Posts Tagged ‘conservation history’
May 27, 2026 Charles Waterton, Robert Kyd, Helen Morgenthau Fox, Citrus by Pierre Laszlo, and Georgina Burne Hetley
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today’s Show Notes Spring always feels a little unsettled to me until I plant the kitchen garden. It sits just outside the deck door. Close enough…
Read MoreApril 21, 2026 John Muir, Mark Twain, Aldo Leopold, Flowering Outdoors by Margot Shaw, and Charlotte Brontë
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today’s Show Notes If you kneel by the peonies right now, you’ll see it. The new shoots are already pushing. Red. Glossy. Tight as fists. But…
Read MoreA Pioneering Voice in Texas Botany: Maude Jeannie Young
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 1, 1826 Maude Jeannie Fuller Young (pronounced “MAW-duh JEE-nee FULL-er YOUNG”) was born on this day in 1826. Though she would become known for many accomplishments, it’s her groundbreaking contribution to botanical…
Read MoreThe Founding Farmer: James Madison’s Post-Presidential Passion
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 7, 1817 On this day, James Madison, America’s fourth President, was elected to serve as the President of his local Agricultural Society. James had just retired from his presidential duties and quickly…
Read MoreDietrich Brandis: The Father of Indian Forestry and Pioneer of Tropical Forest Management
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 31, 1824 Dearest reader, On this day, the world witnessed the birth of Dietrich Brandis—a man whose legacy is as deeply rooted in the Indian subcontinent as the teak trees he…
Read MoreRoger Tory Peterson: The Naturalist Who Helped the World Fall in Love with Birds
The King Penguin Today is the anniversary of the death of Roger Tory Peterson of Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds fame – he was born in 1908. A son of Jamestown, New York, Roger, helped new generations of people fall in love with ornithology. Roger not only wrote the guides, but he also illustrated them.…
Read MoreThe 1885 Opening of Niagara Falls State Park: Olmsted’s Vision of Restoration
A Picturesque Landscape On this day, thousands of people watched as Niagra Falls was officially opened. The area had been thoroughly cleaned up, improved, and made more accessible. Prior to the restoration, Frederick Law Olmsted said of the Falls, “I have followed the Appalachian chain almost from end to end, and traveled on horseback, in…
Read MoreMary DeDecker and the Golden Shrub of the Desert
Golden Bunches of Shrubs On the 4th of July in 1976, a very hot day to go hiking, botanist Mary Dedecker made her way back to a spot in the desert of California where she had discovered a new plant earlier in June of that same year. When DeDecker reached the shrub, she was stunned.…
Read MoreOtto Emery Jennings: The Curator Who Saved the Blazing Star
The Blazing Star Today is the anniversary of the death of the former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and devoted scientist Otto Emery Jennings. He died at the age of 86. In 1904, Jennings started out as the custodian at the Carnegie Museum. Otto kept climbing the ladder, and over the span…
Read MoreJac P Thijsse: Dutch Conservationist and Creator of the Iconic Flora Albums
An Inspiration for Many Today is the anniversary of the death of the Dutch conservationist and botanist Jac P Thijsse. Jac founded the Society for the Preservation of Nature Monuments in Holland. His 60th birthday present was a wildlife garden in Bloemendaal near Haarlem. After WWI, a Dutch food company by the name of Verkade…
Read MoreIncrease Lapham’s Dream: The 80-Year Journey to Wisconsin’s Arboretum
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 17, 1934 On this day, dear aficionados of cultivated landscapes, we celebrate the official dedication of the University of Wisconsin’s Arboretum. Oh, what a momentous occasion for lovers of nature and academic…
Read MoreThe Blue Line’s Legacy: Birth of the Adirondack and Catskill Preserve
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 15, 1885 On this day in 1885, a momentous event occurred that would forever shape the landscape of New York and indeed, the very notion of conservation in America. Governor David B.…
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