Posts Tagged ‘urban gardening’
A Flower for the Fog: San Francisco’s Love Story with Dahlias
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 4, 1926 On this day, dear readers, San Francisco embraced a most enchanting bloom as its official flower. The Dahlia, with its myriad forms and kaleidoscopic hues, was bestowed the honor of…
Read MoreA Banker’s Blooms: H. Howard Pepper’s 1905 Garden Confessions
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 24, 1905 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we find ourselves transported to Providence, Rhode Island, where a banker named H. Howard Pepper penned a most illuminating letter to the magazine Country…
Read MoreRichard William Fagan and Portland’s Tiny Wonder: Mill Ends Park
The Rose City November 20, 1969 Today is the anniversary of the death of the Oregon Journal columnist and gardener Richard William Fagan, who died on this day in 1969. As gardeners, we celebrate Richard for installing the world’s smallest rose park – Mill Ends Park – in Portland on February 23, 1954. The installation…
Read MoreBernadette Cozart: The gardener who greened Harlem and nurtured community hope
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 27, 1949 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Bernadette Cozart – gardener, visionary, and the woman who dared to turn Harlem green. Imagine it: the late 1980s, when…
Read MoreThe Rooftop Visionary: Ralph Hancock and the Garden of Nations at Rockefeller Center
Garden-maker Extraordinaire The Welsh landscape gardener, architect, and author, Ralph Hancock, was born. Hancock was a garden-maker extraordinaire, and he created several famous Gardens across Wales, England, and the United States. One of his most famous works was the rooftop garden at the Rockefeller Center in New York. Hancock designed his rooftop garden in 1934…
Read MoreFrom Royal Charter to Battersea: The Blossoming Tale of London’s Market
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 22, 1974 On this day, dear horticultural enthusiasts, we find ourselves not only savoring the sweet notes of vanilla but also bidding adieu to a beloved institution. For it was on this…
Read MorePatrick Geddes: The Botanist Planner Who Planted Nature into Cities
The Father of Town Planning Today is the 165th birthday of the Father of Town Planning and a botanist, Patrick Geddes, who was born on this day in 1854. Geddes accomplished much during his lifetime, despite being notoriously disorganized and easily distracted. In addition to his work in planning, Geddes was an ardent botanist and…
Read MoreThe Man Who Gardened in the Sky: Ralph Hancock’s Aerial Eden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 2, 1893 On this day, dear readers, the Welsh landscape gardener, architect, and visionary, Ralph Hancock, graced this world with his arrival. A man whose ambitions would eventually stretch skyward—quite literally. Dear…
Read MoreThe Actor’s Eden: How John Barrymore Created New York’s First Penthouse Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 29, 1942 On this day, the illustrious actor John Barrymore breathed his last, departing our mortal stage with the same dramatic flair that characterized his storied career. While many now associate the…
Read MoreBernadette Cozart: The Woman Who Planted Hope in Harlem
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 17, 2024 On this day, dear fellow cultivators of beauty, we celebrate the birth of a true revolutionary in the world of urban gardening. Bernadette Cozart, born in 1949, was not content…
Read MoreSaks Fifth Avenue’s Glam Gardens: A Blooming Spectacle
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 3, 2015 On this day in 2015, dear readers, a most extraordinary horticultural spectacle unfolded across the realm of high fashion. As if by some enchanted decree, all Saks Fifth Avenue establishments…
Read More