Head over to our site Gather and Sow for the March 2026 newsletter.

We observe two holidays in this March 2026 issue of Gather and Sow: St. David’s Day (March 1st) and Women’s History Month (all of March), which coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8th. 

Leeks are a traditional symbol of St. David’s Day, and their morphology is the topic of this issue’s Food for Thought: Ay, leeks is good!

Women’s history month is a time to recognize the contributions of women to American history, society, and culture. Too often women’s accomplishments have gone unsung. The same is true for the “female” parts of flowers. We rectify this by celebrating extraordinary flower parts in corn and the saffron crocus. All celebrations deserve cake, and we offer a recipe for one that combines corn and saffron in this month’s Botany Lab of the Month: Honoring female (plant) anatomy with saffron polenta cake.

We conclude with research and media highlights in Baker’s Dozen and Gleanings. Alongside several recent research articles, we have included a few classic papers by two matriarchs of plant biology, Katherine Esau and Barbara McClintock, in honor of Women’s History Month.