The Dangerous World of Rare Orchids: A Tale of Beauty and Deception

Orchids in bloom

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 13, 1989 On this day, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune published a story that lifted the veil on the shadowy world of rare orchid trading. The article focused on Limerick Inc. and an alleged…

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The Lady of Lucy’s Wood – Evelyn Mary Booth

Evelyn Wood in Lucy's Wood, photo credit Lady Rosemary FitzGerald

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 30, 1897 On this day, Evelyn Mary Booth was born at Annamoe [AN-ah-moh], County Wicklow, Ireland. Her story is a beautiful reminder that it’s never too late to find your true calling…

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October 25, 2024 Patrick Neill, Joseph Hetherington McDaniels, Tyge Wittrock Bocher, The Healing Garden by Juliet Blankespoor, and A Tale of Two Postmen Turned Accidental Alpine Plant Merchants

Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart Support The Daily Gardener Buy Me A Coffee  Connect for FREE! The Friday Newsletter |  Daily Gardener Community Botanical History On This Day 1776 Patrick Neill, British printer and horticulturalist, is born. 1840 Joseph Hetherington McDaniels, Classical Scholar, is born.  1909 Tyge Wittrock Böcher [TEE-guh VIT-rock…

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Botanical Hide and Seek: Charles Short and the Shortia Story

Dr. Charles Wilkins Short

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 6, 1794 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a true luminary in the world of botany and medicine, Charles Wilkins Short. A son of Kentucky, Short would go…

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Hurricane Hitchhiker: The Miraculous Journey of the Kerry Mousetail Fern

Fern unfurling

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. December 31, 2020 On this day, dear readers, let us delve into a tale of botanical intrigue that would set the gardening world aflutter. In the emerald hills of Killarney, Ireland, a discovery…

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The Ripley Garden: A Fragrant Legacy at the Smithsonian

Mary Livingston Ripley

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 25, 1988 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we celebrate the dedication of a horticultural gem nestled in the heart of our nation’s capital – the Ripley Garden at the Smithsonian. Allow…

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A Floral Legacy: Sir Stamford Raffles and the Colossal Corpse Lily

Sir Stamford Raffles

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 5, 2024 On this day, nearly two centuries ago, the world bid farewell to a most remarkable gentleman, Sir Stamford Raffles. It was on this very date in 1826 that he departed…

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The Golden Orchid Scandal: How Collectors Devastated a Species

Roy Lancaster

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 10, 1988 On this day, a most scandalous revelation shook the genteel world of horticulture to its very foundations. The esteemed British plant explorer Roy Lancaster—that intrepid adventurer of verdant realms—pulled back…

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Tiny Troublemaker: The Orchid That Stopped a Highway

Navasota Ladies' Tresses

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 10, 1983 On this day, dear readers, a most peculiar headline graced the pages of The Town Talk in Alexandria, Louisiana. It proclaimed, with no small measure of astonishment, ‘Rare Plant Halts…

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Twelve Miles in a Botanist’s Wake: The Legacy of Edwin Hunt

Edwin Hunt

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 17, 1869 It was on this day in 1869 that the botanist Edwin Hunt, with the stealth of a fox and the determination of a particularly obstinate weed, collected the last known…

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The Stench of Success: Ohio’s Corpse Flower Spectacle

Titan arum

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 13, 2024 On this day in 2013, Ohio State University’s greenhouse became an unlikely pilgrimage site for botanical enthusiasts and olfactory thrill-seekers alike. The air hung heavy with an aroma that one…

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From Mantle to Mountainside: The Botanical Journey of Marcus Jones

Marcus E. Jones

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 25, 1852 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of Marcus Jones, a botanist whose life story reads like a love letter to the plant kingdom. Picture, if you will,…

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