The Gardener’s Pen: H. E. Bates and His Literary Landscape

Herbert Ernest Bates

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 26, 1905 On this day, the literary world welcomed Herbert Ernest Bates, a wordsmith destined to paint verdant landscapes with his pen. Known to readers as H. E. Bates, this English author…

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The Blue Flower of Novalis: A Romantic’s Garden Dream

Novalis

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 2, 1772 On this day, the literary world welcomed Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, better known by his pen name, Novalis. This 18th-century German poet, writer, mystic, and philosopher of early…

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Margaret Atwood: The Poet Laureate of Earth and Leaf

Margaret Atwood

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 18, 1939 On this day, the literary world welcomed a true force of nature – Margaret Atwood, a woman whose words would bloom as profusely and provocatively as the most audacious of…

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To Be or Not to Be a Pumpkin: Harrison Salisbury’s Existential Gardening

Harrison Salisbury (colorized)

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 14, 1908 On this day, dear readers and fellow cultivators of words and gourds alike, we celebrate the birth of a most intriguing character in the garden of journalism: Harrison Salisbury, the…

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Cultivating Wisdom: Thoreau’s Lessons for the Modern Gardener

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.   July 12, 1817 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a most remarkable individual, one Henry David Thoreau. A man of letters, a philosopher of nature, and dare I…

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“One or Two is Enough”: John Bartram’s Garden Philosophy Revealed

John Bartram

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 20, 1757 On this day, the esteemed botanist John Bartram penned what can only be described as a deliciously forthright letter to Philip Miller, revealing the unvarnished truth of his gardening preferences…

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

Ruth Stout

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…

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