Today we celebrate the Spanish Enlightenment priest and botanist who named the Dahlia and the glamorous movie star who traded in her star sapphire collection for a tractor. We'll learn about the item vintners were selling during prohibition and the woman who became the most widely read American Garden author in the United States. Today’s Unearthed Words feature thoughts on the blackest month of the year: January. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a new book written by a 20-year Fellow of the Linnaean Society - he's the man who began his career as a forensic botanist after getting a phone call from the authorities. I'll talk about a garden item that comes in so handy - especially if you're going to hang things in trees. And then we’ll wrap things up with thoughts on the lengthening days - we gain about two minutes of sunlight a day right now. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Curated Articles Planting Hope by Debi Holland | Richard Jackson's Garden Here's an inspiring post from Debi Holland @RJGarden: "I work with people who have experienced bereavement or long-term illness. Gardening has been a tremendous respite, an escape from the house, provided achievable goals with visible results from a few hours toil when other aspects of life may not be so straightforward."   Marks Hall Arboretum and walled garden in Essex - Gardens Illustrated Marks Hall Arboretum is absolutely gorgeous in the winter. The Arboretum sits on a 2,200-acre estate in Essex. You wouldn't know it by looking at it, but the soil there is clay. The beautiful thing about this garden is that it has been organized into geographic zones, so from an inspiration standpoint, it's splendid. There's a beautiful 3-acre lakeside garden. This garden beautifully compliments the rest of the estate offers five interlinked gardens. There are hedges and walls, groupings of ornamental grasses, and long flowering perennials.   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 in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events 1745 Today is the birthday of the Spanish Enlightenment priest and botanist Antonio José Cavanilles ("Cah-vah-nee-yes") Antonio was a prolific botanist and probably Spain's first expert botanist. He was born in Valencia - Spain's third-largest city. When Antonio struggled to find a job at the university, he moved to France. In Paris, he was influenced by Andre Jussieu ("Juice You")and André Thouin (pronounced "too-ah"). By the time he was 36, he had decided to focus on botany. Antonio named over a hundred genera. He gave the name Cosmos to the Mexican Aster. Cosmos comes from a Greek word meaning harmonious or orderly. When Alexander Von Humboldt sent seeds of a beautiful plant to Antonio, he suggested that the plant should be named after Antonio called Cavenillesia. But, Antonio declined the honor named it the Dahlia after the botanist Andrew Dahl, instead. Dahl was Swedish and a student of Carl Linnaeus. Ironically, Dahl never had anything to do with the Dahlia. The plant’s botanical name is Dahlia pinnata ("pin-AYE-tah"). Pinnata refers to the fact that the leaves are divided in a feathery manner. Now, around the same time, dahlia seeds arrived in Germany, and a botanist there decided to name the plant Georgina after a Russian explorer by the name of Professor Georgie. For decades, Germans refused to call it the Dahlia and stuck with the name Georgina. However, in 1834, London Gardeners Magazine settled the matter once and for all, declaring that the name would be Dahlia and not Georgina. German gardeners capitulated. And, despite being the first to grow the Dahlia, no Dahlia variety has eve