September 10, 2021 Pumpkin Pie Cereal Treats, Richard Spruce, Redouté, Robert Koldewey, Lilian Gibbs, Cyril Connolly, Ella Griffin, The Well-Gardened Mind by Sue Stuart-Smith, and David Hosack

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today we celebrate a botanist remembered for his work collecting cinchona trees in South America. We’ll remember the French royal painter known as the “the Raffaele of flowers.” We’ll also learn about the German architect who thought he’d discovered the Hanging Gardens of Babylon over a hundred years ago. We’ll recognize the work of the…

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Remembering the Ill-fated New York Horticultural Society (NYHS)

David Hosack

“David’s leadership elevated the organization – making it an elite place for horticultural education and prestige.” March 22, 1822 On this day, the New York Horticultural Society (NYHS) was founded. The NYHS was the first horticultural society in the nation and survived until the late 1800s. While the Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania Hort Societies flourished,…

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David Hosack

David Hosack

American Eden December 22, 1835 Today is the anniversary of the death of the doctor and botanist David Hosack. He was 65. In 2018, David Hosack’s story was brilliantly told in the biography by Victoria Johnson called American Eden. David was a New Yorker and he was a leading doctor in America during the early days…

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December 22, 2020 Tree Ferns, David Hosack, George Eliot, William B. Arnett, David Mas Masumoto, The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook by Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman and Lady Bird Johnson

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Today we celebrate the botanist and doctor who established the nation’s first public botanical garden. We’ll also learn about the English Victorian author who loved roses. We’ll recognize the inspiring former president and owner of Tulsa Greenhouse and Four State Wholesale. We’ll hear an excerpt about pruning from a peach farmer. We Grow That Garden…

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A Review of Hamilton for Gardeners

Hamilton I spend hours in the garden

Like the rest of the world, the kids and I watched Hamilton on July 3rd. And, yes, it blew us all away. We loved it. And, if YOU watch it, your gardener ears will delight to hear that Hamilton liked to garden.   There’s so much about the musical still swirling in my head… and…

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David Hosack

David Hosack

Botanist Across America On this day in 1807, the botanist Frederick Pursch visited David Hosack. Hosack was happy to have Pursch collect specimens from all around the United States for him. He wrote, “I shall have a very industrious and skillful botanist [begin] to collect from different parts of the Union.” This post was featured…

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October 3, 2019 Pumpkin Allergy, Luis Née, Frederick Lueders, Frederick Pursch, David Hosack, John Torrey, Charles Sprague Sargent, Meta Orred, Sergei Yesenin, Philippa Foot, Montrose by Nancy Goodwin, Christmas Cactus, and George Dexter Butler

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I always write down little things the kids say that strike me as funny or sweet. Here’s a little blast from my past on this day in 2010: At bedtime tonight, PJ told me he wanted to bring cold lunch to school. I told him no because we have paid for hot lunch. (Apparently many…

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David Hosack

David Hosack

Doctor to Alexander Hamilton Today, in 1806, the botanist David Hosack wrote to Thomas Jefferson about Lewis and Clark.  If his note brings a smile, it’s because Hosack sounds just like every gardener through the ages. Here’s what he wrote: “If sir the gentlemen who are at present on their travels to the Missouri discover…

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September 10, 2019 Time to Power Wash, David Hosack, Richard Spruce, George Bentham, Beverley Nichols, Oak by William Bryant Logan, Addressing Rot ASAP, and Plants on the Pill

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Right about now is the perfect time to get out the power washer. Clean your water features, edging, rocks, fountains, and your outdoor entertaining spaces. The reality is that once you start up that power washer, the list of things that you can clean with it goes on and on. As you’re working, you invariably…

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