Henri Frederic Amiel Archives

Henri Frederic Amiel

The Knowledge of a Garden May 11, 1881 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Swiss moral philosopher, poet, critic, and nature-lover, Henri Frederic Amiel. Henri used the garden as a metaphor for life. He wrote, “Before my history can teach anybody anything, or even interest myself, it must be disentangled from its…

May 11, 2021 Cassian Schmidt, Henri Frederic Amiel, Abel Aken Hunter, Death Valley Discovery, Pruning as a Metaphor for Life, Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets, and Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum

Today we celebrate a Swiss philosopher who loved nature. We’ll remember the famous Panama orchid hunter whose orchids were displayed on this day 93 years ago. We’ll also learn about a fascinating discovery by a botanist who was exploring Death Valley on this day last year. We hear a thought-provoking excerpt about pruning as a…

Every Landscape is a State of the Soul

by Henri Frederic Amiel Walked for half an hour in the garden. A fine rain was falling, and the landscape was that of autumn. The sky was hung with various shades of gray, and mists hovered about the distant mountains – a melancholy nature. The leaves were falling on all sides like the last illusions…