December 16, 2020 Madagascar Vanilla, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, Albert Spear Hitchcock, David Hall, Hal Borland, The Catskills Farm to Table Cookbook by Courtney Wade and a Plant Called Higgenses

20200101 The Daily Gardener Album Cover

Today we celebrate a botanist remembered for his work with Pears and Camellias. We’ll also learn about a botanist who specialized in grasses and traveled extensively to collect them. We’ll learn about the work of a forensic botanist back in the early 1980s. We take a moment to savor December – courtesy of a verse…

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The Rhodum Sidus: A Charming Tale of Taxonomy and Plant Humor

Rhodum Sidus

“An amusing story… describes how a country nurseryman made a large sum out of sales of a simple little flower that he sold under the name of Rhodum sidus.” September 20, 1910 On this day, The Rutland Daily Herald out of Vermont shared this utterly charming story about a little-known flower called the Rhodum sidus: …

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The Biography of Indiana Botanist Charles Clemon Deam by Robert Kriebel

Charles C. Deam

“Suddenly, Charlie quickly opened the drawer, pulled out the gun, and fired two or three shots through the open window, making some disparaging comments about the “canine ancestry of a rabbit,” which had been terrorizing his garden.” July 16, 1987 On this day, The Indianapolis Star announced that the biography of Charles Clemon Deam, the…

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Plant Explorers Ynes Mexia’s Adventures and Botanical Legacy

Ynes Mexia

“Once she realized such posterity was possible, it was almost as if Ynes was scrambling to ensure her legacy. Today, fifty species have been named in her honor.” May 24, 1870 On this day, the Mexican-American botanist Ynes Mexia, was born.   When researching Ynes, I learned she loved having plants named in her honor.…

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