Feb 3, 2020
Today we celebrate the man who wrote the Flora of North America
from across the pond in London much to the chagrin of American
botanists.
We’ll learn about the Dutch botanist who discovered the
phalaenopsis orchid and the coleus on the island of Java.
Today’s Unearthed Words review some sayings about the month of
February in the garden.
We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that helps us grow African
violets.
I’ll talk about a decorative item for your garden, deck, or
porch,
and then we’ll wrap things up with National Carrot Cake Day and the
history and recipes of this favorite dessert.
But first, let’s catch up on a few recent events.
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Curated Articles
Hello Yellow
Milkweed/Butterfly Flower, View All Flowers: Botanical Interests
@botanicalseeds
"Bring sunny color into the pollinator garden with ‘Hello Yellow’
milkweed! Asclepias tuberosa (ah-SKLEE-pee-iss TOO-burr-OH-sah) is
usually orange, but this yellow beauty was found in Colorado."
Columbus’Carnivorous
Collectibles from The Lantern @TheLanterns
“A single organism of Sarracenia purpurea, collected by
botanist/bryologist William Sullivant - 1840 - one of the few
documented pitcher plants that grew in central Ohio.”
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.
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
1814 The English botanist Aylmer Lambert
wrote to his peer, and the President of the Linnean Society, Sir
James Edward Smith.
Lambert was giving Smith a heads up that Frederick Pursh’s Flora
Americana was published.
Five years earlier, Frederick had been working for Benjamin Smith
Barton in America. Barton was supposed to process the plants from
the Lewis & Clark expedition and prepare a catalog for publishing.
For some unknown reason, Barton never got around to doing the work.
When Meriwether Lewis realized that Barton hadn’t started much of
anything, he hired his employee Frederick to do the work.
By May of 1808, we know that Frederick had completed all of the
tasks that Meriwether Lewis had assigned him. He was eager to get
paid the $60 he been promised by Lewis, and the $80 Barton owed him
for helping with his herbarium. He was also excited to keep going
with the Lewis & Clark project. It seems the mission of sharing the
botanical discoveries of the expedition with the public had
captured his heart.
This is where Frederick’s story gets a little murky. It’s not clear
if he was ever fully paid by Lewis or by Barton. It’s not entirely
clear why Lewis & Barton couldn’t seem to keep the project moving
forward. But records do show, that over the next 18 months, two key
things happened that caused Frederick to leave America with the
Lewis and Clark specimens in tow: Meriwether Lewis died and
Frederick Pursh began to despise his boss, Benjamin Smith Barton.
For his part, Barton may have grown tired of Pursh’s drinking. He
wrote of Pursh, “Drinking is his greatest failing.”
When Frederick Pursh arrived in England at the end of 1811, he
reached out to both Sir James Edward Smith and Alymer Lambert about
putting together the Flora of North America. Lambert became his
botanical fairy godfather; he had a huge personal botanical
library, herbarium, and funding. That said, Lambert also provided
something Pursh desperately needed: discipline.
Pursh was kind of a rough and tough guy with a swarthy complexion
and reputed alcohol addiction. Historians say that Lambert made
arrangements in the attic of his house, creating a workspace for
Frederick. Once he got Frederick up there, Lambert would lock him
in for stretches at a time to keep Frederick focused on the
project. It was an extreme way to deal with Frederick’s demons, but
it worked.
Now, Smith and Lambert didn’t do all of this out of the goodness of
their heart. They were enormously interested and what Pursh had
brought with him from America: portions of the specimens from the
Lewis and Clark expedition.
Even with Lambert’s resources and lock-ins, it took Frederick two
years to complete the Flora of North America. The whole time he was
racing to get it published before Thomas Nuttall, who was working
on the exact same project back in America. American botanists felt
Pursh had pulled the rug out from under them when he took the
expedition specimens to England.
On December 21st, 1813, Pursh won the race when his 2-volume
masterpiece describing all of the plants of North America was
presented to the Linnaean Society.
In the introduction, Frederick was forthright about his time in
America and how he had come to possess the expedition specimens.
Giving credit to the work of Lewis and Clark, Frederick created two
new genera - Lewisia (loo-WIS-ee-ah) and Clarkia (CLAR-key-ah) for
Lewis and Clark. In all, Frederick had received 132 plants from
Meriwether Lewis, 70% were brand-new species that were named by
Frederick. Today roughly 30% of the Pursh-named plants named in his
Flora Americana are still recognized as valid.
Lewisia is a little evergreen Alpine plant with a beautiful bloom.
They like well-drained soil and are native to the northwest.
Lewisia is a perfect pick for a rock garden.
Clarkia is a little wildflower primrose that can be grown from seed
after the last spring frost. Clarkia prefers to be direct-sowed,
and they are perfect for use in mixed borders and Rock Gardens.
Today Clarkia hybrids are grown for cut flowers.
Link to 1814 Flora Americae Septentrionalis Volume
One
Link to 1814 Flora Americae Septentrionalis Volume
Two
1862 Today is the Anniversary of the death
of the German-Dutch botanist with the perfect last name - Carl
Ludwig Blume. Born in Germany and orphaned by the age of five,
Blume proved to be a bright little boy and a successful student. He
studied at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands - a place
that would become his Northstar. When he died in Leiden, on this
day in 1862, he had become a naturalized Dutch citizen.
Scholastically, Blume went the path of most botanists. He first
became a physician and he ran an apothecary. In short order, he
started botanizing in the Dutch East Indies, specifically on the
island of Java, where he was the director of the Botanic Garden.
Blume wrote a spectacular book on the collection of orchids that
were available on the island. The title page is stunning and it
features three native women from Java performing a ceremonial
dance. The mountains of Java in the village are in the background,
and a garland of orchids frames the stunning portrait. This
publication is considered one of the finest works of scientific
literature during the early 1800s.
In 1825, Blume established the Dendrobium genus of orchids. The
genus name is derived from the Greek; "dendron" for tree and "bios"
meaning life. The name refers to the epiphytic habit of orchids to
grow in trees. Thus, the combination of those two words, dendron
and bios, meaning tree-life.
And, here's a great story about Blume. During his time in Java,
Blume saw what he thought was a group of moths flying in a
motionless fashion by a tree. It was an odd vision. But, when he
got closer, Blume realized what he thought were moths, were
actually orchid flowers. Blume named the species Phalaenopsis
amabilis (fayl-eh-NOP-sis ah-MA-bo-lis). In nature, the stems of
the phalaenopsis orchid are not clipped to a bamboo pole like they
are in when we buy them in the supermarket. Instead, they arch away
from the tree they are attached to and sway easily with the Wind.
It was the motion of the Orchid flowers swaying in the wind
together, that lead Blume to believe he saw an insect and not a
blossom.
The etymology of the word phalaenopsis comes from the Latin word
"phal", which means moth - which is why this Orchid is commonly
referred to as the Moth Orchid.
Phalaenopsis orchids are native to Southeast Asia. Their popularity
has steadily grown because they are so easy to grow and because
they bloom indoors all year round. This makes them one of the most
popular house plants in the world.
Now, should you be tempted this summer to move your phalaenopsis
orchid outside; think twice. Just because they are a tropical
plant, doesn’t mean they want full sun. Phalaenopsis orchids grow
in the shade of trees under the tree canopy. They like indirect
light, and if you put them in full sun, they will get sunburned. If
you are going to move them outside, make sure to put them in a
place where they will not get direct sunlight. Sometimes I’ll put
mine onto my north-facing covered porch.
In 1853, Carl Ludwig Blume discovered another popular plant in the
mountains of Java: coleus. Coleus bluemei was named in his honor
until it was changed in 2006 to Coleux x Hybridus in recognition of
all the new hybrid variations. As of 2012, the botanical name for
coleus is Plectranthus scutellarioides (Plek-TRAN-thus
SKOO-til-air-ee-OY-deez).
And, coleus are in the mint or Lamiaceae family. They have that
signature square stem and opposite leaves - along with other
popular members of the mint family: basil, peppermint, oregano,
Salvia, Swedish ivy, and thyme. An early nickname for coleus was
painted nettle or flame nettle.
Coleus is easy to propagate from cuttings. You can simply pop them
in a glass of water, and in a few days, roots will start to form.
To encourage your coleus to grow in a more compact fashion, keep
pruning them before they bloom.
You might remember that the National Garden Bureau made 2015 the
year of the coleus.
Unearthed Words
Here are some sayings about our new month -
February:
February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.
― Sarah Coleridge, English author, and
translator
Why, what’s the matter,
That you have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?
— William Shakespeare, English author, poet & playwright,
Much Ado About Nothing
The most serious charge which can be brought against New England is
not Puritanism but February.
— Joseph Wood Krutch, American writer, and
naturalist
February is the border between winter and spring.
― Terri Guillemets (gee-ya-MAY), quotation anthologist,
Years
February is a suitable month for dying. Everything around is dead,
the trees black and frozen so that the appearance of green shoots
two months hence seems preposterous, the ground hard and cold, the
snow dirty, the winter hateful, hanging on too long.
― Anna Quindlen, American author, and journalist, One True
Thing
Grow That Garden Library
YOU CAN Grow African Violets by Joyce
Stark
The subtitle of this book is: The Official Guide Authorized by the
African Violet Society of America, Inc.
Kent and Joyce Stork have grown violets for over 30 years. From
1991 to 2004, they wrote a column in the African Violet Magazine,
which became the foundation for this book. Kent and Joyce are
married and live in Fremont, Nebraska, where they own a business
specializing in African violets.
Kent and Joyce Stork killed their first violet too! They soon
mastered the skills for growing the plant and eventually wrote for
the African Violet Magazine, the official publication of the
African Violet Society of America, Inc. for over ten years. Their
column For Beginners explained the basic elements of growing
violets in an entertaining and straightforward way that anyone
could understand. Now, these columns have been adapted and edited
to provide even the most novice grower with a step-by-step guide,
whether the goal is simply to keep violets alive or to exhibit the
plants in competitive shows.
You can get a used copy of YOU CAN Grow African Violets by
Joyce Stark and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today’s
Show Notes for under $5.
Great Gifts for Gardeners
WiHoo 8” Indoor Outdoor Thermometer/Hygrometer for Patio,
Wall or Decorative (Bronze) $19.99
Easy to read - The outdoor thermometer
decorative easily keep track of the temperature from a distance
with bold black dial graphics.
Celsius and Fahrenheit - This garden
hygrometer digital simultaneous Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature
display.
Real glass lens - This room indoor
thermometer real glass lens, accurate between -40 and 120℉/-40, and
50 °C to accommodate all climates.
Amazon’s Choice & Amazon Prime
Today’s Botanic Spark
Today is National Carrot Cake Day.
Every February 3rd, National carrot cake day is observed. And, you
might say it’s a great excuse to have our cake and our carrots,
too.
Akin to banana bread, carrot cake is similar in preparation and
texture. It's made, like many quick breads, by separately preparing
the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients and then mixing those
together. And, carrot cakes generally include ingredients like
cinnamon or nutmeg, raisins, or nuts.
Carrots are, of course, a root vegetable. They are made up of 88%
water, 7% sugar, and a percent each of protein, fiber, and ash.
The Greeks and Romans ate carrots, but their carrots were different
colors like purple or white. It wasn’t until the 17th century that
carrots started appearing predominantly as orange. Why? Because the
Dutch initially bred the carrot to be orange in order to honor the
Dutch royal family - also known as the “House of Orange” in the
Netherlands. The orange carrot became so popular that the color
became synonymous with the carrot.
As for carrot cake, the earliest mentions of it in the newspaper
appear in the early 1900s - around 1910. These early carrot cakes
were more like little crab cakes - only they were made with
carrots, flour, and butter, sweet milk, and so on.
By 1912, the San Francisco newspaper, The Call, featured a carrot
cake recipe and it advised that only very young, tender carrots be
used - along with 2 cups of sugar, a cup of butter, 2 cups of
flour, a cup of carrots that were boiled and mashed very finely, a
cup of grated chocolate, a cup of chopped walnuts, 1/2 a cup of
sweet milk, 4 eggs, 1 teaspoon each of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg,
and salt.
By the end of November, in 1913, a newspapers were running an
article called “Carrots and Cakes.” It said:
“The little carrot, of the plebian vegetable family, moved high
last week in the social scale and was in such demand on the grocery
orders of so many families that stores ran out entirely, says the
Minneapolis Journal.
Miss Lilla Frich, supervisor of domestic economy in the public
schools, has been telling how carrots may be used for what they are
or as substitutes for other things, notably, that carrot pulp makes
a good egg substitute in making cakes and hundreds of women who
formerly have scorned common truck farm products have been buying
them.”
In the early 1980s, when Pillsbury launched its “Carrot and Spice
Cake Mix,” they held a contest to discover the earliest published
carrot cake recipe, and they were also looking for the best
Heritage recipe.
Joyce Allen of Wichita Kansas won $100 for sharing her recipe from
the 1929 Wichita Women’s Club cookbook, and Ethel Amsler of Waco
Texas also won $100 for creating a new recipe with Pillsbury’s new
carrot cake mix. She was riffing off an old family recipe. That old
family recipe had been handed down through four generations. She
said they didn’t have it but twice a year.
Ethel’s old family recipe for carrot cake calls for white raisins
soaked in brandy in addition to adding a cup of black walnuts.
If you’d like to get a copy of Ethel Amsler’s Heritage Carrot Cake
recipe, along with her modern version, I’ve added them to today’s
Show Notes, which are available on the website for the show over
at thedailygardener.org.
ETHEL AMSLER’S HERITAGE CARROT CAKE
1 cup brandy
1 cup of water
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 cups grated carrots
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 cup chopped black walnuts
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
At least two days before serving, in a medium saucepan, soak
raisins in brandy overnight at room temperature. The next day, add
water, sugar, butter, carrots, and spices. Bring mixture to a boil,
stirring occasionally; simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; pour
into a large mixing bowl. Cover; let stand at room temperature 12
hours or overnight.
The next day, heat oven to 275 degrees. Grease and flour 10-inch
angel food tube pan or 12-cup fluted tube pan. Add walnuts, flour,
baking powder, soda, and salt to carrot mixture; mix
thoroughly.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 ¾ hour or until a
toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely
before serving.
ETHEL AMSLER’S HERITAGE CARROT CAKE (Modern
Version)
1 package Pillsbury Plus Carrot N Spice Cake Mix
¾ cup of water
½ cup dairy sour cream
⅓ cup oil
2 teaspoons brandy extract
3 eggs
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup finely chopped walnuts
Powdered sugar
Heat oven to 390 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup fluted tube pan.
In a large bowl, blend cake mix, water, sour cream, oil, brandy
extract, and eggs until moistened; beat 2 minutes at highest speed.
Stir in raisins and walnuts. Pour into a pre-prepared pan. Back at
350 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in
the center comes out clean. Cool upright in pan 25 minutes; Invert
onto a serving plate. Cool completely. Sift or sprinkle powdered
sugar over the top. 16 servings.
Finally, during the 1970s, the Los Angeles Times featured a popular
recipe for their 14 Carat Cake. That recipe
incorporates crushed pineapple and walnuts. I’ve included it in
today's Show Notes, as well.
14 CARAT CAKE
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 cups of sugar
1 ½ cups oil
4 eggs
2 cups grated raw carrot
1 (8 12-oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
12 cup chopped nuts
Add Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
Sift together flour, baking powder, powder, soda, salt, and
cinnamon. Add sugar, oil, and eggs and mix well. Stir in carrots,
drained pineapple, and nuts. Turn into three greased and floured
9-inch layer-cake pans or a 13x9-inch pan and bake at 350 deg. 35
to 40 minutes until the top springs back when touched lightly with
a finger. Cool a few minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks
to cool. (Or loaf cake, may be frosted in the pan, especially handy
if the cake is for a potluck or picnic.) For layers, spread tops
and sides with frosting and stack.
Cream Cheese Frosting
½ cup butter or margarine
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. Confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Combine’ butter, cream cheese, and vanilla and beat until well
blended. Add sugar gradually, beating vigorously, if too thick, add
a small amount of milk to thin to spreading consistency.