Posts Tagged ‘18th-century botany’
Archibald Menzies’ Santa Barbara Sojourn: A Botanical Milestone
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 18, 1793 On this day, Archibald Menzies (MEN-zeez), the Scottish surgeon-botanist, reluctantly departed Santa Barbara aboard the HMS Discovery during Vancouver’s expedition. Menzies had spent several productive days exploring the Santa Barbara…
Read MoreAntoine de Jussieu: The Botanical Bard of Lyon
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 6, 1686 On this day, dear horticultural enthusiasts, we celebrate the birth of a true titan of botany, the incomparable Antoine de Jussieu. Born in the fragrant city of Lyon, young Antoine…
Read MoreThe Flower Hunter: William Bartram and the Franklin Tree’s Enduring Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 20, 1739 Dearest garden reader, On this day, the American wilderness gave birth not to a statesman or soldier, but to a son of plants and poetry: William Bartram, fondly nicknamed “Billy”…
Read MoreJohn Mitchell: Botanist of Virginia and Maker of the Famous Mitchell Map
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 13, 1711 Dearest reader, On this day, in the dawn of the 18th century, a mind both precise and poetic entered the world — John Mitchell, an American physician, botanist, and polymath…
Read MoreCloud forests and quinine: José Celestino Mutis’ botanical expedition
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 6, 1732 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of José Celestino Mutis, a Spanish priest, botanist, and mathematician whose remarkable dedication and vision shaped the understanding of New Granada’s…
Read MoreJohn Bartram: Father of American Botany and Pioneer of the First U.S. Botanical Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 23, 1699 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of John Bartram, a true pioneer of American botany and exploration who laid the very roots of botanical science in the…
Read MoreGeorg Wilhelm Steller: Pioneer of Alaskan Natural History and Survivor of the Kamchatka Expedition
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 10, 1709 Dearest reader, On this day, with shovels at the ready and curiosity in bloom, we honor the birth of Georg Wilhelm Steller—a German botanist, zoologist, physician, and intrepid explorer whose…
Read MoreAndré Michaux: The King’s Botanist and Explorer of North America’s Floral Treasures
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 8, 1746 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of a truly remarkable figure in botanical history, André Michaux, the French botanist and explorer whose legacy still whispers through the…
Read MoreA Renaissance Woman of Botany: Catharina Helena Dörrien’s Masterpieces and Trailblazing Flora
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 1, 1717 Dearest reader, On this day, we commemorate the birth of the remarkable Catharina Helena Dörrien (“Durr-ee-in”), a pioneering German botanist, writer, and artist whose passion for the natural world blossomed…
Read MoreFlora Atlantica and Botanical Exploration: The Life of René Louiche Desfontaines
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: February 14, 1750 Dearest reader, On this day, in the swirling mists of eighteenth-century France, a botanist of peculiar brilliance was born—René Louiche Desfontaines. Imagine, if you will, the intrigue of Paris salons entwined with the wild fragrance of Algerian hills; such was the…
Read MoreThe Duchess of Curiosities: Margaret Cavendish Bentinck and Her Botanical Empire
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 11, 1715 Dearest reader, On this day, the world welcomed a remarkable woman destined to leave an indelible mark upon the realms of botany and natural history—Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Duchess of Portland.…
Read MoreCadwallader Colden and His Daughter Jane: A Colonial Legacy in American Botany
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: February 7, 1688 Dearest reader, On this day, the world welcomed Cadwallader Colden, a Scottish-American physician, botanist, and distinguished Lieutenant Governor of New York, whose legacy blooms still in the annals of botanical history. After arriving in America in 1718, Colden and his wife…
Read MoreLaurel Hill and the Mountain Laurel: History, Botany, and Revolution
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 16, 1776 Dearest reader, On this day—at the civilized hour of seven o’clock, though the act itself was far from civil—the Hessian troops allied with the British opened their cannons upon the…
Read MoreMary Delany: The Widow Who Blossomed into a Botanical Tissue Paper Artist
Paper Mosaics May 17, 1700 Today is the birthday of the botanical tissue paper decoupage artist Mary Delany. Mary Delany led an extraordinary life. When she was 17, her family had forced her to marry a sixty-year-old man. Mary soon discovered he was an alcoholic. To make matters worse, when he died, Mary’s husband forgot…
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