Today we celebrate a man who wrote the book on growing and selling orchids. We'll also learn about a very special Arbor Day to honor Luther Burbank. We hear a touching excerpt about the final days of an incredible gardener, teacher, and friend. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the beautiful flowers of Japan. And then we’ll wrap things up with a sweet little advertisement about the Gladiolus and Dahlias - two beautiful flowers that most gardeners are ordering and shopping for this month (if they haven’t already).   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 toJennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Curated News 5 Perennial Herbs You Should Grow | Hunker | Michelle Miley   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 March 4, 1847 Today is the birthday of the German-English orchidologist and nurseryman Henry Frederick Conrad Sander. As a young man of 20 years old, Conrad met the Czech plant collector Benedict Roezl. Benedict’s heart lay in exploration and acquisition; he did not enjoy the marketing and sales aspects of plant hunting. Instead, these skills were Conrad’s strengths. The two men struck up a business plan that left Benedict free to explore and collect and Conrad to sell, sell, sell. Conrad set up shop in St. Albans, and Benedict was soon sending shipments of orchids from Central and South America. Benedict collected for Sander for 40 years. Even though Benedict was 6'2" tall and had that imposing iron hook for a hand, Benedict was robbed 17 times and, once, even attacked by a jaguar during his collecting days. After his quick success with Benedict, Conrad expanded his operations. Soon Conrad was managing inventory from over twenty collectors, growing orchids in over sixty greenhouses, and entertaining visitors that included Europe’s top collectors and even royalty. As a result of his business success acquiring, breeding, and selling orchids, Conrad became known as the King of Orchids. Leveraging his incredible expertise, Conrad wrote a masterpiece in two volumes on every variety of orchid. The book was folio-sized, with text in three languages - English, French, and German - and the botanical drawing of orchids were life-sized. As a sign of great respect, Conrad named his book Reichenbachia in honor of the legendary orchidologist Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach. Reichenbach had named more orchids than any other person, and in his will, he asked that his herbarium be closed for 25 years to protect his work with orchids from his competitors. In turn, in 1882, Heinrich honored Sanders by naming the “Queen of Philippine Orchids” after Sanders - naming it the Vanda Sanderiana, which the locals called the waling-waling orchid. The waling-waling is considered one of the rarest, most beautiful, and most expensive orchid, and it is also one of the largest species of orchids in the world. Orchids are some of the world’s oldest flowering plants, producing the world’s tiniest s