Posts Tagged ‘English’
Celebrating St George’s Day with Garden Poems about Bluebells
“Bluebells are reminders of the very origins of ‘spring,’ the great gush of life.” Today, April 23, is St George’s Day – the feast day of the patron saint of England, St. George. Known as the dragon slayer, St. George was partial to the color blue, and he is remembered with the English bluebell…
Read MoreEnglish Gardener and Writer Frances Perry and her Thoughts on Ferns
“Sure enough, there was a baby fern growing inside. The spores can survive in their millions until conditions for growth are right.” April 21, 1985 On this day, the garden writer Frances Perry shared a charming article in her regular gardening column in The Observer about how to grow a fern spore. She wrote: My father-in-law,…
Read MoreRemembering English Loyalist and Botanist Alexander Garden: the Gardenia is his Namesake
“Botanic Sparks are sweet stories to close the show that draw gardeners closer to gardening, as John Ellis’ letters inspired Alexander Garden. April 15, 1791 Today is the anniversary of the death of the English botanist Alexander Garden. Alexander’s story is fascinating, starting with the fact that he had the perfect last name for a…
Read MoreCelebrating Garden Writer and Pioneering Journalist Anne Scott-James
“However small your garden, you must provide for two of the serious gardener’s necessities: a tool shed and a compost heap.” April 5, 1913 Today is the birthday of one of Britain’s pioneering female journalists and a marvelous garden author, Anne Scott-James. In 1934, Anne started as a secretary at Vogue before rising through the…
Read MoreA Diary Entry from English Gardener Henry Arthur Bright in Praise of Violets
“Hepaticas I have tried over and over again, and they always fail.” March 25, 1874 Today, the English merchant and author Henry Arthur Bright recorded an update about his spring garden in his popular diary-turned-book, A Year in a Lancashire Garden. Again, we have had frost and snow, and this time, it has done us…
Read MoreRemembering the Last Great English Landscape Designer of the eighteenth century: Humphry Repton
Subtitle March 24, 1818 Today is the anniversary of the death of the innovative and all-time great landscape gardener Humphry Repton. (Note that there is no ‘e’ in the spelling of Humphry). Humphry was trained and molded by the great Capability Brown. As he matured, Humphry broke away from his mentor’s shadow and led…
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