before sending him home to Philadelphia with the hopes that he could still perform as a plant collector in America. And so it was on this day. November 3 in 1766, that William returned to America with his new title as botanist to the King and Queen. Instead of being humbled by his financial misdeeds, William returned proud and haughty. He strutted about under the auspices of his Royal appointment, but his behavior didn't endear him to his American peers. They heard the rumors about how William had acted when he was in England and they were turned off by his peacocking and attire. In a letter to the botanist Peter Collinson, John Bartram wrote, “I am surprised that Young is come back so soon. He cuts the greatest figure in town and struts along the streets whistling, with his sword and gold lace.” And then Bartram confided that William had visited his garden three times, feigning respect and bragging about his yearly pay from the Royal family, which amounted to 300 pounds sterling. Now William was no fool, and it's clear that he craved acceptance from his peers. At the same time, he was probably aware of how some of his peers truly felt about him. But he did not dwell on this conundrum and focused on his work. He still had collecting to do for the King and Queen, and he needed to mend fences on that front if he ever hoped to make it as a botanist. And so, he set off for the Carolinas, where he spent an entire year collecting plants. Then, he carefully and quite expertly packaged up all of the plants that he had found and traveled back to London - personally bringing all of these plants to the King and Queen and hoping to get back in their good graces. Although William arrived in England only to be refused to be seen by the King and Queen, he still managed to make his trip a resounding success. By shepherding rare, live plants in wonderful condition from the Carolinas to England, he impressed English collectors. And there was one plant in particular that really helped to repair and save William's reputation, and that was the Venus Fly Trap. William brought many live specimens of the Venus flytrap to England, and as one might imagine, the plant caused a sensation. Without the flytrap, there was probably little that William could say to restore his reputation. So in this sense, his plants, especially the Venus flytrap, did the mending and the PR work for him. What William did was essentially no different than an apologetic spouse who brings their partner flowers after a fight. That's exactly what William did on this trip when he returned and presented the Venus flytrap to England. One other fact about this trip is that William proved himself to be an expert plant packer. Clearly, one of the biggest challenges for early botanists was keeping specimens alive - that was really hard to do. Dead specimens didn't garner anywhere near the attention or pay of living plants. William's skill in this area underscores just how intelligent and thoughtful William could be. A 1771 letter to Humphrey Marshall detailed William's packing technic: William Young sends his plants very safely by wrapping them in moss and packing them pretty close [together] in a box. He ties the moss in a ball around the roots with a piece of packthread...It's very surprising how well they keep in this manner.  William's method differs little from the way plants are packaged and sent by mail today. William ends up devoting his life to botany. He returned to American and collected plants in the Carolinas, returning to England when he had a full shipment. William mastered his collecting strategy over his lifetime - returning again and again to the Carolinas, scouring the wilderness for rare plants like the Venus flytrap that had brought him so much success. Along the way, William continued to struggle financially as he paid his debts. But by the end of his life, William was able to get his affairs in order, and he actually died a fairly wealthy man. Tragically, he died young at the age of 43. In December of 1784, William decided to set out once again for the Carolinas. Unbeknownst to him, he was going on what would become his final collecting trip. He never did reach the Carolinas. He only made it as far as Maryland, where he collected along a waterway known as Gunpowder Falls, where he fell into the river and died after being swept away by the current. His body was found about seven weeks later.   November 3, 1794 Birth of William Cullen Bryant, American poet.   William drew inspiration from the natural world. He once wrote a lovely verse about roses: Loveliest of lovely things are they, On earth, that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour Is prized beyond the sculptured flower. William also wrote about the month of November in a little poem called A Winter Piece.  ...When shriek'd The bleak November winds, and smote the woods, And the brown fields were herbless, and the shades, That met above the merry rivulet, Were spoil'd, I sought, I loved them still,—they seem'd Like old companions in adversity.   November 3, 1841 Birth of Eugenius Warming, Danish botanist. Eugenius was one of the founders of modern plant ecology. He's credited with writing the first ecology textbook with his book, Oecology of Plants: An Introduction to the Study of Plant Communities (1895).   Unearthed Words She went to the window. A fine sheen of sugary frost covered everything in sight, and white smoke rose from chimneys in the valley below the resort town. The window opened to a rush of sharp early November air that would have the town in a flurry of activity, anticipating the tourists the colder weather always brought to the high mountains of North Carolina. She stuck her head out and took a deep breath. If she could eat the cold air, she would. She thought cold snaps were like cookies, like gingersnaps. In her mind, they were made with white chocolate chunks and had a cool, brittle vanilla frosting. They melted like snow in her mouth, turning creamy and warm. ― Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen   Grow That Garden Library Genealogy for Gardeners by Simon Maughan  and Dr Ross Bayton This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is Plant Families Explored & Explained. Anything that has genealogy and gardening in the title is a book that I'm interested in. Before I get into this particular review, I should mention that this book is part of one of my favorite garden series by the RHS. So in this series is the book Latin for gardeners as well as botany for gardeners. And now this book Genealogy for Gardeners is designed to help you explore and understand plant families - and plant family trees, which to me is even more exciting. Now you may be wondering why. Well, I think the authors do a great job of explaining that in the preface to their book. They write, While most of us think of plants, that's belonging to one big happy family. The fact is they don't. There are hundreds of different plant families, which botanists have cleverly grouped together using what they know of family histories and genealogy and now, of course, DNA to bring some sense and order to more than a quarter of a million different plant species.  But why should this matter to you as a gardener, aside from just wanting to become more knowledgeable about plant families? Well, here's the explanation from the authors: Plant families are all around us. Whatever the time of year, go for a walk and look for wild or garden plants. You'll be surprised at how many plant families are represented within a small radius of your home. Even in your own garden, there will be a fantastic genealogy of plants.  Thanks largely to the efforts of plant collectors and horticulturists who brought the plants into cultivation from the four corners of the world.  When it comes to being a good gardener making connections is what it's all about. And if you are faced with a strongly acidic soil, and know that rhododendrons will grow, then you can broaden your planting ideas to include other plants in the same family, such as Heather. Mountain Laurel, leather leaf, blueberries, and others. If you are designing with plants, you may know that all plants and a particular family, and share certain features, which enables you to mix displays effectively and extend your range.  Now that is a very compelling reason to get to know your plant families. One of the things that I love about this particular series of books is that the illustrations are incredible. The editors have pulled images of botanical art that truly are the best example of some of these plants. The beauty of these books, including the cover, just is not rivaled. In fact, the minute I spot these books, they just have a look and a feel to them - I know immediately that it's part of this series from the RHS. These books are in my office on a special little bookshelf of books that I reference all the time, and this little series from the RHS is such a gem. This particular book about plant family, garden, genealogy - Basically the genealogy of plants-  is one that I go back to again and again, and again. So this is a fantastic book. As I mentioned, the illustrations are great. It is very clearly laid out. They've really done the heavy lifting when it comes to simplifying this material, making it very understandable and accessible. And yet, they do not dumb it down. That's not what this book is about. If you want a book on this topic that is exceptionally clear And is a delight to read, then this is the book that you've been waiting for. So, whether you're a landscape designer, a horticulture student, or just an amateur gardener, Genealogy for Gardeners will help you better understand and utilize plant families in your garden. This book is 224 pages of plant families and plant family trees - and it's part of one of the top garden book series on the market today. You can get a copy of Genealogy for Gardeners by Simon Maughan and Ross Bayton and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $20.   Today's Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart November 3, 1903 On this day, The Cherokee Sentinel (Cherokee, Kansas) published this heartwarming blurb about the gardens in the Heartland of America. Here's what they wrote: It's November, and gardens and flowers are as green and beautiful as in summer. Verily, Kansas is an American Italy and the garden spot of the world.  Well, I don't know how true that was, and I question whether that was written for the benefit of enticing immigrants to come to Kansas. Nevertheless, I found it very sweet, and I thought it was a great way to end the show today.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

They were the biggest names in spiritualism and they were also frauds. We share the sad history of The Fox Sisters on this episode of Unpleasant Dreams. -- Cassandra Harold is your host. EM Hilker is our principal writer and researcher with additional writing by Cassandra Harold. Jim Harold is our Executive Producer. Unpleasant Dreams is a production of Jim Harold Media. Sources & Further Reading: Abbot, Karen. “The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism.” Smithsonianmag.com. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-fox-sisters-and-the-rap-on-spiritualism-99663697/ Retrieved 14 November 2020.  Buzzfeed Unsolved. “The Spiritual World of the Fox Sisters.” Youtube. 2 October 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPPgwh4yk2Q Lyttelton, George. Dialogues of the Dead. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/17667/17667-h/17667-h.htm Retrieved 14 November 2020.  Nickell, Joe. “A Skeleton's Tale” Skeptical Inquirer vol 32, no 4. https://skepticalinquirer.org/2008/07/a-skeletons-tale-the-origins-of-modern-spiritualism/ Retrieved 15 November 2020. O'Connell, Rebecca. “The Rise and Fall of Five Claimed Mediums.” MentalFloss. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/69973/rise-and-fall-5-claimed-mediums Retrieved 14 November 2020.  Stuart, Nancy Rubin. “The Fox Sisters: Spiritualism's Unlikely Founders.” Historynet. https://www.historynet.com/the-fox-sisters-spiritualisms-unlikely-founders.htm Retrieved 14 November 2020.  Wehrstein, KM and McLuhan, R. “Fox Sisters.” Psi Encyclopedia. https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/fox-sisters Retrieved 14 November 2020. You can find EM Hilker's full article that this podcast was based upon HERE and a transcript of the podcast version below: PODCAST TRANSCRIPT The Fox Sisters The spiritualism movement of the early-to-mid 1800s captured the hearts and minds of a great many people. Spiritualism was the belief that the spirits of the dead are not only able to communicate with us, but are eager to share their wisdom with the living world.  Spiritualism flourished at a time when Mesmerism was a growing interest on the heels of The Second Great Awakening. This was a fifty year period of religious revivalism, and a curious populace were seeking answers amid the confusion of the day.  The Spiritualism movement has given us modern-style seances and stage mediumship; it's what popularized commercial fortune telling. The term “seance” itself (introduced into the language sometime between 1795 and 1805) merely means a “sitting”, though the spiritual concept is older. George, First Baron Lyttleton, famously featured discussion with the deceased in his  1760's work of fiction, Dialogues of the Dead. Seances have been divided into four categories: religious, stage mediumship, leader-assisted, and informal social seances. Although, all of the proceedings are considered a part of the spiritualism movement. The Fox sisters are credited with launching the movement, but its origins stretch back further than that. Emmanuel Swedenborg, who lived more than a century earlier, experienced a divine revelation in which he learned that communication with the spirit world and with God is possible through a certain mental state. He felt that the body was simply a vessel for the soul, and that Hell and Heaven will attempt to influence mortals to do good or evil, though the mortal in question is free to choose their path as they wish. According to Swedenborg's beliefs, the path to Heaven or Hell is forged by your actions in life. These ideas would eventually lead to the formation of the New Church and the Swedenborgian Church in North America.  The other oft-credited influence on the spiritualism movement is Franz Mesmer, the founder of “animal magnetism” or mesmerism (more commonly known as hypnotism in the modern day). The original concept went far beyond simply putting someone into a trance –Mesmer believed animal magnetism could hold the cure for powerful healing; the trancework was only a small part of his theories. The concept of going into a trance, however, would be a tremendous influence in coming years for the spiritualism movement. The women known as “the Fox Sisters” are three of the seven Fox children: the youngest two were the core of the Fox Sisters: youngest daughter Catherine “Kate” Fox and her slightly older sister Margaretta (“Maggie”). When everything began, Kate and Maggie were in their early teens and their eldest sister, Leah, was an adult in her own home. Leah would eventually ‘manage' the girls, though not tour with them, and was really only a part of the action for a handful of years.  The girls would later say that they began this whole thing as a prank played on their credulous mother. That is certainly consistent with the evidence we have of the early days of mysterious rappings and knockings. In early 1848, the Fox family began to hear mysterious sounds in their house in Hydesville, New York.  The noises seemed to resemble footsteps or someone knocking. On March 31, 1848, Kate decided to try to “communicate” with it. They called the entity “Mr. Splitfoot,” and it frightened their mother terribly. Maggie took pity on her mother and tried to explain that it was meant as an April Fool's joke, but her mother would not believe it. The girls continued the “communication” in the home over weeks and months. Eventually, the family told their neighbours of these mysterious happenings, who told other people in turn, as neighbours do. It didn't take long before there was a hubbub surrounding the Fox household. In the following year, 1849, the girls were sent to Rochester, New York, to live with their siblings, to try to escape both the haunting and the attention of the curious. Despite this, the phenomenon followed them to their new homes. Leah supported their reputation as mediums, and introduced them to her friends, the Posts. Amy and Isaac Post were luminaries in the local mesmerism movement. They wanted to explore the girls' abilities and invited the Fox sisters to a small party in their home. The Posts planned to conduct a seance with the girls as part of the evening. The party and seance were successful, and it was here that the spirits conveniently mentioned that Leah also possessed the gift. The party was in fact such a success that the Posts rented a large room in Corinthian Hall and the Fox sisters showcased their abilities there.  The girls began holding regular seances for pay in New York, which were incredibly popular. Among the people attracted by these seances: were journalist and newspaper editor  William Cullen Bryant and abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth.  Andrew Jackson Davis, known as the “Poughkeepsie Seer”, was impressed by the girls' abilities and lent them his support, and therefore credibility, as they became more and more well-known. With this traction, Maggie and Kate embarked on a tour of these shows in the area, while Leah stayed behind and worked as a medium in her own right. In 1851, Fox family member Mrs. Norman Culver confessed to being aware of the fraud, which was disclosed to her by Kate. This impacted their popularity very little, though critics began to guess at various ways that these girls could be perpetrating a hoax. Mrs. Culver alleged, and several critics correctly guessed, that the raps were produced by the girls “cracking” joints in their feet and knees. The spiritualism movement was entirely unaffected by the criticism of the Fox sisters, and both they and spiritualism continued to become more and more popular. The following year after Ms. Culver's confession, 17 year old Maggie met skeptic and Arctic explorer Elisha Kane (a-lai-sha).  Kane fell deeply in love with Maggie despite his beliefs that she was a fraud. Under his influence, she began to drift away from the spiritualist movement. Tragically Kane died in 1857, just shortly after a small informal wedding ceremony. Though the two considered themselves married, they allegedly lacked an actual marriage certificate. The actual legal status of Elisha and Maggie's marriage was unclear, the confusion around which resulted in Maggie being ousted from the will by Kane's family members. Perhaps related to Maggie's exclusion from the will, later that same year, the youngest two Fox sisters made an attempt at a prize offered by the Boston Courier to anyone who could prove the legitimacy of mediumship. The reward equaled $500 (roughly $14,150 in modern day American currency). On the whole, aside from this attempt, Maggie continued to reject spiritualism as she fell further and further into poverty. Kate continued on alone with her mediumship during this period, and  in 1871 moved to England to pursue spiritualist opportunities there. The following year, she married fellow spiritualist HD Jencken. They had two sons, and a seemingly happy life until Jencken died in 1881.  Each grieving deeply, both Maggie and Kate had begun to self-medicate with alcohol. By 1888, both women had become alcoholics. Leah, continuing to operate as a medium herself, grew concerned with Kate's alcoholism and her ability to care for her two sons. Word of this spread, and Kate's two sons were briefly taken from her, though restored to her care after intercession by Maggie. Maggie was already out of the spiritualism movement and had been for some time, and Kate was livid that her abilities as a mother had been questioned. Thus, on the 21st of October in 1888, perhaps partially in revenge against Leah, perhaps partially out of financial desperation, Kate and Maggie came forward.  The two were paid $1500 (roughly 41,000 USD today) by a reporter to confess their crime at the New York Academy of Music in front of 2,000 people. They also made a number of anti-spiritualist statements during this period, with Kate calling it “one of the greatest curses that the world has ever known.” In November of the following year, Maggie recanted her confession.  This was due to her own financial needs as a result of having drunk away her confession fee, and growing pressure from other spiritualists. Maggie attempted to practice spiritualism once again for whatever meagre work she could get, but  her reputation both as a spiritualist and as a skeptic was ruined in one fell swoop. She would spend her few remaining years in poverty, as would Kate. Leah predeceased Maggie and Kate, having died in 1890, not on speaking terms with either sister. The youngest two Fox sisters died within a year of one another in Brooklyn, New York (Maggie on the 8th of March in 1893 and Kate on the 3rd of July in 1892).  The Fox Sisters left us very little writing. Maggie did not publish her own work, but she did publish the love letters written to her by her husband, entitled The Love Life of Dr. Kane, giving us a small window into their lives. Leah published a book called The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism, in which she outlined her career as a medium. Spiritualism continued on after the passing of the Fox sisters, and continues to this day. People still hold seances very similar to the Fox sisters', and people continue to occasionally hear rappings they attribute to the spirit world (correctly or otherwise). One only needs to look at virtually any television listing to find an assortment of ghost-hunting shows; and one can find a psychic willing to give you a reading in virtually any modern-day town. Bookshelves in your local bookstore are filled with books on finding your own psychic gifts, and many famous names have been associated with spiritualism: Arthur Conan Doyle, The Bangs sisters, Mina Crandon, Leonora Piper, and Harry Houdini (the latter admittedly as an enemy of spiritualism). As an odd sort of afternote, to the excitement of those who still believed in the legitimacy of the sisters, in 1904 it was said that a “body” had been discovered in the house that the girls had lived in, where they had claimed to be in contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. No record has ever been found of the peddler they'd described, and the bones, of which there were only a few, turned out upon examination to be animal bones.

Today we are taking a cross country train ride to the great state of Colorado. On a side note fuck John Elway for crushing our childhood hopes and dreams. Anyway, off to Colorado we go… And yes it's for the weed… Well partly. It's also to visit a landmark known to scores of horror movie fans the world over. The Stanley Hotel! Why, you ask? Cus it's creepy, possibly haunted and because we can do whatever the fuck want… It's our show, even if we do get snubbed by our local entertainment paper for best local podcast. Jerks. But we digress. Today's episode is about a hotel but it starts with a man. Freelan Oscar Stanley. And with that we dig into the history and creepiness of the Stanley hotel! Freelan Oscar Stanley was born, along with his twin brother Frances Edgar Stanley, On June 1st 1849 in Kingfield Maine. Although their family was not wealthy, education was highly valued and knowledge of science, poetry and music were encouraged from a young age. In 1859, At the age of nine, Freelan and Francis started their first business together refining and selling maple sugar. At eleven, their great-uncle, Liberty Stanley, who had raised their father as his own son, taught them the art of violin making. By the age of sixteen, Freelan had completed three instruments. In 1883, Francis developed a machine that coated dry photographic plates. After receiving a patent for their process, the brothers set up a factory in Newton, Massachusetts, to manufacture the plates. In the summer of 1897, they attended a local fair where they witnessed a French inventor demonstrate his steam-driven car. Apparently impelled by his wife's inability to ride a bicycle, Francis vowed to build something that his wife could ride. The French inventor's steam car was the driving force (get it?) Francis needed. After the fair, the brothers began to develop a steam car of their own. The brothers formed a car company in 1898 and produced their first steam car, which was dubbed The Flying Teapot. An instant success, the car was easy to run and achieved a top speed of 35 miles per hour (56 kph), quite fast for the turn of the century. Its major drawback was the need to stop every ten miles or so to refill the boiler. The brothers sold their company after only a few months, but they returned to the business of making cars in 1902 when they formed the Stanley Motor Carriage Company. They staged various events to publicize their steam cars, including racing up mountains and racing against gas-powered cars. Eventually the Stanleys sold their photographic plate business to George Eastman and concentrated on the manufacture of their steam cars, which came to be known unofficially as Stanley Steamers. The brothers continued to build race-winning, steam-powered cars. In 1906, one of their cars--The Rocket, driven by Stanley employee Fred Marriott--set the world's record for the fastest mile: 28.2 seconds, which is a speed of more than 127 miles per hour (204 kph). In 1918, Francis was killed while driving one of his automobiles. He swerved to avoid an obstruction in a mountain road and plunged down an embankment near Ipswich, Massachusetts. At the time of his death, the Stanley Motor Company had suspended automobile production to manufacture engines to pump out Allied trenches during World War I. After The war, Henry Ford's Model T soon came to dominate the American automobile industry. Developments in gas-powered engines, and the limitations of steam cars, signalled the end of the steam-auto era. The Stanley Motor Carriage Company ceased production in 1924.   In 1903, at the age of 54, Stanley was stricken with a life-threatening resurgence of tuberculosis. The most highly recommended treatment of the day was fresh, dry air with lots of sunlight and a hearty diet. Therefore, like many "lungers'' of his day, he resolved to take the curative air of Rocky Mountain Colorado. He and Flora arrived in Denver in March and were followed shortly by his Stanley Runabout which was shipped by train. After one night at the famous Brown Palace Hotel, Stanley arranged an appointment with Dr. Charles Bonney (MD, Harvard, 1889), the preeminent American expert in the disease. Dr. Bonney, a great advocate for home treatment, recommended he leave the hotel for a rented house at the first possible convenience. Stanley spent the remainder of the winter at 1401 Gilpin Street but, when his symptoms had not improved by June, he was determined to summer in the Colorado mountains. Bonney recommended Estes Park whose climate he compared with that of Davos, Switzerland, a posh resort for European tuberculetics. On June 29, Stanley saw Flora off by train and stagecoach while he set out in his steam car. Having gotten lost and spent the night in Boulder, Stanley arrived a day later, on June 30. During their first summer the couple stayed in a primitive cabin rented to them by the owners of the Elkhorn Lodge. Over the course of the warm season, Stanley's health improved dramatically. Impressed by the beauty of the valley and grateful for his recovery, he decided to return every year. By the end of the summer of 1903, Stanley had acquired property in Estes Park and, with the help of English architect Henry "Lord Cornwallis'' Rogers who the Stanleys had recently met, he began the construction of Rockside, his home in Colorado. Completed in 1904, the Stanley cottage was built with four bedrooms, gracious living areas and a modern kitchen, so that Flora could entertain summer guests. By 1907, Stanley had all but recovered and he returned to Newton for the winter rather than Denver. However, he and Flora had become enamored with the beauty of the Colorado mountains, often comparing them in speeches with those "rock-ribbed" hills "ancient as the sun" of William Cullen Bryant's poem, “Thanatopsis”. Not content with the rustic accommodations, lazy pastimes and relaxed social scene of their new home, Stanley resolved to turn Estes Park into a resort town. In 1907, construction began on the Hotel Stanley, a grand hotel catering to the class of wealthy urbanites who composed the Stanleys' social circle in Newton. To power the new hotel, Stanley constructed the Fall River Hydro-Plant which consequently brought electricity to Estes Park for the first time. In 1909, their 100-room, East Coast colonial-style “house” was unveiled. Equipped with running water, electricity and telephones, the only amenity the hotel lacked was heat, as the hotel was designed as a summer resort. A two-thirds scaled-down second lodge was finished a year later. (While this might seem ambitious, it's worth noting the top floor was dedicated exclusively to children and nannies.) The buildings were designed by F.O. Stanley with the professional assistance of Denver architect T. Robert Wieger, Henry "Lord Cornwallis" Rogers, and contractor Frank Kirchoff. The site was chosen for its vantage overlooking the Estes valley and Long's Peak within the National Park. The main building, concert hall and Manor House are steel-frame structures on foundations of random rubble granite with clapboard siding and asphalt shingle roof. Originally, Stanley chose a yellow ocher color for the buildings' exteriors with white accents and trim. Every guest room had a telephone and each pair of rooms shared an en suite bathroom with running water supplied by Black Canyon Creek, which had been dammed in 1906. The floor plan of the main hotel (completed 1909) was laid out to accommodate the various activities popular with the American upper class at the turn of the twentieth century and the spaces were decorated accordingly. The music room, for instance, with its cream-colored walls (originally green and white), picture windows and fine, classical plaster-work was designed for letter-writing during the day and chamber music at night – cultured pursuits perceived as feminine. On the other hand, the smoking lounge (today the Piñon Room) and adjoining billiard room, with their dark stained-wood elements and granite arch fireplace were designated for enjoyment by male guests. Stanley himself, having been raised in a conservative household and having recovered from a serious lung disease, did not smoke cigars or drink alcohol, but these were essential after-dinner activities for most men at the time. Billiards, however, was among Stanley's most cherished pastimes.   With no central heating or ventilation system, the structure was designed to facilitate natural airflow; the Palladian window at the top of the grand stair could be opened to induce a cross-breeze through the lobby, French doors in all the public spaces open onto verandas, and two curving staircases connecting the guest corridors prevent stagnant air in the upper floors. Although the main hotel is now heated in the winter, guests still depend on natural ventilation for cooling in the summer. Within a few years of opening, a hydraulic elevator was put in operation. In 1916, the east wing of the main building was extended in the rear adding several guest rooms. Around this time, the alcove of the music room was added. In 1921, a rear veranda was enclosed forming a room that currently serves as a gift shop. Around 1935, the hydraulic elevator system was replaced with a cable-operated system and extended to the fourth floor necessitating the addition of a secondary cupola to house the mechanical apparatus. Originally, a porte-cochere or a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through, extended from the central bay of the front porch, but this was removed when the south terrace was converted into a parking lot. In 1983, a service tunnel was excavated, connecting the basement-level corridor to the staff entrance. It is cut directly through the living granite on which the hotel rests. The concert hall, east of the hotel, was built by Stanley in 1909 with the assistance of Henry "Lord Cornwallis" Rogers, the same architect who designed his summer cottage. According to popular legend, it was built by F.O. Stanley as a gift for his wife, Flora. The interior is decorated in the same manner as the music room in the main hotel and vaguely resembles that of the Boston Symphony Hall (McKim, Mead & White, 1900) with which the Stanleys would have been familiar. The stage features a trap door, used for theatrical entrances and exits. The lower level once housed a two-lane bowling alley which was removed during the ownership of Maxwell Abbell. It possibly resembled the bowling alley at the Stanley's Hunnewell Club in Newton, pictures of which are archived in the Newton Free Library. The hall underwent extensive repair and renovation in the 2000s. Once called Stanley Manor, this smaller hotel between the main structure and the concert hall is a 2:3 scaled-down version of the main hotel. Unlike its model, the manor was fully heated from completion in 1910 which may indicate that Stanley planned to use it as a winter resort when the main building was closed for the season. However, unlike many other Colorado mountain towns now famous for their winter sports, Estes Park never attracted off-season visitors in Stanley's day and the manor remained empty for much of the year. Today it is called The Lodge and serves as a bed-and-breakfast that is off-limits to the public.  To bring guests from the nearest train depot in the foothills town of Lyons, Colorado, Stanley's car company produced a fleet of specially-designed steam-powered vehicles called Mountain Wagons that seated multiple passengers. Upon opening, the hotel was alleged to be one of the few in the world powered entirely by electricity. However, lack of available power induced the installation of an auxiliary gas lighting system in June 1911. On June 25 – the day after the pipes had been filled – an explosion occurred that injured a maid and damaged the structure, though contemporary newspaper articles differ on certain details. An article from a newspaper at the time started the following          "The Stanley Hotel, built at a cost of $500,000, was partly wrecked last night by an explosion of gas. Eight persons were injured, one seriously. None of the guests were injured. Elizabeth Wilson, of Lancaster, Pa., a hotel employee, was hurled from the second to the first floor, and both ankles were broken. The other seven are negro [sic] waiters."     When the Lancaster paper reprinted the story, the editor noted that Elizabeth Wilson's name did not appear in local directories and she could not be identified as a Lancastrian. Similar accounts in local Colorado papers give the maid's name as Elizabeth Lambert and convey various dramatic details that are not confirmed by other articles. The most comprehensive and detailed article on the incident appeared on June 29 in the Fort Collins Express and seems to be the most accurate – positively refuting that the maid had been "hurled from the second to the first floor.” That article said this is the incident         "The chambermaid, Lizzie Leitenbergher, had both ankles broken, it is thought from the concussion of the explosion, and was thrown into a hole in the floor. She was not, however, thrown through into the dining room, being caught by the timbers and held until rescued. She was taken to a hospital in Longmont. She had been in the employ of the hotel ever since it was built and came here from Philadelphia."    The only other injuries mentioned in that article were as follows "Two waiters also sustained slight injuries, one suffering a dislocated hip and the other being struck across the face by a flying plank. Neither of these, however, is in serious condition."        Stanley operated the hotel almost as a pastime, remarking once that he spent more money than he made each summer. It was an invite-only gathering place for friends, and haut monde of the time. Haut monde meaning “for fashionable society”. The boujie bastards. John Philip Sousa, the renowned former US Military composer, directed the band at the house's opening. His autograph on the bottom of Flora's piano, which Sousa tuned himself, was mistaken for graffiti by a tuner in the 1990s and removed.    Harry Houdini performed in the ornate concert hall; the trapdoor he used for his famous escape act still exists onstage. And while the men shot pool and drank, the women would gather for various letter writing campaigns. The whiskey bar – now one of the state's largest – provided a common ground between the sexes. Yay, whiskey!   In 1930, Freelan sold the buildings to a corporation who transformed the property into a hotel. With the nearby national park still growing, their success was minimal. After attempts at a revival, the property was sold to John Cullen in the mid-1990s. Budgets were so stretched that at the time of the sale, the turndown service consisted of the top bed duvet being placed on nails across the window because they couldn't afford drapes.   The hotel was not really in a great place for a while. That would change thanks in part to someone we've talked about before… this weird guy named Stephen King.  King has told the story many times over the years. In a 1977 interview by the Literary Guild, King recounted "While we were living [in Boulder] we heard about this terrific old mountain resort hotel and decided to give it a try. But when we arrived, they were just getting ready to close for the season, and we found ourselves the only guests in the place—with all those long, empty corridors." King and his wife were served dinner in an empty dining room accompanied by canned orchestral music: "Except for our table all the chairs were up on the tables. So the music is echoing down the hall, and, I mean, it was like God had put me there to hear that and see those things. And by the time I went to bed that night, I had the whole book [The Shining] in my mind." In another retelling, King said "I dreamed of my three-year-old son running through the corridors, looking back over his shoulder, eyes wide, screaming. He was being chased by a fire-hose. I woke up with a tremendous jerk, sweating all over, within an inch of falling out of bed. I got up, lit a cigarette, sat in a chair looking out the window at the Rockies, and by the time the cigarette was done, I had the bones of The Shining firmly set in my mind.   In the front matter of the book, King tactfully states "Some of the most beautiful resort hotels in the world are located in Colorado, but the hotel in these pages is based on none of them. The Overlook and the people associated with it exist wholly in the author's imagination."   So not only was this hotel the institution of the book the Shining, it was the location of the doll shot for the 1997 tv miniseries of The Shining. Not only that, the hotel was the filming location for another fantastic movie. It serves as the hotel that the dynamic duo of Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne stay in the critically acclaimed, and one of my personal favorite movies; Dumb and Dumber.  Several tv shows have also recorded episodes there and the band Murder By Death have played an annual winter show  at the location since 2014. I highly recommend their track “As Long As There is Whiskey in The World”.    King's novel is based on the famous Stanley Hotel in Colorado, but the exterior shots in the movie are of Oregon's Timberline Lodge. Kubrick agreed to change the infamous room number from 217 to 237 (which does not exist) in the movie because the hotel was worried people would not want to stay in the room in the future.   Ironically, room 217 is most often requested at Timberline Lodge, according to the hotel's website.    Ok so all of that is well and good but let's be honest, We're here for another reason, the creepy shit! Oddly enough the history of the hotel didn't hold much to attribute to possible haunting or paranormal activity. But that hasn't stopped the belief by many people that the hotel is haunted. Let's check out some of the haunted spots and some stories.    Room 217 Perhaps the most famed spot in the Stanley Hotel, this is where horror writer Stephen King spent the night and got the inspiration for his 1977 bestseller "The Shining." You can soak up the same Rocky Mountain views that King got when he stayed there. An added amenity? The room has a library of King novels. The room is thought to be haunted by Elizabeth Wilson, AKA Mrs. Wilson. She was the hotel's head housekeeper and, during a storm in 1911, was injured during an explosion as she was lighting the lanterns in room 217. She survived, though broke her ankles and her spirit seems to be a regular in the room. Guests have reported items moved, luggage unpacked, and lights being turned on and off. Oh, and Mrs. Wilson is old-fashioned: She doesn't like it when unmarried guests shack up together, so some couples have reported feeling a cold force come between them. One of the biggest myths about the room is that it's never available. Not true! You can actually book it and stay there if you have the balls to. We're in!   The Vortex From an architectural standpoint, the staircase between floors in the hotel's main guesthouse is a stunner. But the area has also been dubbed “The Vortex” a natural spiral of energy. It's also known as the “rapid transit system” for ghosts that are known to haunt the hotel.    Concert Hall There's a lot of paranormal hubbub said to be happening in this famed concert hall. Paul, one of the well-known ghosts haunting The Stanley, was a jack-of-all trades around the hotel. Among his duties? Enforcing an 11 p.m. curfew at the hotel, which could be why guests and workers hear “get out” being uttered late at night. The area is also a favorite spot for hotel founder Flora Stanley's ghost to play the piano. A few of Paul's antics: A construction worker reported he felt Paul nudge him while he was sanding the floors and tour groups on The Stanley ghost tour have reported he flickered a flashlight for them. Another ghost known to wander about the Concert Hall is Lucy, who quite possibly was a runaway or homeless woman who found refuge in the hall. She entertains the requests of ghost hunters, often communicating with them with flashing lights. Stanley historians, however, aren't quite sure about her pre-death connection to the hotel.    Room 401 More than a century ago, the entire fourth floor was a cavernous attic. It's where female employees, children, and nannies stayed. Now, today's guests will report hearing children running around, laughing, giggling and playing. Plus, there's a famous closet that tends to open and shut on its own in this room.    Room 428  Really, you get a badge of bravery for staying in any room on the fourth floor. But, bonus points if you can book room 428. Guests have reported hearing footsteps above them and furniture moving about. But that's actually physically impossible given the slope of the roof, tour guides say. The real haunt in this room, though, is a friendly cowboy who appears at the corner of the bed. Grand Staircase From antique mirrors and portraits, there's plenty to distract the eye on the grand staircase at The Stanley. But it could also be a popular passageway for the hotel's resident ghosts. In 2016, a visitor from Houston snapped some photos on the grand staircase and, upon returning home and reviewing them, spotted an apparatus at the top of the staircase. The thing is he doesn't remember anybody else being on the staircase at the time he was taking the photographs. The ghostly image of a woman is at the top of the stairs.   Underground Caves If you go on the 75-minute night spirit tour at the Stanley (you don't have to be a hotel guest to get in on it, but you should book in advance!), your tour will come to an eerie halt at the end with a visit to the underground cave system. Workers moved about the hotel through the caves in the early days so it makes sense this is a popular haunt. Skeptics will pass off the haunts as breezes from the historic piping and ventilation systems. But, beneath the hotel is a higher-than-average concentration of limestone and quartz, which some ghost hunters believe help capture energy at the property.    Well, now that we've talked about some of the hotspots, let's check out some stories about things that have happened there!   This first group comes from Kirin Johnson. He has had three separate incidents!    My Story Now I will share the three separate paranormal experiences that have changed my belief in ghosts. Despite being a former skeptic, I came to the Stanley with an open mind. While I've seen orbs and have had several strange experiences that I can't explain, what I experienced on Friday, May 26, 2017, was certainly the most intense and frightening experience of them all.   Experience #1: A Trolley By The Door At approximately 8:00 p.m., my partner and I came back from a quick trip to the grocery store. Out of nowhere, we heard the sounds of what seemed to be a trolley that was outside of our door. My partner immediately walked over to the door to see who it was. I thought to myself that perhaps it was room service, but I knew we didn't make any requests. Shockingly, my partner looked through the peephole, and there was no one in sight. Although what happened was certainly a shock to us, it wasn't enough to convince me that it was a ghost.   At around 11:00 p.m., we decided to reach out to Ms. Elizabeth Wilson (or any other ghost that may have been hanging out in our room). I figured that even if nothing were to come out of it, I can at least say “I tried.” I said to Ms. Wilson: “If you are really here with us, prove it.” I repeated this a couple of times. This was the last thing I had said before I finally went to bed.   Experience #2: A Big Bang That Woke Up Other Visitors It was around 2:30 in the morning when I was woken up from a loud noise. Despite my partner being a heavy sleeper, the noise was loud enough to wake him up as well. The loud noise sounded like it came from someone who picked up a large and heavy object, and then slammed it to the floor.   Interestingly, it wasn't just my partner and I who woke up from this mysterious noise. Just a moment or two after we woke up, we heard other guests around the hotel speaking and whispering. I was so scared, I asked my partner to put the television on so I could just forget about it and go back to sleep. However, he didn't want the television on. He was more interested in finding out where the noise came from, then going back to sleep.   A Strange Discovery The Next Morning When I woke up the next morning, I saw a 20 oz. bottle of Mountain Dew on the floor. My partner's soda somehow fell to the floor in the middle of a quiet night. What's even more odd is that this bottle was loud enough to wake up not just my partner and I, but also other guests who were near our room. I don't believe it was the soda that caused the loud noise. I believe it was a ghost responding to our request to prove it really exists.   Other Guests Who Say They Heard A Loud Bang Before we left room 217, I overheard a conversation between several people outside of our room. They were talking about hearing a loud noise late in the night. I spoke with a woman who told us she was staying in a room directly above ours. After I asked her about the loud noise, she said it woke her up around 2:30. The woman described the noise as the fall of a “large barrel.” According to the woman, there was another guest in room 324 who also heard the noise.   While on our way to check-out, we ran into a young man who stayed in room 326 with his father. In addition to taking pictures of orbs that were floating outside of room 217 the previous night, he too said he was woken up from what he described as a “loud boom.”   Experience #3: The Creepy Laugh Of A Woman While I thought that the extremely loud and unexplained bang was enough to convince me that there really are ghosts roaming the Earth, one more thing happened that night.   At around 4:00 a.m., I woke up and realized that less than two hours after the loud bang occurred, it was completely silent in our room. My partner was sound asleep. Just a minute or two after I woke up, out of nowhere I heard the sounds of a chuckle from a woman. Interestingly, it sounded like the ghost was giggling just centimeters away from my ears.   I believe that the chuckle had probably come from Elizabeth Wilson. Although it certainly was frightening and quite creepy to me, I was extremely tired. I quickly went back to sleep.   For more information on this strange ghost story, visit OdditiesBizarre.com. For information on the fascinating history of the Stanley Hotel, visit their official website: StanleyHotel.com   After staying just one night in the Stanley's room 217, I went from a skeptic, to a believer in ghosts. If I ever go back to this hotel, I will likely request another room with many reports of supernatural activity. However, regardless of what room you visit at the Stanley Hotel, if you come with an open mind, you just might have a paranormal experience you will never forget.   Wow... That's a crazy stay!   This next one did not have a name associated with it.           “Over the weekend, about 15 coworkers and myself had our company trip to The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, known for being Stephen King's inspiration for “The Shining”. We took an 8pm ghost tour, where we joined about 15 other people to get guided around the property and told stories about it's history and creepy things that are said to have happened. We were told to take lots of pictures, I'm sure to try and capture orbs or ghosts. Many green orbs were caught in pictures, but I don't think anything is as creepy as the photo taken by my coworker- a little girl in a hot pink dress, who was definitely not on our tour. And apparently years ago, a young girl (12-13) by the name of Lucy was squatting in the basement of the concert hall (which is where this photo was taken), and discovered upon plans to begin some construction. She was forced to leave, the night got below freezing, and she froze to death. Everyone on my tour has vouched that this girl was not on our tour (who wouldn't remember someone wearing that hot pink?). The man pictured is our tour guide- no one would have been in front of him. I am convinced this is the ghost of Lucy. Just one more added note, though I doubt if anyone would believe me, but there was only ONE time throughout the tour where I felt any strange energy or feeling, and it was right here, heading down to the basement of the concert hall.”   Fucking little kid ghosts… No thanks.    This next one is fun! Again no name was presented in the article.           “I'm pretty skeptical when it comes to supernatural or paranormal happenings but one thing in particular really messed with my head; at the beginning of the tour you follow tour guide to the music hall which would often be occupied by children playing during the day time.When you arrive in the hall you're are seated in the observation box and given an introduction of sorts explaining that none of the spirits or activity are angry or violent and that alot of the activity was thought to be that of children (especially in this hall). So, our guide asked by show of hands if any of the tour members are good with kids to which I, along with 4 or 5 others raised our hands; everyone who raised their hands she gave a dum dum sucker to for us to hold out on our palm as if we were handing it to a child and depending on the spirits comfortablity with you they would supposedly pull on the the sucker. Some people claimed to feel movement, some didn't feel a thing but, I personally felt and watched this fucking sucker drag from the middle of my hand all the way off to the ground.   Nice… sounds like fun!!   Here's another fun story'             “When I was a kid, the Stanley was just a pretty hotel with dumpy rooms (1970s canary yellow and olive drab. Borderline craphole). We never stayed there, it was just a place to get a good, cheap lunch. (Obviously, this was before the miniseries, when it was still cheap and not haunted).   Anyway, I'd screw around and explore the hotel because hotels are fun to screw around in and explore. My brother, my sister, and myself were wandering the hotel after lunch, poking our heads into open rooms and whatnot. Well, we round the corner of the hallway and to our right is an small opening in the wall of the hall leading to a set of very narrow and steep circular stairs descending into pitch black darkness. None of us had the cojones to check it out. Wish we had, I never saw that staircase again.”   3rd floor “My ex-girlfriend and I went there around New Years a couple of years ago. I can confirm it is very haunted. On the 3rd floor, my ex turned white as a sheet after stopping in front of a particular door. I asked her what had happened, she said that something had ran their hand from her backside up to the nape of her neck. There was no one else around but us. When the docent got all of the tour members gathered around the door she had the experience at, she began to tell the group about an apparition that likes to grope pretty young ladies and run his hand from their back side up to their neck. Super Spooky!” Here's another!    The ballroom, “It's absolutely beautiful- and haunted. My sister lived in Colorado for years so one winter we were visiting we decided to make the trip to Estes Park. Well being the rule breakers we are in my family, we ditched the official tour and took our own. We came across this big room with chairs covered in white cloth. We decided to “play ghost” and drape the cloths over ourselves, pretend to be ghosts, and take pictures. We, of course, thought we were hilarious. The ghosts decided to delete every picture we took in that room. All the pictures we took before and after were still on the camera, just the ones where we were playing ghost were deleted. Weird place!”   Interesting!   Here's a quick one from an investigator.                 “In a bathroom at the Stanley the shampoo bottle was thrown into the tub once when we were investigating 1302 once. I've had my voice recorder knocked over. As far as seeing anything with my own eyes or objects thrown at me, no. Not yet. I think it takes a lot of energy for spirits to manipulate our physical environment, so it's rare, but it does happen, yeah.”    Well that's some crazy shit.    Ok one more…. This is a retelling of a coyote of sisters doing a ghost hunt with numerous paranormal investigators from the Ghost Hunters tv show.             "Our night started in Room 401. I have to admit: I was a bit nervous. I had never been on an investigation of this scale before. It didn't take long for things to start happening.   Sitting patiently, my sister began to feel what she would later describe as "waves of rolling chills" that extended from her feet all the way up to her head, as well as the sensation that all of her hair was standing up on her head. Simultaneously, a fellow investigator's K-II meter (which measures electromagnetic frequency, or EMF) began to light up, denoting a change in the room's electromagnetic field. Paranormal or not, we were jacked, and the night was only beginning!          Down the hall in Room 418, my sister and I had our first encounter with an Ovilus, or "ghost box" or "spirit box."At one point, the Ovilus said "Dawn" (my sister's name) as well as "dime," which was a word/image that a fellow investigator had agreed to use as a trigger word to communicate with her recently deceased mother.         Soon we were out of the main hotel and into the balcony of the property's Music Hall. Once our group got settled in, we heard shuffling sounds from the stage and main floor. At one point, a mini Maglite flashlight, which was set up to turn on and off with an-ever-so-slight twist of its lamp head, turned on without assistance. This technique has been utilized on numerous episodes of "Ghost Hunters," yet continues to draw scrutiny from naysayers. Was a spirit in fact making contact, or was the battery simply completing the circuit and turning on the flashlight's beam? Who knows? I'm still not sure. But I've certainly never experienced a flashlight turning on by itself like that before. I chalked it up as another new experience in a weekend of new experiences.        But what happened next had to be the climax of our weekend at the Stanley Hotel. As our group shifted down to the basement of the Music Hall, my sister and I decided to separate from the larger group to check out an interior room with a door that a spirit named Lucy liked to close, and had already closed, several times so far that evening – even with a heavy, upholstered chair propped in front of it.        Dawn and I sat down with a handful of other investigators in the pitch-black room and began introducing ourselves to Lucy, asking her politely to shut the door if she was present. It wasn't long before she obliged. I was literally about four feet away from the doorway when, sure enough, the door began move away from the wall and toward the jamb, closing the door almost completely. Elated, we thanked Lucy for her efforts. Then we asked her to do it again, and after hearing rustling noises behind me and to my left, it happened again a second time.            Upping the ante, we put a chair in front of the door to see if we could get it to happen with the chair blocking the door's path, to no avail. A few minutes later, the group decided to try to get the door to close again without the chair to block its path, like it had two times prior. Moving the chair myself, I pushed the door tightly against the wall to ensure the door wasn't leaning forward, building momentum and closing due to some mechanical issue such as a faulty hinge. But I couldn't make it start a closing motion without a deliberate effort. Clearly something had to be shutting this door, right? We asked Lucy a third time to please shut the door, and almost as if on command, the door began to shut again. About halfway between the completed motion, I yelled, "Slam it!" and that's exactly what happened. We experienced the door shutting a total of five times (a fourth time after asking Lucy to give us a sign she wanted us to leave, and the final time when the door closed behind us as we were leaving the room).        Before long, we were off to famed room 217: the one that had King himself had stayed in, the one that had inspired King to write his book and the one that was the impetus for coming all this way in the first place.    Purportedly haunted by an extremely tidy chambermaid, the host investigators purposely littered random items across the bathroom floor in hopes that Mrs. Wilson would tidy up during our time there. Interestingly, my sister heard something in the bathroom almost immediately upon turning the lights out. It turns out that a photo taken before the lights were turned out would show the items had indeed moved from their original locations. Coincidence? Could very well be. But hard to argue at the same time.  As 1 a.m. came and the night's investigation ended, the activity continued, even into the next morning. Up at 6 a.m. to pack up, check out and make the drive back to the airport, I heard the distinct sound of female laughter. I immediately thought, who would be up at this hour, especially after a long night of investigating? Then something told me to check the closet, the bathroom closet. I really didn't want to look, but I did anyway.   My heart skipped a beat when I saw a plastic access panel to the crawl space behind the closet removed, now laying precariously in front of the opening. A quick glance into the space revealed the customary plumbing and electrical works, but why the laughter? Was it children playing in the hall? Was it coming through the way from Room 401? What exactly caused the panel to become dislodged from the screw that was holding it in place anyway? The questions raced and the answers eluded. It really was anyone's guess, and considering where I was and the weekend I had just experienced, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.   Crazy stuff!!! What do you guys think about this place? What have you heard? Let us know.   https://theknow-old.denverpost.com/2019/10/18/colorado-horror-films-halloween/226413/   BECOME A P.O.O.P.R.!! http://www.patreon.com/themidnighttrainpodcast   Find The Midnight Train Podcast: www.themidnighttrainpodcast.com www.facebook.com/themidnighttrainpodcast www.twitter.com/themidnighttrainpc www.instagram.com/themidnighttrainpodcast www.discord.com/themidnighttrainpodcast www.tiktok.com/themidnighttrainp   And wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.   Subscribe to our official YouTube channel: OUR YOUTUBE   Support our sponsors www.themidnighttraintrainpodcast.com/sponsors   The Charley Project www.charleyproject.org

A poem for Arbor Day by William Cullen Bryant, on the planting of a tree as a gift to the future. The spiritual benefit of trees.

On this episode, Dill forgets to upload the podcast for Sunday night...but unlike the topic of this week's episode, he's luckily not dead. Nor is Iron Horse Brewing's "Quilter's: Irish Death" ale, in fact it's the opposite of dead it's thriving! This Washington state brew is paired with William Cullen Bryant (who is certainly not confused with William Bryan Jennings) and a poem straight out of Tay...Skip's childhood. With his most famous of poem's "Thanatopsis," the Bros give a little contemplation of life and death...though they more contemplate bad jokes, making further enemies of the podcast, and whether a BARK would be amazing or needs a better name. Better late than never, join us for another fantastic episode of beer and poetry!Cheers!

Benjamin Karl reads William Cullen Bryant's "A Song for New Year's Eve." He also offers his thoughts on the ending of 2020 and the lessons we can take from this most challenging year. Lit Out Loud Podcast Season 01 Episode 05 "A Song for New Year's Eve" by William Cullen Bryant is in the public domain in the United States and other countries. This performance and the surrounding commentary is licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Copyright © Benjamin Karl 2020 #poetry #aloud #classics #american #audio #audiobook #literature #books #bryant #education #school #english #ela #read #reading #newyears #2020 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/benjamin-karl/message

Today we celebrate the American Romantic poet who wrote: "The rose that lives its little hour is prized beyond the sculptured flower..." We'll also learn about the man who made Six Hills Nursery famous. We hear some words about autumn by an American Poet Laureate. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that rocked the Vegetable Cookbook world three years ago - and here’s a hint: the author divided the year into Six Seasons. And then we’ll wrap things up with a recipe I received from a friend recently for a delicious Golden Squash Soup.   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 3, 1794    Today is the birthday of the American Romantic poet and nature-lover William Cullen Bryant. As a young man, William became an attorney. His first job was in Plainfield, Massachusetts - a town seven miles away from his home. In 1815, William was walking to work one day in December when he spied a lone bird flying on the horizon. The image moved him so much that William wrote his poem called To a Waterfowl. William Cullen Bryant is a favorite poet among gardeners. Here’s an excerpt from a little poem by William called A Winter Piece: ...When shrieked The bleak November winds, and smote the woods, And the brown fields were herbless, and the shades, That met above the merry rivulet, Were spoiled, I sought, I loved them still,—they seemed Like old companions in adversity. When he was alive, William Cullen Bryant visited Wodenethe - the 20-acre estate overlooking the Hudson River purchased and sculpted by Henry Winthrop Sargent. Sargent’s naming of Wodenethe was a marriage of two old Saxon terms Woden (pronounced Woe-den) and ethe, which stands for woody promontory ( promontory ), of high land that juts out into the sea or a large lake; a headland.  Sargent turned Wodenethe into a personal arboretum, where he artfully used trees to frame the Hudson's incredible views. One reviewer said it was, “a bijou full of interest for the lover of rural beauty; abounding in rare trees, shrubs, and plants, as well as vases, and objects of rural embellishment of all kinds.” William Cullen Bryant loved Wodenethe, and he was particularly charmed by an illusion that Sargent had created on the property.  Sargent had created the view from inside his house to look like the lawn extended out to the Hudson, creating the illusion of a sharp dropoff - almost like the lawn ran out to the edge of a cliff. To help pull this off, Sargent would send his young son Winthrop out onto the lawn with a fishing pole where he would pretend to fish off the edge of a nonexistent cliff. On one occasion, a lady visitor commented on how SHE wouldn't let her own children play so close to that dropoff. In reality, Winthrop was sitting a good mile away from the water's edge - quite safe on the flat earth of the lawn nestled among the trees. Sargent's masterful vista created an artful and beautiful illusion - a trick that he even pulled on his good friend William Cullen Bryant. Wodenethe so moved William he wrote his poem “A Scene on the Banks of the Hudson.”  Here’s an excerpt: All, save this little nook of land, Circled with trees on which I stand; All, save that line of hills which lie Suspended in the mimic sky,— Seems a blue void, above, below, Through which the white clouds come and go; And from the green world's farthest steep, I gaze into the airy deep Loveliest of lovely things are they, On earth, that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour Is prized beyond the sculptured flower.   November 3, 1881    Today is the birthday of the English garden writer, plant explorer, renowned nurseryman, alpine specialist, and a founding member of the Alpine Garden Society, Clarence Elliott. Clarence had a remarkable career, and he cast an enormous shadow from his legendary nursery in Stevenage called Six Hills. If Six Hills has a familiar ring to it, you might be familiar with the popular and prevalent landscape plant and stalwart of most garden borders cultivated at Six Hills: the Nepeta Six Hills Giant. Or, perhaps you were thinking of the Penstemon Six Hills - another Clarence offspring. And many gardeners have forgotten that the Mrs. Popple Fuschia - was actually a nod to the Popples - a couple who lived near Six Hills. One day Clarence spied Mrs. Popple’s gorgeous hardy Fuschia. After taking some cuttings, Clarence ultimately won an RHS Show Award of Merit for the Mrs. Popple Fuschia in 1934. Nearly a century later, gardeners still grow this beloved starter Fuschia in their gardens today. When Clarence wasn’t scouring his neighborhood (or the world in general) for new plants, he was busy mentoring other horticultural greats like Will Ingwerson and EK Balls. The great Graham Stuart Thomas worked at Six Hills for 24 years. A gardener’s gardener, Clarence even invented a little garden tool he dubbed The Widger. Somehow Vita Sackville-West ended up with a Widger, and she wrote that it was “the neatest, slimmest, and cheapest of all gadgets to carry in the pocket.” Vita continued: "[Clarence] invented the Widger, its name, and the verb "to widge", which, although not exactly onomatopoeic, suggests very successfully the action of prising up—you widge up a weed, or widge up a caked bit of soil for the purpose of aerating it—all very necessary operations which before the arrival of the Widger were sometimes awkward to perform. This small sleek object, four inches long, slides into the pocket, no more cumbersome than a pencil, and may be put to many uses. Screwdriver, toothpick, letter-opener, Widger, it fulfills all functions throughout the day… it is the perfect gadget.”   Unearthed Words And the dead leaves lie huddled and still, No longer blown hither and thither; The last lone aster is gone; The flowers of the witch-hazel wither … — Robert Frost, American poet and Poet Laureate   Grow That Garden Library Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden This book came out in 2017, and the subtitle is A New Way with Vegetables. This is one of my favorite vegetable cookbooks ever. Joshua’s book won a James Beard Award for Best Book in Vegetable-Focused Cooking. His book was named a Best Cookbook of the Year by the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Bon Appétit, Food Network Magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, USA Today, Seattle Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Library Journal, Eater, and more. “Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables is poised to join the veggie canon. . . . The flavors are big. . . . They’re also layered and complex, despite their apparent simplicity. What will really change your cooking is [McFadden’s] approach to seasoning. . . . Trust me: Read this book and you’ll never look at cabbage the same way again.” —Bon Appétit “Downright thrilling. . . . Divided into six seasons rather than the traditional four—a more accurate reflection of what’s happening in the fields—the book encourages readers to embrace what he calls ‘the joyful ride of eating with the seasons. . . .’ On page after page, McFadden presents a deliciously enlightening way of cooking with vegetables.” —Sunset This book is 384 pages of vegetable magic. You can get a copy of Six Seasons by Joshua McFadden and Martha Holmberg and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $23   Today’s Botanic Spark Speaking of recipes, I wanted to share a delicious recipe I received from a friend for Golden Squash soup. It’s a keeper. Golden Squash Soup 3 leeks (white portion only) 4 medium carrots chopped 5 Tbl. butter or margarine 3 lbs. butternut squash peeled, sliced 6 c. chicken or vegetable broth 3 medium zucchini, peeled, sliced 2 t. Salt 1/2 t. dried thyme 1/4 t. white pepper 1 c. half & half 1/2 c. milk In a soup kettle over medium heat, saute leeks and carrots in butter for 5 min., stirring occasionally. Add squash, broth, zucchini, salt, thyme, pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover simmer until vegetables are tender, about 30 min. Cool until lukewarm. In a blender or food processor, puree soup until smooth. Return to the kettle, add cream and milk, and heat through. Do not boil. If desired, garnish with parmesan cheese and chives. yields 12 - 14 servings ( 3 ½ qts )

Today we celebrate the Brigadier General, who described the Compass Plant. We'll also learn about the Norwegian poet who gardened and tended 70 apple trees. We remember the gift given to American by the Mayor of Tokyo. We also honor an extraordinary tree that was discovered on the estate of the first Earl of Camperdown.   We'll celebrate World Daffodil Day with a Daffodil Poem. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book called Dream Plants for the Natural Garden - it's a classic. And then we'll wrap things up with the story of the Georgia State Flower. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy.   Curated News Do houseplants really improve air quality? | The Guardian | James Wong Here's an excerpt: "Five years ago I wrote a column in this very magazine about how houseplants can purify the air, based on research carried out by Nasa. Since then, there has been a slew of online articles, not to mention industry campaigns and even new gadgets, centred on this claim. The only problem with it is that more recent and better quality research has found this to be extremely unlikely... However, other research shows that having plants indoors has a range of other benefits. They can boost productivity. They can improve mood. They can regulate humidity – all on top of looking beautiful. If you want fresh air, open a window. If you want to witness the joy of nature and feel a daily sense of wonder, get some houseplants." Follow James on Twitter @Botanygeek   Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, 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 1813    Today is the birthday of Brigadier General, mathematician, and botanist Benjamin Alvord. Born in Rutland Vermont, Benjamin was always drawn to nature. He graduated from West Point and even spent some time teaching there as a Math Professor.  Benjamin fought in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican–American War, and the Civil War. When he wasn't serving in the military, Benjamin returned to his passions of scholarly activity. His obituary at Arlington says, “General Alvord lived most of his life in the field, where he was separated from society and books, yet he became a learned scholar; skilled in dialectics, ready in conversation, and polished in his writing.  He had a special fondness for mathematics, botany, history, and biography.” Benjamin published mathematical papers as well as literary articles for magazines like Harpers, and he even wrote a botanical paper on the Compass Plant Silphium laciniatum, which was featured in The American Naturalist. In 1848, Benjamin described the Compass Plant this way: “The Silphium laciniatum is a perennial plant of the order Compositae; the first year it bears only radical leaves, the second year and after, it is a flowering herb with four or five leaves on the stem; very rough bristly throughout; Flowers yellow. Found on rich prairies of the Mississippi valley from Minnesota to Texas… It was first seen by me in the autumn of 1839, on the rich prairies near Fort Wayne in the north-eastern portion of the Cherokee nation, near the Arkansas line.” The leaves of the Compass Plant align north-south, which helps the plant minimize the effect of the midday sun. The north-south orientation guided settlers crossing the prairies who used the plant as a compass during their journey. Compass Plant is edible. Livestock eats it. Native Americans used it to make tea, a dewormer for their horses, and as a teeth cleaner and breath sweetener. Although before you use the Compass Plant for your teeth or breath, take note of this passage from the Illinois author John Madison, “Pioneers found that compass plant produced a pretty good brand of native chewing gum. It has an odd pine-resin taste that’s pleasant enough, but must be firmed up before its chewed. A couple summers ago I tried some of this sap while it was still liquid. It’s surely the stickiest stuff in all creation and I literally had to clean it from my teeth with lighter fluid.” Now, Benjamin was very curious about the polarity of the Compass Plant. In fact, another common name for the plant is the Polar Plant. Benjamin initially theorized that the plant took up a lot of iron, thereby creating a magnet polarity in the leaves, but he later discounted that theory. The poet Longfellow referred to the Compass Plant in his 1947 poem "Evangeline" about a young woman who is lovesick over missing her boyfriend.  FYI Nepenthe is a drug of forgetfulness, and Asphodel is a grey and ghostly plant in the Underworld. Patience! the priest would say; have faith, and thy prayer will be answered; Look at this delicate plant that lifts its head from the meadow; See how its leaves are turned to the north, as true as the magnet - This is the compass-flower, that the finger of God has planted Here in the houseless wild, to direct the traveler's journey Over the sea-like, pathless, limitless waste of the desert. Such in the soul of man is faith. The blossoms of passion, Gay and luxuriant flowers, are brighter and fuller of fragrance; But they beguile us and lead us astray, and their odor is deadly. Only this humble plant can guide us here, and hereafter Crown us with asphodel flowers, that are wet with the dews of nepenthe.   1908    Today is the birthday of the Norwegian poet and gardener Olav Hauge. Olav was a trained horticulturist and fruit grower. Olav earned a living as a professional gardener. When he wasn't writing poetry, he could be found working in his apple orchard - he had 70 apple trees. Here's my translation of one of his more famous poems in his home country of Norway; it's about a garden cat. The cat sits in the yard. When you come, Talk to the cat a little. He is the one who is in charge of the garden.   And here's another famous poem for Olav fans: Don't come to me with the entire truth. Don't bring me the ocean if I feel thirsty, nor heaven if I ask for light; but bring a hint, some dew, a particle, as birds carry only drops away from water, and the wind a grain of salt.   1909   On this day, Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki pledged to give 2,000 Cherry trees to U.S. President William Howard Taft. Taft decided to plant them near the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., in West Potomac Park surrounding the Tidal Basin. The trees arrived in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 1910.   1918  On this day, a daughter of Redmond Washington, Nellie Perrigo, married Chase G. Morris, and her father, William Pulcifer Perrigo, gifted the couple a Camperdown Elm. In fact, William gave each one of his five daughters a Camperdown Elm on their wedding day. He brought the unique trees with him from Scotland. Nellie and Charles posed for their wedding photo in front of her sister June's Camperdown Elm since they were married on her property. Then they planted their own Camperdown Elm in front of their little farmhouse in Carnation, Washington. Five generations of the Morris family lived and played under the family Camperdown Elm. Camperdown Elms have a fascinating history that dates back to 1840. That year, on the estate of the First Earl of Camperdown, the estate forester and Landscaper named David Taylor noticed a contorted young elm tree growing parallel to the ground. Now, what Taylor was looking at was essentially a weeping mutation of the Scotch Elm. Like other weepers, the tree lacked the gene for negative geotropism, so the tree couldn't distinguish which way was up. Taylor dug up the young elm and brought it to the gardens of Camperdown House. And eventually, Taylor grafted cuttings of the weeping elm to Wych Elms, and the result was a tree that became known as a Camperdown Elm - a weeping cultivar of the Scotch Elm. In 1872, the New York florist Adolphus Goby Burgess gifted a Camperdown Elm to the Brooklyn Parks Commission. After receiving the tree from Burgess, it was Frederick Law Olmsted, who decided on the location for it. Seeing that graft was relatively low on the rootstock, Olmsted wisely planted the tree on a small hill near the boathouse at Prospect Parkallowing plenty of room for the weeping branches. By the time the Pulitzer-Winning Poet Marianne Moore fell in love with the Camperdown Elm at Prospect Park, it was in sad shape. Some of the limbs were hollow thanks to rats and carpenter ants. The weak areas of the tree made it vulnerable, and it began to succumb to a bacterial infection as well as general rot. Marianne used her fame and her wit to save the Camperdown Elm. She wrote a poem about the tree which was published in The New Yorker in September 1967. The public read her poem, and the Bartlett Tree Company saved the tree. It still stands today. Now before I read the poem, I'll offer a few definitions. Thanatopsis is the name of a poem written by William Cullen Bryant. It's also a Greek word that means meditation on or thinking about death. Byrant's poem is a consolation; eventually, we all will die. Then, Thomas Cole and Asher Durand were both landscape painters. One of Asher Durand's most famous paintings is called Kindred Spirits. The picture shows two men standing on a rock ledge and shaded by the branches of an enormous elm tree in the Catskill Mountains. The men depicted were the painter, Thomas Cole, and his dear friend, the poet William Cullen Bryant. A curio is something novel, rare, or bizarre.   Here's The Camperdown Elm by Marianne Moore: I think, in connection with this weeping elm, of "Kindred Spirits" at the edge of a rock ledge overlooking a stream: Thanatopsis-invoking tree-loving Bryant conversing with Thomas Cole in Asher Durand's painting of them under the filigree of an elm overhead. No doubt they had seen other trees — lindens, maples and sycamores, oaks and the Paris street-tree, the horse-chestnut; but imagine their rapture, had they come on the Camperdown Elm's massiveness and "the intricate pattern of its branches," arching high, curving low, in its mist of fine twigs. The Bartlett tree-cavity specialist saw it and thrust his arm the whole length of the hollowness of its torso, and there were six small cavities also. Props are needed and tree-food. It is still leafing; Still there. Mortal though. We must save it. It is our crowning curio.   Unearthed Words Today is World Daffodil Day, and there's really one poem that is regarded as the Mother of All Daffodil Poems, and it's this one. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance, Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced, but they Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay, In such a jocund company: I gazed—and gazed—but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils. — William Wordsworth, English Romantic poet, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud   Grow That Garden Library Dream Plants for the Natural Garden by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen This book came out in 2013, and it's still one of the best books on modern garden design. Join two of the world's most influential garden designers, Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen, as they describe their ideal perennials, bulbs, grasses, ferns and small shrubs for your natural garden. This comprehensive compendium classifies these 1200 plants according to their behavior, strengths, and uses. With these plants and expert advice, you can create the garden of your dreams. This book is 144 pages of natural garden goodness. You can get a copy of Dream Plants for the Natural Garden by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritsen and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $35   Today's Botanic Spark 1853   On this day, George Governor Gov. Nathaniel Harris approved the joint resolution to make the  Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata) Georgia's State Flower. Here's an excerpt from The Atlanta Constitution in 1970 with a little story about the Cherokee Rose: “Four years ago Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin decided that it was high time for a Cherokee rose to be on the grounds of the State Capitol. Secretary of State Ben Fortson, then in charge of the grounds, agreed. Now, it isn't easy to find a Cherokee rose for sale, so a notice was put in The Market Bulletin, inviting someone to donate a Cherokee rose for the Capitol. Within a few days, the commissioner's office was swamped with almost 250 rose bushes. The superabundance spoke well for the generosity of Georgians and their eagerness to cooperate but not so well for their knowledge of the state flower, for less than .1 percent was actually the Cherokee Rose. The others were Macartneys, pasture and prairie roses, Silver Moons, Bengals, multifloras, and "grandma's favorite. There were enough plants for public grounds all over the state, with one or two real Cherokees for the Capitol grounds. Since then several others have been added. There should be plenty of blooms this spring for everyone making the effort to see them. Only a horticulturist can identify a Cherokee rose for sure, but Mrs. Wills once suggested a simple way for the average person to distinguish between the Cherokee and the Macartney which is often confused with it because the blossoms are similar. "The Cherokee," she said, "has only three leaves on a leaf stem; the Macartney has five."

Musings on the real long nap

Today's poem is William Cullen Bryant's "Summer Winds." See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we celebrate National Rainier Cherry Day. We'll also learn about the Scottish Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Calcutta and Kew. We celebrate a journal entry from this day in 1938 by one of Canada's most-beloved naturalists. We also celebrate a rare orchid breeder from Denver. We honor the discovery of a very unusual dwarf Amaryllis species. Today's poetry features a beloved mid-summer tree: the Linden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that will inspire you to decorate your outdoor space for comfort and beauty, and for coaxing us all to enjoy our gardens as a space for breakfasts, lunchtime picnics, and even dinners by candlelight. And then we'll wrap things up with the 103rd birthday of a Danish botanist. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Gardener Greetings To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy.   Curated News How to Harvest and Dry Flowers & Herbs From Your Garden | The Nerdy Farm Wife This is an excellent post by Jan Berry. Here's an excerpt: "Learn how to harvest and easily dry flowers and herbs from the garden. Also included is a list of common flowers and herbs along with ideas for using them! An ideal time to collect fresh flowers and herbs from your garden is on a dry, sunny day, after morning dew has evaporated, but before the midday sun is out in full force. Some flowers, such as dandelion, chamomile, calendula and lavender can be dried whole. The petals from larger flowers, such as roses and hollyhocks, should be separated from the flower head before drying. An exception to this is if you're drying small rosebuds. They can also be dried whole, just be sure to turn a few times a day so one side doesn't dry flatter than the other. I dry flower clusters, like elder flowers and lilacs, upside down on a towel as shown above, to help preserve some of the shape. Small branches of leaves that easily lay flat when placed on a surface, such as elderleaf, can stay together while drying. Leaves that cluster together, like lemon balm and mint, often do best if you detach each leaf before drying."   It's National Rainier Cherry Day. Rainier cherries were bred at Washington State University by crossing Vans and Bings. They are one of the most delicate and challenging cherries to grow because of one big drawback: their thin red-yellow skin. This makes them super sensitive to the elements, and they bruise easily. Even if a grower can address these challenges, they still must contend with the birds. Birds LOVE Rainiers and can eat as much as 1/3 of the cherry crop before the harvest arrives. Watch what happens if you add a few Rainier Cherries to your bird feeder.   Deadhead to Encourage More Blooms What happens if you don't deadhead? You might miss out on valuable time that your plant could use to create that second flush of blooms. Plants to deadhead include coreopsis, blue and white clips, geraniums, and dianthus. Another reason is to encourage more blooms the following year. Dead flower heads become seed pods, and that takes energy from the plant. So be sure to deadhead peonies, roses, iris, and lilies. As a general rule, when any plant looks leggy, it will benefit from deadheading or plain ol' pruning.   Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, 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 1857   On this day in Fettercairn Scotland, the amateur botanist David Prain was born. He would ultimately become the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Calcutta and Kew. In 1887, David was sent to Calcutta to be the curator of the herbarium. While he was there, he researched Indian Hemp along with crops like Wheat, Mustard, Pulses, and Indigo. But, David's most crucial work involved Cinchona plantations. The bark of Cinchona trees contains quinine, which is used to treat malaria. In David's obituary, it said that he set up a system with the local post offices to send quinine to every Indian village and undoubtedly saved countless lives. After David returned to England, he became the director at Kew. During his tenure, David implemented many notable changes. David oversaw the effort to have the medicinal garden installed at Cambridge Cottage, and he acquired the Japanese gateway for the 1910 Japan-British exhibition. In terms of promotional efforts, David also reinstated the Kew Bulletin. David's most significant professional challenge at Kew came not from a plant, but a person. William Purdom was a sub-foreman at Kew, and he was passionate about making sure that the garden staff was being treated fairly. Tensions started when some of the gardeners discovered that their positions were only temporary. In addition, wages were well below market level. Even though all of these challenges were legacy issues David had inherited, the problems fell squarely on his shoulders. David's humble origins gave him a heart for his workers, and he did his best to mediate the situation. While David stayed professional, Purdom made it personal, and he pressured David relentlessly. Finally, when he felt despite his best efforts that Purdom would never be satisfied, David forced the issue. David basically said to the powers that be, that they had a choice;  it was him or Purdom. In the end, David got the support he needed, and Purdom moved on.  In a noble gesture, David worked to get Purdom a lead spot on the expedition to China sponsored by Harry Veitch and the Arnold Arboretum. Today, history looks back at David Prain with admiration, that he could recognize the talents of an employee, even while disagreeing with him - acting with both fairness and integrity.   1938   On this day Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol ("Sar-ee-all") wrote in his diary: "I find it hard to come in from the flower borders. My Pansies are a garden of enchantment in themselves. People who love Pansies should grow them from seed. I took the advice and I have never had such a profusion of bloom and of so many colors."   1941  On this day, the Amarillo Daily News ran an article featuring Charles Sumner Lambie, who was a Denver area civil engineer by day and a rare orchid breeder by night. Charles grew up in Pittsburgh, tending the family garden. He later married Margaret McCandless, and together they raised nine children. As his engineering firm became successful, Charles's wife said he turned to the hobby of raising orchids as a means of relief from the stresses of his job. Charles shared an upside that he discovered about greenhouse gardening: He no longer suffered from hayfever as he did when he gardened outside. After sharing the various types of orchids grown by Charles Lambie, the article shared his unique and detailed method for documenting his plants. Here's what it said: "Mr. Lambie has a card index file ... on each plant. Here is a sample entry from the card of C. Talisman: L.O. Talisman: 6 inches, December 1938, Christmas; Winter Bloomer, October to early summer, variable. Flowers large, Sepals and petals – Light to dark rose. Lip, dark rich crimson; Throat purple with yellow – gold veins." Mr. Lambie puts a protective canopy over the orchids when they are in bloom, and he sprays them several times a day. When Mr. Lambie leaves town on business, Mrs. Lambie makes sure that the orchids are watered several times today. As the reporter for the story was leaving, Mrs. Lambie showed him a small orchid and shared that Mr. Lambie was given the orchid when he subscribed to an orchid magazine. The orchid is called the Charles Lambie Rittenberry orchid named for their grandson, and of course, it receives "very careful attention," she added with a smile.   1950   On this day, a very unusual dwarf Amaryllis species was collected in Peru by the eminent botanist, Dr. Ramon Ferreyra ("feh-REY-rah"). Dr. Ferreyra sent the bulbs to another botanist, Dr. Hamilton P. Traub, in the United States. Unfortunately, the bulbs experienced frost while they were in the mail. Some of the bulbs were totally destroyed, the surviving bulbs all had been damaged. It took almost 18 months for Dr. Traub to nurse the frosted plants back to health. In recognition of his patience and skill, the Amaryllis was named Hippeastrum traubii.   Unearthed Words   The Linden, in the fervors of July, Hums with a louder concert. When the wind Sweeps the broad forest in its summer prime, As when some master-hand exulting sweeps The keys of some great organ, ye give forth The music of the woodland depths, a hymn Of gladness and of thanks." — William Cullen Bryant, American poet and editor, Linden   Before midsummer density opaques with shade the checker- tables underneath, in daylight unleafing lindens burn green-gold a day or two, no more, with intimations of an essence I saw once, in what had been the pleasure- garden of the popes at Avignon, dishevel into half (or possibly three- quarters of) a million hanging, intricately tactile, blond bell-pulls of bloom, the in-mid-air resort of honeybees' hirsute cotillion teasing by the milligram out of those necklaced nectaries, aromas so intensely subtle, strollers passing under looked up confused, as though they'd just heard voices, or inhaled the ghost of derelict splendor and/or of seraphs shaken into pollen dust no transubstantiating pope or antipope could sift or quite precisely ponder. — Amy Clampitt, American poet and author, Lindenbloom   Grow That Garden Library Kathryn at Home by Kathryn M Ireland This book came out in 2016, and the subtitle is  A Guide to Simple Entertaining. I ordered a copy of this book at the start of the pandemic. What I thought would be a simple book of eye candy, became an inspiration: for using fresh ingredients from the kitchen garden, decorating my outdoor spaces for comfort and beauty, and for coaxing us out of the house by heading outdoors for breakfasts, lunchtime picnics, teas, barbecues, and dinners by candlelight. Kathryn Ireland is among House & Garden's "10 to Watch" architects and designers expected to influence 21st-century style. For the last decade, House Beautiful has named her one of the top 100 designers in the United States. She is the author of Creating a Home and Classic Country. She divides her time between Santa Monica, California, and Montauban, France. This book is 224 pages of gorgeous images and inspiration. It is truly a beautiful scrapbook of ideas and style. You can get a copy of Kathryn at Home by Kathryn M Ireland and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $9.   Today's Botanic Spark 1936   On this day, the Danish botanist Clarence Henry Dennesen celebrated his 103rd birthday. Dennesen was once an internationally recognized authority on botany, and he led a wonderful life. Dennesen served as a captain under Christian IX in Denmark's war with Germany. He was wounded in battle and captured by the enemy. He was shipwrecked on the Isle of Crete and sailed around Cape Hope. After the adventurous days of the soldier and sailor, he became a professor at the Copenhagen School of Botany, and among his pupils was a little princess who later became Queen Alexandria, mother of King George of England, and a little prince who later became King Constantine of Greece. The newspaper reported that, "The men's Bible class of St. John's Lutheran Church, in Jacksonville Florida, had planned a surprise birthday party, but the jolly old Dane winked as he hinted it is hard to surprise the man who has been around for 103 years." Dennesen immigrated to America in 1881 and lived to be 111 years old. Now that's an old botanist.

A reminder of what a simple walk through the woods can do for the soul

Today we celebrate the botanist who sailed with Captain James Cook on the Endeavor and the man regarded as the father of North American mycology. We'll learn about the man who patented the first practical lawnmower 198 years ago today. Today's Unearthed Words feature a poet and writer who used the names Flora or Florilla as her pseudonyms. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about one man's adventures with bumblebees. I'll talk about a flexible and tough garden item to help you plant your seedlings, and it is reusable to boot. And then, we'll wrap things up with the story of a woman who knew the botanical world of Nantucket like the back of her hand. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart   Curated Articles 2020 Wildflower of the Year – North Carolina Botanical Garden The 2020 North Carolina Wildflower of the Year: marsh-pink (Sabatia angularis "Sah-BAY-tee-ah ANG-you-LARE-iss) @NCBotGarden aka: rose gentian, rose pink, or bitter-bloom. A biennial - Native to US (South & East), Grows in low, wet meadows, woods & along roadsides. Marsh-pink grows best in moist soil in full to partial sun and is infrequently offered in nurseries because of its biennial habit. It seemingly disappears in years of drought,   Vita Sackville-West on her garden at Sissinghurst (1950) | House & Garden Wow. Great share from @_houseandgarden archive: Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst (1950). If you are renovating or starting from scratch - read this & be inspired! "The place had been in the market for three years since the death of the last farmer-owner... Brambles grew in wild profusion; bindweed wreathed its way into every support; ground-elder made a green carpet; docks and nettles flourished; couch­ grass sprouted; half the fruit trees in the orchard were dead; the ones that remained alive were growing in the coarsest grass; the moat was silted up and so invaded by reeds and bulrushes that the water was almost invisible; paths there were none, save of trodden mud. It had its charm. It was Sleeping Beauty's castle with a ven­geance — if you liked to see it with a romantic eye. But, if you also looked at it with a realistic eye, you saw that Nature run wild was not quite so romantic as you thought, and entailed a great deal of laborious tidying up. The most urgent thing to do was to plant hedges. We were extravagant over this, and planted yew, and have never regretted it. Everybody told us it took at least a century to make a good yew hedge, but the photographs will, I think, disprove this: the hedge is now only seventeen years old, a mere adoles­cent, and, at the end where the ground slopes and it has been allowed to grow up in order to maintain the top-level, it is 16 feet high. At the end of all this is the herb garden, which always seems to allure visitors, no doubt because it is a secret, senti­mental little place. "Old world charm" is the phrase I always expect to hear, and nine times out of ten, I get it. But, less romantic­ally, the herb garden does supply very useful things to the kitchen. One needs years of patience to make a garden; one needs deeply to love it in order to endure that patience. One needs optimism and foresight. One has to wait. One has to work hard oneself, sometimes, as I had to work hard, manually, during the war years, cutting all those hedges with shears in my spare time. I hated those hedges when I looked at my blistered hands, but at the same time, I still felt that it had been worthwhile planting them. They were the whole pattern and design and anatomy of the garden, and, as such, was worth any trouble I was willing to take.”   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 1743 Today is the birthday of Joseph Banks. Banks is best known for his study of Australian flora and fauna and his role as the botanist on board the Endeavor with Captain James Cook. When they landed in Australia, neither Cook nor Banks realized that the quartz reef where they planted the British Flag contained gold. The area would remain untouched by Europeans for almost two more decades. Before returning to England, Cook worried the Endeavor wouldn't make it around the Cape of Good Hope. In a fateful decision, Cook had brought the ship to Batavia, a Dutch colony, to fortify his boat. Batavia was a dangerous place where malaria and dysentery were rampant. As a result of his stop, Cook lost a staggering 38 members of his crew. Banks, and a fellow botanist Daniel Solander, managed to survive the stop, although, at one point, they were both gravely ill. Even as they battled back from illness, they still went out to collect specimens. As gardeners, we owe a great debt to Banks. When he returned to England, it was Joseph Banks who advised George III on the creation of the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. And, in 1778, when Linnaeus died, his belongings went up for sale. By then, Joseph Banks was the President of the Linnean Society. Joseph 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, Banks secured the legacy of Linnaeus, which is why Linnaeus's collection is in London at the Linnaeus Society's Burlington House. And, Banks helped 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. At his London residence, Banks hired the Scottish botanist Robert Brown to be his botanical librarian. The two became lifelong friends. So much so, that when Banks died in 1820, he left his home, his collections, and his library to Brown, and he also endowed him with a sizeable yearly allowance.   1780Today is the birthday of the Moravian clergyman and botanist Lewis David von Schweinitz, also known as the "Father of North American Mycology." Mycology is the study of fungi. Lewis was born in Pennsylvania, and he was a descendant on his mother's side of Count Zinzendorf - the founder of the Moravian Church. Lewis's home town of Bethlehem Pennsylvania was a Moravian settlement. When Lewis was seven years old, he was placed in a Moravian boarding school called Nazareth Hall. One of Lewis's earliest memories was visiting Nazareth Hall before attending there. He passed by one of the classrooms and saw a specimen of lichen digitatus sitting on a table, and he went to inspect it. It was Lewis's first experience with botany, and it would become his favorite subject. After completing his education, Lewis moved to Niesky, Germany, with his family. He was 18 years old. In Germany, Lewis became a pastor, got married, and studied botany in his spare time. He even managed to help his professor put together a book featuring over 1,000 different types of fungi found in Niesky. Lewis used his natural talent for drawing and painting to created watercolors of the specimens featured, and they are now digitized and available online. After many years in Germany, Lewis and his wife moved back to the United States to lead a Moravian church. They settled in Salem, North Carolina. Although the church was his primary focus, throughout his adulthood, Lewis devoted all of his spare time to the study of fungi. Between 1812 and 1821, Lewis collected in and around Salem North, Carolina. He was essentially replicating the work he had performed in Germany under the direction of his botany professor. In 1818, Lewis published his work on the fungi of North Carolina. Then, four years later, in 1822, Lewis published an even more comprehensive book featuring a staggering 3,000 species of fungi. In all, Lewis single-handedly published over 1,200 new species of fungi. When Lewis died, his enormous herbarium made its way to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. And here's a fun side note that pertains to Lewis Schweinitz: In 1986, botanists discovered the rare sunflower named for Lewis Schweinitz - the Schweinitz sunflower (Helianthus schweinitzii) near Rock Hill in South Carolina. The Schweinitz sunflower exists only in about a dozen little pockets around Rock Hill and Charlotte. Lewis, himself, initially discovered the Schweinitz sunflower in 1821.   1822 On this day, Jeremiah Bailey of Chester county, Pennsylvania, patented the first practical lawnmower; it had two wheels and was pulled by a horse. A person could mow up to ten acres a day with Bailey's machine. After locals trialed the device, they reported, “We consider it as one of the most complete and useful labor-saving machines for agricultural uses hitherto invented...” The first genuinely successful machine would be patented ten years later by Obed Hussey of Maryland.   Unearthed Words 1825 Today is the birthday of the heartfelt American poet and writer - known at Rutland's poet and Vermont's unofficial poet laureate - Julia Dorr. As a girl, her pseudonym was Flora or Florillla. The poet William Cullen Bryant once read one of her poems and wrote to tell her how much he loved the beauty of its imagery. And Ralph Waldo Emerson visited her and included one of her poems - called Outgrown - in his book called Parnassus. As you hear today's poems, imagine Julia Dorr writing in her little study next to the parlor. She had a window by her desk that overlooked her flower garden, which she called "her refuge and her inspiration."   Roly-poly honey bee, Humming in the clover, Under you, the tossing leaves And the blue sky over, Why are you so busy, pray? Never still a minute, Hovering now above a flower.  Now half-buried in it! — Honeybee   And all the meadows, wide unrolled,  Were green and silver, green and gold,  Where buttercups and daisies spun  Their shining tissues in the sun.  — Unanswered   I know a spot where the wild vines creep,  And the coral moss-cups grow,  And where at the foot of the rocky steep,  The sweet blue violets blow. —Over the Wall   And the stately lilies stand Fair in the silvery light,  Like saintly vestals, pale in prayer;  Their pure breath sanctifies the air,  As its fragrance fills the night. — A Red Rose   Often I linger where the roses pour  Exquisite odors from each glowing cup;  Or where the violet, brimmed with sweetness o'er,  Lifts its small chalice up.  — Without and Within   Plant a white rose at my feet,  Or a lily fair and sweet,  With the humble mignonette And the blue-eyed violet. — Earth to Earth   Around in silent grandeur stood  The stately children of the wood;  Maple and elm and towering pine  Mantled in folds of dark woodbine. — At the Gate   Meadow-sweet or lily fair— Which shall it be? Clematis or brier-rose, Blooming for me? Spicy pink, or violet With the dews of morning wet, Sweet peas or mignonette— Which shall it be? Blue-bells and yellow-bells Swinging in the air; Purple pansies, golden pied; Pink-white daisies, starry-eyed; Gay nasturtiums, deeply dyed, Climbing everywhere. Life is so full, so sweet— How can I choose? If I gather this rose, That I must lose! All are not for me to wear; I can only have my share; Thorns are hiding here and there; How can I choose? — Choosing   O my garden! Lying whitely in the moonlight and the dew, Far across the leagues of distance flies my heart to-night to you, And I see your stately lilies In the tender radiance gleam With a dim, mysterious splendor, like the angels of a dream! I can see the trellised arbor, and the roses crimson And the lances of the larkspurs all glittering, row on row, And the wilderness of hollyhocks, where brown bees seek their spoil, And butterflies dance all day long, in glad and gay turmoil. — Homesick   My true love sent me a valentine  All on a winter's day,  And suddenly the cold gray skies  Grew soft and warm as May!  The snowflakes changed to apple blooms,  A pink- white fluttering crowd,  And on the swaying maple boughs  The robins sang aloud.  For moaning wintry winds, I heard  The music sweet and low  Of morning-glory trumpets  Through which the soft airs blow.  O love of mine, my Valentine!  This is no winter day —  For Love rules all the calendars,  And Love knows only May! —An Answer To A Valentine    Julia died just before her 88th birthday in 1913. In Evergreen Cemetery, in Rutland, Vermont, Julia shares a tombstone with her husband, Seneca. The stone features her poem "Beyond." For your understanding, a barque is a ship with three masts. Beyond the sunset's crimson bars,  Beyond the twilight and the stars,  Beyond the midnight and the dark,  Sail on, sail on, O happy barque.  Into the dawn of that Tomorrow  Where hearts shall find the end of sorrow  And Love shall find its own! — Beyond   Grow That Garden Library A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson The subtitle of this book is My Adventures with Bumblebees. Dave's book is fascinating, and it will change the way you think about bumblebees. When he was a little boy, Dave became obsessed with wildlife. Although he grew up with a menagerie of pets, bumblebees were his passion. I thought you would enjoy hearing a few excerpts from Dave's book. Here's where he talks about the biology of the Bumblebee: “They have to eat almost continually to keep warm; a bumblebee with a full stomach is only ever about forty minutes from starvation. If a bumblebee runs out of energy, she cannot fly, and if she cannot fly, she cannot get to flowers to get more food, so she is doomed.” Then, here's where Dave tells us what we can do to help the Bumblebee. The answer for gardeners is a pretty simple one. Dave writes: “The key to helping our rarer species to thrive is probably simply to add more flower patches to the landscape, making it a little easier for them to find food and keep their nests well provisioned.” And Dave is hopeful about the future of the Bumblebee And about the impact that each of us can have on their survival. He writes: “Conserving bumblebees is something anyone can do. A single lavender bush on a patio or in a window box will attract and feed bumblebees, even in the heart of a city." And I love that Dave includes this fantastic quote from Andrew Downing, the 19th-century American horticulturist. “The music of the busy bee Is drowsy, and it comforts me; But, ah! ’tis quite another thing, When that same bee concludes to sting!” Dave’s book came out in 2014. You can get a used copy of A Sting in the Tale by Dave Goulson and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $4.   Great Gifts for Gardeners eHabitus Sili-Seedlings Silicone Seed Starting Tray $12.50 100% SILICONE: FDA-approved, BPA free, food-grade silicone. Package quantity: 2, cell size: 2" X 2" X 2.25" STERILIZABLE – Dishwasher safe; steam clean or wash with hot water. Sterilizing your trays helps prevent cross-contamination and keeps your garden hygienic. INFINITELY REUSABLE – They last forever. Comfortably fits 2" plugs of rock wool or any material. A large drainage hole in the bottom ensures adequate bottom-watering. EASY SOIL RELEASE – Flexible silicone walls are optimal for transplanting seedlings by protecting the integrity of the roots and soil. The bendable material makes releasing soil simple and easy. No crinkling, no cracking, no ripping, no waste. These seed starter trays are built to last a lifetime. Our seedling trays will never melt, become brittle or crack, even under the most extreme conditions. THICK, HEAVY-DUTY MATERIAL - Silicone regulates the temperature of soil much better than plastic and peat. Also, our seedlings trays feel great in your hands and will never decay.   Today's Botanic Spark 1825 Today is the birthday of a student of Nantucket flora, the botanist Maria Louise Owen. Maria was born into a wealthy family in Nantucket. Her maiden name was Talent. When she was a little girl, Maria showed an interest in the plants growing around her home on Nantucket. The women in her family - her mother, her sisters, and her aunt - all shared in the hobby of botany. It wasn't long before Maria showed an aptitude for it. She had a superior intellect, memory, and processing skills. She had a scientific mind. After marrying a Harvard-educated doctor named Varillas Owen, the young couple settled in Springfield, Massachusetts. For more than 50 years, their home became a hub for scientists and academics. Maria loved to entertain, and she drew energy from connecting with the educated people in her area. One peer said that Maria was "easily the most cultivated and best-read woman of her time in Springfield." Maria served as the President of both the Springfield Women's Club and the Springfield Botanical Society for over a decade. A renaissance woman, Maria taught botany, French, astronomy, and geography. Although Maria enjoyed teaching all of these subjects equally, she always said that for her, happiness could be found in the study of botany. In 1882, Maria contributed to a little Nantucket guidebook. Maria's part featured a listing of all the plants on the island of Nantucket. The project was a bit retrospective for Maria since she was writing about the plants of her childhood and featuring specimens she'd collected as a young woman. Even after moving to Springfield, Maria still botanized in the area whenever she came back to Nantucket. Although she spent five decades of her adult life in Springfield, she always regarded Nantucket as her home. In 1888, Maria wrote her masterpiece - a comprehensive Flora of Nantucket, which featured almost 800 species and varieties. After her book, Maria made it a point to connect with new generations of Nantucket botanists. The young botanists were eager to make her acquaintance; Maria was a one-woman repository of all the plants of Nantucket. When the botanist Bicknell published a follow-up catalog about Nantucket in the early 1900s, he continually referred to Maria's work, which explicitly documented when and where plants were introduced. For instance, when she wrote about chicory, she said it was, "a roadside plant along the south end of Orange Street" where it had thrived for "fifty years." At the age of 87, Maria was asked about one of the plants in her flora - Tillaea. The plant was hard to find, and botanists were curious about a location for it. Maria wrote, "My patch of Tillaea... doubtless still exists, and there is a happy day in store for any botanist who sees it at just the right season." Maria died in 1907. She had moved back to Nantucket to live with her daughter. Walter Deane wrote in his Rhodora biography of Maria that she died, "...on a bright morning with the room flooded with sunshine, which she always loved, and filled with iris, columbine, and cornflowers…. She lived true to the [Latin] motto of her mother's family 'Post tenebris, speramus lumen de lumine,' which [Maria] always loved to translate, 'After the darkness, we hope for light from the source of light.'"

Today we celebrate the Dutch botanist who figured out the king bee was actually a queen and the poet gardener who preferred curves over straight lines. We'll learn about the evolutionist who started out as a staunch Christian and who once wrote, "I did not in the least doubt the strict and literal truth of every word in the Bible." Today's Unearthed Words feature thoughts about February, our shortest month. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that is brand new - just released officially today - and it encourages you to grow your fruit and vegetables in pots. I'll talk about a garden item that is just the coolest little gadget for growing seeds. And then we'll wrap things up with the backstory on a Clematis you probably have in your garden, or your neighbor has it - or both. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart   Curated Articles How to Eat Edible Flowers | FoodUnfolded How to Eat Edible Flowers? One bite at a time. "Chamomile tastes like apples; Begonia has a sharp citrus flavor, Calendula goes peppery to bitter, Daylilies - a melony, cucumber taste & Nasturtium is sweet and peppery."   Penelope Hobhouse - SGD Awards 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner - YouTube Take a moment & watch this - an EXCELLENT video featuring Penelope Hobhouse - (Society of Garden Designers) SGD Awards 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award Winner She says: "My feelings about good design are, first of all, the skeleton - the architecture. If you get the architecture right, you can fill it in with the plants you love. I was 82 - or something like that - when I came here. I knew it was my last garden. That's really what made me plant this as an architectural garden - with flowers in between green architecture. I only wanted plants I really loved, and that's what I've done. That's what is so lovely is living here - almost as a recluse - getting old. I think I'm very lucky people remember me at all. That's just luck and chance, I think." Sarah Morgan, SGD Chair, said: "Penelope Hobhouse has influenced and inspired garden design for decades. Self-trained in practical horticulture and design, she nevertheless forged a hugely successful career, thanks to her love and knowledge of plants and instinctive design talent." 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 1637Today is the birthday of the Dutch biologist and entomologist Jan Swammerdam (Yahn SWAH-MER-dam). Before Jan's work, people believed that insects created spontaneously. Jan proved that insects were born from eggs laid by the female of the species and that the larva, pupa, and adult, were just different forms of the same species. After Jan dissected a female bee and discovered it had ovaries, he pronounced the head of the colony to be a queen bee "hitherto looked upon as a king." And here was Jan's description of the male bees: "[The hive] tolerates, during summer days of abundance, the embarrassing presence in the hive of three or four hundred males, from whose ranks the queen about to be born shall select her lover; three or four hundred foolish, clumsy, useless, noisy creatures, who are pretentious, gluttonous, dirty, course, totally and scandalously idle, insatiable, and enormous." Jan's description of the hive's survival abilities is still as vibrant and relevant today as it was when he wrote: "Should disaster befall the little Republic; should the hive or the comb collapse; should man prove ignorant or brutal; should they suffer from famine, from cold or disease, and perish by thousands, it will still be almost invariably found that the queen will be safe and alive beneath the corpses of her faithful daughters. For they will protect her and help her escape; their bodies will provide both rampart and shelter; for her will be the last drop of honey, the wholesomest food. Break their comb twenty times in succession, take twenty times from them their young and their food, you still shall never succeed in making them doubt of the future."   1724Today is the birthday of the poet and gardener William Mason. The Reverend William Mason was also a writer, artist, and garden designer. Mason is remembered for creating the romance of the country house garden. Here's how he did it: In 1775 at Nuneham ("NEW-Num"), near Oxford, England, Mason designed a flower garden for his friend Lord Harcourt. To many, this garden was a turning point and marked the beginning of what came to be known as romantic flower gardening. What Mason accomplished was a radical change; straight lines in borders and beds were out. Circular beds were in. With new elements in gardens like island beds, this meant that the plants were located away from the house. Instead, plantings and beds were located near outdoor garden buildings like temples, or orangeries, or a seating area. The garden at Nuneham became a model for others. Mason's creation set the trend for English gardening, and Mason broadcast his ideas about romantic gardening in a very, very long poem called "The English Garden." It was released in chunks over the span of a decade, between 1772 and 1781. Mason's target audience were the wealthy garden owners of his time. He was speaking directly to them when he wrote: "Waste is not grandeur," and "A garden is the purest of human pleasures; it is the greatest refreshment to the spirit of man."   Mason made many appeals to country estate owners, but his broad message was to throw out formal gardens in favor of romantic landscapes. Now, the word romantic simply means a landscape that is wild or natural. During this time, people referred to these romantic, natural, or wild landscapes as the picturesque garden. Today, gardeners delight in this little verse from Mason's poem. It offers simple, resonate advice from William Mason to you: Take thy plastic spade, It is thy pencil. Take thy seeds, thy plants, They are thy colors.   1809Today is the birthday of the English naturalist and writer Charles Robert Darwin. Darwin was born into a large Christian family in Victorian England. His dad was wealthy; he was a doctor and an investor. For generations, Darwin's family were staunch abolitionists. Darwin's mother died when he was just eight years old. Clever and curious, he managed to find solace in learning. When he went to college at Cambridge, he was planning to be a member of the clergy. He wrote, "I did not then in the least doubt, the strict and literal truth of every word in the Bible." But then, Darwin met a man who would become his mentor and friend, John Stevens Henslow. Henslow taught botany at Cambridge, and the two men enjoyed learning from each other as they took walks in the country. Their time together inspired Darwin and helped him to focus on his specialty - the natural world. It also opened the door to a strong wanderlust - a desire to see firsthand what the world had to offer. It was thanks to his friend Henslow that Darwin received an invitation to join Captain Robert FitzRoy on the HMS Beagle. Henslow had written a letter recommending Darwin for the journey, especially endorsing his likable personality. Once Darwin was officially asked to be part of team Beagle, Henslow presented Darwin with a gift - a rare copy of Alexander von Humboldt's travels in South America. In the book, Henslow had inscribed these words: "J. S. Henslow to his friend C. Darwin on his departure from England upon a voyage around the World. 21st Sept. 1831."   Darwin treasured this gift above all others, and at his death, the book was safely brought to Cambridge University Library, where it remains to this day. Darwin's five-year Journey on the HMS Beagle led him to think differently about his faith and his perspective on creation. It was October 2, 1836, before the HMS Beagle returned to England. Often, Darwin is depicted on the Beagle as an old man; but he was just 22 when he sailed away and still a young 27 when he returned with boxes full of specimens and a brain swirling with new ideas. During the revelatory trip on the Beagle, Darwin had found the building blocks to his evolutionary theory in the many fossils and diverse species he discovered on his excursions. In particular, his visit to the Galapagos Islands - which were largely untouched by man; they were pristine - was especially influential. And, although people assume that Darwin had a lightbulb moment during his time on the Beagle, his writing shows that wasn't the case. Darwin's thinking on the topic of creation and evolution matured as he grew older. Bear in mind, his paternal grandfather, Erasmus, had experienced bigtime negative backlash for his own ideas on evolution. This made Darwin cautious, and it raised the stakes for going public with his own radical thoughts. To mitigate the risk, Darwin was methodical, and he worked to make an irrefutable case for evolution. Thus, it would be another 23 years after returning to England Beagle before Darwin was ready to publish his masterpiece: Origin of Species. Now, if you ever get the chance to review the first edition online, you might be surprised to know that the word evolution isn't even mentioned. It wasn't until the 6th edition that the powerful word that became synonymous with Darwin's work was integrated into the text - evolution.   Unearthed Words Here are some thoughts on February - the shortest month of the year:   The February sunshine steeps your boughs and tints the buds and swells the leaves within. — William Cullen Bryant, American Romantic poet   Deep sleeps the winter, Cold, wet, and grey; Surely all the world is dead; Spring is far away. Wait! the world shall waken; It is not dead, for lo, The Fair Maids of February Stand in the snow! — Cicely Mary Barker, English illustrator of fairies and flowers   In tangled wreath, in clustered gleaming stars, In floating, curling sprays, The golden flower comes shining through the woods These February days; Forth go all hearts, all hands, from out the town, To bring her gayly in, This wild, sweet Princess of far Florida - The yellow jessamine. — Constance Fenimore Woolson, American novelist, and poet, (and grand niece of James Fenimore Cooper), Yellow Jessamine    February is merely as long as it is needed to pass the time until March. — Dr. J. R. Stockton, Professor Emeritus of Business Statistics, University of Texas   February, when the days of winter seem endless, and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer. ― Shirley Hardie Jackson, American writer, Raising Demons   February makes a bridge, and March breaks it. — George Herbert, Welsh poet, orator, and priest   Grow That Garden Library Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots by Aaron Bertelsen This book is hot off the shelf - brand new - just released today! Aaron Bertelsen is the gardener-cook of England's Great Dixter in East Sussex — where the kitchen garden is a central part of everything he does. In his new cookbook, Aaron shares tips and tricks for potting up vegetables and preparing recipes from Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots - his brand new cookbook. This is such a great topic because so many of us have gardens where space is precious and limited. Following Aaron's example, we can expand our garden pots to include plants like blueberries and eggplant. Aaron has spent many seasons at Great Dixter, and for the years, he's refined his list of go-to vegetables and the various fruit specimens that he has learned to grow in containers. Now, he's sharing that advice with all of us so that we can learn what crops will grow best in pots. As a cook, Aaron also gives us his best advice on harvesting and cooking. This cookbook features over 50 wonderful recipes. The photos of these incredible dishes are so inspiring that you'll definitely want to expand what you're growing so that you can try some of Aaron's novel food ideas. Thanks to Aaron, once again, we've learned that space is not an excuse to not garden, and it certainly isn't a barrier to creativity or variety when it comes to what we plant. We just have to think more strategically about our gardens and search more diligently for wonderful examples to follow. Aaron and Great Dixter give us a wonderful blueprint for amping up the productivity in our garden space through the use of pots and the excitement in our own small garden spaces by following Aaron's lead. You can get a brand new copy of Grow Fruit & Vegetables in Pots by Aaron Bertelsen and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for $39.95.   Great Gifts for Gardeners Esschert Design USA W4008 Secrets du Potager Paper Pot Maker $13.65 Esschert Design says: "Our Secrets du Potager line is for those who are passionate about gardening, cooking, and entertaining and have an eye for detail. This clever tool is used for making seed pots from a newspaper; it's fun. Instead of traditional flower pots made of clay or plastic, you can also use homemade, small paper pots. In no time at all, you will be able to prepare a range of paper pots. When the time comes to plant the young seedlings outside, simply put them together with the paper pot in the ground. The newspaper rots away by itself. This set contains the paper pot press and instructions on how to produce the pots." A clever tool for making seed pots from newspaper Set includes the paper pot press and instructions on how to prepare the pot   Today's Botanic Spark I thought you'd enjoy learning about the family behind the ubiquitous Jackman Clematis - it's the one with the large dark purple flowers with yellow centers. And, just an FYI, you can prune the Jackman back in the fall without hurting next year's bloom - so don't sweat it, you can't hurt it with an end of the season cleanup. 1869Today is the anniversary of the death of the English nurseryman, pomologist, florist, and Clematis hybridizer George Jackman. He died at the age of 68. With multiple George's in the family, this George Jackman was always referred to as George I. Now, George I, and his brother Henry, were born into a nurseryman's family. In 1810, their father, William, founded Jackman Nursery on 150 acres in Woking ("Woe-king"), Surrey. George I and Henry grew up learning the business alongside their dad. By 1830, Willliam had turned the business over to his sons. After a few years, Henry decided he wasn't interested in running the struggling nursery, and he left it for George I. In the fall of 1834, George married Mary Ann Freemont. He was 33 years old. In a little over three years, George II was born. The beginning of the year 1840 was a terrible time in the life of George I. He lost his wife Mary in January and his father, William, in February. In the span of twenty-five days, George I and his 3-year-old son, George II, were alone. Needless to say, the nursery became the center of their world. The start of Clematis hybridizing, began five years before George I's life took such a dramatic turn. In 1835, about 35 miles from the Jackman nursery, London's Pineapple Nursery owned by John Andrew Henderson created the first Clematis hybrid. It was called Clematis Hendersonii - no doubt, George I took notice. When George II was 13 years old, Robert Fortune brought Clematis lanuginosa ("LAN-you-jee-NO-sah") to England. Native to China, the blooms on this Clematis were larger than any ever seen before. If Clematis blossoms were going to get bigger, the lanuginosa was the linchpin. By this point, George I was employing 35 men and six boys at the Jackman Nursery. George II shadowed every aspect of the business, and he grew to be a shrewd owner/operator. As a young man, George II was energized at the thought of clematis hybridizing. When he was just 21 years old, George II crossed Fortune's lanuginosa with Hendersonii along with the climber atrorubens. In less than six months, they had 300 seedlings. and George Jackman II had an instant hit on his hands. The plant was hardy, it quickly produced long-lasting impressive flowers, and the rootstock lasted for many years. The year was 1858, and Clematis Jackmanii (ii = "ee-eye") was born. George II wrote: "Seedlings about 300 — results of hybrids: very robust growers, abundant in flower of rich deep purple and maroon." Clematis jackmanii went on to receive the Award of Garden Merit from The Royal Horticultural Society. And, George II co-authored a book with Thomas Moore, the Secretary of The Royal Horticultural Society, the book called Clematis as a Garden Flower. George II and Thomas Moore dedicated the book to HRH Princess Mary, the Duchess of Teck. The Clematis was one of her favorite flowers. When George I died on this day in 1869, he had raised his son and had turned his nursery into a success. He had served as chapelwarden for his church - the church of St. John - for over two decades. He started serving a few years after losing his wife Mary, Mrs. George Jackman. The Gardener's chronicle said he died after a gout attack and was by all accounts a "beloved… kind-hearted, genial Christian." It went on to say that his "workmen (several of whom had been [with him] for 20, 30, or 40 years)" followed his coffin to the churchyard for burial. In 1967, the Jackman Nursery was sold by a Jackman descendant, Roland Jackman.

Today we celebrate the man who suggested naming the Twinflower for Linnaeus and the botanist who gave Meriwether Lewis a crash course in botany. We'll learn about the English writer who wrote, that, "God once loved a garden we learn in holy writ and seeing gardens in the spring, I well can credit it." And we also tip our hats to the British botanist who loved the common spotted orchid. Today's Unearthed Words feature words about the white stuff covering our gardens right now: snow. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about a family who settled in the Florida frontier. The book was honored as the "Most Outstanding Florida Historical Novel." I'll talk about a tool that will help you spruce up a number of items in your garden (I love these things!) and then we'll wrap things up with a pioneer naturalist who wrote books that became a beloved part of many modern childhoods. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart   Curated Articles Alan Titchmarsh: The stunning midwinter trees whose bark is better than their bite - Country Life Here's a great post by Alan Titchmarsh in Country Life about the fabulous book Winter Gardens by Cedric Pollet. Pollet is a shutterbug who captures plants in their dormancy: "the best varieties of dogwoods, willows, maples, and birches, plus a smattering of brambles and bamboos." "We are none of us too old to discover new plants and new ways of using them."   Plant health resolutions: Pippa Greenwood Botanist and broadcaster @PippaGreenwood wants to see more funding for research into pests and pathogens, and the breeding of plants better able to resist new diseases. "You could say that plant health is the most important thing – we, as the human race, cannot survive long-term without plants; in fact, we couldn't survive for long at all. Plants are fundamentally important to everything. Increased movement of people, food, and other goods has played a significant part in the spread of pests and pathogens, often with a very serious impact on plant health. Quite simply, we have to take steps to ensure plant health is seen as a top priority."   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 1686 Today is the birthday of the Dutch botanist Jan Gronovius. Gronovius's story is inextricably bound to the Virginia botanist John Clayton. Clayton botanized Virginia. In the early 1700s, Clayton sent specimens to Gronovius both directly and indirectly through the English naturalist Mark Catesby. Gronovius was a little in over his head as he attempted to make sense of the overwhelming amount of specimens from Clayton. So, he did what most of us would do; he asked for help - and he got it from Carl Linnaeus. In a brazen move, Gronovius used Clayton's specimens and documentation to put together a Flora of Virginia in 1739. He published the work without notifying Clayton, and he certainly didn't seek his permission before he started the endeavor. Other than the Clayton situation, Gronovius is remembered for the many plants that he named. After seeing the Twinflower, it was Gronovius who suggested naming the plant after Linnaeus. Without Gronovius, Linnaeus probably wouldn't have had a plant named for him during his lifetime; Linnaeus was very modest. And, bless his heart, Gronovius was sensitive to Linnaeus's need to keep the honorary naming low key. So Gronovius wrote that, "[The Twinflower was] "a plant of Lapland; lowly, insignificant, disregarded, flowering but for a brief space - after Linnaeus who resembles it." Thus, the Twinflower is the only plant named for the Father of Taxonomy, Linnaeus, and has the botanical name is Linnea Borealis. Another plant that Gronovius named was the genus Gerbera which was named after the German botanist Traugott Gerber. Finally, in 1739, It was Gronovius, who combined the words for water and jug - hydro and angeion; put them together, and you get hydrangea, which translates to water jug.   1766 Today is the birthday of the American botanist, naturalist, and physician Benjamin Smith Barton. Barton worked as a professor of natural history and botany at the University of Pennsylvania, where he authored the very first textbook on American botany. In 1803, Barton tutored Meriwether Lewis to get him ready for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Lewis had little knowledge of natural history and plants. Barton's expertise made it possible for him to be quite effective on the expedition. Barton was supposed to create a book describing all of the plants that were found on the expedition. But, for some reason, he never began writing. The job ultimately fell to Barton's assistant, Frederick Pursh, who ended up having a falling out with Barton. Pursh took copies of the specimens and went to England, where he found a patron and published his Flora of North America — much to the chagrin of Benjamin Smith Barton and other botanists. And, there's a fun story that came out last year, in February, about this time. And, it was about a little yellow butterfly that was found pressed between the pages of a Barton manuscript - his Flora Virginica - from 1812. It turns out that this little yellow creature was found by a library fellow named E. Bennett Jones at the American Philosophical Society as he was looking through the book. Butterfly experts felt the placement was purposeful since the butterfly was found in between the pages listed "plants beloved by pollinators - such as Monarda."  After the discovery, the Barton butterfly was carefully removed and preserved in a suspended container. In a touching result, the manuscript will forever bear a butterfly-shaped stain - marking the spot where the little butterfly was pressed between its pages for over 200 years before it was discovered.   1882 Today is the birthday of the English writer Winifred Mary Letts. Gardeners love her quote on spring: That God once loved a garden, we learn in Holy writ.  And seeing gardens in the Spring, I well can credit it. Winifred also wrote a poem about spring called "Spring the Cheat." This is one of many poems Winifred wrote about the Great War - WWI. Winifred wrote "Spring the Cheat" to remind people that they were not alone in their suffering. Her poem illustrates how pointless existence seems during wartime. Winifred contrasts the season of rebirth - spring (which is cyclical), with a war-induced season of loss (which usually spreads across many seasons and is especially at odds during spring). Spring the Cheat The wych-elm shakes its sequins to the ground, With every wind, the chestnut blossoms fall: Down by the stream the willow-warblers sing, And in the garden to a merry sound  The mown grass flies. The fantail pigeons call And sidle on the roof; a murmuring  Of bees about the woodbine-covered wall, A child's sweet chime of laughter — this is spring. Luminous evenings when the blackbird sways Upon the rose and tunes his flageolet, A sea of bluebells down the woodland ways, — O exquisite spring, all this — and yet — and yet — Kinder to me the bleak face of December Who gives no cheating hopes, but says — "Remember."   1920 Happy birthday to British botanist and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Jack Heslop-Harrison. He was the first Director to resign the position since its creation in 1822. In 1957, Jack wrote an article on the hybridization of the common spotted orchid. Today, at Kew, there is a marker for the spotted orchid (or the marsh orchid), Dactylorhiza X braunii ("DACK-tie-lo-RYE-zah Brawn-ee-eye); Jack's favorite flower.   Unearthed Words Here are some poems and quotes about snow: "To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold." — Aristotle, Greek philosopher and polymath   "There is no winter without snow, no spring without sunshine, and no happiness without companions." — Korean Proverb   Here delicate snow-stars, out of the cloud, Come floating downward in airy play, Like spangles dropped from the glistening crowd That whiten by night the milky way. — William Cullen Bryant, American Romantic poet, The Snow-Shower    "There's a silence in a snowy dawn that forces you to look anew at what has been transformed from the customary landscape of your day-to-day life. Dogwoods glisten in their silver finery; bowing fir limbs form a secret cathedral." — Nancy Hatch Woodward, American writer, Southern Snow   Grow That Garden Library A Land Remembered by Patrick D Smith This book came out in 1996. A land remembered is a multi-generational saga, and it tells the story of a family who settled in the Florida Frontier and survived against all the odds and the land itself. In the story, the MacIvey family arrive by oxcart in Florida in the 1850s. Settling on the banks of the Kissimmee River, they fight off mosquitoes, floods, freezes, and rustlers. In addition to telling the story of the MacIvey family, Smith writes poignantly about another character: the Florida landscape. Specifically, Smith tells how Florida looked - when it was pristine - before the pioneers came and settled the land. Smith highlights how the Florida landscape has been irrevocably altered by development and destroyed by greed over the past two centuries. A land remembered has won many awards as a work of Florida historical fiction. This best-selling novel has been reprinted multiple times over the years. You can get a used copy of A Land Remembered by Patrick D Smith and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $5.   Great Gifts for Gardeners Katzco Furniture Repair Kit Wood Markers - Set of 13 - Markers and Wax Sticks with Sharpener - for Stains, Scratches, Floors, Tables, Desks, Carpenters, Bedposts, Touch-Ups, Cover-Ups, Molding Repair $9.99 This 13 piece kit includes 6 Repair Markers, six paper wrapped wax sticks, and one wax stick sharpener packaged in a blister card. 6 Unique Colors - Maple, Oak, Cherry, Walnut, Mahogany, and Black to match the color of your furniture. Now there's no need for you to call a professional to retouch your scuffed furniture. Become the pro yourself! Premium Quality - Top quality markers and wax sticks that cover scratches, nicks, scuffs, and discoloration on furniture, cabinets, tables, beds, and more. 100% effective and permanent. Easy To Use - Simply draw over the scratch, allow it to quickly dry, and watch the scratches disappear right before your eyes! These are safe to use on all types of wooden furniture. Use the included sharpener to sharpen the wax sticks. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed - Katzco will make sure that you will be satisfied with this product you buy from us. You are protected with our 100% No Questions Asked Guarantee for either a replacement or refund. We care about only putting out high-quality products that satisfy your needs. If there is anything you need that we don't offer, we go and find the best for you!   Today's Botanic Spark 1957 Today is the anniversary of the death of Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of the reasons so many of us have a soft spot in our heart for the Little House books is because Laura was so descriptive; she was a natural storyteller. In retrospect, I think you might be surprised by the amount of material in Laura's books devoted to the natural world - ma's gardens, the landscapes that Laura and her family experienced, and her overall reverence for life - plants, animals, and human - all of it is so cherished by Laura and her loved ones. In 2017, the author, Marta McDowell, wrote a book called The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and in it, she highlights the "Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House books." Marta's book sheds light on Laura as a naturalist. In a blog post, she challenged us by writing: "I'd like to suggest a thought experiment. Instead of categorizing Laura Ingalls Wilder as an American children's author, think of her as a nature writer as well… Long before she was a writer, Laura Ingalls Wilder was a gardener and farmer, growing food for the table and raising crops for sale. Nature was her home, as well as little houses. Through her life and work, Wilder sowed a deep appreciation for the world outside one's own door. Her books still inspire budding naturalists to plant, preserve, and appreciate their own wilder gardens." Marta and I had a lovely chat that is featured in Episode 585 of the Still Growing podcast - if you'd like to check it out. You can get a used copy of TheWorld of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Marta McDowell and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $4. In the Missouri Ruralist, Laura wrote, "The voices of nature do not speak so plainly to us as we grow older, but I think it is because, in our busy lives, we neglect her until we grow out of sympathy. Our ears and eyes grow dull, and beauties are lost to us that we should still enjoy. Life was not intended to be simply a round of work, no matter how interesting and important that work may be. A moment's pause to watch the glory of a sunrise - or a sunset - is so satisfying, while a bird song will set the steps to music all day long." In early February 1918, Laura wrote: "Now is the time to make a garden! Anyone can be a successful gardener at this time of year, and I know of no pleasanter occupation these cold, snowy days, then to sit warm and snug by the fire making a garden with a pencil, and a seed catalog. What perfect vegetables do we raise in that way, and so many of them! Our radishes are crisp and sweet, our lettuce tender and our tomatoes smooth and beautifully colored. Best of all, there is not a bug or worm in the whole garden, and the work is so easily done. In imagination, we see the plants in our spring garden, all in straight, thrifty rows with the fruit of each plant and vine numerous and beautiful as the pictures before us. How near the real garden of next summer approaches the ideal garden of our winter fancies depends upon how practically we dream and how hard we work."  

Today we celebrate the Spaniard who brought the pineapple and coffee to Hawaii.  We'll learn about the man who gardened at Monks House so much it would cause fights with his wife. We'll honor the Japanese American Landscape Architect, who designed many of our Modern Urban Public Spaces and the man who came up with a new kind of berry in the heart of Napa Vally in the 1920s. We'll hear some thoughts about the end of Fall from various poets and writers. We Grow That Garden Library with one of the most beautiful and sophisticated books on our favorite houseplant: the orchid. I'll talk about the five microgreens you should grow for the Holidays to impress your guests, and then we'll add things up with some charming advice on starting a Walking Club from 1890.    But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Vote For the Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights | USA Today | @USATODAY It's time to vote for your favorite - The Best Botanical Garden Holiday Lights @USATODAY Readers' Choice Awards. During the winter season, a different kind of color lights up botanical gardens across the United States. Instead of spring flowers, visitors find twinkling holiday lights, often accompanied by a range of other holiday activities and events. Which botanical garden puts on the best seasonal lights show? You decide by voting once per day until polls close on Monday, December 2at noon ET. The ten winning gardens will be announced on 10Best.com on Friday, December 13 The current standings are: 1. A Longwood Christmas - Longwood Gardens - Kennett Square, Penn. 2. Dominion Energy GardenFest of Lights - Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden - Richmond, Va. 3. Gardens Aglow - Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens - Boothbay, Maine 4. Nights of a Thousand Candles - Brookgreen Gardens - Murrells Inlet, S.C. 5. Million Bulb Walk/Dominion Energy Garden of Lights - Norfolk Botanical Garden - Va. 6. Illumination: Tree Lights - Morton Arboretum - Chicago 7. Lights in Bloom - Marie Selby Botanical Gardens - Sarasota, Fla. 8. River of Lights - ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden - Albuquerque 9. Fantasy in Lights - Callaway Gardens - Pine Mountain, Ga 10. Illuminations - Botanica - Wichita, Kan.     Vancouver's Seawall Proves Strong Infrastructure Can Be Pretty, Too | CityLab @CityLab @zachmortice Zach Mortice wrote this great article in City Lab about an artistic seawall barrier. Gardeners can be inspired by taking the functional and making it so much more. Fencing, borders, raised beds, etc. don't need to be eyesores.      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 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 birthday of the Spanish adventurer and botanist known as Hawaii's Original Farmer, Francisco de Paula Marín, who was born on this day in 1774. By the time Marin was in his early twenties, he had already made his way to Honolulu, Hawaii. It would be his home for the rest of his life. Marin became a friend and advisor to King Kamehameha I, who consolidated all the Hawaiian Islands during his rule. Marin served in the Kamehameha Dynasty in various capacities all through his life, but he is best remembered for his work in horticulture. In 1813, Marin grew the first pineapple in Honolulu - the Hawaiian word for pineapple translates to "foreign fruit." Two years later, Marin planted the first Hawaiian vineyard using vines of the Mission grape. And, in 1817, with the approval of King Kamehameha, Marin planted the first coffee seeds in Hawaii.       #OTD   Today is the birthday of the man who designed Monks House garden Leonard Sidney Woolf who was born on this day in 1880. Woolf was the husband of Virginia Woolf. Leonard was the primary gardener and garden designer of Monks House - although Virginia helped him. Virginia and Leonard lived at the house from the time they first purchased it in 1919 until their deaths. The garden at Monks Hosue was a retreat and a place that they could both escape from the chaos of London. Leonard loved to be in the garden gardening. He hated tea roses and floribunda roses. But, he loved fruit trees like apple and pears, and he sold the fruits to make money. Leonard's devotion to the garden was a source of consternation for Virginia. Leonard spent so most of his time and his money on the garden. Virginia famously complained, “We are watering the earth with our money!” Leonard recorded all of his Monks House garden income and expenditures in a gorgeous dark green and pink ledger book. The first line in the book is dated August 26th, 1919, and he recorded the first gardening work performed by gardener William Dedman. Virginia described Monks House as "the pride of our hearts.’" In July of 1919, she wrote that gardening or weeding produced "a queer sort of enthusiasm which made me say this is happiness." When Virginia suffered bouts of depression, the garden at Monks House was the place she went to recover and heal. Since both Virginia and Leonard kept diaries, the garden was a frequent topic. On September 29, 1919, Virginia wrote: "A week ago, Leonard's wrist & arm broke into a rash. The Dr called it eczema. Then Mrs. Dedman brushed this aside & diagnosed sunflower poisoning. [Leonard] had been uprooting them with bare hands. We have accepted her judgment."    One of Virginia's favorite places to write was in the garden at Monks House. She had a small converted shed that she called her writing lodge. Every morning on her way to the lodge, Virginia walked through the garden. The Monks House garden was THE place where she wrote some of her most famous works. One story is often shared to illustrate Leonard's devotion to gardening. In 1939, as the second world war approached, Virginia called for him to come inside to listen to "the lunatic" Hitler on the radio. But Leonard was in the middle of tending to his Iris, and he shouted back: ”I shan’t come. I am planting iris, and they will be flowering long after he is dead.”   After Virginia's tragic suicide, Leonard wrote: "I know that V. will not come across the garden from the Lodge, and yet I look in that direction for her. I know that she is drowned, and yet I listen for her to come in at the door."   At Monks House garden, there were two Elm trees that the Woolf's had sweetly named after themselves, “Virginia and Leonard.” Leonard buried Virginia’s ashes under one of those Elms and installed a stone tablet with the last lines from her novel The Waves: “Against you, I fling myself, unvanquished and unyielding, O Death! The waves crashed on the shore.”         #OTD   Today is the birthday of the Japanese-American landscape architect who designed some of the country’s best-known industrial parks, urban spaces, and campuses, Hideo Sasaki, who was born on this day in 1919. Sasaki was born in Reedley, Calif., and grew up on his family’s truck farm in the San Joaquin Valley. During WWII, Sasaki and his family suffered at an internment camp in Arizona, where Sasaki worked in beet fields.  As a very bright student, Sasaki went on to study at the University of Illinois and Harvard Graduate School of Design. Sasaki lived in the Boston area, where he taught at Harvard for more than 20 years, chairing its landscape architecture department from 1958 to 1968, and he founded his Sasaki Associates firm. By 1993, more than a third of all landscape architecture professors had been trained by Sasaki. Sasaki created industrial parks for big companies like John Deere and Upjohn. He also designed urban spaces like Boston’s Copley Square, New York’s Washington Square Village and the St. Louis Gateway Mall. In 1971, Sasaki became the first recipient of the American Society of Landscape Architects medal. Sasaki died of cancer back in August of 2000.     #OTD Today is the anniversary of the death of the plant hybridizer Rudolph Boysen who died on this day in 1950. In the 1910s and '20s, Boysen had been playing around with plant genetics. He worked on an 18-acre farm owned by John Lubbens in Napa Valley. On one June morning, Boysen took a walk along a creek bank to inspect some of his new berry creations. Boysen was astonished when he saw that one of the vines bore fruit that was almost two inches long. The fruit would become known to the world as the Boysenberry. Boysenberries are similar to blackberries but have a larger, juicier, and sweeter fruit. The Boysenberry is a cross between the loganberry, the raspberry, and the blackberry. In 1927, Boysen advertised them as "the sensation of the 20th Century."  The grower, Walter Knott, had been looking for new varieties of berries, and when he got some of Boysen's plants, he knew it was the berry he had been looking for over the past decade. Knott gave Boysen credit by naming the plant in his honor. But, Knott managed to make an empire for himself with the proceeds - establishing the world-renown Knotts Berry Farm. As for Boysen, he never earned a dime from the Boysenberry.       Unearthed Words   "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year, Of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sear." - William Cullen Bryant   "She calls it "stick season," this slow disrobing of summer,  leaf by leaf, till the bores of tall trees, rattle and scrape in the wind." - Eric Pinder, Author   "November comes  And November goes,  With the last red berries  And the first white snows. With night coming early,  And dawn coming late,  And ice in the bucket  And frost by the gate. The fires burn  And the kettles sing,  And earth sinks to rest  Until next spring." - Elizabeth Coatsworth     Today's book recommendation: Orchid Modern by Marc Hachadourian Marc Hachadourian is the senior curator of the incredible orchid collection at the New York Botanical Garden, and his book Modern Orchidsis outstanding. The subtitle for the book is Living and Designing with the World’s Most Elegant Houseplants - so true, Marc. You can read for yourself in Marc's book about the history of orchids and all the different types of orchids, but most of us simply want to know the answer to one or two questions like 'how do I keep my orchids happy and healthy?' and/or 'how do I get them to rebloom?' To Marc, the answer to those questions is pretty straightforward. In general, we simply need to understand the growing conditions that orchids prefer. Marc teaches us what orchids like by asking us the following six questions: Does the location have natural sunlight? How strong is the sunlight? How long does the location, receive natural light each day? What temperatures will there be throughout the year? In the daytime? In the night? Is the air constantly dry or doesn't have some moisture And finally, how often will I water and care for the plants? If you have an orchid lover in your family, this is the book for them. It would make a lovely Christmas present. In addition to learning how to care for the orchids, you will get Marc's top picks for orchids, and he has 120 of them. And, Marc also shares some pretty amazing projects that will add to the decor of your home, including terrariums, a wreath, and a kokedama. There's also a project that teaches us to make an orchid bonsai tree that is absolutely stunning. All of Marc's crafts and projects are a level up from something you would typically see in a gardening book. Marc provides a level of sophistication and elegance with his work that I just have not seen in a garden book in some time. When I can look at a project and learn something - whether it's a new tool or new product that I can source for working with my own floral arrangements - I'm so appreciative. So, hats off to Marc for tackling a subject that most of us feel we could use more help with (orchids) and by not dumbing it down. Overall, Marc shares super-helpful pro-insights and modern options for incorporating our most beloved houseplant: orchids.       Today's Garden Chore Start sowing some microgreens for the holiday season.  There is nothing like a microgreens garden to satisfy your winter gardening needs and at that same time, growing those fresh, nutrient-dense, garden to table greens that you can grow in the comfort of your own home. For most gardeners, I think the biggest challenge with growing microgreens is learning what dishes can be enhanced with them. Btw, microgreens are just the little seedlings that pop up after you plant the seeds. So, what five microgreens will I be planting in time for Christmas?  Arugula - this is the perfect topping for your Christmas Lasagna or bruschetta — and it offers the same amount of calcium as spinach. Basil - the PERFECT addition to many tart Christmas drinks. Basil is an anti-inflammatory. Radishes - wonderful, fresh addition to salads and even stuffing. As tasty as a full-grown radish. Vitamin C + Protein. If you like radishes, you'll love radish microgreens. Cilantro - for soups and stews. Super easy to grow. Lutein and Beta-Caratein Powerhouse. Pea - excellent for garnishing any egg dish and FANTASTIC for adding to mashed potatoes. 7x Vitamin C of blueberries. Onion Sprouts - use just as you would an onion. The sprouts taste just like an onion.       Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this day in 1890, The San Francisco Call shared an article with this headline: Walking Clubs. Lazy People Have No Interest in the Subject. Here's an excerpt: "You may have heard of a hundred kinds of clubs, ... and you may belong half a dozen and yet have never heard of a walking club.  If so, you have missed one of the best of all. Autumn is here, and the bracing air makes you feel like exercising briskly. The leaves are turning to gold and scarlet, the nuts are nearly ripe, and the squirrels are scampering through the trees, chattering challenges with saucy eyes. Now is the time to organize walking clubs. A number of bright, boys and girls might get up such a club in an hour, No initiation, no fees. A President perhaps and maybe a Secretary to put down anything wonderful that may happen during the walks. The only business of the club will be to settle where they will walk. No constitution, no by-laws. Take any morning when it does not rain, see that your feet are shod strongly and comfortably, and walk as many miles as you can without fatigue. Hold up your head, throw your chest forward, and walk. Don't mince along or shuffle, but strike a long, swinging step from the hip joints. Have a destination. Select a farmhouse or a country inn three miles out. Manage to get there in time for dinner or supper, and after eating, rest one hour. Then come home by a different route. At night take a bath and go to bed. Take a walk once the first week, twice the second week, and keep that up for six weeks. Then walk three times a week, if the weather permits. Begin with a six-mile walk and lengthen it to ten. Keep up these walks during the autumn and winter — in fact, up to next summer. Get a number to go, and keep on enlisting new members. Seek a new route for every walk, if such a thing is possible. If not, add variety by dividing the club into two detachments, which shall meet at some previously agreed upon place to lunch. Then "swap routes" for the return trip, or return all together by a third route. There are a hundred ways of preventing monotony. Incite members to discover new points of interest and get an amateur botanist or geologist to join you. Study natural history as you walk, discuss, argue, reason, but don't quarrel. This is the way to be healthy and wise. Never mind the wealth— that will come of itself."       Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."  

Today we celebrate the first grapes that were grown down under and the poet who saved a tree that looks like it came straight out of a fairy tale. We'll learn about the painter who was supposed to paint pineapples but never did and the florist who did the flowers for Queen Elizabeth's coronation. We'll hear some thoughts on autumn from a Swiss philosopher and poet. We Grow That Garden Library with a riveting biography of a floral artist extraordinaire and the founder of the cordon bleu cooking school. I'll talk about how you can repurpose a big bulky item taking up space in your kitchen cupboard, and then we'll wrap things up with the Florida State Flower - think citrus!   But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Bob Randall's gardening book explains how to cope with Houston's hotter temperatures.   Dr. Bob has a new book for Houston gardeners - and great tips for dealing with warmer temps: 1. Grow your own food — even if it’s just a single pot of lettuce on a balcony. Food gardening cuts your carbon footprint. It sharpens your awareness of the natural world. And it’s an excellent way to fight depression about global warming. 2. If you’re a long-time gardener, accept that the time-honored planting dates you used ten years ago may no longer work for specific crops. If old reliables such as corn or lettuce are now failing year after year, ask yourself: Is it because the average temperature is too high for germination, pollination, or some other crucial stage of plant life? Adjust your planting schedule accordingly. 3. To cope with both flooding and droughts, add a pond or rain garden to your yard. During heavy storms, it will store rainwater. And over time, it will release it into the water table below your yard, keeping deep roots happy for months to come. 4. When doing your long-term planning, remember that Houston’s summer is hard both on plants and people. Plan to do as little hard outdoor work in your garden in the hot months as possible. Water with a soaker hose and automated timer. Plant cover crops to recharge the soil and keep out weeds. 5. Plant what grows well here in the warming subtropics — even if it means trying new foods or plants. Citrus trees, blackberries, figs, and persimmons grow exceptionally well here. And even in the dead of August, you can harvest crops such as long beans, tindora perennial cucumbers, and leaf amaranth.           Episode 50: Top 50 Plants - FineGardening@FineGardening  Zoo-Wee Mama! I LOVE looking through favorite plant lists! Here's a great list from Danielle & Steve with 50 Top Plants in Episode 50 of the Let's Argue About Plants Podcast. Get out your notebooks...         Ornamental Fall Berries Provide Year-Round Awe Here are some excellent plant picks from @uie_hort that provide many seasons of interest. Not only do these plants offer beautiful flower displays & pretty foliage, but they also have a remarkable presentation of fruits called drupes: ‘Brandywine’ possumhaw viburnum (Viburnum nudum), Beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana), and White fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus).         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 1791, Australia's first thriving grapevine was planted.  The Australian wine industry began with the arrival of the first fleet into Sydney Cove. In 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip of the First Fleet brought grape cuttings from South America and South Africa. Philip planted a small vineyard at Farm Cove - the site of the present Sydney Botanical Gardens. In the beginning, the settlement in New South Wales experienced great difficulty. Supplies were limited, so cultivating crops for food was the top priority. The soil in and around Sydney was poor, and the convicts lacked horticultural experience. Starvation was a real issue during those early days.  Not surprisingly, Philip's vines did not bear, but they were able to be transplanted to a new location - a three-acre vineyard at Parramatta. By this time, Arthur Philip had become the first Governor of New South Wales.  Philip's grapes were Crimson Grapes, which require warm, deep, and fertile soil. Fortunately, many regions in Australia are perfect for growing Crimson Grapes like areas in Victoria, New South Wales, and southeastern Queensland. Australian Crimson Grapes are harvested from November to May.           #OTD   Today is the birthday of the poet, Dodgers baseball fan, and founding member of the Friends of Prospect Park, Marianne Moore, who was born on this day in 1885. Moore was an eccentric intellectual who had a range of interests outside of poetry. In 1967, when she was 80 years old, Moore created a citizen group called the Friends of Prospect Park. Moore formed the group to protect endangered trees in Prospect Park - especially one tree in particular; the Camperdown Elm. Camperdown Elms have a fascinating history that dates back to 1840. That year, on the estate of the First Earl of Camperdown, the estate forester and Landscaper named David Taylor made a discovery. After planting much of the forest on the estate, one day, Taylor noticed a contorted young elm tree growing parallel to the ground. What Taylor was looking at was essentially a weeping mutation of the Scotch Elm. Like other weepers, the tree lacked the gene for negative geotropism, so the tree couldn't distinguish which way was up. Taylor dug up the young elm and brought it to the gardens of Camperdown House. Eventually, Taylor grafted cuttings of the weeping elm to Wych Elms, and the result was a tree that became known as a Camperdown Elm - a weeping cultivar of the Scotch Elm. Victorian gardeners loved Camperdown Elms - with their contortions and branches that grow out from the trunk quite parallel to the ground. In 1872, the New York florist Adolphus Goby Burgess gifted a Camperdown Elm to the Brooklyn Parks Commission. The Burgess family had immigrated from England twenty years earlier in 1852. They were highly regarded in the world of horticulture, and their specialty was dahlias. Adolphus, no doubt, acquired the tree thanks to his English connections. After receiving the tree from Burgess, it was Frederick Law Olmsted, who decided on the location for it. He decided to install it near the boathouse at Prospect Park. Since the graft was relatively low on the rootstock, Olmsted wisely planted the tree on a small hill allowing plenty of room for the weeping branches. By the time the Pulitzer-Winning Poet Marianne Moore fell in love with the Camperdown Elm at Prospect Park, it was in sad shape. Some of the limbs were hollow thanks to rats and carpenter ants. The weak areas of the tree made it vulnerable, and it began to succumb to a bacterial infection as well as general rot. Marianne used her fame and her wit to save the Camperdown Elm. She wrote a poem about the tree which was published in The New Yorker in September 1967. The public read her poem, and the Bartlett Tree Company saved the tree. It still stands today. Before I read the poem, I'll offer a few definitions. Thanatopsis is the name of a poem written by William Cullen Bryant. It's also a Greek word that means meditation on or thinking about death. Byrant's poem is a consolation to us; eventually, we will all die. Thomas Cole and Asher Durand were both landscape painters.  One of Asher Durand's most famous paintings is called Kindred Spirits. The picture shows two men standing on a rock ledge and shaded by the branches of an enormous elm tree in the Catskill Mountains. The men depicted were the painter, Thomas Cole, and his dear friend, the poet William Cullen Bryant. A curio is something novel, rare, or bizarre.   The Camperdown Elm I think, in connection with this weeping elm, of "Kindred Spirits" at the edge of a rock ledge overlooking a stream: Thanatopsis-invoking tree-loving Bryant conversing with Thomas Cole in Asher Durand's painting of them under the filigree of an elm overhead. No doubt they had seen other trees — lindens, maples and sycamores, oaks and the Paris street-tree, the horse-chestnut; but imagine their rapture, had they come on the Camperdown elm's massiveness and "the intricate pattern of its branches," arching high, curving low, in its mist of fine twigs. The Bartlett tree-cavity specialist saw it and thrust his arm the whole length of the hollowness of its torso, and there were six small cavities also. Props are needed and tree-food. It is still leafing; Still there. Mortal though. We must save it. It is our crowning curio.       #OTD   Today is the birthday of the country's most loved female painter, Georgia O'Keeffe, who was born on this day in 1887. During her incredible career as a painter, O'Keeffe created over 900 works of art. She is remembered for her iconic paintings of skulls and flowers. In 1938 when O'Keeffe's career was stalling, she was approached by an advertising agency about creating two paintings for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole Food Company) to use in their advertising. O'Keefe was 51 years old when she took the nine weeks, all-expense-paid trip. O'Keeffe never did paint a pineapple. And gardeners will be amazed by this fact: Of all the floral paintings that O'Keefe created in Hawaii, exactly NONE  were native to the island.  Instead, O'Keeffe was drawn to tropicals that hailed from South America: Bougainvillea, Plumeria, Heliconia, Calliandra, and the White Bird of Paradise. It was Georgia O'Keeffe who said all of these quotes: "Nobody sees a flower—really—it is so small it takes time—we haven't time—and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time. I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty. I hate flowers — I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move! The days you work are the best days."           #OTD On this day in 1929, Constance Spry - who went by Connie - unveiled her first floral shop window display, and she shocked London by using hedgerow flowers.  Connie was a trailblazer. In the 1920s, she began creating flower arrangements for dinner parties. Her work made her an immediate hit with the socialites of her time. Her success led her to go into business, and she opened a flower shop as well as a flower arranging school. Connie designed the flowers for the coronation of H.M The Queen in 1953. During WWII, Connie gave lectures encouraging people to grow their own food. And, I  thought you'd get a kick out of this June 20, 1945 article on Connie from the Corsicana Daily Sun out of Texas: "Constance Spry, the English woman who not only arranges and sells flowers but also grows them, carried on all through the blitz. On one occasion a bomb struck her house it trembled the roof sagged, but the building held and Constance went right on working.    At the corner of Berkeley Square, the most elegant district of London lives Constance Spry with her flowers.    She introduced London to a new kind of flower shop. There is a bridal department, and a department for boutonnieres and corsages; a department for fresh flowers; one for trimming on hats, and on day and evening dresses.     In her greenhouse, Constance cultivates some rare and exotic beauties. They are used to decorate the homes and tables of clients, and they are also sent to recreation homes for soldiers, spreading joy to many.           Unearthed Words "Walked for half an hour in the garden. A fine rain was falling, and the landscape was that of autumn. The sky was hung with various shades of gray, and mists hovered about the distant mountains - a melancholy nature. The leaves were falling on all sides like the last illusions of youth under the tears of irremediable grief. A brood of chattering birds were chasing each other through the shrubberies, and playing games among the branches, like a knot of hiding schoolboys. Every landscape is, as it were, a state of the soul, and whoever penetrates into both is astonished to find how much likeness there is in each detail." - Henri Frederic Amiel, Swiss philosopher & poet     Today's book recommendation: The Surprising Life of Constance Spry by Sue Shephard I love love love the cover of this book! It shows Constance arranging flowers - ever the influential floral artist (and, btw - founder of the Cordon Bleu cooking school!)   Let me read from Sue's introduction: "Constance possessed a rare combination of talents: As a writer, innovator, gardener and above all of the florist and above all as a floral artist. She was a gifted lecturer and at different periods in her life headed schools for the richest and for the poorest. At a time when most women's expectations were still limited, she believed in instilling in girls from all backgrounds the confidence and freedom to create beauty. The fact that Connie served high society never meant that she wish to be part of it nor that she was impressed by the breeding and wealth of her clients. She was never a name-dropper.... Her friend the writer and gardener Beverly Nichols once described the art of flower arranging as pre-spry and post-spry. She was brilliant at improvisation and enthusiastic user of new materials such as plastics and sticky tape – And, she invented the use of scrunched up chicken wire well hidden to anchors ring stands and branches that would seem to fly out of her arrangements without the benefit of gravity. Instead of the priceless crystal, silver, porcelain or other heirlooms that she might be invited to use at her client's homes, she preferred baking tins, meat plates or junk finds to put her flowers in. Her genius for creating beauty of the cheapest and simplest materials was legendary."   What a story - a riveting biography.   You can get a used copy and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for under $3.         Today's Garden Chore Repurpose old punch bowls. Right about now, you might be thinking about going through your cupboards and sideboards as you prepare for the holidays. Seldom-used items like punch bowls end up in the donation pile. But, you can repurpose your punchbowls and use them in your home conservatory - the spot where you keep your houseplants. If you have a larger pot that you're worried about ruining a table, or your hardwood floor or carpet, a punch bowl serving as a drip tray may be the perfect solution.  Since most of my pots are terra cotta. I just place the terra cotta pot inside the punch bowl and viola!  It certainly is an excellent way to add a little water reserve for your plant. And, if the punchbowl is clear glass, it won't add any visual disturbance to your design aesthetic. Another way to repurpose a punchbowl is to consider using it as an open-top terrarium.        Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart #OTD On this day in 1909, The orange blossom was designated the state flower of Florida. The poet, William Livingston Larned was so inspired he wrote a poem called Florida's State Flower. And, the last little bit goes like this:   "Whenever  you see the spotless bud, You know tis Florida the fair. And wafted to you comes the scent Of all the blissful regions there. The rose may have its followers, The violet its standard, too; The fleur-de-lis and lily fair In tints of red and pink and blue; But just a scent, On pleasure bent, Of orange sweet, The nostrils greet, And from our dreams, the castles rise, Of groves and meadows 'neath calm skies."          Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

William Cullen Bryant wrote,    “There is no glory in star or blossom  till looked upon by a loving eye;  There is no fragrance in April breezes  till breathed with joy as they wander by.”   That pretty much sums up what happens with the plants I’ve dubbed "double-takes".    A double-take plant is the one you first ignore or blow off - but them something about them causes you to take another look; to appreciate what you didn’t see the first time around.   Until the first spring I saw Lungwort in bloom, I never looked at it with a loving eye. But then, that very first time I saw it in bloom, it about knocked me over.   THAT BLOOM    Bluey-purpley-pinky little delicate thing.   It took my breath away; Pulmonaria making me need a Pulmonologist.   I suddenly didn’t mind the speckled foliage.   And now?   Now, I love it.   It’s a classic double-take plant.   Brevities #OTD Buried on this day, 381 years ago, in the churchyard of St Mary at Lambeth, alongside his son; the gardener John Tradescant the elder. Today, the churchyard is the Garden Museum.     #OTD in 2003 Horticulturist Graham Stuart Thomas (Books By This Author) died. He was 94. (3 April 1909 – 17 April 2003).    GST was fundamentally a nursery man and he lived a life fully immersed in the garden. His passion was sparked at a young age by a special birthday present he was given when he turned six: a beautiful potted fuchsia.    In 2003. his gardening outfit - including his pants, vest and shoes - as well as a variety of his tools (including plant markers and a watering can) were donated to the Garden Museum.    GST was best known for his work with garden roses and his leadership of over 100 National Trust gardens. He wrote 19 books on gardening. Ever the purposeful perfectionist, he never wasted a moment.   What do folks have to say about GST on social media? Here’s a sampling: Pachysandra ground cover - A GST classic! My mom gave me a Graham Stuart Thomas for my first gardening book, so very special Our best selling plant of 2015? At number 1 (drum roll) - Eryngium Graham Stuart Thomas. Flower spike on yucca in border. GST used them as punctuation marks in design.  Love being married to someone who knows what I mean when I say, “Bring me Graham Stuart Thomas" #OTD Physicianand botanist James McBride was born in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, in 1784.   As a babe, he was left an orphan. With nothing to his name, he managed to get an education through what his Yale biography called "indefatigable industry and perseverance”.   Trained as a doctor, he spent his free time pursuing his passion: botany. He wrote papers to the Linnean Society and other scientific journals. His personal friend, Dr. Stephen Elliott, named the Macbridia pulcrafor McBride. He also dedicated the second volume of his Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgiato McBride’s memory: "[James was] a gentleman who, uniting great sagacity to extensive and accurate botanical knowledge, has made the medical properties of our plants a subject of careful investigation. Profoundly skilled in his profession… he fell victim to the fatigues and exposure of an extensive [medical] practice. In the midst of a brilliant career, with prospects of increasing usefulness and extended reputation” James McBride died at the age of 33 trying to help stop an epidemic of yellow fever in Charleston, South Carolina on September 21, 1817.     #OTD American botanist and plant collector Adolph Daniel Edward Elmer died. He was born in 1870 in Van Dyne, Wisconsin.    Elmer got degrees from the Washington Agricultural College, and Stanford University. He collected plants in the Philippines from 1904 to 1927. Kew Gardens shared that in 1919 Elmer’s notes stated  “ I ... collected [plant specimens] on the Bulusan (“Bah-loo-sahn”) volcano which has recently become active and..may cause the total destruction of its vegetation.”   Elmer was editor of "Leaflets of Philippine Botany”. In that publication, he documented more than 1,500 new species.   After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Adolph Elmer and his wife, Emma, ignored the pleas from their extended family to leave American-controlled Manila.   Elmer was killed on April 17, 1942 after being captured by Japanese forces in the Battle of Bataan. His wife, Emma, survived both the battle and the Death March. She returned to the United States after the war.     Unearthed Words #OTD Naturalist Gilbert White wrote in his Journal in Selborne, England on April 17, 1789 : Five gallons of french brandy from London. Cucumbers show fruit in bloom. Cuculus cuculat: the voice of the cuckoo is heard in Blackmoor woods. Sowed hollyhocks, columbines, snapdragons, stocks, mignonette, all from S. Lambeth, in a bed in the garden: also Sweet Williams, & Canterbury bells.   Today's book recommendation  Three Gardens: The Personal Odyssey of a Great Plantsman and Gardener Hardcover by Graham Stuart Thomas   In this reprint of a 1983 book, venerable English horticulturist, painter, and writer Graham Stuart Thomas recounts his journey from his first garden to the present day, charmingly describing the three gardens he has owned and the plants he has tended in each. Includes some 750 plant profiles, eight plant portraits painted by the author, and (poorly reproduced) color and b&w photographs, also by the author. Distributed by Timber Press. Today's Garden Chore Try growing the annual mignonette (“Meen-no-net”).   In "The Favorites of the Flower Garden”, Linnean Society Fellow George William Francisand first director of the Adelaide Botanic Gardenwrote “This simple and attractive weed, which is the envy of the [...] glittering throng that surrounds it in a garden, and which has no rivalry [...] except [...] the Rose and Violet, is one of the first flowers that we learn to gather, and the very last that we cease to value.” Floret's description of mignonette seeds says that: Napoleon sent mignonette seeds from Egypt to France for his darling Empress Josephine in the early 1800’s. Long wispy stems are capped with creamy white flowers with a delicate orange center that smells like vanilla. Flowers fade, leaving behind green, lantern-like pods. A great textural ingredient for bouquets and a favorite with pollinators, mignonette is suited for the border as well as containers.   Mignonette means “little darling” in French.   Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart OTD in 2018 Sam Postlethwait, a retired Purdue University botany professor, turned 100 years old.    His apartment overlooks the Celery Bog Nature Area. Every morning, Sam wakes up and looks out his window at the three different ecosystems before him: the prairie, the woods, and the celery bog. On his walks, he documents what he sees with a Nikon camera; creating booklets filled with photos collected through the years.   He says, "It is incredible that we have this right here in our city, and the only way you can understand this treasure is by a routine walk. And then you see life. You see life starting and you see life continuing and you see life ending, and you begin to understand living things interacting in nature.”   Sam taught freshman botany for 35 years at Purdue.He was married to his wife Sara for 69 years. When she died in 2010, they had lived by the Celery Bog for almost a decade. Sam reflected on his life there, saying, "to have had eight years here with my Sara has just been wonderful. A spider's life is not much different than ours, If I live, something has to die. We cannot live without things dying." Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

In today’s episode, we shift to the radical end of the spectrum to investigate the life of another Locofoco archetype: William Cullen Bryant, who played the role of venerable, wise, old sage, whose ancient knowledge and cool demeanor kindled radical flames for generations. We explore his early life that led him to write for the Evening Post. Also, we explain how he formed a mentor relationship with William Leggett, which inspired the Evening Post to turn to radical views of politics.Who was William Cullen Bryant and what inspired him to start writing? How did Bryant change the Evening Post? How was he able to be a mentor to William Leggett? What were the political views of William Leggett and William Cullen Bryant and how did they portray them through the Evening Post?Further Reading:William Cullen Bryant, Poetry FoundationWilliam Cullen Bryant, written by John BigelowRelated Content:Ep. 87: Profiles in Locodom: Fernando Wood, Liberty Chronicles PodcastWilliam Leggett, Encyclopedia of LibertarianismProperty, Real & Imagined: Leggett on the Ownership of Ideas, written by William Leggett See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

014 - A Song for New Year’s Eve by William Cullen Bryant by PoetryPerformed

The Democrats and Republicans in the House were doing everything they could think of to force the hands of their opponents into appointing the House Speaker. However, no one could secure the majority number of votes to take over the position. The crisis reached a breaking point when a congressman actually suggested that everyone from the House resign in order eliminate the issue entirely. With every passing day, party lines became clearer and our Loco-Focos were at the core of the anti-slavery Republican movement.Why was there a speakership crisis? How did the House overcome the crisis? What happened to the Loco-Focos in the 1850’s? Did the speakership crisis just serve as a foreshadowing of the trouble to come for the U.S.?Further Reading:Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 2005.Bigelow, John. William Cullen Bryant. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. 1980. (Original printing: 1890).Brooks, Corey M. Liberty Power: Antislavery Third Parties and the Transformation of American Politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2016.Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Perennial Classics Edition. 2002. Originally Published: 1988.Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York: Knopf. 1996Related Content:Compromising Compromisers, Liberty Chronicles Podcast1848 and Its Aftermath, Liberty Chronicles PodcastLibertarian Anti-Capitalism, Liberty Chronicles Podcast See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this microsode, Sick reads his favorite poem, Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant. The word thanatopsis means a consideration or contemplation of death, and as such is a fitting poem for our show. It is written in a way that attempts to put the reader at ease with death and reassures us that we need not fear lonliness in death as everything that draws breath will surely die and end up in the same place.

William Cullen Bryant's most famous poem, which translates from the Greek as "A View of Death," written when he was 17 years old.

What darker? -The Voice before the Void “The Snow-Shower” William Cullen Bryant Stand here by my side and turn, I pray, On the lake below, thy gentle eyes; The clouds hang over it, heavy and gray, And dark and silent … Continue reading →

by William Cullen Bryant. Performed by rhapsode Caprisha Page.

Show Notes Moronic Mako Driving "Thanoptis" and "Thanopsis": Jaimie was thinking of "Thanatopsis", by William Cullen Bryant. TVTropes on monologuing Speeches and Monologues (the overview page for all the kinds of monologuing) Evil gloating -- also a master list of specific kinds of evil gloating You Have No Chance To Survive -- Sovereign's specific variation "It's a trap" Cutscene Incompetence (TVTropes) Freeeeedoooooom (warning: a bit gruesome, though all offscreen) "Hold the line!" speech Interact! Patreon @mass_affection hello@massaffection.com

Larry turn clickbait into podbait and ruminates on his favorite babes from Star Trek! The Larry recites the classic poem "To A Waterfowl" by William Cullen Bryant, then asks and sings about how much is that doggy in the window. Plus, we discuss the Hope and Crosby classic, "The Road To Morocco." http://LarryMillerShow.com Quote of the week: "Someone must be casing the joint." Producer: Colonel Jeff Fox

January 18, 2017 at the Boston Athenæum. Historically, Boston has been home to numerous prominent American poets. This remains true today, making its civic moniker of “the Athens of America” as fitting now as it was in the nineteenth century. This evening’s performance, directed by Poets’ Theatre President and Artistic Director Robert Scanlan, is a gathering of Boston’s best poets, including Jennie Barber, Martha Collins, David Ferry, Regie Gibson, George Kalogeris, Marcia Karp, Fred Marchant, Jill McDonough, Lloyd Schwartz, and Meg Tyler. They will read their own works paired with the works of their nineteenth-century predecessors, invoking the ghosts of poets such as William Cullen Bryant, Lydia Maria Child, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathanial Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe, and Walt Whitman. The program will pay tribute to the Athenæum’s rich historical and literary roots while demonstrating how a living and contemporary literary scene continues to be nourished by this tradition.

Words from Galileo to John Glenn, Archibald MacLeish to Einstein and Emily Dickinson, Ray Bradbury, Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, WallaceStevens, William Cullen Bryant, John Brainard, and Lola Ridge from DUBlin, with music “I Will Survive,” “Happy Days,” “Starman,”“Woodstock,” “Oh … Continue reading → The post IMAGINATION EVERY, EVERY MINUTE: AN ASTRONOMICAL HOUR, OUR SPACY SHOW WHICH SWINGS LIKE A STAR ON THE MARTIAN,CHALLENGER, STAR WARS, LORD OF THE RINGS, PLANETS MARS AND EARTH, AND WHAT POETRY HAS TO DO WITH IT first appeared on Dr. Barbara Mossberg » Poetry Slowdown.

Days and nights are long; life and death continues. ⁓The Voice before the Void “The Crowded Street” William Cullen Bryant Let me move slowly through the street, Filled with an ever-shifting train, Amid the sound of steps that beat The … Continue reading →

In our last show, we left the space that would become Bryant Park as a disaster area; its former inhabitant, the old Crystal Palace, had tragically burned to the ground in 1858.  The area was called Reservoir Square for its proximity to the Murray Hill Reservoir, the imposing Egyptian-like structure to its east, but it wouldn't keep that name for long. William Cullen Bryant was a key proponent to the creation of Central Park, but it would be on this spot that the poet and editor of the New York Evening Post would receive a belated honor in 1884 with the re-naming of old Reservoir Park to Bryant Park. With the glorious addition of the New York Public Library in 1911, the park received some substantial upgrades, including its well-known fountain. Over twenty years later, it took on another curious present -- a replica of Federal Hall as a tribute to George Washington. By the 1970s Bryant Park was well known as a destination for drug dealers and most people shied away from its shady paths, even during the day.  It would take a unique plan to bring the park back to life and a little help from Hollywood and the fashion world to turn it into New York City's most elegant park. www.boweryboyshistory.com patreon.com/boweryboys Support the show.

“Autumn... the year's last, loveliest smile.” - William Cullen Bryant. Song listing: Francesco Rossi - Paper Aeroplane Wirik - Perspective LTN - City of Lights Version 2.0 - She Gets Deep Late Night Alumni - Every Breath Is Like A Heartbeat Erik Hawk - Realistic Ost & Meyer - Gandhi DJ Antoine vs. Mad Mark - Sky Is The Limit 4 Strings feat. Seri - Ready To Fall James Grant, Andrew Bayer - Living LTN - A Path to Nowhere Above & Beyond - Walter White Glenn Morrison feat. Islove - Goodbye Omnia - Immersion Joint Operations Centre - Under a Sea of Birds Armin van Buuren, Cindy Alma - Beautiful Life Anushka De'sai - Far & Close Boom Jinx, Maor Levi, Ashley Tomberlin - When You Loved Me C-Mos - 2 Million Ways Adrian Lux & Marcus Schossow feat. JJ - Wild Child Mano Le Tough - Primative People Mike Dunn Presents Green Tea - Rise! Pet Shop Boys - Love Is A Bourgeois Construct Jess Morgan, Two&One - Reasons Later Aly & Fila, Fady & Mina - The Journey Dart Rayne, Yura Moonlight - The Air Myon & Shane 54, Natalie Peris - Outshine Happy Listening,

Finding Eden (snake, weeds, and all) in Our Own Back Yards: The Poetry of Community Garden: Earth Day, John Muir’s Birth Day, lots of robust Muir poetry with notes of Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, William Cullen Bryant, Gilgamesh, and our contemporary … Continue reading → The post Finding Eden (snake, weeds, and all) in Our Own Back Yards first appeared on Dr. Barbara Mossberg » Poetry Slowdown.

A Song for New Year's Eve