Posts Tagged ‘plant collectors’
January 29, 2026 William Jack, David Douglas, Henry David Thoreau, My Garden by Jacqueline van der Kloet, and Ebenezer Howard
Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Patreon Buy Me A Coffee Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter | Daily Gardener Community Today’s Show Notes Late January doesn’t bring much drama. No big turning point. No clear signal. Instead, it gives us time. Time to look closely at…
Read MoreTherese of Bavaria: The Princess Who Found Freedom in Flowers
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 12, 1850 On this day, Princess Therese of Bavaria (teh-RAY-zuh of buh-VAIR-ee-uh), was born. This remarkable woman found her true calling not in the gilded halls of Bavaria’s royal palaces but in…
Read MoreThe Snowdrop Queen: Remembering Margaret Owen Ten Years After her Passing
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 24, 2014 And it was on this day, my dear friend, that the gardening world lost one of its most passionate voices – Margaret Owen MBE, the remarkable “Queen of Snowdrops.” Just…
Read MoreNever Against Nature: Thomas Hanbury’s La Mortola
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 2, 1867 On this day, Thomas Hanbury, a man of discerning taste and boundless ambition, purchased a property that would become a testament to his love of nature and his desire to…
Read MoreThe Botanical Martyr: Remembering Jean-André Soulié
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 6, 1858 On this day, dear readers, we commemorate the birth of a most intriguing figure in the annals of botany and missionary work. Jean-André Soulié, a name that might not roll…
Read MoreA seed collector’s legacy: Harry Saier’s garden catalogs and global reach
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 14, 1888 Dearest reader, On this day, we might lift our trowels in salute to a man whose hands shaped not only gardens but the very culture of horticultural enthusiasm in the…
Read MoreThe Adventurous Collector: David Burke and the Legacy of Veitch’s Plant Hunters
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 11, 1897 Dearest reader, On this day, we mark the passing of one of the most daring and determined plant collectors of the Victorian world: David Burke. His was a name whispered…
Read MoreGladiolus of Remembrance: The Enduring Legacy of Rod and Rachel Saunders
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: February 10, 2018 Dearest reader, On this dark day, the world lost two extraordinary botanical explorers and horticulturalists, Rod and Rachel Saunders, British botanists whose dedication to the natural world was as enduring as the flora they cherished. Tragically, they were murdered by terrorists during…
Read MoreWilliam Young: The Queen’s Botanist, the Venus Flytrap, and a Life of Fortune and Folly
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 3, 1766 Dearest reader, On this day, quite the stirring tale from the New World’s blossoming botanical scene reaches its curious climax. William Young, a youthful botanist fresh from the land where…
Read MoreNathaniel Britton and the Majestic Saguaro: Honoring a Botanical Legacy in the American West
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 3, 1766 Dearest reader, On this day, quite the stirring tale from the New World’s blossoming botanical scene reaches its curious climax. William Young, a youthful botanist fresh from the land where…
Read MoreA Botanist’s Journey West: Remembering LeRoy Abrams
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 1, 1874 Dearest reader, On this day, the prairies of Sheffield, Iowa, welcomed a child who would one day wander farther afield than any of his neighbors could dream. LeRoy Abrams, an…
Read MoreWilliam Bartram: America’s First Flower Hunter and Artistic Botanist
The Flower Hunter April 20, 1739 Today is the birthday of the American botanist, artist, and naturalist known as The Flower Hunter, William Bartram. The son of the Quaker botanist John Bartram, William – or Billy (as he was known to his family) – was the first American to pursue a life devoted to the study…
Read MoreDavid Fairchild: The Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed American Gardens and Diets
The Food Explorer April 7, 1869 Today is the birthday of the globetrotting botanist and food spy David Fairchild. In terms of plant exploration, David hit it out of the botanical park. He was single-handedly responsible for the introduction of more than 200,000 plants to the United States, including pistachios, mangoes, dates, nectarines, soybeans, and…
Read MoreJohn Bartram: America’s First Botanist and His Lasting Garden Legacy
“The Greatest Natural Botanist in the World” March 23, 1699 Today is the birthday of the one of American’s earliest botanists, horticulturists and explorers: John Bartram. John founded the first botanical garden in America and Linnaeus called John the “greatest natural botanist in the world.” Like many botanists of his time, John was born into…
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