Hi, everyone, and welcome to The Daily Gardener, and thank you for listening. I'm your host, Jennifer Ebling, it's August 13th. Today we celebrate an early Swedish explorer of Niagara Falls, and we'll also learn about a plant that Thomas Jefferson loved. We'll salute the Russian botanist who arranged plants by geography, and we'll also recognize the Czech who became the most famous collector of orchids in the world.
And we'll remember the lives of a British plant hunter and a German chemist. I've got a wonderful poem about August for you today. And we grow that garden library with a book about canning. The author says you'll be able to make your mom a jealous with your canning skills after getting her book.
And then we'll wrap things up with a mystery about a plant collected by the botanist, Elbert Ruth. But first, let's catch up on some greetings from gardeners from around the world, and today's curated news. Well, first, I have to say thank you for all of your encouraging messages. It's been about 10 days since my last show, and that's because my Mac book just suddenly stopped working.
I had apparently used up all of the working memory on my Mac, and it just would not do anything. And then I needed to order an external hard drive. And then I had to make some tough choices about files that I wanted to keep. And one of the tools that I use to gather all my research for the show is an app called Evernote.
And I have 365 Evernote folders for every day of the year so that I can put together notes for each episode of the Daily Gardener. In fact, as I tell my social media team, I need about 40 to 60 notes to put together just one show for you guys. So it's a lot of work, and it's a lot of data. I'm not going to kid you.
Now I had always thought that all of my Evernote information was stored in the cloud, and that's actually true. But in addition to the cloud, an awful lot of Evernote to get stored on the Mac or stored on whatever computer you're using, and that part I was just not aware of. In any case, I've had an entire week of education about Mac books and storage and external storage and backups and so forth. I think I have a pretty good handle on all of it, but it's a baptism by fire.
And before I forget, I have to make a special shout out to my son Will. He's up here with me at the cabin, and I could not have gotten through the early days when my Mac book was completely bricked up without his help. So thank you, Will. I so appreciate everything you did for me and for getting me back on my feet again so that I could create the show.
Now, today's show is jam-packed, so I want to get going here. But I do want to remind you that if you'd like to participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, all you need to do is go ahead and email me your garden pictures or your stories, birthday greetings and so forth to my email, Jennifer at thedailygardener.org. That's Jennifer at the Daily Gardener.org. And if you don't want to email, you can always share your posts in the Facebook community for the show.
And don't forget, while you're at home, you can ask Alexa or Google to play the latest Daily Gardener podcast, and she will. It's just that easy. Here's today's curated news. Top First is a post from Tree Hugger.
It was written by Tom Oder, and it's called Ten Berries That Birds Love. And I loved this post because it reminds us as gardeners that birds eat more than just bird seed. They love berries. And if you have a garden full of berries, you will have plenty of birds.
Tom's article starts out this way. Have you ever thought about birdscaping your garden? I love that term birdscaping. Well, in this case, birdscaping doesn't mean putting out a lot of feeders with different types of seed.
It means planting the types of plants that will attract birds to your garden. And a good way to do this is to plant berry-producing plants. And now is the perfect time of year to do that. So Tom's article goes through 10 easy-to-grow berry-producing shrubs, vines, and trees.
And these are just a handful of the ones that produce berries that birds love. Now Tom's suggestions have been vetted by Bill Thompson III of Bird Watchers Digest in Marietta, Ohio. So these are all good to go. And in addition, Tom included two popular fruit trees that birds love in his list as well.
But let me take you through his top 10. And then if you're really interested, you can do a deep dive into Tom's article because he has so much information about these berry-producing shrubs, vines, and trees. So here we go. First up is blackberries.
Blackberries are vigorous in the garden. They grow very well. And even though gardeners don't always like them, the birds love them. And of course, as a reminder, if you're going to grow blackberries, make sure to pay attention to the cultivar that you're looking at because newer cultivars grow more upright and they don't have thorns.
So keep that in mind. Next on Tom's list is dogwoods. Now, many times, dogwoods are trees. But there are also many types of dogwood shrubs, like the red twig dogwood, which is always a good one to have around so that you can decorate your Christmas containers with the red twigs of the dogwood.
And bluebirds and thrushes love dogwood berries. Next on Tom's list is elderberries. These are stunning in a mixed border. And not only do the birds love elderberries, but people love elderberries.
They're fantastic in juices and jams. You can put them in a pie. You can make tea with them. They're so versatile.
Then next on the list is Holly and Juniper's. Now Juniper's are really important because they help the birds get through the winter. And it's not just the berries that are important to the birds, but the foliage is also very, very important to them. Those healthy Juniper branches give birds shelter during the winter.
That's very, very important. I see mulberries made the list. In addition to pokeweed, pokeweed is having a bit of a renaissance in our gardens. And even though it has the word weed in it, you shouldn't dismiss pokeweed out of hand.
Now in some areas of the United States, this is very invasive. So you need to be careful with pokeweed. And another thing to consider is the toxicity of pokeweed because every part of the pokeweed plant is toxic to humans. But not so with birds.
Birds love the berries of the pokeweed. Pokeweed gets these beautiful, shiny blackberries that show up on red stems in the summer. And they're about this time of year. And they're a hit with one of my favorite birds, the waxwing.
Next on the list is the Juneberry or the Shadbush. The name Junberry tells you when the berries appear in June. So we get the name Junberry. Junberries are red and they're very, very delicious.
And people use them for pies and they make jellies and jams with them. And some people even make Junberry wine. Then I was happy to see that Stacorn sumac made the list. This is a beautiful ornamental.
I love to see Stacorn sumacs in gardens. And as Tom points out, the common name Stacorn is a reference to the way that it branches because that habit looks like deer antlers. And then finally, the last berry, the Gelder Rose or Vibernum opulus, which is a large species. There are over 150 Vibernums and they're very, very popular in the landscape.
Now Gelder Roseberries show up in the fall. And in many cases, you'll see them in the winter landscape as well. And of course, the best thing about the Vibernums is the fact that they cover a wide growing zone range. So the Gelder Rose can be grown anywhere between zones two to nine in the United States.
Now if you'd like to find out the two fruiting trees that made Tom's list, all you need to do is search for the word birds in the Facebook group for the show. And Tom's post will pop up and then you can read all about it. And you can read about each one of these recommendations in more detail. Tom does a great job.
He'll tell you specifically about the bloom time, about the color of the berries and when the berries appear. And then he specifically names all of the different types of birds that are attracted to those berries, which is fantastic information. So really great post over at Tree Hugger. Now today over in the blog, I've written an original post for you about nasturtiums.
Nasturtiums are really such a wonderful plant, aren't they? And you know, this time of year, August is a time when your nasturtiums look absolutely fabulous, even after a summer of blooming their hearts out. And in fact, right about now, your nasturtiums will bloom even better if you remove a few of the center leaves. Cleaning up that plant a little bit is going to promote airflow and that will allow the sun to shine on the base of the plant.
And that's very, very helpful. So if you feel like your nasturtium is getting a little too big for its britches or if you just want to make sure that it makes it all the way through the end of the growing season, then make sure to open up that center a little bit. Now many gardeners are not aware that nasturtiums are 100% edible. And you can add the petals to any salad, just like you would, watercress.
And you can make your lunch plate beautiful by making a sandwich with nasturturtium flowers and a little salad dressing. In fact, Jane Eddington shared this idea in the Daily News out of New York in 1928. She wrote, If you have never tried a nasturtium leaf spread with a thin mayonnaise between two thin slices of bread and butter, you do not know how pleasant a little bite in two senses that you get from this Indian cress filling. And right there in that post, you hear an early popular common name for nasturtium, which was Indian cress.
But before I forget, I also found this wonderful article on nasturtiums that was featured in the Hartford current out of Hartford, Connecticut in August of 1914. Now what I loved about this article is that it had all of these wonderful recipes for nasturtiums. And it not only gave some good advice about nasturtium capers and nasturtium sandwiches, but also a nasturtium sauce for fish, meat and vegetables. It also had a nasturtium vinegar and a nasturtium potato salad.
And I'll have all of that in today's show notes. If you decide you want to geek out on nasturtiums. And finally, here's a little insight into how nasturtiums like to coexist with us. The more we cut nasturtiums to bring in as cut flowers or to eat them raw or as capers, the more they will bloom.
So regular cutting seems to encourage more lateral development and therefore you get more flowers. So don't hold back on cutting your nasturtiums. Win-win. Now, here's one last reminder for you when it comes to your nasturtiums.
You're going to want to protect your plants as the weather gets cooler. If you protect your nasturtium with burlap or sheets on cold fall evenings, your nasturtiums just might surprise you and bloom well into November. That's why I love nasturtiums. They work so hard all through the summer.
So be on team nasturtium. They're fantastic. All right, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out any of my curated news articles or original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck because I share all of it with the listener community in the free Facebook group for the show, the Daily Gardener community.
So there's no need to take notes or search for links. If you want to read the post on nasturtiums, just type in the word nasturtium. The next time you're in the Facebook group for the show and this post will pop up. And if you'd like to join the Facebook groups that you can do that, all you need to do is head on up to the search bar in Facebook and right where you would type in someone's name if you were trying to find them.
You just type in the name of our group, the Daily Gardener community. And then when that pops up, all you need to do is request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group. Here's today's brevity's.
It was on this day in 1750 that the botanist Peter Colm visited Niagara Falls. Niagara was a natural attraction for botanists like Peter who studied under Carl Linnaeus. In fact, it was actually Linnaeus who came up with the idea to send trained botanists to Niagara. That's how Peter ended up there.
Now, there are no records of the plants that Peter collected on this day all those years ago, but botanists suspect that Colm's Lobelia and Colm's St. John's Wart were both collected there. And that's how they were both named for him by Carl Linnaeus. And today in 1805, Mary Wether Lewis discovered the Snowberry or Simphora Carpis Albus.
I love the story of how Lewis came across the Snowberry. He was really looking for the Shoshone Indians, but he found the Snowberry instead. Lewis wrote in his journal that he had discovered something like a small honeysuckle except that it was bearing a berry that was as large as a garden pea and as white as wax. The plant was truly a new discovery to the scientific community.
And Lewis showed his botany chops when he said he thought it resembled the honeysuckle because it actually is a member of the honeysuckle family. And the Latin name for Snowberry is from the Greek, meaning fruits joined together because the berries of the Snowberry are clustered in pairs. Now sadly, the Snowberry isn't good for eating. They're pretty tasteless.
But as we learned from Tom's article at the top of the show, the birds and especially the grouse are not picky and they love the Snowberry. As for Mary Wether Lewis, botany's suspect that he probably took a specimen of the Snowberry along with him in his pack because some of the seeds made their way to Philadelphia to Thomas Jefferson's favorite nursery man Bernard McMahon. Once the Snowberry was in McMahon's hands, he did what he always did, cultivate the plant and take cuttings. After McMahon grew the Snowberry, he sent the cuttings to Thomas Jefferson.
And by October of 1812, Jefferson wrote back to report that the Snowberries were thriving in his garden. And Jefferson gushed that they were some of the most beautiful berries he had ever seen. A hearty endorsement for the Snowberry. And today is the birthday of the Russian botanist Edward August von Regal, who was born on this day in 1815.
Edward was born in Switzerland, but he lived most of his life in Russia. And he worked in a number of botanical gardens early on in his life, including gardens in both Germany and Switzerland. By 1852, Edward had founded a magazine called Garden Flora where he described all of the new plant species that he was encountering. Three years later, in 1855, Edward moved to St.
Petersburg where he oversaw the Imperial Botanical Garden. Edward was a very hands-on botanist, and when he went to St. Petersburg, he immediately addressed the setup there, as well as the level of excellence. Edward changed how all the plants were arranged, and he rebuilt the greenhouses, most of which were heated by hot water.
Edward loved to arrange plants in groups based on geography. For instance, he'd have an area for the plants of St. Petersburg, an area for the plants of Siberia, and an area for the plants of North America, and so on. And while he was in St.
Petersburg, Edward also started a Russian gardening society, as well as several botanical journals. And if you're a fan of Curtis' Botanical magazine, which was started by William Curtis, who was employed at Q, you'll appreciate knowing that volume 111 is dedicated to Edward August von Regal. And today is the birthday of Benedict Ressel, who was born on this day in 1823 in Czechoslovakia. Benedict was probably the most famous collector of orchids during his lifetime, and he had an interesting life.
As a gardener, Benedict traveled all over Europe, and he was also the founder of a Czech Botanical magazine called Flora. Eventually, Benedict made his way to the United States. He was making his way south to Mexico after first landing in New York, and then he went on to Denver, and it was there that he collected the Yucka and Gustafolia. Now, Benedict indeed ended up in Mexico, and for a time he actually owned a restaurant there.
But he was also trying to make a go of a business that was based on growing a nettle that's called the Bomeria Nivia. Now that plant produces a fiber that can be harvested, and Benedict was a tinkerer. He actually had built a machine to extract the fiber of the Bomeria, and on one occasion he actually brought his machine to an exhibition. Someone asked him if his machine could extract the fiber of a nagave.
When Benedict attempted to try it, his hand got entangled in the machine and was crushed. That accident changed Benedict's life, and he began collecting plants full time after that. Now if you can imagine, Benedict used an iron hook in place of his amputated hand. Now that made him popular among the locals, who actually ended up bringing the plants to him.
Now at some point Benedict started collecting for Frederick Sander, who was known as the king of the orchids. Although behind the scenes it was actually Benedict that collected all of those orchids. He collected over 800 orchid species from Mexico and South America, along with thousands of other plants like agaves and cacti. And during his time in Colombia he discovered the Zambia resiliae, which is the tallest and oldest orchid of all.
Benedict ended up collecting for Sander for 40 years. And there's one fact about Benedict that I just can never get out of my mind. He was six foot two, and he had that imposing iron hook for a hand. Yet during his time as a collector he was robbed 17 times, and once he was even attacked by a jaguar.
At the end of his life Benedict returned home to Czechoslovakia. His country welcomed him with open arms, and he was even honored by the Russian Tsar. And after Benedict died at home in his bed his funeral was attended by the Austrian emperor. And today there's a statue of Benedict Resil in Prague, and if you happen to go there it's located on the southern end of Charles Square.
And today is the anniversary of the death of the nursery man and botanist John Gould Veach, who died on this day in 1870. The Veach nursery dynasty was a force in the nursery trade, and their dominance was born out of the fact that they decided to hire their own plant hunters. I'm sure they were thrilled when one of their own John Gould Veach became a plant hunter himself. John's remembered for collecting in Japan and in Australia where one time he complained that the seeds of many plants he was working with, quote, were so tiny he didn't know if he was collecting seed or dust.
John Gould Veach's life was cut short by tuberculosis. Sadly he died when he was just 31 years old. And today is the birthday of the German chemist and botanist Richard Vilstetter, who was born on this day in 1872. Well, we sure could use Richard's expertise today.
Richard was trained as an organic chemist, and early in his career he focused on plants. Richard was one of the first scientists to study plant pigment, and his work with chlorophyll earned him the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1915. Now that very same year, 1915, a friend and fellow scientist by the name of Fritz Haber asked Richard to help him formulate poisonous gas to use as a weapon in World War I. Richard's conscience wouldn't allow him to use his talents in that way.
However, he did help to lead an effort to devise a filter that would protect the soldiers from enemy gases. And it was Richard's three-layer filter that ended up being mass-produced. 30 million were made by 1917, and Richard was awarded the Iron Cross for his work. By September of 1938, Richard, who was Jewish, tried to remain in his home in Munich.
And that month, Richard was forced to surrender his passport. On November 10, a co-worker and fellow professor at the Chemistry Institute named Margaret Roto-Walda called Richard to warn him that the SS were on their way to his home with the intent of taking him to Dachau. When the SS arrived, his housekeeper, Elise, recalled that they searched his home from top to bottom, looking in all of the closets and under all of the beds, but they could not find him. It turns out Richard had avoided their capture by being in the south side of his garden, where Richard wrote that the last roses were just freezing.
Over the next three days, Richard sat at his desk, and he waited for them to return. But the SS did not come for him. And although he could have found a university job in the United States, Richard felt drawn to Switzerland. In March of 1939, Richard managed to leave Germany legally.
He followed him and took care of him as he battled the strain of leaving his beloved books, his home, and his country. Shortly after leaving Germany, Richard's heart began to fail. His memoir shares that he died in Switzerland on the afternoon of August 3, 1942. And Elise noted that he passed while a violent thunderstorm raged outside.
In unearthed words, here's a fun poem called August. It was written by the Ottawa newspaper columnist, Maggie Grant. Here is a poem about August, for which there is no possible rhyme other than sawdust. Now, the task of justifying that word is going to be immense, if I want to make sense.
But anyway, here goes. I once had a doll called Rose, whose body was encased in a species of strong white cotton. Well, I have not forgotten how curious I was to see what was within the cotton skin. And so I made with surgical precision a long incision.
Or Rosie, bled and bled and bled. She bled not blood, but sawdust, and then went limp. Well, so do I, in August. You get the connection?
Now, for those to whom August means a similar disaffection, I have news today, relief is on the way. For, and I say this without fear of starting an angry dialogue, September will follow Ogg. It means that those kids who screamed help help at the river all summer will go back to school. And I can keep my cool, sitting tight instead of leaping up and fright.
It means the lawn will stop being so assiduous about growing, requiring mowing every second day. Hooray! It means I can give up wondering whether to try for a tan, or will the sun merely turn me to leather. It means the rabbits can finish off what they've left of my garden for all all care, allowing my temper to simmer down from way up there.
For all of which, thank God, although of course they'll be the Golden Rod. Frankly, I think it's pretty, but visitors from the city, to such a view object, pointing out how it makes their eyes and noses runny and wet. Why don't you get rid of the stuff they ask, as though exterminating Golden Rod were some sort of easy task. Tisk.
By the time you've yanked out one, you turn around to find its sisters, aunts, and cousins, springing blithely from the ground. But Golden Rod knows about family planning, you could put in a gnat's eye. That's why some farms grow wheat or corn or hops. But Golden Rod's my bumper crop.
A fact allergic friends remember, and so I can be lonely in September. It's time to grow that garden library with today's book, Not Your Mama's Canning Book by Rebecca Lindemood. This book came out in 2016, and the subtitle is Modern Canned Goods and What to Make with Them. Rebecca's book offers both savory and sweet recipes for canned goods.
Her book teaches not only how to can, but also how to elevate your food flavors. And her recipes feature unique flavor combinations for everything from jams and jellies, pickles and relishes, and even drunken fruit. And just a heads up that a few of her recipes call for pressure canning. Now, Rebecca says, with her book, you can make your mama proud, but don't tell her your canning is better than hers.
Rebecca is the founder of the blog Foodie with Family, and she's worked both as a full time cook and a food columnist. Rebecca lives in Belfast, New York. Her book is 224 pages of Expert Modern Day Canning Advice. You can get a copy of Not Your Mama's Canning Book by Rebecca Lindemood and support the show, using the Amazon link in today's show notes for around $14.
Finally, here's something sweet to revive the little botanic spark in your heart. On this day, in 1892, the botanist Albert Ruth collected a plant in Severe County that he thought was the Partridge Berry. But over 40 years later, in 1934, Albert's specimen of the Partridge Berry ended up at the University of Tennessee under unusual circumstances. In 1934, the university's Herbarium had been destroyed in a fire, which was especially sad since the Tennessee Herbarium was quite excellent, and it contained over 30,000 specimens.
To rectify the matter, the botanist and university professor A.J. Sharp put out a call for new specimens from botanists from all over the globe. Well, his effort met with success, and that's how Albert Ruth's Partridge Berry made its way to A.J. Sharp.
Now when Dr. Sharp saw Albert's specimen, he immediately recognized that it was not a Partridge Berry. Instead, it was the Twin Flower, a flower named for Carl Linnaeus, the Linna Borealis, an extremely delicate plant. And although the Twin Flower is found in Greenland and Alaska and Scandinavia, it has never been known to grow in the Smoky Mountains.
In fact, to this day, no one has ever found the spot where Albert Ruth found his Twin Flower. To date, there have been two attempts to locate Albert's Twin Flower led by Dr. Peter White out of the University of North Carolina. But Peter rightly cautions anyone attempting to search for the Twin Flower in the Smoky Mountains.
He says, there are two things you need to have to botanize in the Great Smokies. Excellent rock climbing experience, and a great life insurance policy. Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener, and remember for a happy, healthy life garden every day. The Daily Gardener is produced in lovely Wyoming, Minnesota with the help of Paige Mance, Brooke Beerbaum, Keanu Rayleigh, Matty Doyle, Natalie Ducker, and Eric Begay.
You can find The Daily Gardener on all your favorite social media. You can follow the show on Instagram, and listeners always have a standing invitation to join the free Facebook group for the show. Just search for Daily Gardener Community, the next time you're on Facebook, and request to join. All the stories and books featured on the show can be found over at thedailygardener.org, the daily gardener.org.
And while you're there, be sure to sign up for my free Friday newsletter. Last but not least, you can share your own Gardener greetings on the show by emailing me at jenniferatthedailygardener.org. I'm your host, Jennifer Ebling, and as always, have a great day in the garden, and we'll see you tomorrow.