Elizabeth Enright: The Storyteller of Summer and Garden Magic

Elizabeth Enright

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 17, 1907  Dearest readers, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Elizabeth Enright, a luminous American author, illustrator, and beloved creative writing teacher whose tales have beckoned readers of all ages…

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Otto Emery Jennings: The Curator Who Saved the Blazing Star

Otto Emery Jennings, a prominent American botanist and curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

The Blazing Star Today is the anniversary of the death of the former curator at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and devoted scientist Otto Emery Jennings. He died at the age of 86. In 1904, Jennings started out as the custodian at the Carnegie Museum. Otto kept climbing the ladder, and over the span…

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Caterpillars and Canvases: The Extraordinary Life of Maria Sibylla Merian

Anna Maria Sibylla Merian portrait in color.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 2, 1647 On this day, Maria Sibylla Merian was born. She emerged into this world when Isaac Newton was but a few years her senior. But, while Newton’s legacy flourished through centuries,…

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