September 17, 2019 Planting Iris like Mom with Rebecca Stoner Kirts, Olaus Rudbeck, Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, Peter Barr, The Milkweed Poem, Hot Color Dry Garden by Nan Sterman, Pumpkin Care, and the Story of a Grass Reader
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Monologue
Listener Rebecca Stoner Kirts recently shared a photo in the Facebook Group of her transplanted iris, along with an enchanting caption.
She wrote:
Mom's 50 year iris rescued and replanted. Mom always told me, “they like their own space and plant them like ducks floating on a pond."
There you go mom.
Rebecca's analogy of planting iris-like ducks floating on the pond is a good one to remember.
As I mentioned on a show a while back, they don't like to be buried. They don't want to be planted deep. So, yes, to dividing them and yes to replanting, but when you do replant them, let them skim the surface of your garden. I like to nestle mine in just a bit, then stake them in so they don't fall over and can stand up and get used to their new place in the garden.
Botanical History On This Day
1702 Olaus Rudbeck, Swedish polymath and mentor to Linnaeus, died after saving Uppsala University during a devastating fire. He was later immortalized in the cheerful yellow faces of Rudbeckia, the black-eyed Susan.
In 1836,Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu, the architect of the first truly natural classification of flowering plants, died, leaving behind a system that still shapes how we understand plant families today.
1909 Peter Barr, Scotland’s legendary “Daffodil King,” died at 84. He bred millions of narcissus bulbs, defied Queen Victoria’s taste, and ensured that daffodils would reign supreme each spring.
Unearthed Words
September loosens its grip in milkweed silk and memory, as captured by Cecil Cavendish and Alexander Theroux, who remind us that autumn is equal parts beauty and regret.
Grow That Garden Library™
Read The Daily Gardener review of
Hot Color, Dry Garden by Nan Sterman
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Hot Color, Dry Garden by Nan Sterman
Today's Garden Chore
As pumpkins swell toward October glory, nudge them along by clearing shading leaves and lifting fruit onto boards to prevent rot.
Today's Botanic Spark
From tears in an empty lecture hall to triumph in a living classroom, Olaus Rudbeck’s garden-first teaching reminds us that beauty can lure curiosity where lectures cannot—and that the seeds we plant for students may bloom long after us.
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And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
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