Luther Burbank & Frida Kahlo

Some of you know that I am an intrepid gardener, a real plant nut.  My mother turned me on to plants when I was young and I discovered early on that I had a gift for working with them.  One of the most important books in my life was The Secret Life of Plants by Tompkins and Bird, which came out in the 60's.  It totally blew my pea-sized mind and if you know the book, you know why.  One chapter was about Luther Burbank.  He had the gift... times a million.

I just finished The Garden of Invention by Jane S. Smith, a wonderful book about Burbank.  How nice to be re-inspired.  I knew some of his story, but never knew that Frida painted his portrait a few years after his death. Connections, connections, they never end. Diego did one, too.  Incidentally, that is also Luther buried under the tree returning to and feeding Nature.  He invented more plants that we all use today than you can believe. An unbelievable man with a very believable story.

And here he is with two of his many admirers and friends, Edison and John D. Rockefeller.