Posts Tagged ‘Scotland’
February 22, 2021 How to Create an Artistic Garden, Enda St. Vincent Millay, Charles Walker Cathcart, A Child Sees Winter Aconite for the First Time, Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier, and the Botanist Called the Vulture
Today we celebrate an American lyrical poet and playwright who wrote some beautiful poems about flowers. We’ll also learn about the Scottish surgeon who advised using sphagnum moss to treat wounded soldiers. We hear inspiring words about Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis “YER-anth-iss hy-uh-MAY-lis”) We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about medicine -…
Read MoreWhy the Little Month of February has TWO Birth Flowers: the Violet and the Primrose; the Surprising Answer Along with Fun Facts
“Napoleon’s followers used the violet to weed out his detractors. They would ask strangers if they liked violets; a positive response was a sign of loyalty.” Even though roses are often associated with February, thanks to Valentine’s Day, February’s birth flower is not the rose. Instead, February has two birth flowers: the Violet and the…
Read MoreThe Order of the Thistle
by Mandy Kirby Tough and durable, defiant against aggressors: the thistle embodied qualities that the Scots saw as their own, and the flower became their national emblem. There is a well-known legend of a Viking who stood on a thistle: his cry of pain alerted sleeping Scottish clansmen just in time to hold back the…
Read MoreJanuary 18, 2021 Say No Thanks to Garden Shortcuts, Alan Alexander Milne, Rudyard Kipling, Thoughts on Thistles, A Year at Kew by Rupert Smith, and the Maple on the Canadian Dollar Bill
Today we celebrate the man who bought a forested property and wrote Winnie the Pooh. We’ll also learn about the poet who found fame and then gardening on a grand scale. We’ll hear some wonderful words about thistles. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a behind-the-scenes look at one of the World’s top gardens. And…
Read MoreNovember 10, 2020 Robert Morison, Dean O’Banion, Henry Luke Bolley, Henry Van Dyke, The Private World of Tasha Tudor by Tasha Tudor, and Split Pea Soup
Today we celebrate a 17th-century Scottish botanist who used the structure of a plant’s fruits for classification. We’ll also learn about a mobster florist killed while working with his Chrysanthemums (Dendranthema grandiflora). We salute the American author and clergyman who gave us an epic gardener’s quote about spring. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a…
Read MoreCelebrating Ian Hamilton Finlay: the Little Sparta Scottish Gardener, Artist, and Poet
“Finlay created a one-of-a-kind garden that incorporated sculptures, words, architecture, and poetry. He named his garden Little Sparta, which he considered a living piece of art.” October 28, 1925 On this day, the Scottish poet, artist, and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay was born. Finlay created a one-of-a-kind garden that incorporated sculptures, words, architecture, and…
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