The Accidental Aloe Enthusiast: Harold Basil Christian’s Botanical Legacy

Basil Christian and wife at their home on the Ewanrigg Aloe Gardens, 1948

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 28, 1871 On this day, Harold Basil Christian [KRIS-tee-un] was born. His journey into botany began with an “unsightly rock” and turned into one of the world’s most important aloe collections. Born…

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John Clayton’s American Debut: The Blossoming of a Botanical Legacy

Claytonia virginica is one of the many plants named for John Clayton

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 7, 1720 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we commemorate the first recorded appearance of a most illustrious figure in the annals of colonial botany. John Clayton, that intrepid explorer of flora,…

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