Posts Tagged ‘Night-blooming Cereus’
Adrian Hardy Haworth: Botanist, Entomologist, and Namesake of Haworthia Succulents
The Zebra Succulent April 19, 1797 Today is the birthday of the British entomologist and botanist Adrian Hardy Haworth. Adrian was trained to be a lawyer, but once he inherited his family’s estate, he devoted himself to the study of natural sciences. Today, the Haworthia genus described by French botanist, Henri Auguste Duval, honors Adrian.…
Read MoreEudora Welty: Cultivating Stories in Soil and Ink
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 13, 1909 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a literary luminary whose words have blossomed like the most exquisite of garden flowers. I speak, of course, of the…
Read MoreMrs. William Vyvyan’s 1933 Night-Blooming Cereus
“The night-blooming Cereus is one of the desert’s most unique plants and a member of the cactus family. Native to Arizona and the Sonoran Desert, the plant is also commonly called the Queen of the Night or the Princess of the Night.” July 14, 1933 On this day, The Journal Times out of Racine, Wisconsin,…
Read MoreJack Heslop-Harrison: British Botanist and Former Director of Kew Gardens
Director of The Royal Botanic Gardens February 10, 1920 Happy birthday to British botanist and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Jack Heslop-Harrison. He was the first Director to resign from the position since its creation in 1822. In 1957, Jack wrote an article on the hybridization of the common spotted orchid. Today,…
Read MoreThe Temple of Flora: Robert John Thornton’s grand tribute to Linnaeus and nature’s night queen
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. January 21, 1837 Dearest reader, On this day, we mark the passing of Robert John Thornton — English physician, poet of plants, and undeterred dreamer of “The Temple of Flora.” Thornton adored Carl…
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