Did you know that poppies were Christopher Lloyd's his favorite flower?  In his short essay about poppies, he introduces 'Goliath' poppies which grow to 4 feet tall and offer the largest blooms of any poppy.   Lloyd wrote about the blooms saying, "They are rich crimson, which is as exciting as scarlet. In choosing plant neighbors to vie with it, I have been best pleased with an equally bright and pure yellow giant buttercup. Ranunculus acris ‘Stevenii.’ It is, however, shocking to discover that there are some gardeners (and non -gardeners) of congenitally weak and palsied constitution who do not like strong colors and who even pride themselves, as a class apart, on their good taste. The good-taste brigade can only think comfortably in terms of color harmonies and of soft and soothing pastel shades." Oh, how it pains the heart to be called out by Christopher Lloyd, doesn't it? Well, even though he thinks we're too meek when it comes to color in the garden, we are in violent agreement when it comes to procurement. You'll love this little snippet about how he came to own the poppy "Beauty Queen": "I took a fancy to ‘Beauty Queen’ in a friend’s garden in Scotland in June, when it was flowering, and received permission to take a piece. When you see a plant that you must have, the answer to the question “Would you like some at the right time? should be “I’d rather have it now,” right time or not. Otherwise, the right time will surely slip by, the transference of the coveted piece from central Scotland to the south of England (or from California to Maine) will be in convenient, and all you’ll have is a gnawing gap in the pit of your wish-world."   Brevities #OTD  It was on this day in 1703 that Daniel Defoe was made to stand in the pillory in front of the temple bar.  The pillory was basically a stockade; the hands and head would be caught between two large beams of wood. It was a horrible punishment. It was usually reserved for the most hideous crimes. When Dafoe was convicted of sedition, the crowds did their best to show their support; they threw flowers at his feet instead of mud.   The image of Defoe standing with his head and hands in the stocks surrounded by an adoring audience was memorialized in an 1862 painting.    In 1830, a biography of Defoe said that the stocks were adorned with garlands and that drinks were provided to celebrate Dafoe's release.     #OTD It’s the birthday of Mary Vaux Walcott born in Philadelphia today in 1860. Gardeners know Walcott for her work as a botanical illustrator; she created meticulously accurate watercolors of plants and flowers. She is known as the "Audobon of botany". Walcott became an illustrator one summer after being challenged to paint a rare blooming Arnica. Although her effort was only a modest success, it encouraged her to pursue the art. In that pursuit, she met Charles Doolittle Walcott. They were both doing fieldwork in the Canadian Rockies and they found they were equally yoked. They married the following year. At the time, Charles was the secretary of the Smithsonian; that's how Walcott came to develop the Smithsonian process printing technique. Walcott created hundreds of illustrations of the native plants of North America. Her five volume set entitled North American Wildflowersshowcases the stunning beauty of everyday wildflowers, many of which are at peak bloom right now. In addition to her work as a botanist, Mary was a successful glacial geologist and photographer. She was the first woman to summit a peak over 10,000 feet in Canada when she tackled Mount Stephen. Today Walcott even has a mountain named after her in Jasper - Mount Mary Vaux.     #OTD   Today’s the anniversary of the death of Richard Morris Hunt who was an American architect during the gilded age.   Gardeners know Hunt for his collaborations with the Frederick Law Olmsted. They worked together on the Vanderbilt mausoleum and the Chicago world‘s fair. Their ultimate collaboration occurred in