August 23, 2019 Cutting Back the Garden, the Patron Saint of Gardeners, Alexander Wilson, Eliza Sullivant, Hazel Schmoll, Rose Kingsley, The Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer, Spring Plant Swap Prep, and the 1942 Michigan Botanical Club Meeting

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Monologue

Sometimes I think cutting your bangs is a great analogy for pruning in the garden.

You know how when your bangs are growing out - maybe a little past your eyebrows - and you think, "I am gonna grow these bangs out. I’m gonna have amazing hair."

Then, they start to go past your nose, and you realize that this was a complete mistake. Then, you don’t have the stamina to make it all the way to having no bangs, and it’s time to get this crazy idea back in check.

The same thing happens with the flowers that are spilling into your paths and walkways.

Today, the student gardeners and I clipped back the catmint that had been allowed to spread wherever it wanted, along with the sumac and artemisia.

Even though it requires extra courage, it’s necessary to prune things back. When it’s done, your garden looks a little lighter, a little more put together, and everybody seems happier that work was done. The garden feels brand new and ready to show off a new haircut to the world.

Botanical History On This Day

Feast Day Saint Rose of Lima is honored as the patron saint of gardeners and flowers—the first saint born in the Americas, remembered for compassion, healing, and devotion.

1813 Alexander Wilson died, the Scottish-born poet and naturalist revered as the father of American ornithology and author of the first great study of American birds.

1850 Eliza Sullivant died, the gifted botanical illustrator whose delicate moss drawings were praised by her husband, the eminent bryologist William Starling Sullivant.

1890 Hazel Marguerite Schmoll was born, a pioneering botanist and conservationist who urged the preservation of wilderness as a refuge for the human spirit.

Unearthed Words

Autumn’s triumph begins in August—reflections by Rose G. Kingsley celebrate the garden’s richest season of color and reward.

Grow That Garden Library™

Read The Daily Gardener review of The Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer

Buy the book on Amazon: The Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer

Today's Botanic Spark

1942 At Douglas Lake, Michigan, botanists gathered for a transformative summer meeting—a celebration of mosses, mentorship, and a dish garden made with love for a young naturalist unable to attend.

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