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The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community

Curated News

This Five-Minute Exercise Will Make You a Better Gardener | Mary-Kate Mackey

“Phyllis Helland is a friend of mine who is a home gardener, and also an artist by profession. Every day she spends a few minutes observing and drawing the growth on a single plant.

This is an exercise in seeing, not producing a recognizable sketch. She advises:

'If you think you don’t draw well, simply switch to your non-dominant hand. I always see more when I do that because it slows me down. Or use a phone camera instead. That’s more of a broad stroke, but it still helps me see. It’s like being a little kid again. Kids notice things and the adults are astonished.'

 

Recently, I've started collecting cuttings from my garden to make my own potpourris and sachets.

Here's a quote from Eleanor Sinclair-Rhode about this lovely garden pastime:

"No bought potpourri is so pleasant as that made from one's own garden, for the petals of the flowers one has gathered at home hold the sunshine and memories of summer, and of past summers only the sunny days should be remembered."

 

Do a summer check of all your irrigation systems and repair any broken parts.

I sooo wish I had done this last summer. By the time I discovered a leak, we had a big water problem to address.

In the garden, too much water can be just as harmful as too little. Throw in temperature extremes, and you have a perfect storm - inviting fungal and other diseases, pests, and other problems.

Botanical History On This Day

1720 Gilbert White, the English naturalist whose meticulous garden journals became the Calendar of Flora and the Garden and The Naturalist’s Journal, was born.

1817 Jane Austen, the beloved novelist who wove gardens, borders, and kitchen plots into her stories and letters, died.

1863 Frederick Law Olmsted at Gettysburg, the father of American landscape architecture, walked the still-haunted battlefield, noting the jarring contrast between gentle rolling hills and the remnants of war.

1937 Emilia Hazelip, the Barcelona-born pioneer of synergistic gardening who adapted Fukuoka’s ideas into a resilient, no-till system, was born.

Unearthed Words

A child's view of the quiet, serious gardener—too busy with flowers and hay to play at “Indian wars.”The Gardener by Robert Louis Stevenson

Grow That Garden Library™

Read The Daily Gardener review of The Solitary Bees by Bryan N. Danforth, Robert L. Minckley, John L. Neff, and Frances Fawcett

Buy the book on Amazon: The Solitary Bees

Today's Botanic Spark

1908 Maxfield Parrish’s “The Botanist”, the iconic Collier’s Magazine cover showing a book-laden botanist in a long green coat, plant held aloft and magnifying glass at the ready, was published—a classic image later beloved as a poster print.

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