Henry David Thoreau Archives

Henry David Thoreau: On Maple Sap, Willows, and the Warm Places of Spring

Henry David Thoreau, a prominent American essayist, poet, and philosopher.

Maple Trees and Warm Places March 22, 1856 Today Henry David Thoreau writes about spring and flowing sap in Maple trees in his journal. He also writes about microclimates – he calls them “warm places.” “Part of the White Maples now begin to flow, some perhaps two or three days. Probably in equally warm positions,…

March 22, 2021 Cemetery White Iris, Henry David Thoreau, Christine Buisman, Thomas Carew, Garden Time by W.S. Merwin, and America’s First Horticultural Society

The Daily Gardener Podcast Album Cover with a pot of rosemary - the herb for remembrance - beckoning gardeners to remember to listen to the show. Updated September 2025.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1856 Henry David Thoreau recorded the first stirrings of spring in his journal, noting the flow of maple sap, swelling buds, and…

January 27 2021 Predicting the New Year’s 2021 Garden Trends, Lewis Carroll, Terramycin, Skunk Cabbage, Botanical Baking by Juliet Sear, and the Surprise in a Botanist’s Garden: Running Buffalo Clover

The First Flower of Winter: Jack Sanders on Skunk Cabbage’s Early Arrival

by Jack Sanders In much of North America, skunk cabbage has earned the widespread reputation as the first flower of spring. It might be more accurate, however, to call it the first flower of winter. “The skunk cabbage may be found with its round green spear-point an inch or two above the mold in December,”…

Henry David Thoreau: The Winter Joy of Lesser Redpolls

Henry David Thoreau, a prominent American essayist, poet, and philosopher known for his work on Transcendentalism and civil disobedience.

Lesser Redpolls December 11, 1855 On this day, Henry David Thoreau wrote about walking through a spruce swamp and stumbling on a flock of Lesser Redpolls (“Red-Poles”). These little birds are some of the smallest in the finch family. Lesser Redpolls are small and brown with red foreheads. If you’ve ever stumbled on a flock…

December 11, 2020 Brazil’s Deforestation Surges, Jacob Schneck, Henry David Thoreau, Victor Lemoine, Edgar Albert Guest, Growing Perennial Foods by Acadia Tucker and Krishna Chavda, and Fiorello LaGuardia

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Curated News Brazil’s Amazon: Deforestation ‘surges to 12-year high’ | BBC News Botanical History On This Day 1843 Jacob Schneck, the Illinois physician-botanist who discovered the Schneck…

Henry David Thoreau: The First Snowfall at Walden Pond

Henry David Thoreau, a prominent American essayist, poet, and philosopher, recognized as a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement.

Walden Pond December 9, 1855 On this day, it was starting to snow on Walden Pond. The winter Landscape appeared before Henry David Thoreau’s eyes, and he captured the transformation in his journal: “At 8.30 a fine snow begins to fall, increasing very gradually, perfectly straight down, till in fifteen minutes, the ground is white,…

December 9, 2020 Kenya’s Giant Fig Tree, Henry David Thoreau, Lorraine Collett, Peter Smithers, John Milton, The History of Landscape Design in 100 Gardens by Linda Chisholm and Peyton Zieger’s Sweet Potato Party

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Curated News Why Kenya’s Giant Fig Tree Won Over A President | BBC News Botanical History On This Day 1855 Henry David Thoreau at Walden watched the…

Henry David Thoreau on the Approach of Winter

Benjamin D. Maxham Henry David Thoreau Restored greyscale straightened.

The Transition to Winter November 4, 1855 On this day, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal: “The winter is approaching. The birds are almost all gone. The note of the ‘dee de de’ sounds now more distinct, prophetic of winter, as I go amid the wild apples on Nashawtuc. The autumnal dandelion sheltered…

November 4, 2020 Frederick Orpen Bower, the California Fan Palm, November Folklore, Dorothy Parker, Private Gardens of the Bay Area by Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner, and Henry David Thoreau

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1855 Frederick Orpen Bower, the English botanist and primitive plant expert who served as Regius Professor of Botany at the University of…

Henry David Thoreau: The Philosopher Who Found Wonder in Seeds

National Simplicity Day Today is the birthday of the American essayist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau. An advocate for living a simple life, National Simplicity Day is observed every July 12th in Thoreau’s honor. Thoreau said: “Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great…

July 12, 2020 A Garden at Maturity, the Water Lily, Henry David Thoreau, David Douglas, Charles Darwin, Ynes Mexia, Fern Poem, The Gardener & the Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, and Yerba Buena

February 18, 2020 Sensitive Plant, Honey as a Root Stimulator, Valerius Cordus, Antoine Nicholas Duchesne, Adolphe-théodore Brongniart, the Lady’s Slipper, Winter Poetry, Beth Chatto’s Garden Notebook, Macrame 3-pack, and February Birth Flowers

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Curated News Plant of the Month: The Sensitive Plant | JSTOR Daily Aw… It’s The Sensitive Plant! Whenever you touch it, the leaves fold up like a…

Henry David Thoreau and the Resilient Willow Hedge

A Natural Willow Hedge February 14, 1856 Today Henry David Thoreau wrote in his journal about a natural willow hedge. “I was struck today by the size and continuousness of the natural willow hedge on the east side of the railroad causeway… Some twelve years ago, when that causeway was built through the meadows, there…