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Sarasota News Leader January 17, 2014 Page 94 we marvel at "watery kingdoms." There he is one I planted years ago in Annapolis to honor under a live oak at Wormsloe Plantation near the Bartrams. Savannah, writing in his journal. Early on, William Bartram showed a talent for In 1765, at age 26, William got his feet wet drawing and was offered a job in Franklin's exploring Florida with his father, John, a print shop, but John insisted his son go into renowned Philadelphia nurseryman and business. Several ventures ended in failure. founder of Bartram's Garden. As botanist Then in 1772, an English physician and avid for King George III, John assessed natural gardener, John Fothergill, offered William resources in the American colonies and col- a stipend to collect plants for him from the lected plants to send to England. William southern colonies. sketched animals and plants, many of them new to American colonists. On the banks of William was thrilled to be out doing what the Altamaha River in Georgia, they found a he loved best. Friends, family members and small tree they later named Franklinia alat- Native Americans provided shelter and proamaha after family friend Benjamin Franklin. visions, but much of the time William was on Soon after, it disappeared from the wild. The his own. His world was uncharted. He got one John planted in his garden spawned all around by boat, on horseback or on foot, but the Franklinias in existence today, including there was no Weather Channel to warn him of Ixia blooms brightly.