Virginia Archives

Celebrating the Virginia State Flower: Dogwood (Cornus florida) – Along with Little-Known Fun Facts

“Dogwood trees have a hard white wood that used to be harvested to make skewers for cooking. So again, this is another neat tieback to the dag or dagger reference. This is also how the Dogwood got one of its ancient common names: The Skewerwood.” February 24, 1957 On this day, The Times-Dispatch out of Richmond, Virginia,…

February 24, 2021 The World’s Largest Honey Bee, Steve Jobs, the Indiana State Flower, February Chores, English Gardens by Kathryn Bradley-Hole, and an Appeal to Plant More Dogwood in Virginia from 1957

Today we celebrate the birthday of a man who appreciated simplicity and knew that we would, too. We’ll also learn about the Indiana State Flower – it’s not a native – but it sure is beautiful. We hear some words from a 1997 Garden Chore list. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a beautiful book that…

John Clayton’s American Debut: The Blossoming of a Botanical Legacy

Claytonia virginica is one of the many plants named for John Clayton

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 7, 1720 On this day, dear garden enthusiasts, we commemorate the first recorded appearance of a most illustrious figure in the annals of colonial botany. John Clayton, that intrepid explorer of flora,…