Blooms Across the Pacific: Ernest H. Wilson’s Azalea Diplomacy

Ernest Henry Wilson

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 24, 1919 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, a horticultural treasure trove arrived at the hallowed grounds of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Ernest H. Wilson, that intrepid plant explorer and…

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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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Pansies, Painters, and Prestige: The Horticultural Reign of Denys Zirngiebel

Portrait of John Denys Zirngiebel, 1906

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 16, 1964 On this day, dear readers, we bid a fond farewell to Denys Zirngiebel, a Swiss-born naturalist whose green thumb left an indelible mark on American horticulture. Like a well-tended perennial,…

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December 3, 2020 Seed Size, Gourds and Squashes, James Arnold, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sara Coleridge, Earth to Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann, and Octavia Hill

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today I’ll talk about the difference between gourds and squash. We’ll also celebrate the man whose philanthropy made the Arnold Arboretum possible. We’ll recognize the painter who said flowers made him paint freely. We salute the English author who gave us a lovely poem called The Garden Year. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a…

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