July 30, 2019 Growing Castor Bean, Emily Brontë, Ellis Rowan, the Arkansas Apple Blossom, Russell Baker, Bev Adams, Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead by Martin Wood and Judith Tankard, Pruning Blackberries or Boysenberries, and Walt Disney’s Flowers and Trees
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Monologue
Have you tried growing Castor Bean?
It's one of Michael Pollan's favorite plants.
Check out the way he starts his article on the plant called "Consider the Castor Bean":
"Pretty they are not, but a garden can labor under a surfeit of prettiness, be too sweet or cheerful for its own good. Sometimes what’s needed in the garden is a hint of vegetal menace, of nature run tropically, luxuriantly amuck. For this, I recommend the castor bean."
Botanical History On This Day
1818 Emily Brontë was born on this day, leaving behind poetry that entwines nature, longing, and truth, where even the flowers of fancy are not spared.
1848 Ellis Rowan, the brilliantly unconventional Australian botanical artist, was born. She was a woman who painted her way through jungles and polite society alike, always impeccably dressed and fiercely devoted to wild beauty.
1901 Arkansas chooses the Apple Blossom as its floral emblem after a spirited “Battle of the Blooms,” complete with pamphlets, persuasion, and one unforgettable apple-red dress worn straight into the state capitol.
Unearthed Words
Today's garden words remind us that summer asks much of us, and somehow makes us love it all the same.
Grow That Garden Library™
Read The Daily Gardener’s review of
Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood by Martin Wood & Judith Tankard
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Gertrude Jekyll at Munstead Wood
Today's Botanic Spark
1932 Flowers and Trees premiered as Walt Disney’s first Academy Award–winning animated short. It was a Technicolor forest where trees fall in love, flowers dance, and even a caterpillar becomes an engagement ring.
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