Shows / The Daily Gardener
The Daily Gardener
The Daily Gardener is a weekday podcast celebrating garden history, literature, and the small botanical stories that shape how we garden today. Each episode follows an "on this day" format, uncovering the people, plants, books, and moments that have quietly influenced gardens across time. New episodes are released Monday through Friday, and each show features a thoughtfully chosen garden book.
Episodes
- The Daily Gardener
February 25, 2021 This Year's Garden Trends, Katherine Sophia Kane, Josif Pančić, The February Birds at Jean Hersey's Feeder, Everlastings by Bex Partridge, and an Edna Walling Theater Production
Today we celebrate a young botanist that wrote the first flora of Ireland at the age of 22. We'll also learn about the Father of Serbian botany. We hear words…
- The Daily Gardener
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…
- The Daily Gardener
February 23, 2021 The Father of the RBGE Archives, Agnes Arber, Marion Delf-Smith, English Cottage Gardening by Margaret Hensel, and the Very Best Flowers for Drying
Today we celebrate a woman known as the Lady of Botany, yet today few people know her life story, and fewer still appreciate her difficult professional…
- The Daily Gardener
February 22, 2021 How to Create an Artistic Garden, Enda St. Vincent Millay, Charles Walker Cathcart, A Child Sees Winter Aconite for the First Time, Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine by Andrew Chevallier, and the Botanist Called the Vulture
Today we celebrate an American lyrical poet and playwright who wrote some beautiful poems about flowers. We'll also learn about the Scottish surgeon who…
- The Daily Gardener
February 19, 2021 A Wild Spring Plant Display, The Orchid Thief, Charles Swingle, Growing Algerian Iris, Embroidered Ground by Page Dickey, and Strange Embroidery with Botanist Eliza Brightwen
Today we look back at the story that inspired the book The Orchid Thief. We'll also learn about the incredible true story of a Madagascar explorer. We hear…
- The Daily Gardener
February 18, 2021 The Little Fern That Could, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne, Snowy Owls, Showy Lady's-Slipper, Ellis Rowan by Kate Collins, and the New Rare-Plant House at the Fairchild Tropical Garden
Today we celebrate the French botanist who created the modern strawberry. We'll also learn about the sweet little orchid known as the moccasin flower. We hear…
- The Daily Gardener
February 17, 2021 Stickiness as a Plant Weapon, Rudolph Jacob Camerarius, Reginald Farrer, The Over-Nurturer Gardening Style, Earth Moved by Amy Stewart, and the Birth Flowers of February
Today we celebrate one of the earliest botanists and his essential discoveries about plant physiology. We'll also learn about a man known as the 'Prince of…
- The Daily Gardener
February 16, 2021 Plant Selfishness, Townshend Stithe Brandegee, the New Jersey State Flower, Duck Hill Journal by Page Dickey, and the Remarkable Josephine S. Margetts
Today we celebrate a botanist of the American West and the husband of Kate Brandegee. We'll also learn about the woman who created the legislation for the New…
- The Daily Gardener
February 15, 2021 Pioneer Trees for the Forest Garden, Archibald Menzies, Ernest Henry Wilson, The Gardener-Botanists of the 1927 South Africa Expedition, Dried Flowers by Morgane Illes, and Garden Design Tips from David Stevens
Today we celebrate the man who introduced the Monkey Puzzle tree to England. We'll also learn about the prolific plant explorer who was disabled after…
- The Daily Gardener
February 12, 2021 Organizing the Garden Shed, Jan Swammerdam, George Jackman, Walking Through the Garden at Night, Desert Gardens of Steve Martino by Caren Yglesias, and Celebrating William Mason
Today we celebrate the man who discovered the queen bee had ovaries, and he also said the head of the colony was not a king - but a queen. We'll also learn…
- The Daily Gardener
February 11, 2021 Gardening for Health, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, Should Botany Be Taught In Schools, Saving the Sakura, Darwin's Most Wonderful Plants by Ken Thompson, and Garden-Inspired Verses About Love
Today we celebrate a woman who was insatiable when it came to plants, and she is remembered forever with the Portland Rose. We'll also learn about a famous…
- The Daily Gardener
February 10, 2021 New Owners at Barton Springs Nursery, Benjamin Smith Barton, Winifred Mary Letts, A Sense of the Soil, Cottage Gardens by Claire Masset, and Remembering Laura Ingalls Wilder the Naturalist
Today we celebrate a botanist who gave Meriwether Lewis a crash course in botany. We'll also learn about a poet who wrote some touching poems that incorporated…
- The Daily Gardener
February 9, 2021 The Dependable Jade Plant, Henry Arthur Bright, William Griffith, Bark and pH, Cooking with Flowers by Miche Bacher, and Winter Garden Chores from 1889
Today we celebrate a man who published his garden journal in a book - and inspired countless gardeners and gardener writers with his resonant words. We'll also…
- The Daily Gardener
February 8, 2021 The Gardening Doctor, John Ruskin, Henry Walter Bates, Winter Gardening Attire, Concrete Garden Projects by Camilla Arvidsson and Malin Nilsson and Jane Austen's 1807 Letter to Her Sister Cassandra
Today we celebrate an English critic who wrote some of our most beautiful quotes about gardens, nature, and flowers. We'll also learn about a dedicated English…
The Daily GardenerFebruary 5, 2021 Carnation History, John Lindley, Karl Theodor Hartweg, Botanists Getting Home Alive, Cadwallader Colden by Seymour Schwartz, and Celebrating Friedrich Welwitsch
Today we celebrate a botanist and orchidologist who saved Kew, We'll also learn about an orchid hunter who collected plants on behalf of the London…
The Daily GardenerFebruary 4, 2021 Starting Seeds for the First Time, Henri Dutrochet, Ruth Havey, A Winter Larder, Bunny Mellon Garden Journal by Linda Holden, and the Secret Value of Weedy Plants
Today we celebrate a botanist who helped us understand why plants are green: chlorophyll. We'll also learn about the dedicated Landscape Architect who was a…
- The Daily Gardener
February 3, 2021 Jellicoe's Shute House Masterpiece, Carl Ludwig Blume, the Huckleberry, White Snakeroot, Both by Douglas Crase, and Celebrating Sidney Lanier
Today we celebrate a man with, perhaps, the perfect last name for a botanist: Blume. We'll also learn about a wild berry that is a sister to the blueberry and…
- The Daily Gardener
February 2, 2021 Ideas For Your Garden, The Nature Principle at Home, How to Propagate 375 Plants by Richard Rosenfeld, and February's Snowdrop Fairy
Today we celebrate a star from the silent film age, whose best movie featured a blind woman selling flowers. We'll also learn about Candlemas - the ancient…
- The Daily Gardener
February 1, 2021 Why Deadwood Should Be Removed, Langston Hughes, Ben Hur Lampman, How to Start a Garden, Botanicum by Kathy Willis, and the Language of Trees
Today we celebrate a Harlem poet who loved children and flowers. We'll also learn about a newspaperman who wrote a fantastic essay about a harbinger of spring…
- The Daily Gardener
January 29, 2021 Eight Steps to Create a Stunning Winter Garden, Olga Owens Huckins, Larry McGraw, How Often Should You Prune Your Willows, Botanicals: 100 Postcards, and a Winter Joy: Scented Houseplants
Today we celebrate a woman who helped change the way pesticides were used in the United States. We'll also learn about the man who taught thousands of people…
- The Daily Gardener
January 28, 2021 New Year Plant Hunt 2021, Peter Collinson, Paul Ecke, Thoughts on Spleenwort by Susan Wittig Albert, Botanical Style by Selina Lake, and the Best Job Ever: Creating Herb Gardens
Today we celebrate a colonial botanist who introduced nearly 200 plants to British horticulture after sourcing them from his good friend John Bartram in…
- The Daily Gardener
January 27, 2021 Predicting the New Year's 2021 Garden Trends, Lewis Carroll, Terramycin, Skunk Cabbage, Botanical Baking by Juliet Sear, and the Surprise in a Botanist's Garden: Running Buffalo Clover
Today we celebrate the writer inspired by the Oxford Botanic Garden - a place he saw every day. We'll also learn about medicine with roots in the soil in…
- The Daily Gardener
January 26, 2021 Five Secrets of Front-Yard Landscaping, Nikolai Vavilov, Eloise Ray, Katharine White on Bulbs in Pots, The Joy of Botanical Drawing by Wendy Hollender, and National Seed Swap Day the Pandemic Way
Today we celebrate the Russian botanist who sought to end world hunger and created a seed bank. We'll also learn about a Landscape Architect known for her…
The Daily GardenerJanuary 25, 2021 How to Grow Chillies, Robert Burns, the Star of Bethlehem Orchid, the Vegetable History of Neeps and Tatties, Botanica Magnifica by Jonathan Singer, and the Garden's Three R's of Renovation
Today we celebrate a poet who loved flowers and became the beloved poet-son of a country that celebrates him still today. We'll also learn about an orchid that…
- The Daily Gardener
January 22, 2021 Lessons from Festival Beach Food Forest, Ellsworth Jerome Hill, the Douglas-Fir, Boris Levinson on Turning to Nature, Betty Crocker's Kitchen Gardens by Mary Mason Campbell, and Rudyard Kipling's Letters About His Street Trees
Today we celebrate a disabled botanist who felt no area could be considered fully explored. We'll also learn about the tree that honors David Douglas. We'll…
- The Daily Gardener
January 21, 2021 Hillside Landscaping Ideas, Erwin Frink Smith, Rae Selling Berry, Rosemary Verey's Thoughts on Patterns, American Grown by Michelle Obama, and Going Nuts on National Squirrel Appreciation Day
Today we celebrate one of my favorite botanists and his personal story of love and love of poetry and nature. We'll also learn about an extraordinary gardener…
- The Daily Gardener
January 20, 2021 January Garden Chores, Henry Danvers, Carl Linnaeus the Younger, Elizabeth Lawrence on Dogwoods and Spider Lilies, All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols, and the first female botanist in America: Jane Colden
Today we celebrate the pardoned outlaw who donated the land for the Oxford Botanic Garden. We'll also learn about Carl Jr. - Linnaeus's son - Linnaeus filius…
- The Daily Gardener
January 19, 2021 Three Gorgeous Ways to Group Containers, Alice Eastwood, Carlotta Case Hall, The Magic of Light, Windcliff by Daniel J. Hinkley, and the Soapy State Flower of New Mexico: the Yucca
Today we celebrate the self-taught botanist who saved the San Francisco herbarium. We'll also learn about the woman who helped describe the flora of Yosemite…
- The Daily Gardener
January 18, 2021 Say No Thanks to Garden Shortcuts, Alan Alexander Milne, Rudyard Kipling, Thoughts on Thistles, A Year at Kew by Rupert Smith, and the Maple on the Canadian Dollar Bill
Today we celebrate the man who bought a forested property and wrote Winnie the Pooh. We'll also learn about the poet who found fame and then gardening on a…
- The Daily Gardener
January 15, 2021 How to Grow and Care for Spirea Shrubs, the British Museum, Richard Buxton, Identifying Wildlife in the Winter Garden, A Year at Brandywine Cottage by David Culp, and The Garden of a Commuters Wife: Mabel Osgood Wright
Today we celebrate living virtually - we can tour one of the world's greatest museums - which opened on this day in 1759. We'll also learn about a man who…
- The Daily Gardener
January 14, 2021 The Transformation of a Yorkshire Garden, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Marie-Anne Libert, Appreciating the Dandelion, A Taste for Nightshade by Martine Bailey and the Louisiana Garden Expert: Joe White
Today we celebrate one of my favorite botanical painters. We'll also learn about a botanist who was one of the first female plant pathologists. We'll hear some…
- The Daily Gardener
January 13, 2021 Gardening Trends for 2021, John Gilbert Baker, Joseph Francis Rock, Holly, and Ivy with Beth Chatto, A Small Porch by Wendell Berry, and Helen Morgenthau Fox on Garden Cinderellas
Today we celebrate a man who was regarded as the most revered British field-botanist of his time. We'll also learn about the botanist who considered China to…
- The Daily Gardener
January 12, 2021 The Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea, Jean Jules Linden, Edred John Henry Corner, Linneas's Stark Funeral Instructions, A Rum Affair by Karl Sabbagh, and James Henry Salisbury's War on Fruit and Vegetables
Today we celebrate a descriptive rare orchid hunter who changed the way orchids were cared for. We'll also learn about the man who was held as a prisoner at…
- The Daily Gardener
January 11, 2021 Regenerative Grower New Year's Resolutions, William Curtis, Plough Monday, Rosemary Verey's Wintersweet, A Place to Call Home by James Farmer, and the Persistent Peter Forsskål
Today we celebrate the founder of the influential Curtis Botanical Magazine. We'll also learn about the traditional start of the agricultural year. We'll hear…
- The Daily Gardener
January 8, 2021 The Three Friends of Winter, Eliza Ridgely, Walter Tennyson Swingle, Dig For Victory January Advice, A Place For Us by Harriet Evans, and Herb Wagner of Wagner Tree Fame
Today we celebrate the avid gardener who transformed the gardens at what was once the largest private residence in the United States. We'll also learn about…
- The Daily Gardener
January 7, 2021 Beautiful Bark on Deciduous Trees, Louise Imogen Guiney, Vivi Laurent-Täckholm, Enticing Plant Descriptions in Garden Catalogs, A Passion for Detail by Charlotte Moss, and Frank Lebby Stanton on Rosy Living
Today we celebrate an American poet, essayist, and editor who is often remembered in a photograph where she is dressed as Saint Barbara with a laurel wreath…
- The Daily Gardener
January 6, 2021 The Best Indoor Plants, Kaspar von Sternberg, Syd Barrett, Growing Poisonous Plants, A Nature Poem for Every Night of the Year by Jane Hunter, and Lee Reich's Tree ID Secrets
Today we celebrate a botanist regarded as the "Father of Paleobotany" - the study of ancient plants that uses plant fossils. We'll also learn about the…
- The Daily Gardener
January 5, 2021 How to Make a White Berry Wreath, the Glastonbury Thorn, Robert More, Henry Arthur Bright, Hyacinth Vases, A Nature Poem for Every Day of the Year by Jane Hunter, and How to Wassail Apple Trees
Today we celebrate an iconic tree of England - a holy tree with biblical and cultural significance. We'll also learn about a botanist whose last name is…
- The Daily Gardener
January 4, 2021 Invasive Garlic Mustard, Stephen Hales, Johanna Weterdijk, Eleanor Perenyi, Winter Garden Thoughts, A Life in Shadow by Stephen Bell, and Garden Trivia for National Trivia Day
Today we celebrate an English botanist who discovered which way sap flows in plants. We'll also learn about a female Dutch botanist who fought for equity and…
The Daily GardenerDecember 24, 2020 Brooklyn Botanic Garden in 1918, Robert Dick, President Benjamin Harrison, Frances Garnet Wolseley, Helen Bayley Davis, Garde Manger by The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), and The Gardener's Night Before Christmas
Today we'll celebrate a Scottish baker and botanist who left a charming collection behind as his legacy - and I must say, he had a head full of dark hair…
- The Daily Gardener
December 23, 2020 Six Great Perennials for Design, John Jay, Francis Masson, Ann Batten Cristall, The Grow Your Own Food Handbook by Monte Burch, and Mystical Mistletoe Is Historical Sprig
Today we celebrate a gardener who was also a Founding Father and a Governor of New York. We'll also learn about a botanist who brought back the Bird of…
The Daily GardenerDecember 22, 2020 Tree Ferns, David Hosack, George Eliot, William B. Arnett, David Mas Masumoto, The Four Season Farm Gardener's Cookbook by Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman and Lady Bird Johnson
Today we celebrate the botanist and doctor who established the nation's first public botanical garden. We'll also learn about the English Victorian author who…
The Daily GardenerDecember 21, 2020 Six Healthy Winter Vegetables to Grow, Robert Brown, Rosemary Verey, Mistletoe, Growing Winter Weeds with Susan Tyler Hitchcock, The Gardens of Luciano Giubbilei by Andrew Wilson, and Lucien Daniel's 1917 Watering Tip
Today we celebrate the Scottish botanist who is remembered for the phenomenon known as Brownian Motion. We'll also learn about the woman remembered as the…
- The Daily Gardener
December 18, 2020 The Best Stunning Winter Bark, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Lady Cromer, David Austin, a 700-year-old Christmas tree, Rachel Peden, Edible Landscaping with a Permaculture Twist by Michael Judd, and the story of the Tom Cox Arboretum
Today we celebrate the man who cleverly saved the Royal Botanic Garden during the French Revolution. We'll also learn about the woman who lavishly decorated…
The Daily GardenerDecember 17, 2020 Five Low-Maintenance Annuals, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Charles Morren, Rachel Peden, Jean Hersey, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and Shooting Down Mistletoe
Today we celebrate one of the world's best composers and his intense appreciation of nature. We'll also learn about the botanist who cracked the code on…
- The Daily Gardener
December 16, 2020 Madagascar Vanilla, Marshall Pinckney Wilder, Albert Spear Hitchcock, David Hall, Hal Borland, The Catskills Farm to Table Cookbook by Courtney Wade and a Plant Called Higgenses
Today we celebrate a botanist remembered for his work with Pears and Camellias. We'll also learn about a botanist who specialized in grasses and traveled…
- The Daily Gardener
December 15, 2020 How Front Gardens Boost Wellbeing, Margaret Cavendish, Joyce Winifred Vickery, The National Herb Garden, Donald Culross Peattie, Farming the Woods by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel, and Fenway Park Boston Ivy
Today we celebrate the 17th-century philosopher and naturalist, who was the first woman to make a living from her writing. We'll also learn about the forensic…
The Daily GardenerDecember 14, 2020 New Apple Variety in Wiltshire, John Claudius Loudon, Richard Hale Goodwin, John Bannister Tabb, Alchemy of Herbs by Rosalee De La Foret and the State Flower of Alabama
Today we celebrate the English garden writer who fell in love with one of the world's first science fiction writers - and she turned out to be a woman. We'll…
The Daily GardenerDecember 11, 2020 Brazil's Deforestation Surges, Jacob Schneck, Henry David Thoreau, Victor Lemoine, Edgar Albert Guest, Growing Perennial Foods by Acadia Tucker, and Fiorello LaGuardia
Today we celebrate the Indiana botanist remembered in a particular species of Red Oak (Quercus rubra). We'll also learn about the Red-Pole - one of the…
The Daily GardenerDecember 10, 2020 The Conference Pear, Emily Dickenson, the 1909 Cherry Tree gift from Japan, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Carolyn Kizer, Growing Beautiful Food by Matthew Benson and Henry Nicholas Ridley
Today we celebrate the birthday of a beloved American who, in her lifetime, was known more as a gardener than a poet. We'll also learn about the gift from…
- The Daily Gardener
December 9, 2020 Kenya's Giant Fig Tree, Henry David Thoreau, Lorraine Collett, Peter Smithers, John Milton, The History of Landscape Design in 100 Gardens by Linda Chisholm and Peyton Zieger's Sweet Potato Party
Today we celebrate the first snow of 1855 on Walden Pond. We'll also learn about the young woman who became an emblem for a raisin company. We'll remember the…
- The Daily Gardener
December 8, 2020 Italy's Olive Trees, Jan Ingenhousz, David Don, James Logan, Morris Bishop, Planting Design for Dry Gardens by Olivier Filippi and Making A Sugarplum Tree
Today we celebrate the botanist who discovered photosynthesis. We'll also learn about the Linnean Society Librarian, who was a botanist and explorer in his own…
- The Daily Gardener
December 7, 2020 Edward Tuckerman, William Saunders, Phipps Conservatory, Henry Rowland-Brown, The Art of the Garden by Relais & Châteaux North America and Willa Cather
Today we celebrate the botanist who saved the Lewis and Clark specimen sheets. We'll also learn about the successful botanist and garden designer who…
The Daily GardenerDecember 4, 2020 David Domoney's Fencing Guide, Andre Michaux, Theodore Vogel, John Tyndall, Arthur St. John Adcock, The Family Garden Plan by Melissa K. Norris, and Edna Walling
Today we celebrate the botanist who discovered the Rhododenrun minus growing in South Carolina. We'll also learn about the young German botanist who died on…
The Daily GardenerDecember 3, 2020 Seed Size, Gourds and Squashes, James Arnold, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Sara Coleridge, Earth to Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann, and Octavia Hill
Today I'll talk about the difference between gourds and squash. We'll also celebrate the man whose philanthropy made the Arnold Arboretum possible. We'll…
The Daily GardenerDecember 2, 2020 Rain Garden Design, Johann Julius Hecker, Nicholas Alexander Dalzell, James Edward Smith, James M. Barrie, Small Space Garden Ideas by Philippa Pearson, and Oliver Herford
Today we celebrate the German botanist who used gardens as classrooms. We'll also learn about the botanist who was a passionate advocate of forests. We'll…
- The Daily Gardener
December 1, 2020 December Folklore and Flowers, John Gerard, Andrew Thomas Gage, Clark Gable, Ebenezer Elliott, Planthropology by Ken Druse, and the Divine Miss M Rose
Today we celebrate the botanist who wrote one of the first Herbals. We'll also learn about the botanist who wasn't thrilled about getting one of India's first…
The Daily GardenerNovember 30, 2020 Wreaths to Keep Up, Martha Ballard, Nathanael Pringsheim, Mark Twain, Charlotte Fiske Bates, Trees, Shrubs & Hedges for Your Home, and Lucy Maud Montgomery
Today we celebrate an herbalist who kept a remarkable journal. We'll also learn about the German botanist who founded the study of algae. We'll review the…
- The Daily Gardener
November 27, 2020 Plant Seed Spacing, Albert Etter, Karl Foerster, Phebe Ann Holder, The Vegetable Garden Cookbook by Tobias Rauschenberger and Oliver Brachat, and the Bicentenary at Kew
Today we celebrate a one of a kind American plantsman and breeder who gave us the red-fleshed Pink Pearl apple. We'll also learn about the German nurseryman…
The Daily GardenerNovember 26, 2020 Proper Watering, Jean-Jacques de Mairan, George Ellwanger, Washington Atlee Burpee, Sarah Addison Allen, John Evelyn, Aileen Fisher, Wall Art Made Easy by Barbara Ann Kirby and Ruth Myrtle Patrick
Today we celebrate the man who proved plants have a circadian rhythm. We'll also learn about the nurseryman who helped establish Rochester, New York, as a…