Michigan Archives

May 19, 2021 The Past 40 Years of Garden Design, Catherine Furbish, Emma Genevieve Gillette, Nathaniel Hawthorn, The Sparrow Sisters, Organic Gardening for Everyone by Cali Kim, and Nora Ephron

Today we celebrate an American female botanist who collected the flora of the great state of Maine. We’ll also learn about a Michigan conservationist who is remembered as the First Lady of Michigan State Parks and Natural Areas. We’ll remember Nathaniel Hawthorne on the anniversary of his death today – and the quirky little story…

February 26, 2021 How to use More Foliage in the Garden, Anna Eliza Reed Woodcock, Alfred D. Robinson, The Tussie-Mussie, Fantastic Fungi by Paul Stamets, and a Botanical Dream for Balboa Park

Today we celebrate a charming woman who became known as the Apple Blossom Lady. We’ll also learn about the man who raised the best begonias in the world back in the early 1900s. We hear some thoughts on tussie-mussies. We Grow That Garden Library™ with an informative and delightful book about Fungi (“funj-eye”) – and…

Remembering Fred Case Jr. and the Junior Chapter of the Michigan Wildflower Association

“Fred also organized the first Junior Chapter of the Michigan Wildflower Association in Saginaw. The group was essentially Fred’s Boy Scout Troop, and they planted a wildflower sanctuary in his dad’s place.” August 23, 1942 On this day, the Michigan Botanical Club summer meeting was held at the University of Michigan Biological Station at Douglas…

The Woman Behind Michigan’s State Flower: Anna Eliza Reed Woodcock

“Annie had been looking out her kitchen window at her apple trees in full bloom. She suddenly thought they would make a great State Flower.” April 19, 1897 On this day, Anna Eliza Reed Woodcock took some branches off her flowering apple tree. She brought them via wheelbarrow down Capitol Avenue to the Michigan Statehouse.…

Botanical Beachcombers and Explorers by Dr. Edward G. Voss

As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast: Beachcombers and Explorers by Dr. Edward G. Voss This book came out in 1978, and the subtitle is Pioneers of the 19th Century in the Upper Great Lakes. Imagine a time when the Great Lakes were a vast, unexplored frontier, teeming with life and mystery. A time before…