May Archives

This Compost

by Walt Whitman Now I am terrified at the earth! It is that calm and patient, It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions, It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless successions of diseased corpses, It distills such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor, It renews with such unwitting…

Charles Mcllvaine

More Mushrooms for Mcllvaine It’s the birthday of Charles McIlvaine born in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He was a captain in the Civil War, an author, and a mycologist. He was born on this day in 1840. When he was 40 years old, McIlvaine moved to West Virginia. He started writing for magazines like Centuryand Harpers. However, McIlvaine…

Virginia Woolf

New Home, New Garden On this day in1920, Virginia Woolf was gardening with her husband, Leonard, at the new home they had bought the previous year. She wrote about it in her diary: “The first pure joy of the garden… Weeding all day to finish the beds in a queers sort of enthusiasm which made…

Martha Maxwell

The Five Foot Hunter It’s the death day of naturalist, artist, and taxidermist, Martha and Maxwell, who died on this day in 1881. She helped found modern taxidermy. At just 5 feet tall, Maxwell became an accomplished hunter. One historian wrote, “What distinguished Martha from other taxidermists of the day was that Martha Maxwell always…

The Lilac Fairy

by Cicily Mary Barker White May is flowering, Red May beside Laburnum is showering Gold far and wide; But I sing of Lilac, The dearly-loved Lilac, Lilac, in Maytime A joy and a pride! I love her so much That I never can tell If she’s sweeter to look at, Or sweeter to smell. As…

Gustav Leopold Miller

The Brush-Weeder Today is the birthday of Gustav Leopold Miller, born in 1884, on this day, in Henry, Illinois. He always went by Gus. Gus’ claim to fame was the invention of the brush weeder. It was described in the Daily Times out of Davenport, Iowa in 1918: “It’s composed of two brushes– whisk brooms…

Voltaire

Cultivate the Garden On this day in 1778, the great French writer Voltaire died. Voltaire’s seventeenth-century novel: Candide: or, Optimism, follows a young protagonist as he ventures all over the world. Despite all the terrible things that happen to him, Candide never loses his optimism. Here is the most cited passage from the story: “‘All…

Brian Lawrence Burt

Bill the Botanist It’s the death day of Brian Lawrence Burt, who went by “Bill.” He died in 2008. He was an English botanist and taxonomist noted for his contributions to the family Gesneriaceae, the family that Includes African violets. When Burt started going on and plant expeditions in 1951, the Gesneriaceae family was poorly…

I am Going to Sleep

by Alfonsina Storni Teeth of flowers, hairnet of dew, hands of herbs, you, perfect wet nurse, prepare the earthly sheets for me and the down quilt of weeded moss. I am going to sleep, my nurse, put me to bed. Set a lamp at my headboard; a constellation; whatever you like; all are good: lower…

Joyce Winifred Vickery

Solving Crime It’s the death day of Joyce Winifred Vickery (15 December 1908 – 29 May 1979) An Australian, Vickery was a botanist who became famous for her work in forensic botany. In 1960, Australia was right in the middle of building the infamous Sydney Opera House. To pay for the construction, Australia held a…

John Barrymore

Fame and Flowers On this day, on May 29, 1942, the actor John Barrymore died. (Barrymore’s granddaughter is actress Drew Barrymore.) When Barrymore was 35 years old and on the verge of stardom, he rented a quiet space in Greenwich Village from a wealthy widow named Juliette Nicholls. His flat was on the top floor…

Amaryllis

by Jennifer Ebeling Amaryllis is so sweet and fair, A name that’s true, beyond compare. Though Herbert made the genera split, He picked a name we’d soon forget So gauche, it starts with hippeasst, In the game of names, it comes in last Rather follow like sheep where Linnaeus led, Honoring a shepherdess who willing…

William Herbert

The Botanist of Many Skills It’s the death day of William Herbert (12 January 1778 – 28 May 1847). He was a British botanist, distinguished scholar and poet, Amaryllis breeder, and a clergyman who eventually became the first Dean of Manchester; the head of the Chapter of Manchester Cathedral. In 1837, Herbert wrote a book…

Carl Richard Nyberg

Creator of the Blowtorch It’s the birthday of Carl Richard Nyberg (May 28, 1858, – 1939) the Swede who created the blowtorch which in turn led to the flame weeder. Nyberg worked in various industrial companies, eventually landing at J. E. Eriksons Mekanikus. While he was there, he came up with the idea for the…