July 2, 2019 Delphinium, Marian Farquharson, Ralph Hancock, Hugh C. Cutler, ECOSTRESS, Herman Hesse, Seasonal Flower Arranging by Ariella Chezar, Dividing Solomon’s Seal, and the Richard Wettstein Memorial

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Monologue

Do you have delphiniums in your garden?

I used to start every summer by planting twenty delphiniums in front of my porch.

By the time my red lilies were popping, my delphinium would be 4 feet tall. In that same area, I had planted white astilbe and alyssum; I had a little red, white, and blue garden under my American flag for the 4th of July.

The Delphinium is one of the birth flowers for July. It's also known as Larkspur and Knight's-spur.

During the Victorian age, people mostly used flowers as emojis, and the delphinium symbolized lightness and an open heart. If you're a delphinium lover, it's easy to see how the happy delphinium blooms would be associated with happiness and laughter.

Botanical History On This Day

1846 Marian Farquharson, fern and moss specialist, was born. She was also a tireless advocate for women.
Farquharson petitioned the Linnean Society for four years before women were admitted; though passed over initially, she was finally elected in 1908, too ill to attend, and died in 1912.

1893 Ralph Hancock, best known for New York’s Rockefeller Center rooftop garden, was born.
Hancock’s visionary Garden of Nations reclaimed urban roof space with thousands of tons of soil, stone, and trees—opened in 1935 with pageantry and promise.

1940 Hugh C. Cutler discovered two new plant species in Utah.
The St. Joseph Gazette reported that Cutler sent his finds—wild bridal wreath and a crucifer—by airmail to Washington University in St. Louis.

2018 ECOSTRESS berthed at the International Space Station.
NASA’s plant-focused instrument measures vegetation temperature from orbit, helping scientists understand water use and drought stress on a planetary scale.

Unearthed Words

1877 Hermann Hesse, the Nobel laureate, was born.
He wrote of trees as sanctuaries—living texts for those who learn to listen—finding in bark and leaf the eternal made particular.

Grow That Garden Library™

Read The Daily Gardener review of Seasonal Flower Arranging by Ariella Chezar

Buy the book on Amazon: Seasonal Flower Arranging by Ariella Chezar

Today's Botanic Spark

1932 Vienna marked the memory of Richard Wettstein with an unforeseen drama.
At a statue unveiling, an embittered former professor attempted an attack, which was thwarted. It was an unsettling contrast to Wettstein’s own reputation for courtesy and eloquence.

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