October 28, 2019 Missouri Botanical Garden New Visitor Center, CalRecycle’s Get Started with Composting, Alphonse de Candolle, Kate Brandegee, Gulie Lister, Edwin James, October’s Party, The Art of Gardening by Chanticleer, Feeding Winter Birds, and Finlay’s Little Sparta
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Curated News
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Missouri Botanical Garden plans to break ground in January on a $92 million visitor center—named the Jack C. Taylor Visitor Center in honor of the Taylor family’s lead support—slated to open in spring 2022.
Also in good, earthy news: California’s CalRecycle shared a helpful composting video, offering practical first steps for turning kitchen scraps into black gold.
Botanical History On This Day
1806 Alphonse Pyramus de Candolle, Swiss botanist and father of geographical botany, was born—best known for clarifying the origins of cultivated plants, shaping early plant “growing regions,” and laying the groundwork for botanical naming rules still echoed in modern codes.
1844 Katherine Brandegee, pioneering American botanist and legendary mentor, was born—she trained Alice Eastwood, built a “botanical paradise” herbarium with Townshend Brandegee, and later restored Berkeley’s collection with an astonishing gift of plants and books.
1860 Gulielma Lister, the original “Queen of Slime Molds,” was born—Quaker-raised, watercolor-skilled, and twice president of the British Mycological Society, she became the world authority on her beloved “creepies.”
1861 Edwin James, botanist and early American explorer, died—remembered for compiling Vermont’s earliest flora work, discovering the Colorado Blue Columbine, and describing that “region of astonishing beauty” on Pikes Peak.
Unearthed Words
Check out: “October’s Party” by George Cooper
October arrives like a hostess with a mischievous guest list—leaves, wind, and sunshine all in attendance.
Grow That Garden Library™
Read The Daily Gardener's review of The Art of Gardening by R. William Thomas & The Chanticleer Gardeners
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The Art of Gardening by R. William Thomas & The Chanticleer Gardeners
Today's Garden Chore
Start planning food and feeders for winter birds—wash and set up feeders now, diversify the food to attract more species, consider a de-icer for the water, and add nearby brush or evergreens, so birds have shelter and cover.
Today's Botanic Spark
1925 Scottish poet, artist, and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay was born—creator of Little Sparta, a garden that merges sculpture, architecture, and words into living art, including a one-word poem that somehow feels like the whole season.
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