August Archives

John Gould Veitch

The Plant Hunter Today is the anniversary of the death of the nurseryman and botanist John Gould Veitch. The Veitch Nursery dynasty was a force in the British nursery trade. Their dominance was born out of the idea to hire their own plant hunters to collect exclusively for them. John Gould Veitch became a plant…

August

by Maggie Grant For which there is no possible rhyme other than sawdust. Now, the task of justifying that word is going to be immense If I want to make sense, But anyway, here goes: I once had a doll called Rose Whose body was encased in a species of strong white cotton. Well, I…

Katharine Stuart

Letters to Elizabeth 1961 Today Katharine Stuart wrote to Elizabeth Lawrence. “My dear Elizabeth, By now you will have given me up entirely as a friend. It is shocking that I have not written to you in so long and especially that I have never answered your letter offering me some of Mr. Krippendorf’s hellebores. Perhaps you…

Quickweed or Gallant Soldiers Plant: An Unsung Medicinal and Edible Rock Star in the Garden

“Sir Edward Salisbury, the director of Kew Gardens, tells how he found a gardener one day pulling out Galinsoga from his borders. He asked its name. The gardener replied, ‘I don’t rightly know, but I have heard it called Soldiers of the Queen.'” August 3, 1948 On this day, The Guardian posted a brief snippet about…

Michel Adanson

Mind Behind Mutation Today is the anniversary of the death of the 18th-century Scottish-French botanist and naturalist Michel Adanson. Michel created the first natural classification of flowering plants. In fact, Jussieu (“Juice You”) adopted Michel’s methodology to create his masterpiece that defined plant groups called Genera Plantarum (1789). Although today we think mainly of Darwin…

Joseph Paxton

The Crystal Palace Today is the birthday of the English gardener, architect, and Member of Parliament, Joseph Paxton. Joseph Paxton was brilliant. It was Charles Dickens who dubbed him, “The Busiest Man in England.” Joseph designed the Crystal Palace, aka the People’s Palace, for the first World’s Fair. The Crystal Place was a large exhibition…

Louise du Pont Crowninshield

The Last du Pont at Winterthur Today is the birthday of Louise du Pont Crowninshield, who was born on this day. Louise spent her life working on projects related to ecological preservation, charity, and horticulture. Aside from her philanthropic efforts, Louise is remembered as the last du Pont to live in the residence at Winterthur…

Alwyn Howard Gentry

The Tropical Botanist Today is the anniversary of the death of the American botanist Alwyn Howard Gentry. The year was 1993 when Alwyn’s life was tragically cut short when his plane crashed in fog into a forested mountain during a treetop survey in Ecuador. At the time, Alwyn was just 48 years old and at…

Watermelon

by Charles Bukowski And the windows opened that night, A ceiling dripped the sweat Of a tin god, And I sat eating a watermelon All false red, Water like slow-running Tears, And I spit out seeds And swallowed seeds, And I kept thinking I’m a fool I’m a fool To eat this Watermelon, But I…

It Is Pure Water

by The Citizen-Republic It is pure water, distilled, and put up by nature herself, who needs no government label to certify to the cleanliness of her methods and the innocence of her sun-kissed chemistry. It is the tiniest trace of earth salts. It has a delicate aroma. It is slightly a food, generously a drink,…

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

by Eric Carle On Saturday, he ate through one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone, one pickle, one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie, one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of Watermelon. That night he had a stomach ache. — Eric Carle, American designer,…

Go Along Mister Winter

by Frank Lebby Stanton Go along, Mister Winter- Crawl into your frosty bed. I’m longing like a lover For the watermelon red. — Frank Lebby Stanton, American lyricist As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. Frank Lebby Stanton

Watermelons

by Charles Simic Green Buddhas On the fruit stand We eat the smile And spit out the teeth. — Charles Simic, American-Serbian Poet, Watermelons As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all.

Ode to Watermelon

by Anonymous Up from the South, by boat and train. Now comes the King of Fruits again; Lucious feast for judge or felon, Glorious, sun-kissed Watermelon; Green as emerald in its rind, But cutting through it thou shalt find Sweetest mass of crimson beauty Tempting angels from their duty. — Ode to Watermelon, anonymous …