Posts Tagged ‘Victorian gardening’
Danske Dandridge: The Gardener-Poet of Rose Brake
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 19, 1854 On this day, Danske [“DAN-sker”] Dandridge, poet, historian, and garden writer, was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her story begins with a diplomatic posting—her father, Henry Bedinger, served as President James…
Read MoreFrom Amazon to Windsor: The Water Lily Tale
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 13, 1849 On this day, a most extraordinary presentation took place at Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria, known for her love of botanical wonders, was about to encounter her magnificent namesake – the…
Read MoreHenry Arthur Bright’s Lancashire Garden:October 24, 1874
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…
Read MoreThe Yorkshire Alchemist: William Casson’s Revolutionary Garden Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 23, 1796 It was on this day that William Casson was born. He entered our gardening story on what historical records tell us was an unusually warm October morning in Yorkshire. Now,…
Read MoreA Garden Amidst the Tempest: John Beauchamp Jones’s Wartime Oasis
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 6, 1864 On this day, as the gentle breeze of early summer whispered through the gardens of Richmond, a most intriguing entry was penned in the journal of John Beauchamp Jones, that…
Read MoreA Victorian Gardener’s Tale: Stephen Sears and His South Yarmouth Plot
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 2, 1893 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves transported to the quaint environs of South Yarmouth, Massachusetts, where a most diligent and upright citizen, one Stephen Sears, put quill to…
Read MoreFrost and Fantasy: Challenging Henry Bright’s Winter Garden Blues
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. January 5, 1874 On this day, as frost kissed the dormant gardens of Lancashire, the English merchant and author Henry Arthur Bright put quill to paper, recording a rather bleak observation about winter…
Read MoreThe Botanist’s Dilemma: Balancing Classification and Appreciation
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 22, 1900 On this day, dear readers, we find ourselves transported back to the turn of the last century, when The Indianapolis News graced its pages with a most intriguing article titled…
Read MoreThe Man Who Made Kalamazoo Crisp: George “Celery” Taylor’s Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 21, 1891 My dearest garden companions, it was on this glorious day that the remarkable botanist George Taylor bid farewell to this earthly garden in 1891, leaving behind a legacy as crisp…
Read MoreJane Webb Loudon: The Sci-Fi Gardener Who Blossomed Through Adversity
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. August 19, 1807 My darling garden companions, today we celebrate the birth of a most extraordinary woman, Jane Webb, who would later marry that titan of horticultural literature, John Claudius Loudon. Oh, how I…
Read MoreThe Spy Who Loved Strawberries: Michael Keens’s Revolutionary Berry
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 3, 1859 On this day in horticultural history, The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser bestowed upon eager gardeners a morsel of wisdom regarding the cultivation of what was then the most coveted…
Read MoreA Victorian Botanical Adventure: The Vale of York Field Naturalists Club at Rivaulx Abbey
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. July 1, 1871 On this day, dear readers, a most extraordinary gathering took place in the verdant landscapes of Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Herald, that venerable chronicle of local affairs, reported the inaugural meeting…
Read MoreThe Horticultural Hornet’s Final Sting: Remembering George Glenny
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 17, 1874 On this day, the infamous “horticultural hornet” George Glenny buzzed his last at the impressive age of 83, leaving behind a garden landscape forever altered by his sharp-tongued influence. One…
Read MoreFrom Battlefields to Gardens: The Hidden Tenderness of Stonewall Jackson
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 2, 1863 On this day in 1863, the illustrious Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was shot by his own men in what this author can only describe as a moment of supreme military irony.…
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