Today we celebrate the Spanish botanist who tackled the area known as New Spain and the man who discovered the Schneck Oak. We'll learn about the French botanist who made many of our blooms bigger and better and the mayor who was known as the Little Flower. We'll hear some thoughts about Winter and how we can benefit from the solace. We Grow That Garden Library with a book about indoor gardening. I'll talk about a beautiful holiday gift for the gardener who likes to work on puzzles, and then we wrap things up with the 1992 discovery that rocked the botanical world. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Today's Curated Articles:   Chinese Witch Hazel Plant story - Hamamelis mollis - The English Garden @theenglishgarden.co.uk  Here's the story behind the beautiful Chinese witch hazel - Hamamelis mollis. The English Plant Hunter Charlies Maries found it in China in 1878 & brought it home to London, where it sat unnoticed for 20 years. From @theenglishgarden.co.uk    In pictures: Tubers of the future | Kew @KewGardens Thanks to @KewGardens for trialing these petite high-yield alternatives to the potato: oca tubers have a lemony taste (Oxalis tuberosa) & mashua tubers are peppery (Tropaeolum tuberosum). Both are native to the Andes.     Garden Design and Landscaping “College Glen” | Decorum.London @LondonDecorum @cedstonegroup Here's a fantastic post by landscape design co @LondonDecorum Gorgeous "College Glen" w/ Sandstone Paving @cedstonegroup, timber, Siberian Larch deck, & Lavender plantings. Love it all - pics, project & plant list - so thoughtful!| Decorum.London https://buff.ly/35lR7HK     Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck - because I share all of it with the Listener Community on Facebook. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.       Brevities: #OTD Today is the birthday of the Spanish botanist Martin Sesse who was born on this day in 1751. King Carlos III charged Sesse with identifying, classifying, and illustrating all of the plant species throughout New Spain. This was a tremendous request. But Sesse was the man for the job. He was excellent at training young botanists, he was a pragmatist, and he had a strategic mind. He made plans for a major botanical expedition of new Spain, which was composed of the southwestern part of the United States, Mexico, and Central America. The expedition was an elaborate undertaking, and the botanists and the rest of the company would not return to Spain for a dozen years. Sesse put together an A-team of botanists, including José Mariano Mociño and Vicente Cervantes, as well as a cantankerous naturalist by the name of José Longino Martinez.  A surgeon and naturalist from Madrid, Martinez wasn't suited to teamwork. After one too many disagreements with Sesse and the other botanists, Martinez went his own way and went off to explore California, which is how he became known as California's first naturalist. As for Sesse and the other botanists, they conducted several plant collecting missions all over Mexico, which resulted in Sesse's most significant contribution to botany; a Flora of Mexico. Of course, Sesse didn't do any of this alone. He collaborated with his team, especially Mociño and Cervantes. Together they established the Royal Botanical Garden of Mexico City, and Cervantes ended up serving as the Prof. of botany. They also founded botanical gardens in Manila and the Canary Islands. Altogether, Sesse's team cost Spain nearly 400,000 pesos. Sesse's work could not have been done without the support of King Carlos, the Third. Luckily Sesse's significant endeavors were accomplished by the time Carlos the Fourth ascended the throne in 1788. Number Four had little interest in advancing scientific knowledge. It was clear that the time of significant S