September 11, 2019 Roadside Chicory, Rudolph Jacob Camerarius, José Mutis, Lyman Bradford Smith, Beverley Nichols, Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening by Matt Mattus, Cold Frame Prep, and September Asters
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Monologue
If, throughout the summer, you found yourself driving down the road and spying a little electric blue blossom by the side of the road, chances are, you are looking at chicory.
Listener Danny Perkins posted beautiful photos of chicory at the end of August. A few years ago, I used to drive the boys into St. Paul for basketball camp, and when I pulled off the freeway, there it was. Chicory. It is growing in between cracks in the cement along the sidewalk. I went straight to my Mac when I got home and ordered seeds on the spot.
The blue of chicory is positively luminescent. The plant is where chicory coffee and tea come from. Listener Diane Lydic posted this:
"My father used to pick it on his way home from work. He made a map of all the patches so he could remember them for next year. Delicious with olive oil and vinegar with hard-boiled eggs. Always a treat!"
Diane's father is a man after my own heart. Anyone who makes a map of roadside patches of precious plants is a friend in my book!
Botanical History On This Day
1721 Rudolph Jacob Camerarius, German botanist and professor of natural philosophy, died on this day. He is forever remembered for proving the existence of sexes in plants and defining the essential roles of pollen, anther, and pistil.
1808 José Celestino Mutis, Spanish priest, physician, and botanist, died after nearly fifty years in New Granada. He left behind one of the most extraordinary botanical and artistic legacies of the 18th century.
1904 Lyman Bradford Smith, Harvard- and Smithsonian-based botanist and legendary bromeliad taxonomist, was born. His tireless scholarship shaped nearly everything we know about the Bromeliaceae today.
Unearthed Words
This week continues with the incomparable Beverley Nichols. From his beloved book Merry Hall, Nichols reflects on compassion in flower-picking and issues a delightfully uncompromising moral judgment on those who distrust geraniums.
Grow That Garden Library™
Read The Daily Gardener review of Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening by Matt Mattus
Buy the book on Amazon:
Mastering the Art of Vegetable Gardening by Matt Mattus
Today's Garden Chore
Prepare your cold frames, greenhouse, and shed for fall. Autumn sowing season is upon us—greens, radishes, and other shoulder-season crops wait for no gardener who dallies.
Today's Botanic Spark
1903 A little anonymous poem about September's birthflower, the aster, was printed in The Bluff City News, out of Kansas.
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And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
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