Today we celebrate a woman known as the Lady of Botany, yet today few people know her life story, and fewer still appreciate her difficult professional journey. We'll also learn about another female botanist who started one of the first degreed botany programs for women in England. We hear a story about a mink who set up residence in a winter garden from an avid gardener and writer. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a delightful book about Cottage Gardening. What could be more charming? And then we’ll wrap things up with the story of a dried flower expert who created everlastings for celebrities and he also shares some of his favorite flowers to preserve for long-term joy and delight.   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 Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour (1853-1922) – An Appreciation | RBGE.org |  Leonie Paterson   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 February 23, 1879 Today is the birthday of the British plant morphologist and anatomist, botanical historian, and philosopher of biology Agnes Arber. Since her father was the artist Henry Robertson, Agnes learned to draw as a child, and throughout her life, she illustrated all of her own botanical work. Agnes’ mom, also an Agnes, fostered her love of plants. Mentored and befriended by the botanist Ethel Sargent, Agnes mastered the microscope. Ethel was a profound role model in Agnes’ life. She not only taught Agnes her earliest lessons in botany, but she also modeled a unique approach to her work because Agnes watched Ethel successfully conduct her work in a small laboratory she had built in her home. Later, when Anges wrote her first book on her dear monocots (which are grass or grass-like flowering plants), she dedicated her work to the woman who was godmother to her only child Muriel Agnes Arber and the brightest beacon in her botanical career and: Ethel Sargent. In 1909, Agnes married a paleobotanist, Edward Alexander Newell Arber, of Trinity College at Cambridge. And it was thanks in part to Edward that Agnes moved to Cambridge from London and made a life there. Edward promised Agnes that “life in Cambridge offered unique opportunities for the observation of river and fenland plants.” Despite Edward’s appeal, for Agnes, Cambridge was tough. Cambridge was a much harder place for a female botanist than London - where Agnes would have had more opportunities, connections, and acceptance. Sadly, Agnes and Edward would be married for only nine years as Edward died in 1918. And so, before her 40th birthday, Agnes found herself both a widow and a single mother to six-year-old Muriel. After securing help with childcare and household duties, Agnes carried on with her botanical work -  she wrote constantly, she was poorly compensated for her work, and she never re-married. A few years after Agnes arrived in Cambridge, she started working at the Balfour Laboratory, which was owned by