Donald Culross Peattie

Donald Culross Peattie

A Popular Nature Writer June 21, 1898  Today is the birthday of American botanist, naturalist, and author, Donald Culross Peattie. During his lifetime, Donald was regarded as the most read nature writer in America. He wrote about plants and nature. His book, Flowering Earth, was written for the layperson – explaining concepts like chlorophyll and protoplasm…

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Nature in Winter

Nature in Winter

by Donald Culross Peattie Nature in winter is like a great toy shop at night. The doors are locked, and only at the mysterious depths of the shop does some cold light burn. If we press our noses on the pane, we can just make out the forms of bigger objects. All the tenderer delights…

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December 15, 2020 How Front Gardens Boost Wellbeing, Margaret Cavendish, Joyce Winifred Vickery, The National Herb Garden, Donald Culross Peattie, Farming the Woods by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel, and Fenway Park Boston Ivy

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today we celebrate the 17th-century philosopher and naturalist, who was the first woman to make a living from her writing. We’ll also learn about the forensic botanist who solved the crime of the decade in the 1960s in Australia. We’ll recognize the Herb Society’s project that now occupies two and a half acres at the…

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Limber Pines

Limber Pines

by Donald Culross Peattie Limber Pines have a way of growing in dramatic places, taking picturesque attitudes, and getting themselves photographed, written about, and cared for… — Donald Peattie, American botanist, naturalist, and author     Notes: November 16, 1964 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Harvard botanist, Naturalist, Washington Post nature…

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A Hummingbird is a Feathered Prism

A Hummingbird is a Feathered Prism

by Donald Culross Peattie A hummingbird is a feathered prism, a living rainbow; it captures the very sunlight. — Donald Peattie, American botanist, naturalist, and author       Notes: November 16, 1964 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Harvard botanist, Naturalist, Washington Post nature columnist, and author, Donald Culross Peattie, who…

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If the Oak is King of Trees

If the Oak is King of Trees

by Donald Culross Peattie If the Oak is King of Trees, then the White Oak is King of Kings. — Donald Peattie, American botanist, naturalist, and author       Notes: November 16, 1964 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Harvard botanist, Naturalist, Washington Post nature columnist, and author, Donald Culross Peattie,…

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Winter is a Study in Halftones

Winter is a Study in Halftones

by Donald Culross Peattie Winter is a study in halftones, and one must have an eye for them or go lonely. — Donald Peattie, American botanist, naturalist, and author, An Almanac for Moderns, 1935     Notes: November 16, 1964 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Harvard botanist, Naturalist, Washington Post nature…

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What is a Weed?

What is a Weed?

by Donald Culross Peattie What is a weed? I’ve heard it said that there are 60 definitions. For me, a weed is a plant out of place.           Notes: Donald Culross Peattie was born on this day in Chicago in 1898. Peattie was regarded as the most-read nature writer in America…

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Mad-Mad

Mad-Mad

by Donald Culross Peattie I have often started off on a walk in the state called mad-mad in the sense of sore-headed, or mad with tedium or confusion; I have set forth dull, null, and even thoroughly discouraged. But I never came back in such a frame of mind, and I never met a human…

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All the Great Naturalists

All the Great Naturalists

by Donald Culross Peattie All the great naturalists have been habitual walkers, for no laboratory, no book, car, train, or plane takes the place of honest footwork for this calling, be it amateurs or professionals.         Notes: Donald Culross Peattie was born on this day in Chicago in 1898. Peattie was regarded…

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