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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Jeanne Baret: the first woman circumnavigator and botanical trailblazer

Jeanne Baret

Bougainvillea Today is the birthday of the explorer and botanist Jeanne Baret. Jeanne was the first woman to have circumnavigated the globe as part of the expedition, which was led by Louis Antoine de Bougainville.  Beret was able to join the expedition after posing as a valet to the expedition’s naturalist: Philibert Commerçon. Before the…

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Georgia O Keeffe: Iconic Flower Painter and Her Hawalian Inspirations

Georgia O'Keeffe thumbnail image

The Pineapple Painter Today is the birthday of the country’s most loved female painter, Georgia O’Keeffe, who was born on this day in 1887. During her incredible career as a painter, O’Keeffe created over 900 works of art. She is remembered for her iconic paintings of skulls and flowers. In 1938 when O’Keeffe’s career was…

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Louis Antoine de Bougainville: Explorer Honored by the Bougainvillea Flower

Louis Antoine de Bougainville thumbnail image

A Friend of Baret Today is the anniversary of the death of the French admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who died on this day in 1729. On Bougainville’s expedition, a woman named Jeanne Baret joined the crew after posing as a valet to the expedition’s naturalist: Philibert Commerçon. Commerçon had terrible health, and…

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