Florida Archives

November 15, 2022 Australia’s First Grapevines, Charlotte Mary Mew, Georgia O’Keeffe, JG Ballard, Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, and the Florida Orange Blossom

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1791 On this day, Australia’s first thriving grapevine was planted. 1869 Birth of Charlotte Mary Mew, English poet. 1887 Birth of Georgia…

Private Gardens of South Florida by Jack Staub

As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast: Private Gardens of South Florida by Jack Staub Imagine a world where tropical blooms dance in the sunlight, where exotic orchids whisper secrets to the breeze, and where lush, emerald lawns stretch out to meet the azure sea. This is the enchanting realm of Private Gardens of South…

Remembering Florida Botanist Alvan Wentworth Chapman: an Apalachicola Naturalist and Namesake of the Chapman Botanical Garden

“If [you are] really anxious to make [plant] discoveries… buckle on your knapsack and make a tour of Florida.” April 6, 1899 Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist and physician Alvan Wentworth Chapman. Alvan spent the last fifty years in Apalachicola, in territorial Florida. Alvan adored botany and devoted all his…

April 6, 2021 The ‘Plant for Peace, Johann Zinn, California Poppy Day, North With the Spring, Happy Orchid by Sara Rittershausen, and the Florida botanist Alvan Chapman

Hi there, and Welcome to the Daily Gardener – a show about gardening, botanical history, and literature. Today we celebrate the man who is remembered with the much-loved Zinnia We’ll also learn about the California Poppy and California Poppy Day, which is celebrated today. We hear one of my favorite passages about springtime. We Grow…

February 19, 2021 A Wild Spring Plant Display, The Orchid Thief, Charles Swingle, Growing Algerian Iris, Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey, and Strange Embroidery with Botanist Eliza Brightwen

Today we look back at the story that inspired the book The Orchid Thief. We’ll also learn about the incredible true story of a Madagascar explorer. We hear words about the incredible Algerian Iris. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a memoir from a garden who pulls back the row cover on the remarkable story…

February 12, 2021 Organizing the Garden Shed, Jan Swammerdam, George Jackman, Walking Through the Garden at Night, Desert Gardens of Steve Martino by Caren Yglesias, and Celebrating William Mason

Today we celebrate the man who discovered the queen bee had ovaries, and he also said the head of the colony was not a king – but a queen. We’ll also learn about the family behind the ubiquitous Jackman Clematis – it’s the one with the large dark purple flowers with yellow centers. We hear…

Remembering Coconut Grove’s Leith Dunlop Kent and the First Kent Mango Tree

“Kent was just a kid when he was given a little Brooks Mango seedling for Christmas. Six years later, Kent’s tree produced its first crop of mangos.” January 1, 1933 On this day, the Kent Mango (Mangifera indica) is planted on land belonging to Leith Dunlop Kent in Coconut Grove, Florida. Kent was just…

William Livingston Larned’s Ode to the Orange Blossom – Florida’s State Flower

“But just a scent, On pleasure bent, Of orange sweet, The nostrils greet, And from our dreams, the castles rise, Of groves and meadows ‘neath calm skies. November 15, 1909 On this day, the orange blossom was designated the state flower of Florida. The poet, William Livingston Larned, was so inspired by the choice that…