Today we celebrate the German-American botanist who saved the French wine industry and the very first Iris-breeder who urged other hybridizers to “be bold.” We’ll learn about the woman who sparked significant legislative change after birds and insects were killed in her garden and the man who fought to protect habitat for the Blazing Star. In Unearthed Words, we celebrate two award-winning American poets and review their poems about the garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that shows how growing and gardening has changed the way we eat. I’ll talk about a garden item that will get your garden or porch party-ready. And, then, we’ll wrap things up with a story within a story about a man who loved apples and a man who helped settle the West. But first, let’s catch up on a few recent events. Subscribe Apple (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-gardener/id1458062597) | Google (https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&apn=com.google.android.music&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Im4i25xyanawqu5fin7oy6smrnm?t%3DThe_Daily_Gardener%26pcampaignid%3DMKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16) | Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5ODID572hLPggNp9WZBnzC) | Stitcher (https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=387618) | iHeart (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-daily-gardener-51539428/?cmp=web_share) Curated Articles Seeds and Berries (https://buff.ly/2ubcmhI) “As a wildlife gardener, you can help wildlife have a year-round bounty by leaving the seed heads and berries intact, while still weeding or clearing some lower branches and leaves as needed. Seed-eating birds such as juncos and goldfinches enjoy the dried flower heads of asters, coneflowers, and other native plants. Winter wildflower stalks also provide wildlife with places to seek refuge from storms and predators, and insects pass the winter in the dead stalks. These stalks and seed pods also add texture and visual interest on an otherwise barren landscape in a garden habitat.” Rare ghost orchid has multiple pollinators, the groundbreaking video reveals (https://buff.ly/36Z5hzb) Rare ghost orchid has multiple pollinators, the groundbreaking video reveals: “Deep in remote Florida swamps, a team of researchers and photographers have made a new discovery that upends what we thought we knew about the ghost orchid, one of the world’s most iconic flowers, and how it reproduces. These rare, charming orchids were long thought to be pollinated by a single insect: the giant sphinx moth. ” Now, if you’d like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you’re in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group – The Daily Gardener Community. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/thedailygardener/) There’s no need to take notes or search for links – the next time you’re on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I’d love to meet you in the group. Important Events 1879 On this day, Dorothea Engelmann, the wife of the physician and botanist George Engelmann, died. Dorothea was also his cousin, and the couple married in their native Germany before immigrating to the United States. Engelmann had settled in St Louis, Missouri. George and Dorothea had one son, George Jr – who became a noted gynecologist. George persuaded Henry Shaw to develop the gardens around his estate outside of St Louis. When Asa Gray indicated that he thought Engelmann should run Shaw’s garden, Engelmann replied that he wasn’t interested; that Shaw was a man who had “no real scientific zeal.” Yet, Engelmann continued to interact with Shaw, and he encouraged him to name his garden, the Missouri Botanical Garden. Today, the Missouri Botanical Garden is sometimes still referred to as Shaw’s Garden. George Engelmann became the Missouri Botanical Garden’s first botanist. Among his many accomplishments as a botanist, at the top of the list is the time George rescued the French wine industry. During the 1870s, the grapes in French Vineyards were under attack by phylloxera. Without intervention, the old European vines would never survive the little aphid-like pest that sucked the sap out of the roots of the grapevines. By the time the French government dispatched a scientist to St. Louis, Engelmann had been studying grapes for over 20 years. Engelmann offered a simple solution when he suggested replacing the European vines with American ones. Engelmann had already determined that the American vines were naturally resistant to phylloxera. The simple substitution of vines would eliminate the problem. Both sides agreed, and George personally arranged for millions of grapevines as well as grape seeds to be sent to France. And voila! The French wine industry was saved. As a person, George was quite cheerful and always working – either as a physician or pursuing his botanical and other scientific work. But, after Dorothea died on this day in 1879, George was distraught. Dorothea had been his pa…
