WWI Archives

Maurice Baring’s Flight of Fancy: Botanical Entries in a Pilot’s Diary

This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: On April 25, 1917, Maurice Baring wrote about flying over the Fourth Army among some nature entries in his WWI diary. Ah, dear garden friend, marvel with me on the curious ways in which life intertwines, even amidst the most tumultuous of times. Consider,…

February 17, 2021 Stickiness as a Plant Weapon, Rudolph Jacob Camerarius, Reginald Farrer, The Over-Nurturer Gardening Style, The Earth Moved by Amy Stewart, and the Birth Flowers of February

The Daily Gardener Podcast Album Cover with a pot of rosemary - the herb for remembrance - beckoning gardeners to remember to listen to the show. Updated September 2025.

Commemorating the Beginning of WWI with a Sea of Red Ceramic Poppies at the Tower of London

Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red Aug 9, 2014.

“The work commemorated the centenary of the outbreak of World War I and was made up of 888,246 ceramic red poppies, one for each British or Colonial service member killed in the War. The title, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red refers to the first line of a poem by an unknown soldier in…

Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan: The Botanical Pioneer Who Commanded Both Fungi and Forces

Dame Helen Gwynne Vaughan 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 27, 1967 My dearest garden confidantes, today marks the solemn anniversary of the departure of one of our most illustrious botanical heroines – the incomparable Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, who left our earthly…