Camperdown Elm

Camperdown Elm

A Longstanding Tradition 1918  On this day, a daughter of Redmond Washington, Nellie Perrigo, married Chase G. Morris, and her father, William Pulcifer Perrigo, gifted the couple a Camperdown Elm. In fact, William gave each one of his five daughters a Camperdown Elm on their wedding day. He brought the unique trees with him from…

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Daffodil

World Daffodil Day Today is World Daffodil Day, and there’s really one poem that is regarded as the Mother of All Daffodil Poems, and it’s this one. I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside…

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Benjamin Alvord

Benjamin Alvord

A Passion to Learn Today is the birthday of Brigadier General, mathematician, and botanist Benjamin Alvord. Born in Rutland Vermont, Benjamin was always drawn to nature. He graduated from West Point and even spent some time teaching there as a Math Professor.  Benjamin fought in the Seminole Wars, the Mexican–American War, and the Civil War.…

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Olav Hauge

Olav Hauge

Apples and Poems Today is the birthday of the Norwegian poet and gardener Olav Hauge. Olav was a trained horticulturist and fruit grower. Olav earned a living as a professional gardener. When he wasn’t writing poetry, he could be found working in his apple orchard – he had 70 apple trees. Here’s my translation of…

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Yukio Ozaki

Yukio Ozaki

Cherry Trees to D.C. On this day, Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki pledged to give 2,000 Cherry trees to U.S. President William Howard Taft. Taft decided to plant them near the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., in West Potomac Park surrounding the Tidal Basin. The trees arrived in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 1910.   This post…

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I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They…

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Sir Arthur George Tansley on the Ecosystem of Your Garden

Sir Arthur George Tansley with a Flower

“The whole method of science… is to isolate systems for the purpose of study… whether it be a solar system, a planet, a climatic region, a plant or animal community, an individual organism, an organic molecule, or an atom. Actually, the systems we isolate mentally are not only included as parts of larger ones, but…

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Karl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers

Karl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers

A Heart for Minerals and Meteorites Today is the birthday of the Austrian naturalist and botanist Karl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers. Now, the Austrian Empire had a special affinity for plants and horticulture. And, they funded expeditions regularly to collect new materials for the Natural History Museum. Many famous botanists were involved with these…

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Elias Magnus Friesz

Elias Magnus Friesz

The Happy Botanist Today is the birthday of the botanist Elias Magnus Friesz, who is born on this day in Sweden. Now, the area where Elias grew up in Sweden was rich in fungi, and as luck would have it, his father was a self-taught botanist. Put those two things together, and it’s no wonder…

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John Torrey

John Torrey

The Calendar  Today is the birthday of the American botanist John Torrey. John was the first American botanist to study the flora of New York State. And, the area John botanized included what is now Greenwich Village, the area of the Elgin Botanic Garden (“el-GG-IN”), which is now Rockefeller Center, and Bloomingdale, which is now…

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Walter Crane

Walter Crane

A Floral Fantasy August 15, 1845 Today is the birthday of the illustrator Walter Crane, who was born in Liverpool. Today, gardeners fondly recall Walter thanks to one of his most stunning works – a book called “A Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden,” which was published in 1899. Walter’s book was intended to…

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Robert Earl Bickelhaupt

Bob Bickelhaupt

The Bickelhaupt Arboretum Today is the birthday of the cofounder of the Bickelhaupt Arboretum, Robert Earl Bickelhaupt. Robert and his wife Frances created the Arboretum around their family home in Clinton, Iowa. During the 1960s and 1970s, Robert and Frances watched as Dutch Elm disease claimed the beautiful Elm-lined streets in Clinton. In response, Robert…

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The Brook

The Brook

by Alfred Lord Tennyson I come from haunts of coot and hern,    I make a sudden sally And sparkle out among the fern,    To bicker down a valley. By thirty hills I hurry down,    Or slip between the ridges, By twenty thorpes, a little town,    And half a hundred bridges. Till last by Philip’s farm,…

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