Garden Art Archives

The $5.5 Million Garden Album: Empress Josephine’s Botanical Treasure

Pierre-Joseph Redouté, a renowned Belgian painter and botanist celebrated for his exquisite botanical illustrations, earning him the nickname "the Raphael of flowers".

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 15, 1985 On this day, a phenomenal piece of botanical history changed hands at Sotheby’s auction house: Empress Josephine’s personal copy of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s (pee-AIR zho-ZEFF reh-doo-TAY) botanical watercolors for “Les Liliacées”…

Georgia O’Keeffe: How to Make Flowers Impossible to Ignore

Georgia O'Keeffe as a teaching assistant to Alon Bement at the University of Virginia in 1915.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 15, 1887 On this day, Georgia O’Keeffe was born – an artist who would revolutionize how we see flowers through her bold, modernist vision. Over her remarkable career, O’Keeffe created more than…

Finding Heaven in the Sky – Alfred Sisley’s Garden Wisdom

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 30, 1839 Today, we find inspiration in the words of Impressionist painter Alfred Sisley, born on this day in Paris. Though primarily known for his landscapes, Sisley’s artistic philosophy offers profound wisdom…

The Pink Lady of Woodhills: Cora Older’s Legacy

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 24, 1875 And it was on this day in 1875, my dear friend, that a remarkable woman who would come to be known as “The Pink Lady” was born in Clyde, New…

Vincent van Gogh: The Troubled Master Who Painted Nature’s Beauty in Bold Color

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 30, 1853 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Vincent van Gogh, a man whose life was as vividly painted as the sunflower fields he so adored. Van Gogh’s…

Through the Gardener’s Eye: The Enduring Wisdom of Scientist-Artist Marjorie Harris

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 15, 1937 My dearest garden enthusiasts, how fortuitous that we should gather on this most auspicious day to celebrate the birth of one of gardening’s most eloquent voices. On this day in…

May 3, 2021 Five Agrotourism Hotspots, Charles Joseph Sauriol, May Sarton, Seasonal Inspiration, Half Baked Harvest Super Simple by Tieghan Gerard, and the Victor Cicansky Gazebo

The Daily Gardener Podcast Album Cover with a pot of rosemary - the herb for remembrance - beckoning gardeners to remember to listen to the show. Updated September 2025.

Victor Cicansky’s Gazebo Blossoms at Grow Regina Yara Community Garden

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 3, 2021 Today marks a joyful milestone at the Grow Regina Yara community garden, where a beautifully designed gazebo by beloved local artist Victor Cicansky is being installed. Thanks to a…

Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Raphael of Flowers and Master Botanical Illustrator

The Flower Painter January 14, 1825 On this day, King Charles X honored the Belgian botanical illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté with the Legion of Honor. Redouté was born into a Flemish family of painters. His family made a living by creating paintings for the home and for the church. Today, Redouté is one of the most…

Walter Crane’s Floral Fantasy: an enchanted realm of flowers and fairies

A Floral Fantasy August 15, 1845 Today is the birthday of the illustrator Walter Crane, who was born in Liverpool. Today, gardeners fondly recall Walter thanks to one of his most stunning works – a book called “A Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden,” which was published in 1899. Walter’s book was intended to…

Joan Miró: Surrealist Artist Inspired by Nature and Gardening

A Gardener or a WInegrower Today is the birthday of the Spanish painter and artist Joan Miró Born in Barcelona, Miró’s surrealist art left a mark on the world. Gardeners will especially enjoy his 1918 work called The Vegetable Garden with Donkey and his 1919 work called “Vines and Olive Trees.” Miró’s biography was subtitled…

Claude Monet: The Master Painter Whose Garden Inspired a Masterpiece

A Painter to Flowers Today is the birthday of Claude Monet who was born on this day in 1840. Gardeners love Stephen Gwynn’s 1934 book Claude Monet and his Garden. In 1883 Monet purchased a house. Monet immediately set about creating a hidden water garden fashioned out of waste marshland. Monet made sure his lily…

Anna Pavord: Celebrated British Garden Writer and Poet

The Curious Gardener Today is the birthday of the garden writer Anna Pavord. In her 2010 book, The Curious Gardener, Pavord, culled articles from her newspaper column. Here’s an excerpt: “It was at our first house and on the first patch of ground that we actually owned that I really discovered the point of gardening.…

John Constable’s Canvas: A Gardener’s Kinship with England’s Master Landscape Painter

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 11, 1776 It was on this day that the English landscape painter John Constable drew his first breath in 1776, entering the world in Suffolk, England—a region now reverently dubbed “Constable Country”…