The Elizabeth von Arnim Society invites proposals for "Literary Gardens: Cultivation, Movement, and Modernism," an international online conference to be held February 12–13, 2027, in conversation with #TheLiteraryGarden @mobotmuseum.bsky.social
elizabethvonarnimsociety.org/conferences/...

#TheLiteraryGarden This book follows a tiny bug who lived on what he believed to be a purple planet, in which everything seemed the same. He builds a spaceship and after traveling around a star called “a,” he discovered that his home planet was a violet kept inside a book. On loan by Carmen Ulloa

#TheLiteraryGarden #ElPlanetaLila
Brazilian author Ziraldo Alves Pinto (1932–2024)—more commonly called Ziraldo—started his career as a cartoonist and writer, whose children’s books have been enormously successful.
#NationalLatinxHeritageMonth #NationalHispanicHeritageMonth
#NationalBookMonth

#TheLiteraryGarden #MagicalRealism Guayusa (Hedysomum cumbalense) is a South American fragrant shrub used to make tea and flavorings. In Carchi province, Ecuador, local people burn it to make charcoal for fuel, as well as use it for building walls and posts. @mobotgarden.bsky.social Herbarium

#TheLiteraryGarden #MagicalRealism Bruna and Her Sisters in the Sleeping City by Cossio is a novel similar in importance to those of Marquez. Trees and forests in Ecuador play a role in the novel, stressing a connection to nature and Indigenous roots, as well as the woman’s role in latiné culture.

#TheLiteraryGarden #MagicalRealism is often considered to be the literary language of the post-colonial world. In 1982, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez won the Nobel Prize in Literature for ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE, which follows 7 generations of the Buendía family.

#TheLiteraryGarden So thrilled for this continued collaboration with the STL City Silent Book Club @mobotmuseum.bsky.social @mobotgarden.bsky.social 🌻📖🪷📚🪻
www.stlmag.com/culture/st-l...

#TheLiteraryGarden To attract these nocturnal pollinators, flowers rely on strong scents rather than colors, and extend on long stalks beyond leaves so bats can easily detect them using echolocation.
Pix credits: 1—Dr. Nathan Muchhala, UMSL; 2— @mobotgarden.bsky.social Herbarium

#TheLiteraryGarden A group of particular interest is the bellflower genus Burmeistera (Campanulaceae), which includes about 150 bat-pollinated species in the cloud forests of Central and South America, many of which were discovered and named in collaboration with scientists @mobotgarden.bsky.social

Bats are Essential Pollinators #TheLiteraryGarden While bats have a hold on our literary imagination as hematophages, only 3 species of S. American bat are vampires. Nectar-feeding bats hover, extending tongues to reach nectar hidden deep in flowers. Anoura fistulata's tongue 1.5x its body length!

#TheLiteraryGarden Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) is thought to have protective properties against enchantment and supernatural creatures. Driven through the heart, rowan stakes destroy a vampire’s source of life and pin them to their graves to keep them from rising. @mobotgarden.bsky.social Herbarium

#Dracula #TheLiteraryGarden #Vampires Irish author Bram Stoker (1847–1912) created in Dracula one of the most enduring personifications of a vampire character in his popular novel. Apotropaic plants ward off vampires; the cover of this text features a repeating garlic blossom garland pattern.

#NationalHobbitDay #TheLiteraryGarden The world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth is pervaded with a distinct sense of reverence for the natural world. In the 2nd book of #LOTR trilogy, Tolkien introduces Fangorn Forest, home to the Ents, tree-like shepherds of the forest.

#TheLiteraryGarden A symbol in the novel is an oak tree that Victor Frankenstein watches get destroyed by nature’s power from a lightning strike. Later, he identifies with this tree as he is believed to be destroyed by an uncontrollable natural phenomenon. Sessile oak @mobotgarden.bsky.social

#Frankenstein #TheLiteraryGarden #MaryShelley
In 1818, author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) published Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus—a seminal work (and epistolary novel) that blends several literary genres, including Romanticism, Gothic fiction, and science fiction.
Pix: Virginia Harold

#scents #vampires #TheLiteraryGarden Meet the Vampire Perfumer, Rubia Homa is a Literary Learning Day event @mobotmuseum.bsky.social on Saturday, September 26, 11:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Free with @mobotgarden.bsky.social admission.
www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/sachs-museum...

#TheLiteraryGarden #PoisonIvy is native to eastern Asia and North America, is a member of the cashew and pistachio family (not an ivy!). For people who are allergic to the species Toxicodendron radicans, they are reacting to the urushiol oil in the plant. Pix: @mobotgarden.bsky.social Herbarium

#TheLiteraryGarden #comics A shrinking violet of a botanist (or a radical innovator depending on origin story), Pamela Isley joined the DC universe as Poison Ivy, a plant-controlling nemesis to Batman in June 1966. Portrayed as an eco-warrior, she is obsessed with plants and ecological extinction.

#TheHourOfTheBees by Jodi Harvey now on view in #TheLiteraryGarden exhibition @mobotmuseum.bsky.social @mobotgarden.bsky.social

This sculpture reimagines the novel as a physical meditation on time, memory, and the fragile connections between generations and the natural world.

Pix: Virginia Harold

#scents #vampire #TheLiteraryGarden Join perfumer Rubia Homa for an evening talk @mobotmuseum.bsky.social Sept. 24 that delves into what repels vampires, and how they attract humans. Seating is first come, first served. Free with LightForm admission.
www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/evening-talk...