Mary Elizabeth Coleridge: A Gardener’s Poet in September’s Embrace

Mary Coleridge, 1883

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 23, 1861 Dearest garden loves, as autumn’s gentle touch begins to paint our gardens in shades of amber and gold, we find ourselves drawn to contemplate the poetic nature of this transitional…

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The Earl and the Bee: Lord Chesterfield’s Garden Poetry

Philip Dormer Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 22, 1694 My dearest garden enthusiasts, on this day we celebrate the birth of Philip Dormer Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield, whose connection to our world of gardens comes through a…

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Stevie Smith’s Garden Wisdom: The Dual Nature of Lilacs

Stevie Smith at her desk

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 20, 1902 My dearest garden enthusiasts, on this day we find ourselves contemplating the fascinating intersection of poetry and horticulture through the lens of one of England’s most distinctive voices. Today marks…

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The Poet’s Garden: James Gates Percival and the Language of Flowers

Portrait of James Gates Percival, said to be painted by his brother (colorized)

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: September 15, 1795 On this day, we find ourselves transported back to when James Gates Percival, that most fascinating polymath of American letters, drew his first breath. While history may remember him as a surgeon and geologist, it is his poetic musings on the…

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A Forgotten Flower: Minnie Aumonier, Artist and Poet

Minnie Aumonier's Home

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1865: Minnie Aumonier, English artist and poet, was born. Minnie was a woman of remarkable wit, passion, and creativity. Her work is a testament to the beauty of nature and the…

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February 11, 2021 Gardening for Health, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Should Botany Be Taught In Schools, Saving the Sakura, Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants by Ken Thompson, and Garden-Inspired Verses About Love

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today we celebrate a woman who was insatiable when it came to plants, and she is remembered forever with the Portland Rose. We’ll also learn about a famous speech given at a Vermont botanical club about why botany wasn’t taught in schools – and the reasons were pretty spot on. We hear a story about…

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