Henry David Thoreau on the Approach of Winter

Henry David Thoreau

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…

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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

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Today we celebrate the man who is remembered in the botany building at the University of Glasgow. We’ll also learn about the mystery behind the California Fan Palm. We’ll salute the Folklore of November, along with a witty poem about November by an American poet and satirist. We Grow That Garden Libraryâ„¢ with a book…

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Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

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…

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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

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Today we celebrate the man who inspired National Simplicity Day (It’s dedicated every July 12th). We’ll also learn about the tragic death of a Scottish botanist and prolific plant collector. We celebrate the friendship between Charles Darwin and his mentor. And, we also celebrate a woman who started botanizing late in life, yet made a…

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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

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Today we celebrate a man who wrote one of the most influential herbals in history and the French botanist who created the modern strawberry. We’ll learn about the Father of Paleobotany and the sweet little Orchid known as the moccasin flower. Today’s Unearthed Words feature words about winter. We Grow That Garden Libraryâ„¢ with the…

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Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

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…

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February 14, 2020 Broken Plant Pots, Growing Chives, Captain James Cook, The Apple Paring Machine, Henry David Thoreau, Willow, the Philadelphia Botanical Club, A Taste for Herbs by Sue Goetz, Eleanor Bor and The Adventures Of A Botanist’s Wife

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Today we celebrate one of Britain’s great explorers and the first apple parer. We’ll learn about the wonderful willow, and we’ll celebrate the very first field trip of the Philadelphia Botanical Club, which happened 128 years ago today. Today’s Unearthed Words feature poems from the author of Anne of Green Gables. We Grow That Garden…

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-2 Degrees at Breakfast Time

-2 Degrees at Breakfast Time

by Henry David Thoreau -2 degrees at breakfast time, but this has been the coldest night, probably. You lie with your feet or legs curled up, waiting for morning, the sheets shining with frost about your mouth. Water left by the stove is frozen thickly, and what you sprinkle in bathing falls on the floor…

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January 10, 2020 Charlotte Moss Winter Garden, Elm Tree Comeback, Nicholas Culpeper, Indian Tea, Henry Winthrop Sargent, Dame Barbara Hepworth, Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson’s Gardens by Marta McDowell, Back to the Roots Organic Mushroom Kit, and the Wolf Moon

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Today we celebrate the 17th-century renegade who wanted medicine through herbs to be accessible to the people and the Anniversary of the day Indian tea became available for sale in England. We will learn about the American landscape gardener whose superpower was framing a view and the English sculptor who famously said I am the…

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Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

Writing at Walden Pond On this day in 1855, it was starting to snow on Walden Pond, and Henry David Thoreau wrote 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, the smooth places first, and thus the winter…

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December 9, 2019 Goodbye Sansevieria, Blue Mold, Substituting Herbs in Cooking, Thoreau, Peter Smithers, Karl Blossfeldt, Ground Rules by Kate Frey, Mushroom Set and Lorraine Collett

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Today we celebrate the botanist who was also a spy during WWII. We’ll learn about the German photographer who saw artistic inspiration in his close-ups of plants. We’ll hear some prose about winter, We Grow That Garden Library with a book that offers us 100 tips for Growing a More Glorious Garden. I’ll talk about…

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December 2, 2019 Plant Science Careers, Dirk Denison Home, Cheesy Acorn Squash, Johann Julius Hecker, James Edward Smith, John Lewis Russell, Ferdinand Lindheimer, Gardenlust by Christopher Woods, Gardeners Hand Cream, and December’s Birth Flower

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Today we celebrate the German reformer who added the cultivation of Mulberries and silkworms as part of his schools and the man who started the Linnean Society. We’ll learn about the Salem Botanist, who was a friend of Thoreau and Emerson and the man known as the Father of Texas Botany. We’ll hear the poem…

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November 18, 2019 The National Trust Cover Photo, The Feminine History of Botany, William Shenstone, Leo Lesquereux, Asa Gray, Kim Wilde, Margaret Atwood, Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life by Marta McDowell, Boot Tray reboot and Cranberry Frenzy in 1843

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Today we celebrate the gardener who turned his farm into a picturesque wonder and the Swiss botanist who survived a fall from a mountaintop that foreshadowed a life of highs and lows. We’ll learn about the American botanist Darwin confided in two years before he shared his theory with the rest of the world and…

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A Virgin Wearing a White Ruff

A Virgin Wearing a White Ruff

by Henry David Thoreau [The] yarrow is particularly fresh and perfect, cold and chaste, with its pretty little dry-looking rounded white petals and green leaves. Its very color gives it a right to bloom above the snow, as level as a snow-crust on the top of the stubble. It looks like a virgin wearing a…

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