Posts Tagged ‘David Douglas’
January 22, 2021 Lessons from Festival Beach Food Forest, Ellsworth Jerome Hill, the Douglas-Fir, Boris Levinson on Turning to Nature, Betty Crocker’s Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell, and Rudyard Kipling’s Letters About His Street Trees
Today we celebrate a disabled botanist who felt no area could be considered fully explored. We’ll also learn about the tree that honors David Douglas. We’ll hear some thoughts about the future and our need to turn to nature, which will only grow in importance. We Grow That Garden Library™ with an old book that…
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Gave His Life for Science On this day, about a month before his 35th birthday, the Scottish plant explorer David Douglas and his little Scottish terrier named Billy arrived at the northern tip of Hawaii. After landing, David met up with a man named Ned Gurney. And I know it’s hard to imagine, but Gurney…
Read MoreJuly 12, 2020 A Garden at Maturity, the Water Lily, Henry David Thoreau, David Douglas, Charles Darwin, Ynes Mexia, Fern Poem, The Gardener & the Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, and Yerba Buena
Today we celebrate the man who inspired National Simplicity Day (It’s dedicated every July 12th). We’ll also learn about the tragic death of a Scottish botanist and prolific plant collector. We celebrate the friendship between Charles Darwin and his mentor. And, we also celebrate a woman who started botanizing late in life, yet made a…
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Doctor’s Pit On this day in 2014, the botanist David Douglas was memorialized with a plaque at his death site. The occasion marked the 100th anniversary of Douglas’s death. The Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission created the plaque because Douglas was the first scientist to visit the Oregon territory. Douglas scientifically identified hundreds of plants during…
Read MoreOctober 22, 2019 A Garden-Themed Wedding, Forager Gin, Helen Clay Frick, Edwin Way Teale, Discovering Vanilla, David Douglas, Bliss Carman, The Sanctuary of My Garden by Fotoula Reynolds, Last Call for Houseplants, and 4th-Grade Botany
Today we celebrate the daughter of a millionaire who found solace in nature and the refreshing approach of one of the country’s top naturalists. We learn about the discovery of vanilla (complete with a ravishing recipe for vanilla coffee liqueur from 1974), and we’ll commemorate the Doctor’s Pit where the botanist David Douglas died. We’ll…
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Exploring Identification It was on this day in 1799, the Scottish botanist David Douglas was born. Douglas was responsible for the identification of over 200 new plant species in North America including the famous Douglas-fir. Douglas never received a formal education, and he was primarily a plant collector rather than a published scientist.…
Read MoreJune 25, 2019 Empress Wu Hosta, David Douglas, William Robert Guilfoyle, Nathaniel Lord Britton, George Orwell, Gardener’s Latin by Bill Neal, Floral Pins, and Eric Carle
Did you know that the most popular giant hosta is Empress Wu? At maturity, the plant is 5 feet tall with an 8-foot spread. Pictures don’t really do the Empress Wu hosta justice. Because of its size and fast rate of growth, Empress Wu demands soil that is consistently moist but not soggy. Brian and…
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Work Lost in TIme It was on this day in 1833 David Douglas’ luck ran out. On the Rocky Island of the Fraser River at Fort George Canyon, Douglas’s canoe was smashed into bits and Douglas himself barely escaped alive. All of Douglas’s work: his specimens and all of his writings – covering the years…
Read MoreJune 13, 2019 Repurposed Planter Idea, Martha Washington, George Thurtell, David Douglas, William Butler Yeats, Charles Joseph Sauriol, The Flower Fix by Anna Potter, Love in a Mist, Nigella, and James Clerk Maxwell and his Peacock Gardeners
My aunt Debbie in Des Moines sent me some fantastic pictures of a great portable elevated planter idea. She was at Lowes, and they had taken two old Weber grills and had spray-painted them different colors. Then, they turned them into planters. In between the two of them, they placed a bench. What a great…
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California and The Columbia RIver It was on this day in 1830 that David Douglas finally arrived at the Columbia River. He had departed from England on October 31st, 1829 after visiting his mom. Before he got on the boat, he wanted to make sure that he got his hands on a Bible with…
Read MoreJune 3, 2019 Half-Hardy Plants, Aristides Simoni, David Douglas, Josephine Baker, Nathaniel Parker Willis, Kiftsgate Court Garden, Vanessa Berridge, Perennials for Wet Areas, Ardenoir, and Charlotte to Grace O’Brien
Half-Hardy Plants. That’s a term you don’t run into very often – but when you do, it can be confusing. Just this morning, I swung by a garden center to check out their clearance plants, and I ended up chatting with a gardener who had running to a label that had that term: Half-Hardy Plants.…
Read MoreApril 30, 2019 Raisin Day, George Washington, William Starling Sullivant, Bertha Stoneman, Samuel Mills Tracy, David Douglas, Matt Mattus, Tulip Turkestanica, and Washington’s Botanical Garden
I realize you are very excited to get going in your own garden. But don’t forget to schedule some time this spring to visit other gardens. The gardens of friends, neighbors, or public gardens can provide you with inspiration and teach you something new – even when you didn’t think you’d learn anything. #BTW This…
Read MoreDavid Douglas Journal Entry April 30, 1827
After breakfast at one o’clock… I became desirous of ascending one of the peaks, and accordingly, I set out alone on snowshoes … The labor of ascending the lower part, which is covered with pines, is great beyond description, sinking on many occasions to the middle. Halfway up vegetation ceases entirely, not so much a…
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