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 MoreThe Pastor of Petals: Reverend George Herbert Engleheart and His Daffodil Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 25, 1851 Dearest reader, On this day, we mark the birth of a man whose devotion to daffodils has brightened not only gardens but the hearts of horticulturists and admirers across England…
Read MorePeter Barr: The Scottish Nurseryman Known as the Daffodil King
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 20, 1826 Dearest reader, On this day, the chill mists of Scotland parted to reveal a child whose destiny would one day blanket England’s fields in golden delight. Peter Barr — the…
Read MoreThe Brontë Sisters’ Garden: Currant Bushes, Poetry, and Hidden Green Spaces
Currer, Ellia, and Acton Bell May 7, 1846 The first printed copies of “Poems” by Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë were published under the pseudonym of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Just two copies were sold. To avoid prejudice as female writers, the sisters kept the first letter of their first names: Charlotte was Currer…
Read MoreJohn Ruskin’s Garden Wisdom: Beauty, Weeds, and the Lessons of Nature
“Nature is Painting” February 8, 1819 Today is the birthday of the leading Victorian-era English art critic, watercolorist, thinker, and philanthropist John Ruskin. John is responsible for some beautiful thoughts and quotes about the natural world. With regard to gardening, John wrote: “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it,…
Read MoreEliza Ridgely: The Gardener of Hampton and Her Victorian Carpet Bedding Legacy
The Hampton House Garden January 8, 1828 On this day, Eliza Ridgely married her fifth cousin and son of a Maryland Governor, John Carnan Ridgely. The couple lived on the Hampton Plantation built by John’s great-uncle Charles Ridgely III in 1790. After construction, it was the largest private residence in the United States. Eliza was…
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 MoreHyacinths in Glass: Mandy Kirkby on a Victorian Winter Delight
by Mandy Kirby The January 1860 garden column of the famous fashion magazine the New Monthly Belle Assemblee recommended the Hyacinth Bottle and Flower Support as being ideal for growing [Hyacinths] indoors. The slender bottle with bulbous base was nothing new; hyacinths were often grown in water, not soil, in these small glass vases, which…
Read MoreMeasuring Wealth by Bedding Plants: Jane Powers on Victorian Gardening
Bedding Plants as a Function of Royal Status November 13, 2010 It was on this day that Jane Powers wrote an excellent botanical history piece for the Irish Times. I especially loved this article because Jane correlated the number of bedding plants a person ordered during the middle of the 19th century and their corresponding…
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