(c) 2006 BBC

What happens when Central American guerillas kidnap you and torture you for months? Why, you design a garden, of course! Briton Tom Hart Dyke and hist partner were hunting orchids in the Panamanian jungle when they were ambushed, accused of being a CIA agents, held in captivity, and threatened with death. As hope diminished, Dyke began composing a garden of fancy, planting all world’s plants he would never get to find in plots he wouldn’t dig.

Then, mysteriously, the pair was released. Since then, Dyke has set to work realizing his World Garden. I heard his story as a radio broadcast on the BBC World Service, and if you can dig up the show (I couldn’t), it’s great. His attitude toward it all is so light, almost glib, it’s hilarious, and heartening. You can read all about him and his garden at BBC.