Today we celebrate a poet who loved flowers and became the beloved poet-son of a country that celebrates him still today. We'll also learn about an orchid that inspired a fabled true story about Charles Darwin. We’ll hear about some fascinating vegetable history that is celebrated every year on this day. We Grow That Garden Library™ with some incredible exotic flower photography. And then we’ll wrap things up with the garden and the Three R’s of Renovation.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Curated News How to Grow Chillies | Gardener’s World     Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community where you’d search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events January 25, 1759 Today is the birthday of the Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns. Widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and celebrated worldwide, tonight is Burns Night. Each year Burns Night commemorates Robert, the beloved poet born into a poor Scottish family of farmers. A typical Burns Night includes live music, poetry readings of Burns masterpieces, and a traditional Scottish meal of Haggis, Neeps, and Tatties. Now, gardeners have a soft spot for Robert Burns. His 1794 poem 'Red Red Rose' starts out with the familiar verse: "O my Luve's like a red, red rose..."  And gardeners have always loved Robert's poem “To a Mountain Daisy.” with the line, “Sweet floweret of the rural shade!  By love's simplicity betrayed” Of course, the way to end a fantastic Burns Night Celebration is to sing Robert’s most famous poem, which has now been set to music: Auld Lang Syne.   January 25, 1862 On this day, the English naturalist, geologist, and biologist Charles Darwin received a box of Orchids. Now after sorting through all of the flowers, one Orchid, in particular, caught Charles' attention: the Angraecum sesquipedale ("ang-GRAY-kum ses-kwah-puh-doll-lee"), commonly called Darwin's Orchid, the Christmas Orchid, the Star of Bethlehem Orchid, or the King of the Angraecums. An epiphyte (meaning a plant that grows on other plants), the Darwin Orchid, was initially discovered by the French botanist Louis-Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars in 1798. When Charles first laid eyes on this Orchid, he suspected that a then-unknown moth with an almost 14-inch long proboscis must have co-evolved with the Orchid to pollinate it. Many people scoffed at this - a moth with a 14-inch tongue?!  Sadly, Charles didn't live long enough to see his prediction come true. It wasn’t until 21 years after his death, in 1903, that a moth was discovered with a proboscis that could perfectly reach the 13.5-inch nectary, and Charles’s prediction was proved to be correct. Once the moth was officially discovered it was named predicata for "the predicted one" Incredibly, it took nine more decades for scientists to observe the moth pollinating the orchid.  In 1992, a German entomologist named Lutz Thilo Wasserthal traveled to Madagascar, where he captured two moths. After placing the