Marianne North: The Victorian Artist Who Painted the World’s Flora

Marianne North at her home in Ceylon in customary attire for women of the time

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 24, 1830 And it was on this day, my dear friend, that one of the most extraordinary botanical artists ever to wield a brush drew her first breath in Hastings, England. I…

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Henry Arthur Bright’s Lancashire Garden:October 24, 1874

Henry Arthur Bright

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 24, 1874 For today’s Botanic Spark, I’d like to share a diary entry from exactly 150 years ago. Henry Arthur Bright [BRAYT] was penning his thoughts in “A Year in a Lancashire…

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Rose by Any Other Name: The Many Facets of Rosamund Marriott Watson

Rosamund Marriott Watson

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 6, 1860 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a most remarkable soul, Rosamund Marriott Watson, an English poet, nature writer, and critic of extraordinary talent. Known affectionately as…

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The Word-Smith of Science: William Whewell’s Linguistic Legacy

William Whewell, Portrait by James Lonsdale

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 24, 1794 On this day, dear readers, we celebrate the birth of a most extraordinary individual – William Whewell (pronounced “Hyoo-uhl”), an English polymath, scientist, and Anglican priest who would leave an…

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Beau-Pots to Wildflower Whimsy: Mary Mitford’s Floral Revolution

Mary Russell Mitford

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 13, 1815 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves privy to a most charming correspondence between Mary Russell Mitford and Sir William Elford, an English banker, politician, and amateur artist. In…

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The Painter’s Garden: Anna Massey Lea Merritt’s Natural Inspirations

Anna Lea Merritt, 1885

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 13, 1844 On this day, a most extraordinary soul entered our world – Anna Massey Lea Merritt, whose life would bloom like a carefully tended English garden, rich with both artistic achievement…

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A Forgotten Flower: Minnie Aumonier, Artist and Poet

Minnie Aumonier's Home

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1865: Minnie Aumonier, English artist and poet, was born. Minnie was a woman of remarkable wit, passion, and creativity. Her work is a testament to the beauty of nature and the…

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