A Botanist’s Odyssey: Leonhard Rauwolff’s Herbal Quest

Leonhard Rauwolf

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. On June 21, 1535, the German physician, botanist, and traveler Leonhard Rauwolf was born. Leonhard’s insatiable curiosity and thirst for knowledge led him on an extraordinary journey through the Near East, a quest…

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An Ode to Nature: The Legacy of Donald Culross Peattie

Donald Culross Peattie with Flowering Earth Bookcover in the Background.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 21, 1898: The American botanist, naturalist, and author Donald Culross Peattie. Donald would become one of America’s most beloved nature writers. With lyrical prose that captivated readers of all ages, Donald Peattie…

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A Forgotten Flower: Minnie Aumonier, Artist and Poet

Minnie Aumonier's Home

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1865: Minnie Aumonier, English artist and poet, was born. Minnie was a woman of remarkable wit, passion, and creativity. Her work is a testament to the beauty of nature and the…

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Richard Irwin Lynch

Richard Irwin Lynch

The Book of the Iris June 1, 1850 Today is the birthday of the gardener and author Richard Irwin Lynch. Richard learned to garden from his father, who was classically trained at Kew. By the time he was seventeen, Richard had followed in his father’s footsteps and worked at Kew – starting with herbaceous perennials…

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Literary Gardens: How Edith Wharton Designed with Words and Flowers

A very proper Edith Wharton with Miza and Mimi, 1895

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 1, 1937 My dear readers, on this most peculiar day, the eminent American authoress Edith Wharton suffered a rather inconvenient heart attack while gracing the country estate of her friend and co-author…

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All in June

by William Henry Davies A week ago I had a fire To warm my feet, my hands, and face; Cold winds, that never make a friend, Crept in and out of every place. Today the fields are rich in grass, And buttercups in thousands grow; I’ll show the world where I have been– With gold-dust…

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White Clover Fairy

White Clover Fairy

by Cicily Mary Barker I’m little White Clover, kind and clean; Look at my threefold leaves so green; Hark to the buzzing of hungry bees: “Give us your honey, Clover, please!” Yes, little bees, and welcome, too! My honey is good, and meant for you!     Note: Barker loved wildflowers, but she didn’t believe…

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Forget-Me-Not Fairy

Forget-Me-Not Fairy

by Cicily Mary Barker So small, so blue, in grassy places My flowers raise Their tiny faces. By streams, my bigger sisters grow, And smile in gardens, In a row. I’ve never seen a garden plot; But though I’m small Forget me not!         Note: Barker loved wildflowers, but she didn’t believe in…

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I Have Never Seen a Fairy

Cicily Mary Barker

by Cicily Mary Barker I have drawn all the plants and flowers carefully, from real ones, but I have never seen a fairy…       Note: Barker loved wildflowers, but she didn’t believe in fairies. Barker wrote the quote above in the foreword to Flower Fairies of the Wayside. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast:…

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The African Adventure Botanical Indiana Jones: Harry Harlan’s North

Harry V. Harlan

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 28, 1924 On this day, the intrepid botanist Harry V. Harlan regaled the Science Club at Kansas State University with tales of his botanical conquests across the scorching deserts of North Africa.…

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Paradise Regained: The Resurrection of Henry Nehrling’s Botanical Wonder

Dr. Henry Nehrling

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 28, 1974 On this day, the Panama City News out of Panama City, Florida published a story about one of Florida’s most outstanding horticulturists: Dr. Henry Nehrling, who was an ornithologist, botanist,…

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The Glory of the Garden

Rudyard Kipling

by Rudyard Kipling Our England is a garden that is full of stately views, Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues, With statues on terraces the and peacocks strutting by; But the Glory of the Garden lies in more than meets the eye. For where the thick laurels grow, along the thin red…

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