Plant Communities Archives

The Lichen Lady: Annie Lorrain Smith’s Scientific Revolution

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 23, 1854 Today we also celebrate the birth of the remarkable Annie Lorrain Smith, and oh my dears, what a story she has to tell us about persistence in both gardens and…

The Post-Wild World: Planting Beyond Control

Planting in a Post Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 17, 2015 On this day, Thomas Rainer and Claudia West released their landmark book, Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes. Eight years on, its ideas still feel fresh, as though…

The Ecology of Belonging: Eugenius Warming and the Hidden Life of Plant Communities

A young Eugenius Warming in front of the title page of his book, Oecology of Plants

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 3, 1841 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Eugenius Warming, a Danish botanist whose pioneering work laid the cornerstone for the modern science of ecology. Though the term…

Frederic Edward Clements: Pioneer of Plant Ecology and Succession

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 16, 1874 Dearest readers, Today, we celebrate the birthday of Frederic Edward Clements, a towering figure in American plant ecology whose pioneering works forever transformed our understanding of plant communities and the natural…

Naturalist Lets his Plants, Like his Interests, Intertwine

“My studies converge so why not the plants?” September 4, 1938 On this day, naturalist Charles Joseph Sauriol wrote in his journal about a common occurrence in gardens: plants growing together. He wrote: I set out plantations of Thyme, Rosemary, Tarragon, Mint, Caraway, in the Wild Flower garden which now becomes a herb garden as…