Redstarts and fading daffodils: Gilbert White’s garden notes

Gilbert White

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 19, 1792 Dearest reader, On this day, the ever-observant Naturalist Gilbert White of Selborne took quill to journal and noted, yet profoundly: “Redstart appears. Daffodils are gone. Mountain-snow-drops, and hyacinths in bloom;…

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A garden of women: Helene Cramer’s late-blooming art

Molly Cramer (in front) with her sister Helene in 1900.

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 14, 1844 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of the quietly audacious spirit of Helene Cramer, born in 1844 in Hamburg, Germany. A lady who, though tethered by convention…

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Henri Fantin-Latour: The Reluctant Master of Flower Painting

Henri Fantin Latour thumbnail image

Flower Painter Today is the birthday of the botanical painter Henri Fantin-Latour (Fahn-tahn Lah-tur”). It’s kind of humorous to me that we end up discussing Henri Fantin-LaTour today – right after Pierre Joseph Redoute – because Henri painted flowers as well. But, unlike Pierre Joseph Redoute, Henri got so sick of painting flowers that he…

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Walter Crane: The Artist Who Captured Our Garden’s Secret Society

Walter Crane thumbnail image

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 15, 1845 My dearest garden confidantes, on this splendid summer day in history, our horticultural heritage was forever enriched by the birth of Walter Crane in Liverpool. A magnificent addition to our…

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