Pbenjay's Blog

New York Knicks

I do have photos (somewhere on the computer) for a FAB FOTO FRIDAY but this day like so many others recently has been spent cleaning up, repairing, renewing and re-doing and I wish I could say it was on myself BUT no, it’s been the house and yard.  So the day goes by and I haven’t researched the photos for today but I have hopes for a FAB FOTO feature before the weekend is over, check back!

AND this week I learned two new things which only goes to prove (for the hundredth time) that you are never too old to learn something new.

FACT ONE:

First of all, did you know that when you are deadheading your flowering plants there are some plants that you should not be pinching off.  WOW for years I have been hunched over my petunias and pinching off the dead blossom and the sepal containing it.  My plants kept blooming despite my beheading tactics BUT this week I learned that petunias should not be snapped off – rather you should gently pull the dead blossom out and if you look closely you will see a bud inside! The next flower!!!  Presently I have a huge 15″ planter brimming with pink and white petunias and I’m carefully extracting the blooms.  However, petunias can get leggy and they should be pinched back so your planter doesn’t get all straggley looking.

Pluck Not Pinch

Looks like I missed one in the front!

FACT TWO:

If you live in New York City, you are certainly familiar with the New York Knicks, Knickerbocker Beer, The Knickerbocker Hotel, The Knickerbocker Club and at one time, even New Yorkers were referred to as Knickerbockers.  Where did this all originate?  There was a book published in 1809 entitled A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker (1809).  This was a satire on self-important local history and contemporary politics. Prior to its publication, Irving started a hoax akin to today’s viral marketing campaigns; he placed a series of missing person adverts in New York newspapers seeking information on Diedrich Knickerbocker, a crusty Dutch historian who had allegedly gone missing from his hotel in New York City. As part of the ruse, Irving placed a notice—allegedly from the hotel’s proprietor—informing readers that if Mr. Knickerbocker failed to return to the hotel to pay his bill, he would publish a manuscript Knickerbocker had left behind.  

So there you have it, a myth debunked.  There was no Diedrich Knickerbocker, just Washington Irving pulling off a great hoax and giving birth to one of New York’s legends.