Botanic Spark
James Forbes: A Picturesque Pause in Baden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 13, 1835 Dearest readers, On this day in 1835, British artist, botanist, and indefatigable explorer James Forbes paused in Baden during his grand horticultural tour across Germany, Belgium, and France—a journey so…
Read MoreCharles Joseph Sauriol: Moving, Memory, and the Moonlit Valley
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 14, 1938 Dearest readers, Let us journey together into the quiet, moonlit world of Charles Joseph Sauriol—Canada’s treasured naturalist, author, and the tireless “Mr. Conservation” whose life’s work was preserving the wild…
Read MoreEdgar Lee Masters: The Voice of Spoon River’s Gardens
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 23, 1869 Dearest readers, On this day, we remember the birth of Edgar Lee Masters, an American attorney, poet, and writer who famously gave voice to the silent souls of a fictional small…
Read MoreElizabeth Enright: The Storyteller of Summer and Garden Magic
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 17, 1907 Dearest readers, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Elizabeth Enright, a luminous American author, illustrator, and beloved creative writing teacher whose tales have beckoned readers of all ages…
Read MoreBreathing with the Earth: Thich Nhat Hanh’s Teachings on Love and The Garden of Mind
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 11, 1926 Dearest readers, On this day, Thích Nhất Hạnh was born in Vietnam—a monk whose gentle voice and profound wisdom nourished minds and hearts as a true gardener tends to tender…
Read MoreA Leaf’s Whisper: Sophia and Henry Thoreau’s Tribute to Fairhaven Hill
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 13, 1868 Dearest readers, On this day, over 150 years ago, Sophia Thoreau inscribed a delicate hickory leaf with a poem entitled “Fair Haven,” penned by her iconic older brother, Henry David…
Read MoreWinifred Mary Letts: Spring’s Honest Voice in a Time of War
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 10, 1882 Dearest Gardeners, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Winifred Mary Letts, an English-born writer who spent much of her life in Ireland and became a singular voice of…
Read MoreSunshine & Showers: Eliza Calvert Hall and the Gardeners of the Soul
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 11, 1856 Dearest Gardeners, Today, the mists of Kentucky yield up a literary treasure in the birth of Eliza Calvert Hall (books about this person),—author, champion of women’s rights, and suffragist whose…
Read MoreEverlasting Gardens: The Poet’s Song of Seasons – Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 17, 1864 Dearest Gardeners, On this day, we pause to honor the birth of Jane Elizabeth Roberts MacDonald, a Canadian poet whose voice still rings with gentle wisdom across the years. Hailing…
Read MoreNorman Rowland Gale: Poet of Country Faith and Fairy Whispers
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 4, 1862 Dearest reader, On this day, Norman Rowland Gale was born, an English poet, storyteller, and reviewer who would charm readers with his elegant reflections on nature, folklore, and the delicate…
Read MoreJoseph Pla: A Young Writer’s Diary Amidst the Spanish Flu
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 8, 1897 Dearest reader, On this day, Josep Pla (books by this author)was born, a Spanish journalist and beloved author whose literary career sprouted from a young man’s forced retreat during the…
Read MoreAmy Baik Lee’s Garden Meditation: The Sacred Ritual of Closing the Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 19, 2021 On this day, author and blogger Amy Baik [“Beck”] Lee captured the bittersweet moment every gardener knows – the annual closing of the garden. In a post on her blog,…
Read MoreBeatrix Farrand’s 1916 Vision for the NYBG’s Rose Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 18, 1916 On this day, renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand (FAIR-rand) created a visionary rose garden plan for the New York Botanical Garden. This garden would become one of the most significant…
Read MoreThe $5.5 Million Garden Album: Empress Josephine’s Botanical Treasure
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 15, 1985 On this day, a phenomenal piece of botanical history changed hands at Sotheby’s auction house: Empress Josephine’s personal copy of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s (pee-AIR zho-ZEFF reh-doo-TAY) botanical watercolors for “Les Liliacées”…
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