garden wildlife Archives

William Bartram’s May Diary: A Window into Early American Nature

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 13, 1823 On this day, William Bartram, American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian, and explorer, penned an entry in his diary that transports us to a spring day nearly two centuries ago. Can…

Traces in the Snow: Beth Chatto’s Poetic Walk Through a Winter Garden’s Hidden Life

A paw print in the snow, showing clear impressions of four toes and a pad.

by Beth Chatto The first thing I noticed as I watched my own boots sink below the blue-shadowed surface were the footprints of many other occupants of the garden. The mallard duck had left their heavy, plodding trails before flying off, hopefully, to someplace where the water is not totally frozen over – probably to…

Charles Sauriol’s Garden Toad Companion

Garden Toad On this day, the Canadian Naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol (“Sar-ee-all”) wrote about sharing his garden with a toad. He wrote, “One particular toad has taken quite a fancy to the Wild Flower garden. His den is alongside the Hepatica plant. There he sits half-buried, and blinks up at me while I shower water…

The Garden’s Hum: Bees in Verse from Lawrence to Wagoner

Today’s Garden Words were featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. Bees in the garden. July 6, 2020 Today’s poems hum with the golden sound of summer—the steady, sacred buzz of bees.…

The Toad Tenant: Sauriol’s Unlikely Garden Companion

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 25, 1938 On this day, dear garden friends, while many of us were fretting about the proper placement of our prized roses or the disappointing germination of our winter seeds, Canadian Naturalist…

The Backyard Scientist: Margaret Morse Nice’s Legacy

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 26, 1974 On this day, we remember the departure of a most remarkable woman from our earthly garden – the ornithologist Margaret Morse Nice, who has taken flight to join her beloved…