The Rebel’s Garden: Mirei Shigemori’s Horticultural Revolution

Moss garden at Tofuku-ji (1939)

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 6, 1925 On this day, dear cultivators of beauty and tradition, we celebrate a pivotal moment in the annals of garden history. Picture, if you will, a young man of 29, standing…

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Thomas Jefferson’s useful plants and pickle comforts

Thomas Jefferson

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 13, 1743 Dearest reader, On this day, Thomas Jefferson was born — a man whose many hats included statesman, Founding Father, and, notably, a passionate gardener whose love for plants shaped more…

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A Garden of Surprise: Henry Wotton’s Delightful Confusion

Henry Wotton

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 30, 1568 Dearest reader, On this day, we mark the birth of a man whose passion for gardens and the art of landscaping still whispers through the leaves—a true connoisseur of nature’s…

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Arthur Symons & The Whispering Glasshouse

Arthur William Symons

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 28, 1865 Dearest Gardeners, On this day, the world was given Arthur William Symons (books by this author)—poet, critic, and man of letters—whose pen could turn even the dripping panes of a…

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The Kyoto Moss Temple: Steve Jobs’s garden of simplicity

Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple in, holding the original iPhone during its unveiling.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 24, 1955 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Steve Jobs, a visionary whose passion for simplicity and elegance extended beyond technology into the serene world of gardens. Steve…

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Behind the Walls: Susan Campbell’s Kitchen Garden Legacy

Susan Campbell founder of Walled Kitchen Garden Network

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 14, 1931 On this day, we find ourselves transported back to when the horticultural world welcomed Susan Campbell (née Benson) – a remarkable figure whose passion for walled kitchen gardens would transform…

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The Garden Revolutionary: Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell’s Natural Legacy

Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell by Clemens Zimmermann after 1808

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 15, 1876 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Ernest Henry Wilson, the intrepid English plant collector and explorer whose adventurous spirit forever enriched Western gardens with the wonders…

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From Yangtze to Your Garden: The Extraordinary Life of Frank Nicholas Meyer

Frank N Meyer and the Meyer Lemon.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 28, 1918 On this day, the intrepid Dutch-American botanist and USDA Plant Explorer, Frank Nicholas Meyer, embarked upon his final journey. With a heavy heart and weary bones, Frank boarded a steamer…

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