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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From Wild Gardens to City Planning: Warren Manning’s Living Legacy

Warren H Manning

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 7, 1860 Today, we celebrate Warren H. Manning, a visionary landscape architect whose birth was commemorated by his father with the planting of an elm tree – a fitting tribute for a…

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Breaking Ground: Ellen Biddle Shipman’s Garden Legacy

Ellen Shipman (colorized), 1890, Streeter collection

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 5, 1869 Today we celebrate the birth of Ellen Biddle Shipman, a woman who found her voice in the whispers of flowers and her strength in the structure of garden walls. Ellen…

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Pen and Prose: The Blooming Legacy of Shelby Foote

Shelby Foote

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 17, 1916 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of one Shelby Foote, a gentleman of letters whose passion for the written word rivaled only his devotion to the art…

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The Founding Farmer: James Madison’s Post-Presidential Passion

James Madison

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 7, 1817 On this day, James Madison, America’s fourth President, was elected to serve as the President of his local Agricultural Society. James had just retired from his presidential duties and quickly…

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Martha’s Green Legacy: The Enduring Kitchen Garden of Mount Vernon

Martha Washington

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1731 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we celebrate the birth of a most remarkable woman, one whose influence extended far beyond the hallowed halls of the nascent American government. I…

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Mount Vernon’s Green-Thumbed Guardians: The MVLA Story

Ann Pamela Cunningham

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1874 On this day, dear gardening enthusiasts, we find ourselves transported to a moment of great significance in the preservation of America’s horticultural heritage. It was on this very date that…

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The Lexicographer’s Garden: Noah Webster’s Verdant Vocabulary

Noah Webster

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 1, 1785 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves in the company of one Noah Webster (a veritable library awaits the curious), a man whose name has become synonymous with the…

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Beyond Sight: Helen Keller’s Profound Connection to Nature

Helen Keller holding a rose

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 1, 1968 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we bid farewell to a remarkable soul whose connection to nature transcended the boundaries of sight and sound. Helen Keller, that indomitable spirit and…

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Blossoms, Berries, and Bygone Days: Calvin Fletcher’s Garden Diary

Calvin Fletcher

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1859 On this day, dear fellow gardeners, let us take a delightful journey back to the mid-19th century, where we shall bask in the horticultural observations of one Calvin Fletcher. This…

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Thomas Jefferson’s Floral Ballet: A Letter from Monticello

Thomas Jefferson

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 26, 1811 On this day, dear readers and fellow gardeners, we find ourselves privy to a most charming correspondence between the esteemed Thomas Jefferson and his granddaughter, Anne. As we delve into…

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The Black Rose: Mary McLeod Bethune’s Educational Garden

Mary McLeod Bethune

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 18, 1955 On this day, we bid farewell to Mary McLeod Bethune (books about this person), an American educator, philanthropist, humanitarian, womanist, and civil rights activist whose life bloomed from the most…

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Blooms in the Beltway: The Secret Gardens of 19th Century Senators

William R. Smith, portrait by Frances Benjamin Johnston, 1900

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 9, 1887 On this day in 1887, the Los Angeles Herald unveiled a treasure trove of horticultural delights, dear readers. William Smith, the esteemed superintendent of the botanical gardens, regaled us with…

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