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The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community
Historical Events
#OTD Today is National Herbs and Spices Day.
It is the season for growing fresh herbs.
I just helped a friend put together a sweet little kitchen Garden right outside her front door. Herbs are so wonderful to grow because as aromatics they generally don't have any pest issues and they offer tremendous texture and interest.
If you're new to gardening and looking for something maintenance to grow, it won't get any easier than growing herbs.
1720 Mrs Clements of England markets first paste-style mustard
Mustard Facts
1822 Birth of Lydia White Shattuck, Pioneering Botanist
In 1869, she took a Mount Holyoke student to Europe where they studied botany, and in 1873 she worked with Louis Agassiz and Arnold Henri Guyot at the Penikese Island (Massachusetts) school for natural history. She was dedicated to Mount Holyoke's achieving the status of a college, and retired in 1889, shortly after this goal was achieved. She died on November 2, 1889 in South Hadley, Massachusetts at the age of sixty-seven."
There is a book written about her life called "Memorial of Lydia White Shattuck" by Sarah D. (Locke) Stow. It was published in 1890. So it gives an excellent glimpse into life for a very bright Shattuck in the 19th century in New England. Nancy says Shattuck Hall at Mount Hollyoak is named after her as the first woman professor. She also left a bequeath to her beloved college. She is a descendant of William Shattuck's son William (1653-1732).
1905 The Flower Garden Day by Day by Louisa Yeomans King
JUNE I0. Prune flowering shrubs (those that bloom
before their leaves) now, cutting off only the branches
that have borne flowers, and very little beside; merely
the weaker or more useless twigs and boughs that for one
reason or another are better gone. Shape the bush as you
prune but above all remember its own habit and form and
cut to emphasize those. had and do not
1936 Birth of Marion Chesney Gibbons, Scottish writer.
Writing as Marion Chesney, her final endeavor was an Edwardian mystery series featuring Lady Rose Summer, a charming debutante with an ...
Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation
Green by Ula Maria
This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle is Simple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces.
You can get a copy of Green by Ula Maria and support the show using the Amazon link in today's show notes.
Botanic Spark
2008 Trad's Diary
Trad’s Diary started as the editorial column of the RHS Journal when it was remodelled and relaunched as The Garden in 1975. I was responsible for the changes, wrote the column then, and still do when I have an idea, 45 years later. I am Hugh Johnson, author ofTrees, The Principles of Gardening, and lots of stuff about wine.
Trad borrows his name from John Tradescant, gardener to Lord Cecil at Hatfield and to King James I, one of the first to introduce plants from abroad to England. His family name, having become extinct, seemed a fitting label for a column of garden jottings. It was adopted in 1977 by the new Trust for the Garden Museum in Lambeth, where John Tradescant (the accent is on the second syllable) lived and is buried. Today the museum is in full and exciting expansion mode. I urge you to visit its website, visit it personally, and support it as much as you can.
Trad took to the ether as a blog in 2008. There have been two anthologies, in 1993 and 2009, and since 2008 the text has been published quarterly in Hortus magazine. Scroll back, if you have time to waste, over hundreds of earlier entries. Better, use the Search button to look up things that might interest you. This index facility is priceless to the diarist; now he can see how often he repeats himself. Thanks to Simon Appleby and Bookswarm for making this happen.
A week away in early June and you come back to a different garden. It was wet while we were gone, and warm enough for plants to make their main thrust of growth, to bulk up and cover ground. Last night, just home, I walked round in a daze of excitement, surprise, shock and, I confess, dither. So much needs enjoying, so much needs doing. Instinctive priorities are new plants, just planted. Have they survived my disloyal absence?
A fresh eye for your own garden is never easy to achieve. Homecoming gives you your best chance. Has the fatsia grown too bulky (yes), or the hedge too tall? Does the Robinia ‘Frisia’ shout too loud beside the purple cotinus? This is the moment to decide. But how do you prevent yourself from stopping to pull up an egregious weed…. Then another and another? Contemplation and quiet consideration go by the board once you start stooping – which is why they are fragile commodities around here.
Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener
And remember: For a happy, healthy life, garden every day.
