Mark from Little Prince nursery and I became friends on Facebook over the past month.   I was immediately taken with the images on his feed, which is so full of the most beautiful blooms. His dahlias were to die for. Anyway, at some point I gave him a call and we were talking away and Mark asked if he could send me some plants. Um... yay! They arrived right as we were headed up to the cabin, so I grabbed the box and brought it along. I unwrapped my new plants this morning and I'm sharing the video in the Facebook Group- so you can check it out there. I just wanted to say a word about ordering plants through the mail. That used to be such a crazy concept. But, our attitudes toward shipping have changed. Most us get things in the mail that we never dreamed we would get shipped to us. My groceries and toiletries get shipped to the cabin free now courtesy of Walmart. (The groceries aren't free but the shipping is.) My point is, that shipping has become the norm; it's only natural that plants would make their way into the process. The chief concern when shipping plants is how to send plants in a responsible and effective way without having to charge a fortune for shipping. I think Little Prince has cracked that code.  Anyway, check out the video in the FB group- you'll get to see the lovely view to the lake ; it was simply pastoral today - the perfect Fall day. Then, watch as I unpack the box from Little Prince. It's so much fun - you'll see the wonderful unique specimens Mark sent, the superb packaging, and my method for acclimating newly shipped specimens. With any luck, the video will make you feel brave enough to order some for yourself. By  the way, this not a sponsored post. This is just Mark being Mark, and me loving plants. Check out the Little Prince website and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to give them a call. Little Prince's customer service is so good, you'll feel like you are getting the royal treatment!       Brevities #OTD  Today is the birthday of the colonial botanist John Clayton who was born on this day in 1773.   Clayton's home in Virginia was called "Windsor".  He created an excellent botanical garden, (and one of the first for this country), at Windsor. Five hundred of Clayton's herbarium specimens were referenced for the "Flora Virginica" and were compiled by Gronovius with along with input from Carl Linnaeus.         #OTD   Today is the birthday of the gardener, nurseryman, and expedition sponsor, Joseph Knight, who was born on this day in 1778.   Knight was a gardener to George Hibbert and he was also a private nursery owner - and a very successful one. His ability to sell plants and feature plants in his welcoming showroom was tremendous. When John Claudius Loudon visited Knight's nursery in 1831, he wrote: “The effect on entering is excellent; the termination of the telescopic vista being [a] bronze vase... which is about 6 ft. in diameter and weighs several tons, [and] is painted blue on the inside, ... has a very cheerful and elegant appearance." Loudon reported  on a number of plants at Knight's nursery. On the rhododendron , he wrote: "So abundant is the honey secreted by [the rhododendron] that when they are shaken it falls from them like large drops of rain." On the Knight's orangery, he wrote: "The mandarin orange, [is] remarkable for its perfume as well as its flavor. It separates from the rind like the kernel of a nut from its shell, without any trouble of peeling or paring, and has been very appropriately designated by the Chinese as the aristocrat of the orange family... In 1829 after Hibbert retired, Knight received his entire collection of plants which he added to his nursery called "Knight's Exotic Nursery. Knight used his nursery as a training ground for young gardeners. At the time, Knight's nursery was truly one of the best in the world. In addition, Knight was able to obtain plants from explorations he sponsored. Knight had a knack for tending to new plants a