The Art Continues

The pink bouquet is from Jane Wells Loudon and called "Belladonna Lily".



The red flower is from illustrator Alois Lunzer and called "American Scarlet Rose-Mallow".



I contacted Burpee and asked who had done their late 1800 illustrations and a 35 year employee thought it was Alois Lunzer.

He migrated from Australia to Philadelphia prior to the time period where the catalogs were published, he specialized in botanical painting and the technique seems the same. Burpee was headquartered in Philadelphia.

Many old botanical prints, such as the two shown here, are from books that featured many paintings. Someone has removed the 11 x 7 inch sheets and are selling them individually. They are in the one-hundred dollar range, as is.

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On a follow-up with the squash - 20 quarts - we will either be very healthy or we will take many years to eat that much squash. Next year I think I'll skip the butternut plants.

More very cold weather and wind today. More seed and plant catalogs have arrived. The positive and the negative of winter weather for a gardener.

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Another side note: It appears on-line and mail order seed, garden, and plant outlets seem to be struggling to stay in business. When spring comes, we may see much of the same for our locally owned centers. I sincerely hope they can weather this "don't call it a depression/recession" depression/recession. Many are small operations and it could be difficult if not fatal.

Many are offering sales - some with drastic discounts. If you trust the source, now is the time to purchase things you have been needing for your garden. It isn't taking advantage of them, these big or small purchases may be what they need to weather the storm. Do make sure you know the source - it's also a time for the unethical to play that game, too. You've heard it before, but, it is no less true today: "If it looks too good to be true - it probably is."