Japan Archives

March 4, 2021 Five Perennial Herbs You Should Grow, Henry Frederick Conrad Sander, Luther Burbank’s Arbor Day, the Final days of a Gardener, Flora Japonica by Masumi Yamanaka and Order Gladiolus and Dahlias Now

Today we celebrate a man who wrote the book on growing and selling orchids. We’ll also learn about a very special Arbor Day to honor Luther Burbank. We hear a touching excerpt about the final days of an incredible gardener, teacher, and friend. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the beautiful flowers…

February 11, 2021 Gardening for Health, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Should Botany Be Taught In Schools, Saving the Sakura, Darwin’s Most Wonderful Plants by Ken Thompson, and Garden-Inspired Verses About Love

Today we celebrate a woman who was insatiable when it came to plants, and she is remembered forever with the Portland Rose. We’ll also learn about a famous speech given at a Vermont botanical club about why botany wasn’t taught in schools – and the reasons were pretty spot on. We hear a story about…

December 10, 2020 The Conference Pear, Emily Dickenson, the 1909 Cherry Tree gift from Japan, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Carolyn Kizer, Growing Beautiful Food by Matthew Benson and Henry Nicholas Ridley

Today we celebrate the birthday of a beloved American who, in her lifetime, was known more as a gardener than a poet. We’ll also learn about the gift from Japan that resulted in the Plant Quarantine Act in the United States. We’ll remember the botanist knighted for his incredible scientific services to the British Empire.…

Carl Peter Thunberg’s Secret to Botanizing in Japan

Here’s a charming story I ran across about Carl Peter Thunberg’s time in Japan. During his visit, Carl was confined to a small artificial island in Nagasaki harbor. Ever the clever end-rounder, Carl came up with a strategy to obtain botanical samples. Carl bought a goat. Then, he asked his Japanese assistants to collect plants…