August 28, 2019 Dividing Perennials, Aimee Bonpland, John James DuFour, Charles Christopher Parry, Roger Tory Peterson, Celia Laighton Thaxter, Midwest Foraging by Lisa M. Rose, Sow Winter Salad and the Tomatina Festival

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Monologue

This past week, I started looking for perennials I want to divide.

After the hail storm and siding installation we had earlier this month, I don't feel too bad about digging up the plants. The garden looks tough. Might as well dig up old plants.

I always start with my hostas - in part, because they recover so quickly. Next spring, you'll never know that they were transplanted this fall. In addition, they, like the ferns, are used as great ground covers. Got chronic creeping charlie, creeping buttercup, or creeping anything... plant a hosta. It can handle the creepers, and even if they manage to survive under the dense canopy, they aren't as vigorous, and you won't see them anyway.

Botanical History On This Day

1773 Aimé Bonpland was born, the French botanist whose five-year expedition with Alexander von Humboldt reshaped botanical knowledge of Latin America.

1798 The First American Vineyard was planted near Lexington, Kentucky, by Swiss immigrant John James Dufour, marking the birth of commercial winemaking in the United States.

1823 Charles Christopher Parry, later hailed as the “King of Colorado Botany,” was born, a tireless collector who named peaks, plants, and landscapes across the American West.

1908 Roger Tory Peterson was born, the naturalist and illustrator whose field guides taught generations how to truly *see* birds.

Unearthed Words

"August lingers in lilies and warm weather" are lines by Celia Thaxter, the island poet whose garden on Appledore became a living muse.

Grow That Garden Library™

Read The Daily Gardener review of Midwest Foraging by Lisa M. Rose

Buy the book on Amazon: Midwest Foraging by Lisa M. Rose

Today's Botanic Spark

2002 The town of Buñol, Spain, made headlines for joyfully hurling 120 tons of tomatoes during La Tomatina—proof that even vegetables deserve a festival.

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