Friends, Foes, and Foreign Trees: America’s Great Cherry Blossom Debate

Cherry Trees around the basin

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 13, 1909 On this day, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson (WIL-sun) sent what seemed like a routine notification to the plant industry office in Seattle. Little did anyone know this simple message…

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Plowing New Ground: The Legacy of Harry Ferguson

Harry Ferguson Statue at his Memorial Garden at his former home at Growell

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 4, 1884 Today we celebrate Harry Ferguson [FUR-guh-sun], born on this day near Dromara [droh-MAR-ah] in County Down, Ireland. While we often think of gardening in terms of hand tools and intimate…

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The Highest Peach: James Whitcomb Riley’s Sweet Ode to Unreachable Love

James Whitcomb Riley

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 14, 1849 On this day, dear readers and fellow admirers of nature’s sweet bounty, we celebrate the birth of James Whitcomb Riley, an American writer and poet whose words, like the ripest…

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Cuke Season: Blackville, South Carolina’s Cucumber Celebration

Cucumbers

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 20th each year On or around this day in Blackville, South Carolina, Cuke Season gets underway. Can you imagine the bustling excitement as the town prepares for this annual event? The Encyclopedia…

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Elvin Stakman: Guardian of the World’s Wheat

Elvin Charles Stakman, 1947

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 17, 1885 On this day, we celebrate the birth of Elvin Charles Stakman, an American plant pathologist whose work would go on to shape the future of global food security. Can you…

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Blooms Amid Battle: The Garden Letters of Jacob and Emeline Ritner

Jacob Ritner Portrait

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 16, 1861 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves transported to the tumultuous era of the American Civil War, where a poignant exchange between Union Captain Jacob Ritner and his beloved…

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Plough Monday: When Gardens Awaken from Their Yuletide Slumber

Plough Monday

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. January 11, 2021 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we bid adieu to the festive season and welcome the return of honest toil. For today, you see, is Plough Monday – that most…

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The Thaddeus’ Secret Cargo: Hawaii’s Potato Pioneers

The Thaddeus was 85 feet long, with a beam of 24 feet

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 2, 1820 On this day, dear gardeners, a most curious botanical revolution took root in the paradisiacal shores of Hawaii. It was not the swaying palms or the vibrant orchids that marked…

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The Rise and Fall of Delaware’s Peachy Empire

Peach on a tree

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 9, 1888 On this day in 1888, the fair state of Delaware adorned itself with a most becoming floral emblem. The Peach Blossom, that harbinger of spring’s sweet promise, was elected to…

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The Corn Whisperer: George Harrison Shull’s Botanical Legacy

George Harrison Shull, colorized portrait

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: April 15, 1874 On this day, dear devotees of the garden and aficionados of agricultural innovation, we celebrate the birth of a true botanical revolutionary: George Harrison Shull. Born in 1874, this American botanist would grow to earn the illustrious title of “father of…

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