Unmoved by Mountains: The Enigmatic Life of Charles Sprague Sargent

Charles Sprague Sargent profile

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 24, 1841 On this day, the horticultural world was graced with the birth of Charles Sprague Sargent, a man destined to become one of America’s most distinguished botanists. Charles, a figure as…

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December 3, 2020 Seed Size, Gourds and Squashes, James Arnold, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sara Coleridge, Earth to Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann, and Octavia Hill

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today I’ll talk about the difference between gourds and squash. We’ll also celebrate the man whose philanthropy made the Arnold Arboretum possible. We’ll recognize the painter who said flowers made him paint freely. We salute the English author who gave us a lovely poem called The Garden Year. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a…

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A Curator’s Triumph: Benjamin Robinson’s Botanical Legacy

Benjamin Lincoln Robinson

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 20, 1892 On this day,  Benjamin Lincoln Robinson ascended to his rightful botanical throne as curator of the Asa Gray Herbarium at Harvard. One might say the botanical world trembled with anticipation,…

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A Life Among Giants: Joseph Trimble Rothrock and His Beloved Trees

Joseph Trimble Rothrock

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 9, 1839 On this day, Joseph Trimble Rothrock made his entrance into the world—a man destined to transform from a sickly child into the formidable “Father of Forestry.” The irony, dear readers,…

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