Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter|Daily Gardener Community Historical Events 1686Birth of Antoine de Jussieu ("Ann-twan do Jyou-sue"), French naturalist, botanist, and physician. Born in Lyon, Antoine was the son of an apothecary. After touring Spain, Portugal, and southern France with his brother Bernard, he went to Paris and ultimately succeeded Joseph Pitton de Tournefort as director of the royal gardens. In 1713, Antoine shared the first scientific reference to coffee with the Royal Academy of Sciences of France. He called it Jasminum arabicanum, but Carl Linneaus gave the official botanical classification forty years later in 1753. Antoine once wrote about finding plant fossils in a quarry. I observed on most collected stones the imprints of innumerable plant fragments which were so different from those which are growing in the Lyonnais, in the nearby provinces, and even in the rest of France, that I felt like collecting plants in a new world... The number of these leaves, the way they separated easily, and the great variety of plants whose imprints I saw, appeared to me... as many volumes of botany... [in] the oldest library of the world. 1865On this day, members of the John Wesley Powell expedition raided a garden on an island in the Green just above the mouth of the White River. The expedition had just thrown out more spoiled food, and the group faced the constant fear of hunger. InPowell of the Colorado(2015), William Culp Darrah wrote, Fresh fruit had been mighty scarce and the temptation to steal some greens was irresistible. The Major, Andy, and Bill Dunn filled their arms with young beets, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. The men rowed a few miles down the river and paused to enjoy the stolen fruit. Of course the season was not advanced enough to yield sizable vegetables, so Andy cooked up the whole mess as greens. It was a not-quite-unpleasant stew. After eating their fill and disposing of the remainder, the men resumed the journey. They had not gone a mile before all hands except Bradley and Howland were violently nauseated. Bradley explained that the potato tops were so bitter he had not eaten any. The Major said their illness was caused by a narcotic in the potato leaves, but Hall swore that it was all his fault; in their haste he had only half-cooked the stuff. Sumner wrote in his diary, "We all learned one lesson--never to rob gardens." 1887Birth of Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal)(books about this person), Russian-French artist of Belarus. He was an early modernist and created in various formats, including paintings, drawings, stained glass, ceramics, and tapestries, among many others. The art critic Robert Hughes called Chagall "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century." And Pablo Picasso once said, When Matisse dies, Chagall will be the only painter left who understands what color really is. It was Marc Chagall himself who once wrote, Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers – and never succeeding. 1907Birth of Frida Kahlo(books about this person), Mexican painter. Frida is remembered for her portraits, self-portraits, and work inspired by Mexican nature and artifacts. She once wrote, I paint flowers so they will not die. She also wrote, I wish I could do whatever I liked behind the curtain of “madness”. Then I’d arrange flowers, all day long. I’d paint pain, love and tenderness. I would laugh as much as I feel like at the stupidity of others, and they would all say: “Poor thing, she’s crazy! Grow That Garden Library Book Recommendation The Ultimate Flower Gardener's Guide by Jenny Rose Carey This book came out in 2020, and the subtitle isSimple Ideas For Small Outdoor Spaces. In this book, Jenny Rose Carey is essentially teaching a master class on ornamental ga...