February Archives

Winifred Mary Letts

Spring the Cheat February 10, 1882 Today is the birthday of the English writer Winifred Mary Letts. Gardeners love her quote on spring: That God once loved a garden, we learn in Holy writ. And seeing gardens in the Spring, I well can credit it. Winifred also wrote a poem about spring called “Spring the…

Benjamin Smith Barton

Golden Butterfly February 10, 1766 Today is the birthday of the American botanist, naturalist, and physician Benjamin Smith Barton. Benjamin worked as a Professor of Natural History and Botany at the University of Pennsylvania, where he authored the very first textbook on American Botany. In 1803, at Thomas Jefferson’s request, Benjamin was tutoring Meriwether Lewis…

Preparing the Spring Garden: A Look at February Chores from 1889

“Whatever… winter work remains must now be cleared up, or the consequences will be serious.” February 9, 1889 On this day, The Lancaster Gazette shared a little snippet about the garden chores that should be done this week. Let’s see how our chores stack up against chores from the late 1800s. Outdoor Work must have a full…

William Griffith

Global Discoveries February 9, 1845 Today is the anniversary of the early death of the promising English botanist and naturalist William Griffith. William’s peers in Madras, India, honored him with a plaque that said, “He had attained to the highest eminence in the scientific world; and was one of the most distinguished botanists of his…

Henry Arthur Bright

A Year in Lancashire Garden February 9, 1830 Today is the birthday of the English gardener and writer Henry Arthur Bright. As an adult, Henry began a diary, which became a book called A Year in a Lancashire Garden. Henry’s book is one of the most beloved garden biographies of the nineteenth century and inspired…

Henry Walter Bates

The Amazon Explorer February 8, 1825 Today is the birthday of the self-taught British entomologist, explorer, and naturalist Henry Walter Bates. Unlike many of his scientist friends and peers, Henry was entirely self-taught. In the mid-1840s, Henry met the great English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, who was one of the most intelligent scientific minds of…

John Ruskin

“Nature is Painting” February 8, 1819 Today is the birthday of the leading Victorian-era English art critic, watercolorist, thinker, and philanthropist John Ruskin. John is responsible for some beautiful thoughts and quotes about the natural world. With regard to gardening, John wrote: “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it,…

Karl Theodor Hartweg

All the way from London to look after weeds . . . February 5, 1848 On this day, the botanist Karl Theodor Hartweg boarded a Hawaiian ship on his way back to England. The London Horticultural Society had hired Karl to collect plants in California. Yet when he reached London, the Hort Society was a…

John Lindley

The Lindley Library February 5, 1799 Today is the birthday of the British botanist, pomologist, pioneer orchidologist, and flower show organizer, John Lindley. John’s dad was a nurseryman, and he ran a commercial nursery in England. Despite his array of botanical talents and knowledge, the family was always under financial duress. Growing up in his…

The Winter Larder

by Georgeanne Brennan Harvested fruits and vegetables can be stored over winter in a number of ways. Perishable summer stone fruits can be dried, packed into sweetened alcohol syrups, or cooked into preserves or jellies. The pom fruits — apples, pears, and quinces — from late summer and early fall harvest will keep for several…

Ruth Harvey

Dumbarton Oaks February 4, 1899 Today is the birthday of the Beatrix Farrand protégé, the American Landscape Architect Ruth Harvey. After graduating from Smith College, Ruth attended the first landscape architecture school to allow women: the Cambridge School of Domestic Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Before she earned her Master’s degree in Architecture, Ruth had already started…

Henri Dutrochet

A Plant Research Pioneer February 4, 1847 Today is the anniversary of the death of the French botanist and physiologist Henri Dutrochet. After studying the movement of sap in plants in his home laboratory, Henri discovered and named osmosis. Henri shared his discovery with the Paris Academy of Sciences on October 30th, 1826. Like the…

Box Huckleberry

The Blueberry Twin February 3, 1941 On this day, The Daily Republican out of Monongahela, Pennsylvania, published a tiny snippet about the Box Huckleberry (Gaylussacia brachycera). “In Tuscarora Forest, Perry county, there is a large box huckleberry bush considered the largest on earth. In 1846, Dr. Asa Gray, the famous Harvard botanist, wrote the…

Carl Ludwig Blume

Blume the Botanist February 3, 1862 Today is the anniversary of the death of the German-Dutch botanist with the perfect last name – Carl Ludwig Blume. Born in Germany and orphaned by the age of five, Carl proved to be a bright little boy and a successful student. He studied at the University of Leiden in…