Today we celebrate the botanist who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York and the first American female botanist in America. We'll learn about the man who changed agriculture forever with his invention. Today's Unearthed Words feature the English Victorian author born today. He loved geraniums. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that features Thomas Jefferson's revolutionary garden at Monticello. I'll talk about a garden item that will heat things up... And, then, we'll wrap things up with a fantastic honor for a modern plant explorer and ethnobotanist - a daughter of the great state of Wisconsin and a senior curator of the Missouri Botanical Garden. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart   Curated Articles Yes, Native Plants Can Flourish After Bushfire. But There's Only So Much Hardship They Can Take While Australian plants and ecosystems have evolved to embrace bushfires, there's only so much drought and fire they can take...   Poetic Botany: A Digital Exhibition Poetic Botany: Have you explored the 'Poetic Botany' exhibition from @NYBG yet? This interactive digital exhibition illuminates the cross-section between art, science, and poetry through nine plant species. Check it out here:   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 1688 Today is the birthday of the Scottish-American physician, Scientist, botanist, and Lieutenant Governor of New York, Cadwallader Colden (CAD-wah-LIDDER). When Colden arrived in America in 1718, he began a family dynasty that would eventually settle in Queens, New York. Aside from his political endeavors and his many interests, Colden was interested in botany and the new Linnaean system. The family lived on an estate called Coldenham, and it was often visited by famous New World botanists like John Bartram. Now, Colden and his wife had ten children, and they actively encouraged each of them to pursue their education. Colden's 5th child was a daughter named Jane. Jane was born in 1724, and she followed in her father's footsteps and is regarded to be the first American woman to have become an official botanist. Peter Collinson suspected as much when he wrote to John Bartram about Jane saying, "Our friend, Colden's daughter, has, in a scientifical manner, sent over several sheets of plants - very curiously anatomized after Linnaeus's method and I believe that she is the first lady that has the tempted anything of this nature." A proud dad, Colden wrote to his friend Jan Gronovius, "I (have) often thought that botany is an amusement which may be made greater to the ladies who are often at a loss to fill up their time… Their natural curiosity and the pleasure they take in the beauty and variety of dress seems to fit it for them (far more than men). The chief reason that few or none of them have applied themselves to (it)… is because all the books of any value are (written) in Latin. I have a daughter (with) an inclination... for natural philosophy or history… I took the pains to explained her Linnaeus's system and put it in English for her to use by freeing it from the technical terms - which was easily done by using two or three words in the place of one. She is now grown very fond of the study… she now understands to some degree Linnaeus's characters. Notwithstanding that, she does not understand Latin. she has already (written) a pretty large volume in writing of the description of plants." Cadwallader was able to give his daughter personal instruction on botany. He gave her access to his impressive botanical library; he even shared his personal correspondence with her and allowed he