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The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community

 

Historical Events

1772 Karl Friedrich von Gaertner, German botanist, is born.

Karl Friedrich von Gaertner had a fantastic last name; Gaertner translates to mean gardener.

Karl was a second-generation gardener. His dad was Joseph Gaertner, the great German botanist and horticulturist, so Karl essentially stepped in his father's footsteps.

Karl's claim to fame was his work with hybrids with hybridizing plants. Along with other botanists, he laid the foundation for Gregor Mendel, who discovered the basic principles of heredity through his experiments with peas in his garden at the Augustinian monastery he lived in at Brno ("BURR-no") in the Czech Republic.

 

1890 Phebe Holder's poem, A Song of May, appeared in newspapers this month.

In addition to her religious poems, Phebe wrote about the natural world.

Gardeners delight in her poems for spring and fall.

Phebe is a fabulous New England Victorian poet and gardener I love and admire.

She loved the delicate plants of springtime and wrote a poem called A Song of May.

What song hast thou, sweet May, for me,
My listening ear what song for thee?
A song of life from growing things,
The life thy gentle presence brings;
The tender light of budding spray.
The blooming down on willow grey,
The living green that earth overspreads,
The creamy flowers on mossy beds.

From blossoms pure with petals white
As pressed from out the moonbeam's light.
The fragrant lily of the vale,
The violet's breath on passing gale:
Anemones mid last year's*leaves,
Arbutus sweet in trailing wreaths,
From waving lights of forest glade
The light ferns hiding neath the shade.

A song of joy from wood and plain,
From birds in old-time haunts again;
The silvery laugh of tuneful rill
O'er rocky bed, down craggy hill;
Soft coming of warm dropping showers,
The sighing wind in piney bowers;
The music breathed by low-voiced waves,
For listening, from ocean caves,

A plaintive strain doth memory sing,
A breathing of departed Spring:
An unseen Presence in the home,
A spirit voice-"The Master's come!".
While hearts in tender sorrow wept
O'er one beloved who silent slept,
Who in the May-time long ago
Passed the pearl gates of glory through.

A grateful song, our God, to Thee
For treasures of the earth and sea;
For all the beauty Thou hast given;
A dream to loving hearts, of heaven;
A song of life, of joy, of love,
Of trust, of faith in light adore
This offering on thy shrine I lay;
This song hast thou for me, sweet May.

 

Phebe's A Song of May recalls the flowers of spring. In the second verse, she's touching on many great spring beauties: the Lily of the Valley, violets, anemones, The Mayflower (also known as the trailing arbutus), and then, of course, ferns. In May, fern fronds cover the woodlands and understories. All of these spring plants emerge very quickly once they get growing. The ground transforms from leaf-littered - brown, drab, and dreary - to excellent with beautiful little blossoms.

 

1822 Thomas Hoy, English gardener, horticulturist, and botanist, died.

Thomas was a dedicated gardener and head gardener for the Duke of Northumberland for over four decades - so he worked with plants his entire life.

Thomas was a fellow of the Linnaean Society and liked to show his work at various plant societies And outings. 

Thomas is remembered as an experienced botanist and a capable cultivator. He was very good at his job. In fact, he was so good that the botanist Robert Brown named a popular plant genus for Thomas Hoy. Can you guess what it is?

Well, if you were thinking Hoya, you are correct.

The Hoya is a beautiful way to be remembered and honored.

I love Hoyas. I picked up a couple of variegated Hoyas over the winter, and I'm so excited to see what the flower looks like. 

Overall the Hoya is a gorgeous plant named for the intelligent, thoughtful, and dedicated gardener Thomas Hoy, who died on this day when he was 72. 

 

1867 Ralph Waldo Emerson inscribed a copy of his book, May Day, to Sophie Thoreau, the devoted sister of Henry David Thoreau.

May Day is a collection of Emerson's writing and poems and includes the line, "Why chidest thou the tardy spring?" from his May Day poem.

Why chidest thou the tardy Spring?
The hardy bunting does not chide;
The blackbirds make the maples ring
With social cheer and jubilee;
The redwing flutes his o-ka-lee,
The robins know the melting snow;
The sparrow meek, prophetic-eyed,
Her nest beside the snow-drift weaves,
Secure the osier yet will hide
Her callow brood in mantling leaves;
And thou, by science all undone,
Why only must thy reason fail
To see the southing of the sun?

 

In other words, why be upset that spring is late? Spring has everything in hand. Don't be angry about nature's timing.

A library first shared this inscription with Ralph Waldo Emerson's beautiful handwriting.

About a decade after receiving the book, Sophie gifted the book to her friend Mabel Loomis and inscribed the transfer in the book.

If you're looking for a sentimental month of May gift or have a May birthday and want to give something unique, look for an old copy of May Day by Ralph Waldo Emerson. It's a beautiful gift.

 

Well, it turns out that May 1st is a great day to release a brand new gardening book, and so I thought I'd wrap up today's botanical history with three great garden books released on May 1st.

 

2001 The Himalayan Garden: Growing Plants from the Roof of the World by Jim Jermyn.

If you're into growing mountain plants, Alpine plants, wildflowers, etc., and if you have a cold climate, you'll enjoy this book.

 

2015 Monet's Palate Cookbook: The Artist & His Kitchen Garden At Giverny by Aileen Bordman

 

2018 Herbal Medicine for Beginners: Your Guide to Healing Common Ailments with 35 Medicinal Herbs by Katja Swift

 

 

Grow That Garden Library™ Book Recommendation

Emily's Fresh Kitchen by Emily Maxson

This book came out in January of 2022, and the subtitle is Cook Your