The Walking Botanist: Celebrating Charles Wright

Charles Wright, botanist

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 29, 1811 Today we celebrate the birthday of Charles Wright born on this day in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Wright embodied the spirit of botanical exploration in early America, becoming one of the most…

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Pioneer in Plant Science: Effie Southworth

Effie Almira Southworth Spalding

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 29, 1830 On this day, plant science pioneer Effie Almira Southworth [pronounced: EF-ee al-MY-rah SOUTH-worth], is born in North Collins, New York. Her story illuminates both the challenges and triumphs of women…

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Unmoved by Mountains: The Enigmatic Life of Charles Sprague Sargent

Charles Sprague Sargent profile

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 24, 1841 On this day, the horticultural world was graced with the birth of Charles Sprague Sargent, a man destined to become one of America’s most distinguished botanists. Charles, a figure as…

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Blooming Against the Odds: Ellsworth Jerome Hill’s Botanical Triumph

Ellsworth Jerome Hill

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. December 1, 1833 On this day, dear friends of the garden and admirers of human perseverance, a most remarkable individual drew his first breath. Ellsworth Jerome Hill, destined to become a Presbyterian minister,…

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The Solitary Botanist: Mary Sophie Young’s Texas Legacy

Mary Sophie Young, botanist, on a summer collecting trip in West Texas. Image courtesy of University of Texas at Austin

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 20, 1872 Dearest garden enthusiasts, today we celebrate the birth of Mary Sophie Young, a tenacious botanist who, like her seven older brothers taught her to be, was tough enough to brave…

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Botanical Whispers: John Torrey and the Secret Gardens of Old New York

John Torrey

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 15, 1796 My darling green-thumbed confidants, the society of botanical enthusiasts has been forever altered by the arrival of one John Torrey, born on this most auspicious day in 1796. While you…

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From Dust to Discovery: The Birth of Desert Botanist Forrest Shreve

Forrest Shreve

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 8, 1878 On this day, dear readers, the American botanist Forrest Shreve was born, a man whose passion for the arid and seemingly inhospitable would forever change how we understand our desert…

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Nathaniel Britton: The Artist-Botanist Who Drew His Own Path

Nathaniel Lord Britton

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 25, 1934 On this day, we mark the anniversary of the demise of one Nathaniel Lord Britton, an American botanist and taxonomist who shuffled off this mortal coil. While the scientific community…

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The Moss Whisperer: Remembering William Starling Sullivant

William Starling Sullivant

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 30, 1873 Today marks the anniversary of the departure of William Starling Sullivant, a man who devoted his life to the humble moss – those diminutive verdant pillows that cushion our forest…

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From Mantle to Mountainside: The Botanical Journey of Marcus Jones

Marcus E. Jones

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 25, 1852 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of Marcus Jones, a botanist whose life story reads like a love letter to the plant kingdom. Picture, if you will,…

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