May 20, 2021 Garden Stairways, Honoré de Balzac, the Chelsea Flower Show, Rikki-tikki’s Garden, Petal by Adriana Picker, and National Pick Strawberries Day
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Botanical History On This Day
1799 Birthday of Honoré de Balzac, prolific French writer and father of literary Realism. His Paris home, now the Maison de Balzac museum, features a garden shaded by laurel shrubs honoring the influential women named Laure in his life. Known for his love of pears and violets, Balzac’s poetic works, including the poem The Camellia, reveal his deep appreciation for nature’s symbolism and beauty, immortalized today in the 'Honoré de Balzac®' rose.
1913 The first Chelsea Flower Show took place, originally called the Royal Horticultural Society's Great Spring Show, held in a single tent at the RHS garden in Kensington. This modest beginning has blossomed into one of the world’s most prestigious annual horticultural events, celebrating garden design and botanical excellence.
Unearthed Words
An excerpt from Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki-Tikki-Tavi:
"The brave mongoose tended his garden with fierce vigilance and agility, keeping it safe from cobras with tooth, jump, spring, and bite—ensuring “never a cobra dared show its head inside the walls.”
Grow That Garden Library™
Read my review of Petal by Adriana Picker, a stunning 2020 botanical art book that showcases flowers from across various families, including roses, daisies, and orchids. Picker’s exquisite illustrations capture the architecture, colors, and folklore of petals, inspired by a lifelong passion nurtured in her grandmother’s garden.
Buy the book on Amazon: Petal: A World of Flowers Through the Artist's Eye
Today's Botanic Spark
On this day, National Pick Strawberries Day celebrates the beloved berry with fascinating facts: strawberries wear their seeds outside, averaging 200 seeds per fruit; their name may derive from “strewn berry” because runners scatter berries across the ground; and California produces 75% of the U.S. strawberry crop.
As Toni Morrison said,
“I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer.”
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