September Archives

September 23, 2021 Small Flowering Shrubs, Horace Walpole, Mary Coleridge, Dayton University Botanical Park, the National Nlower, Alice Hoffman, Will Bonsall, and Edgar Lee Masters

Today in botanical history, we celebrate an English earl, an English poet, a forgotten garden, and a national floral emblem. We hear a floral excerpt from a best-selling fiction book – it’s a little love story about an extraordinary woman who gave birth to a painter who became the Father of Impressionism. We Grow That…

One Fine October Morning

by Anonymous One fine October morning In September, last July The sun lay thick upon the ground The snow shone in the sky The flowers were singing gaily The birds were full in bloom So I went down to the cellar To clean the upstairs room — Anonymous As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words…

Sarah Hynes

Fighting for Equality Today is the birthday of the botanist Sarah Hynes who was born on this day in 1859, Hynes was born in Danzig, Prussia, and she immigrated to Australia in the mid-1800s. After graduating from the University of Sydney, she and Georgina King brought in fresh flowers for a botanical display at the…

Faith Fyles

Painting Nature Today is the birthday of the botanical artist Faith Fyles who was born on this day in 1875. Fyles was trained as a botanist, but her natural artistic talent became apparent early in her career. She was the first female hired by the Canadian Department of Agriculture. In 1920, she transferred to the…

Helia Bravo Hollis

Mexico’s First Female Biologist Today is the birthday of the Mexican botanist Helia Bravo Hollis who was born on this day in 1901. Bravo Hollis was the first woman to graduate with the title of Biologist in Mexico. By the age of 29, she was named curator of the University’s herbarium, where she was assigned…

Come Back

by W.S. Merwin Come back believer in shade believer in silence and elegance believer in ferns believer in patience believer in the rain Note: Today is the birthday of the American poet WS Merwin, who always went by William, and who was born on this day in 1927. In 2010, Merwin and his…

On the Last Day of the World

by W.S. Merwin On the last day of the world, I would want to plant a tree. Note: Today is the birthday of the American poet WS Merwin, who always went by William, and who was born on this day in 1927. In 2010, Merwin and his wife, Paula, co-founded the Merwin…

A Garden is Not the Wilderness

by W.S. Merwin Obviously a garden is not the wilderness but an assembly of shapes, most of them living, that owes some share of its composition, it’s appearance, to human design and effort, human conventions and convenience, and the human pursuit of that elusive, indefinable harmony that we call beauty. It has a life of…

James Drummond Dole

Pineapples From Hawaii Today is the birthday of James Drummond Dole, who was born on this day in 1877. Dole had gone to Harvard, and then after graduation at the age of 22, he made his way to Hawaii in 1899. After living there two years, he honed in on growing pineapple as a business.…

Joseph Breck

Chrysanthemums for Joseph On this day in 1843, the New England Farmer ran an ad about Chrysanthemums for nurseryman Joseph Breck: “The subscribers offer for sale twenty varieties of new Chrysanthemums of the most superb and rare sorts, at 50 cents per pot.” This post was featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: helping gardeners find their…

Joy Morton

A Lover of Trees Today is the birthday of Joy Morton, who was born on this day in 1855. Morton’s father was J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day and a former secretary of agriculture under President Cleveland. Not surprisingly, Joy’s love of trees was instilled in him at a young age. Raised on a farm…

Michaelmas Folklore: Blackberries, the Devil, and a Lingering Curse

“Once he was cast out, Lucifer promptly fell straight into a blackberry bush, and a blackberry bush would not make for a soft landing. Incensed, Lucifer cursed the blackberry fruit, making them unfit for consumption.” September 29th Michaelmas is celebrated on September 29th every year. Since the Middle Ages, English farmers used Michaelmas to mark…

How Beautiful Leaves Grow Old

by John Burroughs How beautiful leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest, most beautiful words of all. John Burroughs

The Beauty of Sparseness

by Bonaro W. Overstreet Autumn asks that we prepare for the future — that we be wise in the ways of garnering and keeping. But it also asks that we learn to let go — to acknowledge the beauty of sparseness. As featured onThe Daily Gardener podcast: Words inspired by the garden are the sweetest,…