Have you ordered your spring bulbs yet? Here's a new perspective on planting spring bulbs - they're important resources for pollinators. Most gardeners think about spring flowering bulbs in terms of color - which is something we desperately need after a long winter. But spring flowering bulbs are valuable for another reason: they're an early source of nectar for pollinators. Think about planting these spring bulbs this October to help out bumblebees, native bees, and other pollinators in the early days of spring: Crocus, tulips, and daffodils are obvious choices. Other excellent spring bulb selections include options like fritillaria, grape hyacinths, winter aconites, snow drops, squill and glory of the snow (Chinodoxia). All of these bulbs can be planted now through the end of October. And don't forget you can plant early-flowering spring perennials to accompany these bulbs. Choose plants like early flowering hellebores and lungwort.       Brevities   #OTD On this day in 1802, a 13-year-old boy named George Thorndike, planted a tree at Bowdoin College in Maine. Thorndike was part of the first class at Bowdoin. The class was made up of 8 boys. Aside from being part of the charter class, Thorndike became an important part of the college's history.  The story happened after Thorndike attended the very first service at the college chapel. As he was leaving the chapel, he spied a little acorn by the path. Thorndike knew enough about plants and trees to know that the acorn was a little out of place in the pine-laden forest around Bowdoin. Thorndike planted the acorn and the following year, it had made enough progress for Thorndike to move the sapling to the college president's garden.  The year George and his class graduated, in 1806, they met under the tree to say farewell. The Thorndike Oak became an important symbol for Bowdoin College and a yearly commencement tradition; students would meet under the Thorndike Oak before the ceremony.      #OTD   Today is the birthday of the botanist Sara Allen Plummer Lemmon who was born on this day in 1836. Lemmon is remembered for her successful 1903 piece of legislation that nominated the golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica) as the state flower of California. Asa Gray named the genus Plummera in honor of Sara Plummer Lemmon. Plummera are yellow wildflowers in the daisy family,  and they bloom from July through September in southeastern Arizona. Lemmon and her husband, John Gill Lemmon, were both botanists. Her husband always went by his initials JG. Although Sara partnered equally with her husband on their work in botany, their papers were always published with the credentials "J.G. Lemmon & Wife." The Lemmons had found each other late in life in California. They had both suffered individually during the civil war. John was taken prisoner at Andersonville. He barely survived and his health was impacted for the rest of his life. Sara had worked herself ragged nursing soldiers in New York while teaching. In 1881, when Sara was 45 years old, the Lemmons took a honeymoon trip to Arizona. They called it their "botanical wedding trip." The Lemmons rode a train to Tucson along with another passenger - President Rutherford B. Hayes. When they arrived, the Lemmons set off for the Santa Catalina Mountains. In Elliot's history of Arizona, he recounts the difficulty in climbing the mountain range: "The Lemmons often sat on the stone porch of their cave and dug the thorns and spines out of their hands and feet" And once they saw, " . . . a lion so large he carried a huge buck away without dragging feet or antlers." When they returned to Tucson unsuccessful and discouraged, they were told to meet a rancher named Emerson Oliver Stratton. Thanks to Stratton, they were able to ascend the Catalinas from the back side. When they arrived at the summit, Stratton was so impressed with Sara's drive and demeanor he named the mountain in her honor - Mount Lemmon. Sara was the first woman to c