Marie Antoinette Archives

The $5.5 Million Garden Album: Empress Josephine’s Treasured Redouté Watercolors Go Under the Hammer

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 15, 1985 Dearest readers, On this day in 1985, The New York Times reported a highly anticipated auction—the sale of Empress Josephine’s personal copy of Pierre-Joseph Redouté’s exquisite botanical watercolors for Les…

Midnight at Versailles: The Moonlit Challenge of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

Pierre-Joseph Redouté, a renowned Belgian painter and botanist celebrated for his exquisite botanical illustrations, earning him the nickname "the Raphael of flowers".

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 10, 1825 On this day, my cherished garden enthusiasts, I find myself compelled to share a tale of extraordinary artistic achievement that should set every gardener’s heart aflutter. French King Charles X,…

Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Raphael of Flowers and Master Botanical Illustrator

The Flower Painter January 14, 1825 On this day, King Charles X honored the Belgian botanical illustrator Pierre-Joseph Redouté with the Legion of Honor. Redouté was born into a Flemish family of painters. His family made a living by creating paintings for the home and for the church. Today, Redouté is one of the most…

January 14, 2020 Wes Shaw of Horniman Gardens, Richard Wilford on Alpines, Adolphe-Théodore Brongniart, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Henri Fantin-Latour, Walter Hood Fitch, A Garden of Marvels by Ruth Kassinger, 3-Vase Propagation Station, and January’s birth flowers

The Daily Gardener Podcast Album Cover with a pot of rosemary - the herb for remembrance - beckoning gardeners to remember to listen to the show. Updated September 2025.

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Curated News Horniman Museum’s gardener Wes Shaw – Gardens Illustrated “The last place that blew me away was GARDENS BY THE BAY in Singapore. Amazing conservatories, landscaping…

The Raphael of Flowers: The Extraordinary Life of Pierre-Joseph Redouté

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 19, 1840 On this day, twenty years after the esteemed Joseph Banks departed this mortal coil, we bid adieu to another horticultural luminary – the incomparable Pierre-Joseph Redouté, who has laid down…