The Newfoundland and the New Frontier: Seaman’s Tale

Captain Meriwether Lewis

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 2, 1803 On this verdant day, the United States, a fledgling nation, expanded its borders significantly when Napoleon ceded the vast Louisiana Territory to the Americans for a mere pittance. A botanist’s…

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December 7, 2020 Edward Tuckerman, William Saunders, Phipps Conservatory, Henry Rowland-Brown, The Art of the Garden by Relais & Châteaux North America and Willa Cather

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today we celebrate the botanist who saved the Lewis and Clark specimen sheets. We’ll also learn about the successful botanist and garden designer who introduced the navel orange. We’ll recognize the Conservatory stocked by the World’s Fair. We’ll hear a charming verse about the mistletoe by a poet entomologist. We Grow That Garden Libraryâ„¢ with…

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Lewis and Clark

Lewis and Clark

A Route to the Pacific Today, in 1806, Lewis and Clark returned to St. Louis after spending over two years exploring the headwaters of the Missouri River in an effort to find a route to the Pacific.  They returned with their journals and with plant specimens. Here’s just a handful of the plants they discovered…

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Lewis and Clark

Lewis and Clark

Serviceberries  Today, in 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition was near the Narrows of the Columbia River when the serviceberry was discovered. Serviceberry is available in several different species. There’s a beautiful graphic showing the different types of serviceberry featured on the spruce.com. I’ll share a link to that in today’s show notes. Serviceberries are a…

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Thomas Jefferson’s Double Tuberoses From His Botanical Friend and Mentor:Bernard McMahan

Polianthes Tuberosa

“McMahan has also created a gardener calendar with a list of seeds, including month-by-month instructions. The schedule was foundational to Thomas‘s gardening practice, and McMahan became his garden mentor.” August 12, 1806 On this day, Thomas Jefferson’s 24 double tuberoses, Polianthes tuberosa, were blooming.   Thomas had obtained them from Bernard McMahan’s nursery, and he…

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A Book’s Grand Expedition: Lewis and Clark’s Borrowed Treasure

Lewis' Inscription on Barton's History of Louisiana

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 9, 1807 On this day, a book embarked on its final journey, returning home after an adventure that would make even the hardiest of explorers green with envy. This tome, dear readers,…

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