Spring 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…

May 12, 2021 Garden Therapy for Dementia, Florence Nightingale, Manitoba’s Prairie Crocus, Spring at Green Gables, Natural Affairs by Peter Bernhardt, and National Limerick Day

Today we celebrate a woman named after Florence, Italy, and who loved flowers her entire life. We’ll learn about the Floral Emblem of Manitoba. We hear an excerpt about spring at Green Gables. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the relationship between people and plants. And then we’ll wrap things up with…

April 30, 2021 Goodbye April, Alice B. Toklas, Édouard Manet, A Perfect Spring Day, Liquid Gold by Roger Morgan-Grenville, and the Adirondack Botanical Society

Today we celebrate the woman who was the life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein – and we’ll hear all about their wonderful garden at Bilignin. We’ll also learn about the French modernist painter known for his peonies and peony art. We’ll hear an excerpt about a perfect spring day. We Grow That Garden Library™…

April 29, 2021 Forsythia, Hunter’s Home Diary, Agnes Chase, Toni Morrison on spring, Life Among the Texas Flora by Minetta Altgelt Goyne, and Cornelia Vanderbilt

Today we celebrate the botanical pastimes of two young women in Oklahoma back in 1850. We’ll also learn about a female botanical pioneer who specialized in grasses. We’ll hear some thoughts on spring from a beloved American author. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book featuring the letters from a Texas pioneer botanist. And…

April 27, 2021 Groundcover Options, Thomas Church, Tulip Clusiana, The First Fine Spring Days, Lawn Gone! by Pam Penick, and Flora the Goddess of Spring

Today we celebrate a 20th-Century Landscape Architect who focused on his client’s desires and needs. This effort to personalize his work made him incredibly successful. We’ll also learn about a species Tulip praised for its hardiness and peppermint candy appearance. We’ll hear some thoughts about the first fine spring days. We Grow That Garden Library™…

April 23, 2021 Isabel Bannerman on Scented Plants, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Simple Flowers, Kitchen Garden Revival by Nicole Johnsey Burke, and English Bluebells for St. George

Today we celebrate the birthday of the greatest playwright who ever lived – and he incorporated over 200 seeds, flowers, fruits, herbs, grasses, and trees into his large body of work. We’ll also learn about Wordsworth’s favorite flower – lesser celandine (“sell-ANN-dine”). We’ll hear some words about the flowers we often fall in love with…

April 21, 2021 Seven Top Indoor Herbs, John Muir, Benjamin Maund, Spring in Paris, Kinship of Clover by Ellen Meeropol, and Frances Perry on Ferns

Today we celebrate a man who found all the answers to life in nature, and we still learn from his profound observations today. We’ll also learn about a botanist and publisher who found fame and forged meaningful connections with top botanical illustrators and horticulturists of his time. We’ll hear an excerpt about spring in Paris…

April 16, 2021 Robbie Hart in the Himalayas, Ellen “Nelly” Thayer Fisher, Sir Edward James Salisbury, Amy Seidl on spring, Japanese Garden Design by Marc Peter Keane, and National Orchid Day

Today we celebrate a botanical artist who learned to paint from her famous younger brother. We’ll also learn about a botanist who was fascinated with seed dispersion and weeds. We’ll hear a little snippet about spring from an author and ecologist. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about the cultural significance behind Japanese…

April 15, 2021 Propagating Your Favorite Herbs, Elisabeth Christina von Linné, Francis Hallé, Christina Rossetti, A Wilder Life by Celestine Maddy, and Alexander Garden

Today we celebrate a Swedish botanist with a famous father who observed flashes of light emitting from her nasturtiums. We’ll also learn about a modern-day forest advocate and conservationist on a mission to create something he calls a primary forest in France. We’ll hear a poem about spring from the charming Christina Georgina Rossetti. We…

April 13, 2021 The Arts and Crafts Movement, Eudora Welty, Mary Strong Clemens, The Rush of Spring, Imperial Nature by Jim Endersby, and International Plant Appreciation Day

Today we celebrate a writer and avid gardener who, as an adult, gardened beside her mother for decades. We’ll also learn about a botanist and prolific plant collector who traveled along with her minister husband as he worked in the Philippines. We hear some thoughts about how quickly spring goes by. We Grow That Garden…

April 7, 2021 Styling a Botanical Bookshelf, Michel Adanson, David Fairchild, William Wordsworth, Heal Thyself by Benjamin Woolley, and the Power of a Sunny Spring Day

Today we celebrate a botanist who is honored by the genus for the spectacular Baobab tree. We’ll recognize the man who became a globetrotting botanist and even a food spy and ultimately introduced more than 200,000 plants to the United States, We’ll hear some words from a poet gardener, ecologist, and naturalist, who celebrates his…

March 2, 2021 Gardens Matter to Pollinators, Joel Roberts Poinsett, John Jacob Mauerer, A Spring Flower Show, Fermented Vegetables by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey and the State Flower of Idaho

Today we celebrate the man who went to Mexico as an ambassador and sent back the plant that became synonymous with Christmas. We’ll also learn about a gardener who worked for 50 years to create one of England’s top gardens. We hear a charming account of spring’s flower show. We Grow That Garden Library™ with…

February 19, 2021 A Wild Spring Plant Display, The Orchid Thief, Charles Swingle, Growing Algerian Iris, Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey, and Strange Embroidery with Botanist Eliza Brightwen

Today we look back at the story that inspired the book The Orchid Thief. We’ll also learn about the incredible true story of a Madagascar explorer. We hear words about the incredible Algerian Iris. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a memoir from a garden who pulls back the row cover on the remarkable story…

The Skunk Cabbage

by Jack Sanders In much of North America, skunk cabbage has earned the widespread reputation as the first flower of spring. It might be more accurate, however, to call it the first flower of winter. “The skunk cabbage may be found with its round green spear-point an inch or two above the mold in December,”…