garden wisdom Archives

From Maples to Mouse-Ears: Thoreau’s October Observations

Henry David Thoreau 1856 (colorized and enhanced)

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 8, 1852 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves transported to the tranquil shores of Walden Pond, where that most astute observer of nature, Henry David Thoreau, put pen to paper…

Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill: Rainy Reflections from an 18th-Century Garden

Strawberry Hill House 18th-century watercolour by Paul Sandby

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 11, 1788 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves transported to the lush gardens of Horace Walpole, that witty chronicler of 18th-century life and letters. As we meander through his verdant…

The Wise Wit: Geoffry Charlesworth’s Garden Observations

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 29, 1920 Today, we honor the birth of Geoffry B. Charlesworth, whose wit and wisdom continue to delight those of us who recognize our own horticultural obsessions in his words. Consider his…

September’s Philosopher: Henri Frederic Amiel’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. September 27, 1821 My dearest gardening friends, as autumn’s gentle touch begins to paint our gardens in amber and gold, how fitting it is to recall the birth of Henri Frederic Amiel on…

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…

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

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…

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…

The Painter’s Garden: Anna Massey Lea Merritt’s Natural Inspirations

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 13, 1844 On this day, a most extraordinary soul entered our world – Anna Massey Lea Merritt, whose life would bloom like a carefully tended English garden, rich with both artistic achievement…

In Praise of Fallen Leaves: Cyril Connolly’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. 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…

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

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.…

Nature’s Chronicler: How Grief Transformed Edwin Way Teale’s Work

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 1, 1923 On this day, dear garden friends, the botanist Edwin Way Teale joined hands in matrimony with his beloved Nelly Imogene Donovan, a union that would prove as enduring as the…

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Poet Who Planted Romantic Seeds

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 25, 1834 On this day, the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge departed from this mortal garden at the age of sixty-one, leaving behind a landscape of verse that would bloom in perpetuity…

Ruth Stout: The Garden Revolutionary Who Refused to Break a Sweat

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 14, 1884 On this day, the garden world welcomed Ruth Stout, who would become one of gardening’s most delightfully rebellious voices. Stout emerged as the unlikely revolutionary who dared suggest what many…

Cultivating Wisdom: Voltaire’s Garden Philosophy

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…