Winifred Mary Letts: Spring’s Honest Voice in a Time of War

Winifred Mary Letts portrait (colorized and enhanced)

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 10, 1882 Dearest Gardeners, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Winifred Mary Letts, an English-born writer who spent much of her life in Ireland and became a singular voice of…

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Ruth Pitter: The Gardener-Poet of Hainault Forest

Ruth Pitter, notable English poet (1897-1992).

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 7, 1897 Today in botanical history, we celebrate Ruth Pitter [PIT-er] (1897-1992), a remarkable British poet whose deep connection to nature, primarily through her beloved Hainault Forest, shaped her literary legacy. Pitter’s…

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Lord Byron’s Diaries: The Greatest Literary Crime of 1824

Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron), a prominent figure of the Romantic movement in English literature.

A Literary Crime May 17, 1824 On this day, the diaries of the English Romantic poet, satirist, and politician, Lord Byron, are burned by six of his friends. The act intended to protect his privacy has also been described as “the greatest crime in literary history.” The loss likely impacted botanical literature as Lord Byron…

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Fern Unfurling: Ted Hughes on Silence and Renewal

Fronds of a fern, specifically appearing to be the New Zealand silver fern, also known as Cyathea dealbata or ponga.

by Ted Hughes Here is the fern’s frond, unfurling a gesture, Like a conductor whose music will now be pause And the one note of silence To which the whole earth dances gravely – A dancer, leftover, among crumbs and remains Of God’s drunken supper, Dancing to start things up again. And they do start…

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Alive Beneath the Snow: January’s Hidden Garden Work

The garden in winter.

Today’s Garden Words were featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. The garden in winter. January 14, 2020 On this day, let us cast aside the common misconception that January is merely…

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John Keats: Romantic Lyric Poet Born Under the Plum Tree

John Keats thumbnail image

Ode to Autumn Today is the birthday of the English romantic lyric poet John Keats who was born in 1795. During his short life, (Keats died from tuberculosis at the age of 25), his poems didn’t make much of a mark.   But after his death, Keat’s reputation grew, and today, he is considered one…

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