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August 22, 2019  My Mullein, the White Rose of Scotland, Edward Beard Budding, Jacob Weidenmann, National Eat a Peach Day, Cecil Day-Lewis, Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar, Sprucing Up Ironwork, and a Story about Elephant Ears

August 22, 2019 My Mullein, the White Rose of Scotland, Edward Beard Budding, Jacob Weidenmann, National Eat a Peach Day, Cecil Day-Lewis, Herbal Hea…

FromThe Daily Gardener


August 22, 2019 My Mullein, the White Rose of Scotland, Edward Beard Budding, Jacob Weidenmann, National Eat a Peach Day, Cecil Day-Lewis, Herbal Hea…

FromThe Daily Gardener

ratings:
Length:
12 minutes
Released:
Aug 22, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

At the cabin, a Mullein has seeded itself in one of my beds and I’m letting it grow.    (I was touring gardens in Washington DC a few years ago and the garden had a section for Mulleins. It was so pretty.)   On more than one occasion, I have had to rescue it - to make sure that no one in the family pulled it or weed-whacked it. Now, there it stands; 6 feet tall, big leaves, soft as lamb's ears, and the yellow florets are just starting to pop out from the flower spike.   If you look closely at Mulleins, they have these little fine hairs on the very soft leaves. The purpose of those little fine hairs is to trap moisture from the air; to help the plant survive - even when there’s no water around.   Inside the leaf and the flower of Mullein, is a compound called mucilage. It’s a soothing property -  a soothing slime - that protects tissue when it comes into contact with it.  Herbalists use that mucilage to treat dry coughs; the mucilage reduces the acidity level in the esophagus which helps stop the cough reflex. Whenever I look at Mullein, I always think of Whitman’s charming thoughts on it.   Whitman wrote:   "The farmers, I find, think the Mullein a mean unworthy weed. But, I have grown to a fondness for it. Every object has its lesson, enclosing the suggestion of everything else —and lately I sometimes think all is consecrated for me in these hardy, yellow flower'd weeds.   As I come down the lane early in the morning, I pause before their soft wool-like fleece and stem and broad leaves, glittering with countless diamonds. Annually for three summers now, they and I have silently returned together; at such long intervals I stand or sit among them, musing [...] of my sane or sick spirit, here as near at peace as it can be."         Brevities   #OTD     On this day in 1745, Prince Charles Stuart plucked a white rose and placed it in his hat.   Charles got the nickname "Bonnie Prince Charlie."  Some have speculated, that the event sparked the significance of the Burnett rose - a white rose - because it became a celebrated symbol of Scotland.    Here’s a little poem about the white rose from Hugh MacDiarmid:   The rose of all the world is not for me. I want for my part Only the little white rose of Scotland. That smells sharp and sweet - and breaks the heart.           #OTD     Today in 1830, the first lawn Moore was invented by Edward Beard Budding.   Budding had adopted a machine that was used to remove the nap from wool.   Budding had been working part time at carpet mill and he got the idea when he was working there; watching that machine with the wool.   Budding apparently tested his machine at night, so that his neighbors wouldn’t be curious or make fun of him.   And, if you ever get the chance to go and see the Budding Museum of Gardening, it looks like a fun place to go. It shows mowers from all over the world.  There’s also a pruning exhibit. The museum is in England. Cute little museum.         #OTD       Today is the birthday of the botanist Jacob Weidenmann, who was born on this day in 1829 in Zürich Switzerland.   Weidenmann was a landscape architect. He came to the United States in 1856.  By 1861, he was named the first superintendent of parks for Hartford, Connecticut. When he was there, he designed the Bushnell Park in Cedar Hill cemetery.   By the 1870's, he was collaborating with Frederick Law Olmsted.   In 1871, Weidenmann published his very first book it was called Beautifying Country Homes.His work on the Cedar Hill Cemetery led him to write a book called Modern Cemeteries - where he actually talked about how to landscape memorial grounds.   After Weidenmann had finished designing in Hartford, he was asked to design the capital grounds in Des Moines.    When Weidenmann died, he was buried in a quiet corner of the cemetery he had designed in Connecticut. Today, Harvard awards the Weidenmann prize to the student who shows outstanding ability in landscape design.         #OTD    Today is National Eat a Peach Day. 
Released:
Aug 22, 2019
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

The Daily Gardener is a podcast about Garden History and Literature. The podcast celebrates the garden in an "on this day" format and every episode features a Garden Book. Episodes are released M-F.