Seasons of Interest: Spring foliage is dark green and attractive. Echinacea blooms all summer long and into the beginning of fall as well. Some gardeners choose to leave the coneflower seed heads on the plant at the end of the season to provide winter interest and food for native songbirds. Uses in the Garden: Coneflowers make excellent cut flowers and do well in butterfly gardens, prairie or native gardens, water wise xeroscapes, and full sun gardens.
Henry Blair was the second black inventor issued a patent. Blair was born in Montgomery County, Maryland around 1807. He received a patent on October 14, 1834 for a seed planter and a patent in 1836 for a cotton planter. Henry Blair was the second black inventor to receive a patent the first was Thomas Jennings who received a patent in 1821 for a dry cleaning process.
When Columbus discovered America in 1492, he found cotton growing in the Bahama Islands. By 1500, cotton was known generally throughout the world. Cotton seed are believed to have been planted in Florida in 1556 and in Virginia in 1607.