April 28, 2021 Plants for Hummingbirds, William Darlington, Frances Bickelhaupt, Wanting Spring, Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith, and the State Flower of Alaska
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Botanical History On This Day
1782 Birth of William Darlington, Pennsylvania Quaker, physician, botanist, and U.S. Representative.
Darlington’s legacy is crowned with the rare California pitcher-plant, Darlingtonia californica, and his own epitaph reads,
“May the plants of Chester, which he loved and illustrated, forever blossom over his grave.”
1916 Birth of Frances Bickelhaupt, the Iowa arboretum-builder who, with her husband Robert, turned the loss of elm trees into a mission to plant more than 2,000 diverse species, all carefully grouped and mapped.
Today, the Bickelhaupt Arboretum is recognized for its resilience—even after losing many trees to the 2020 derecho, Frances and Robert are commemorated by a sculpture standing tall at the entrance, shovel in hand.
Unearthed Words
Playwright and novelist, Mehmet Murat ildan reflects on the unique longing and beauty of spring.
“In the winter, you may want the summer; in the summer, you may want the autumn; in the autumn, you may want the winter; but only in the spring you dream and want no other season but the spring!”
Grow That Garden Library™
Read my review of Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith, a witty, captivating novel of a female botanist’s adventure into Yellowstone in 1898. Through the eyes of Alexandra Bartram, the landscape and culture of science, nature, love, and humor in the American West come to life in 226 pages of fictionalized botanical history. Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the story offers both insight and amusement for any plant fan.
Buy the book on Amazon: Letters from Yellowstone by Diane Smith
Today's Botanic Spark
1917 Adoption of Alaska’s State Flower, the Wild Native Forget-me-not (Myosotis alpestris). Symbolic long before statehood, the forget-me-not was shared by lodges, honored by poets like Esther Birdsall Darling, and cherished in Alaskan lore. Its tiny blue flowers line streams, mark historic events, and appear in both legends and local gardens as a sign of lasting love and remembrance.
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