April 5, 2019 Garden Dreams, Birkenhead Park, Lord Viscount Morpeth, Matthias Schleiden, Algernon Swinburne, Joseph Paxton, Garden Picture Day, and Edward Kemp

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Monologue

It's decision time in the garden.

What will your projects be this year?

We often have no idea if our garden dreams will come true.

Gardeners may dream bigger dreams than emperors, but we can often get stuck.

We put plants in the wrong spot.

We bought the wrong thing.

We bought the wrong plant.

We overdo it.

But, every now and then, we get it completely right.

I waited for years to put paths around my front garden.

Why did I wait so long?

No reason, really.

But once they were in, I knew it was the perfect thing my garden had been missing.

Whatever you're dreaming of and planning for your garden this season, I hope you get it completely right.

Botanical History On This Day

1847 Birkenhead Park officially opened with fireworks, speeches, and holiday wages for dock workers. Designed by Joseph Paxton, it became the world’s first publicly funded civic park and the model that later inspired New York’s Central Park.

1804 Matthias Jakob Schleiden, German botanist and co-founder of cell theory, was born. He was the first to recognize the central importance of cells in plants, reshaping modern botany.

Unearthed Words

1837 Algernon Charles Swinburne was born. His poem A Forsaken Garden lingers on the haunting beauty of abandonment, where roses have vanished, and only memory remains.

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Today's Botanic Spark

1847 Edward Kemp’s Advertisement recalls the hopeful notice posted by Birkenhead’s landscape gardener after the park’s opening, a small act of faith that preceded his rise to become one of Victorian England’s most respected designers.

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And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.