The Peach Tree Incident: When a Botanist’s Paradise Became Perdition

Henry Hurd Rusby

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 13, 1916 On this day in horticultural history, we encounter a tale that serves as a rather dramatic reminder that the passion for protecting one’s garden can occasionally venture into decidedly unfortunate…

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The Garden Revolutionary: Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell’s Natural Legacy

Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell by Clemens Zimmermann, after 1808

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 13, 1750 On this day, my dearest fellow gardening enthusiasts, we celebrate the birth of a true revolutionary in the art of landscape design – Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell. And what a…

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In Praise of Fallen Leaves: Cyril Connolly’s Garden Wisdom

Cyril Connolly

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 10, 1903 On this day, dear readers of the garden and admirers of literary wit, we celebrate the birth of Cyril Connolly, whose sharp pen and keener eye would forever change how…

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The Honey-Sweet Saint: Bernard of Clairvaux and His Garden Wisdom

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 20th every year… Oh, my darling petal-fanciers! On this most auspicious day, we celebrate none other than Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, that most splendid patron saint of beekeepers, bees, and candlemakers alike.…

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Thoreau and the Art of Seeing: Garden Wisdom from Walden

Henry David Thoreau

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 9, 1854 My darling green-thumbed companions, it was on this day in 1854 that two years of transcendental communion with nature near Walden Pond in Massachusetts was shared with the world in…

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Cultivating Wisdom: Voltaire’s Garden Philosophy

Voltaire

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 30, 1778 On this day, the great French writer Voltaire departed this mortal realm, leaving behind a legacy that continues to bloom in literary gardens across the centuries. How fitting that one…

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