Agnes Chase Archives

April 29, 2022 St. Robert’s Day, Henri Frederic Amiel, Agnes Chase, Jerry Seinfeld, The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, The Language of Butterflies by Wendy Williams, and Karel Ćapek

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Podchaser Leave a Review Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Historical Events St. Robert’s Day Saint Robert of Molesme (“mo-LESS-mah”) was an 11th-century herbalist, abbot, and founder of the…

Agnes Chase

The Grass Studier April 29, 1869 Today is the birthday of a botanist who was a petite, fearless, and indefatigable person: Agnes Chase. Agnes was an agrostologist—a studier of grass. A self-taught botanist, her first position was as an illustrator at the USDA’s Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington, D.C. In this position, Agnes…

April 29, 2021 Forsythia, Hunter’s Home Diary, Agnes Chase, Toni Morrison on spring, Life Among the Texas Flora by Minetta Altgelt Goyne, and Cornelia Vanderbilt

Today we celebrate the botanical pastimes of two young women in Oklahoma back in 1850. We’ll also learn about a female botanical pioneer who specialized in grasses. We’ll hear some thoughts on spring from a beloved American author. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book featuring the letters from a Texas pioneer botanist. And…

January 22, 2021 Lessons from Festival Beach Food Forest, Ellsworth Jerome Hill, the Douglas-Fir, Boris Levinson on Turning to Nature, Betty Crocker’s Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell, and Rudyard Kipling’s Letters About His Street Trees

Today we celebrate a disabled botanist who felt no area could be considered fully explored. We’ll also learn about the tree that honors David Douglas. We’ll hear some thoughts about the future and our need to turn to nature, which will only grow in importance. We Grow That Garden Library™ with an old book that…

December 16, 2020 Madagascar Vanilla, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, Albert Spear Hitchcock, David Hall, Hal Borland, The Catskills Farm to Table Cookbook by Courtney Wade and a Plant Called Higgenses

Today we celebrate a botanist remembered for his work with Pears and Camellias. We’ll also learn about a botanist who specialized in grasses and traveled extensively to collect them. We’ll learn about the work of a forensic botanist back in the early 1980s. We take a moment to savor December – courtesy of a verse…

Remembering the Extraordinary Botanist Ellsworth Jerome Hill and His Incredible Perseverence

“When Ellsworth was only twenty years old, one of his knees stopped working, and the doctor suggested he study botany. Ellsworth would crawl from the house to the orchard, where he would pick a few flowers and then crawl back to the house to identify them.” January 22, 1917 On this day, the Presbyterian minister,…

Agnes Chase

The First Lady of Grasses April 29, 1869 Today is the birthday of the petite, fearless, and indefatigable botanist Agnes Chase. Agnes was an agrostologist—a studier of grass. A self-taught botanist, Agnes’s first position was as an illustrator at the USDA’s Bureau of Plant Industry in Washington, D.C. In this position, Agnes worked as an…

April 29, 2019 Perennial Defined, Agnes Chase, Cornelia Vanderbilt’s Wedding, Alfred Hitchcock, Ron McBain, #AmericanSpringLive, Botany Bay, Mary Gilmore, Garden-Pedia, Composting, and the Significance of Grass

Merriam-Webster gives the following synonyms for the word perennial: abiding, enduring, perpetual, undying Those terms can give gardeners unrealistic expectations for their perennials. They’re not eternal. They will eventually part ways with your garden. But, for as long as they can, your perennials will make a go of it. Returning to the garden after their…

The Botanist Agnes Chase: “Grass is What Holds the Earth Together.”

“Grass is what holds the earth together. Grass made it possible for the human race to abandon his cave life and follow herds. Civilization was based on grass, everywhere in the world.” April 29, 1869 On this day, the botanist Agnes Chase, was born. Agnes was an agrostologist; a studier of grass. A self-taught botanist,…