Subscribe

Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart

Support The Daily Gardener

Buy Me A Coffee 

Connect for FREE!

The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community

Curated News

5 Things To Consider Before You Landscape A Garden | Homes To Love

Here's an excerpt:

We spoke to landscaping expert John McMillan from General Lawns for his thoughts and handy tips on creating the perfect landscaped garden. How can you choose the right plants, set a theme, include a deck or a water feature or know how to describe what you want into a brief?

John has 5 crucial questions to consider to build a garden fit for your home.

1. Research, Research, Research

2. Consider your lifestyle

3. Choose carefully

4. Keep a grip on the budget

5. Keep it real

 

Saint Werenfrid's Day (August 14)

Gardeners know that Werenfridus is the Patron Saint of Vegetable Gardens. Werenfrid is often portrayed as a priest holding a ship with a coffin in it. And, sometimes Werenfrid is displayed as a priest laid to rest in his boat.

What do these emblems - the coffin and the ship - have to do with Vegetable Gardens?

Absolutely nothing. But the coffin and ship do remind us just how beloved St. Werenfrid was by the Dutch people.

You see, as a Benedictine monk, Werenfrid tended the gardens at his monastery, and his gardens served a vital purpose: feeding the poor and the hungry. As a gardener and a clergyman, Werenfrid was a nourisher of both bodies and souls. After decades of caring for his flock in and around Arnhem in the Netherlands, Werenfrid died at the age of 90.

After Werenfrid died, two nearby towns, Westervort and Elst, started fighting over Werenfrid’s body. Each town wanted the honor of being his final resting place and, of course, being blessed by his sacred remains. Although the citizens of Elst contended that Werenfrid himself said he wanted to be laid to rest in their town, the dispute continued until the two towns agreed to let nature dictate Werenfrid’s fate. According to lore, Werenfrid’s body was placed on an unmanned boat on the Rhine, and fate brought Werenfrid to the shores of Elst, where today, the Werenfrid Church still stands.

And so, today we remember the gentle, loving gardener monk named Werenfrid, who is often shown holding a ship carrying a coffin.

Werenfrid is also invoked for gout and stiff joints, which, if you grow vegetables, you’ll appreciate how those conditions sometimes go along with gardening.

Botanical History On This Day

1765 The Liberty Tree of Boston, an elm planted in 1646 that became the rebels’ rallying post against the Stamp Act—celebrated with lanterns and flags, felled by Loyalists that August.

1802 Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L.E.L.), Romantic poet and novelist whose woodland wanderings sparked verses like “The Michaelmas Daisy” and whose life proved as star-crossed as her lines.

1873 Forest and Stream debuts, the conservation-minded magazine that championed the outdoors and helped launch the National Audubon Society (later merging with Field & Stream).

1822 James Dickson, Scottish-born nurseryman, moss and fungi expert, and founding pillar of the RHS and Linnean Society, died—remembered in the tree-fern genus Dicksonia.

1880 Ada Hayden, Iowa botanist, prairie advocate, artist, and the first woman to earn a Ph.D. from Iowa State—honored by the 240-acre Hayden Prairie.

Unearthed Words

Summer’s swift sweetness, caught in three voices. Johnson, Stoner Jr., and Shakespeare on the fleeting season

Grow That Garden Library™

Read The Daily Gardener review of Audubon’s Masterpieces by John James Audubon.

Buy the book on Amazon: Audubon’s Masterpieces: 150 Prints from The Birds of America

Today's Botanic Spark

1975 The Canning-Lid Shortage—as millions turned to home gardens, a lid scarcity made headlines, reminding us how harvests hinge on humble supplies.

Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener

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