February 19, 2021 A Wild Spring Plant Display, The Orchid Thief, Charles Swingle, Growing Algerian Iris, Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey, and Strange Embroidery with Botanist Eliza Brightwen
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Curated News
Wild-Style Spring Plant Display For The Container Garden | Gardens Illustrated
Botanical History On This Day
1962 Birth of John Laroche, American horticulturist whose obsession with wild orchids led to his arrest for poaching rare ghost orchids from Florida's swamps—an adventure that inspired Susan Orlean's acclaimed book The Orchid Thief. Laroche tried to clone the orchids for conservation and profit, but the law disagreed; today, only about 2,000 ghost orchids remain in Florida.
1932 On this day, Charles Swingle was celebrated for his botanical expedition to Madagascar in search of the Euphorbia Intisy, a succulent tree with latex that produces rubber. Swingle’s adventure through market villages and brush led to experimental cultivation of the Intisy in the American Southwest, where its water-filled roots and unique milky sap became subjects of study.
Unearthed Words
Vita Sackville-West writes in In Your Garden that kindliness toward Algerian Iris is “starvation.” Sun and gritty, poor soil bring out its best flowers rather than leaves. Search daily for buds, watch them unfurl indoors, and remember: September is prime for transplanting this tough, miracle Iris.
Grow That Garden Library™
Read my review of Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey. Dickey’s memoir chronicles the making of her upstate New York garden, Duck Hill, with wisdom on textures, color, and structure. Unpretentious and insightful, Page shares her garden through delightful stories and practical advice for gardeners who want their outdoor spaces to grow with them.
Buy the book on Amazon: Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey
Today's Botanic Spark
1974 Death of Eliza Brightwen, the naturalist and botanist known for her whimsical embroidery. In the 1880s, Eliza crafted stunning embroidered pictures using tiny, cleaned fish bones—transforming them into wings for insects and leaves for flowers, all sewn onto black velvet. Her creative needlework presaged today’s art collages, which incorporate bones, nuts, and everyday objects.
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