The $5.5 Million Garden Album: Empress Josephine’s Botanical Treasure

Pierre-Joseph Redouté

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 15, 1985 On this day, a phenomenal piece of botanical history changed hands at Sotheby’s auction house: Empress Josephine’s personal copy of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s (pee-AIR zho-ZEFF reh-doo-TAY) botanical watercolors for “Les Liliacées”…

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Georgia O’Keeffe: How to Make Flowers Impossible to Ignore

Georgia O'Keeffe as a teaching assistant to Alon Bement at the University of Virginia in 1915

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 15, 1887 On this day, Georgia O’Keeffe was born – an artist who would revolutionize how we see flowers through her bold, modernist vision. Over her remarkable career, O’Keeffe created more than…

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Beyond The Thinker: Auguste Rodin’s Horticultural Haven

Auguste Rodin

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 12, 1840 On this day, Auguste Rodin (oh-GOOST roh-DAN), the great French sculptor, was born. A man who found the divine in both marble and flowers – Auguste Rodin would ultimately earn…

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John Bradby Blake: The Young Botanist Who Bridged East and West

John Bradby Blake

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 4, 1745 On this day, we celebrate the birth of the English botanist John Bradby Blake [BRAD-bee BLAKE].  Though he lived a tragically short life – dying at just twelve days after…

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Dawn with the Iris King: Remembering William Rickatson Dykes

William Rickatson Dykes

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 4, 1877 Today we celebrate the birth of William Rickatson Dykes [RICK-et-sun DYKES], born in Bayswater, London. Though he began his career as a classics teacher at Charterhouse School, it was his…

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Marianne North: The Victorian Artist Who Painted the World’s Flora

Marianne North at her home in Ceylon in customary attire for women of the time

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 24, 1830 And it was on this day, my dear friend, that one of the most extraordinary botanical artists ever to wield a brush drew her first breath in Hastings, England. I…

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From Grafts to Greatness: The Fruitful Legacy of Joseph Stayman

Joseph Stayman

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 7, 2024 On this day, we commemorate the birth of Joseph Stayman, a horticultural luminary who graced this earth on October 7, 1817. Dear readers, allow me to regale you with the…

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Joachim Patinir: The Maestro of Renaissance Landscapes

Joachim Patinir

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 5, 1524 On this day, dear readers, we bid farewell to a luminary of the artistic world, one Joachim Patinir. A name that may not roll off the tongue with ease, yet…

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Eternal Blooms: Frida Kahlo’s Artistic Garden of Immortality

Frida Kahlo, 1932

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 6, 1907 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of Frida Kahlo (books about this person), that indomitable Mexican painter whose brush strokes have forever changed the landscape of art.…

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The Painter’s Garden: Anna Massey Lea Merritt’s Natural Inspirations

Anna Lea Merritt, 1885

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 13, 1844 On this day, a most extraordinary soul entered our world – Anna Massey Lea Merritt, whose life would bloom like a carefully tended English garden, rich with both artistic achievement…

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Midnight at Versailles: The Moonlit Challenge of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

Pierre-Joseph Redouté

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 10, 1825 On this day, my cherished garden enthusiasts, I find myself compelled to share a tale of extraordinary artistic achievement that should set every gardener’s heart aflutter. French King Charles X,…

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A Forgotten Flower: Minnie Aumonier, Artist and Poet

Minnie Aumonier's Home

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1865: Minnie Aumonier, English artist and poet, was born. Minnie was a woman of remarkable wit, passion, and creativity. Her work is a testament to the beauty of nature and the…

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