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A Young Gardener
The cultural and political legacy of Thomas Jefferson is complicated, just as the man himself was. The man who wrote that "all men are created equal" kept other human beings as slaves. The man who kept slaves also wrote "The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it." The man eventually elected to lead the...
Blank Canvas
In 1916, the property that is now Reeves-Reed Arboretum changed hands. The Wisner family, who built the house that currently serves as the heart of the Arboretum (and bears the family's name), sold the property to John and Susan Reeves. About six months after the Reeves moved into their new home, the United States entered the first World War, which had already been raging for nearly three years. It was the end of an era in every sense of the word. But the end of one era marks the beginning of...
Boon
Etymologically speaking, the title of this post may or may not be related to the subject of this post – the heirloom gladiolus 'Boone', named for the North Carolina town where it was rediscovered. Boon in the sense of a gift or an unexpected benefit comes from the Old Norse. The name Boone – the town was named after famed frontiersmen Daniel Boone – comes from either the French locale Bohun, or from the Norman word "bon," for good, or from the Dutch word "boene", or bean, denoting someo...
