The Daily Gardener
The Daily Gardener is a podcast about Garden History and Literature.
The podcast celebrates the garden in an "on this day" format and every episode features a Garden Book.
Episodes are released M-F.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 20 minutes
- Episodes
- 545
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2024
August 27 - National Banana Day, Maria van Oosterwijck, Edwin James, Emil Christian Hansen, Brian Lawrence Burtt, Alice Waters, Sarah Orne Jewett, Nueva Salsa by Rafael Palomino, Tall Herbs, and Cut Flowers with Ruth Cameron
Today is National Banana Lovers Day.
Botanically speaking, the banana is a berry - a many seeded fruit.
And, banana trees are not trees. The banana plant is a giant herb. Inside the guts of the banan…
August 26, 2019 Four No-Fail Fall Perennials, Stephen McCormick, Edward Beard Budding, the State Flower of Alabama, Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, Victor Nekrasov, Rachel Carson by Linda Lear, Peony Sarah Bernhardt, and Helen Sharsmith
August 23, 2019 Cutting Back the Garden, the Patron Saint of Gardeners, Alexander Wilson, Eliza Sullivant, Hazel Schmoll, Rose Kingsley, The Prickly Pear Cookbook by Carolyn Niethammer, Spring Plant Swap Prep, and the 1942 Michigan Botanical Club Meeting
Sometimes I think cutting your bangs are a great analogy for pruning in the garden. You know how when your bangs are growing out - maybe a little past your eyebrows - and you think, "I am gonna gro…
August 22, 2019 My Mullein, the White Rose of Scotland, Edward Beard Budding, Jacob Weidenmann, National Eat a Peach Day, Cecil Day-Lewis, Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar, Sprucing Up Ironwork, and a Story about Elephant Ears
August 21, 2019 Living Mulch, the Patron Saint of Olives, George Celery Taylor, Adelbert van Chamiso, Dorothy Cadberry, Mary Bowerman, August Prose, Medicinal Herbs by Rosemary Gladstar, Cardinal Flower, and Taking an August Break
How do you start adding living mulch to your garden? One of the simplest ways, is just to look for the spots in your garden that are bare. Look for the open areas and start there. Look under y…
August 20, 2019 Pass-along Plants, the Patron Saint of Beekeepers, Edward Lee Green, Gettysburg Milkweed, the Plant Quarantine Act, Robert Plant, Edgar Albert Guest, Rose Recipes from Olden Times by Eleanor Sinclair Rhode, Pick Herbs, and Nerine undulat
"You don't have a garden just for yourself. You have it to share." - Augusta Carter, Master Gardener, Pound Ridge, Georgia Pass-along plants have the best stories, don't they? They have histor…
August 19, 2019 National Potato Day, Jane Webb, Phlox from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, Ellen Willmott, Willis Linn Jepson, Henderina Scott, Ogden Nash, Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman, Fall Herbs, and a Letter From Elizabeth Lawrence
Today is National Potato Day. Here are some fun potato facts: The average American eats approximately 126 pounds of spuds each year. And, up until the 18th century, the French believed potatoes ca…
August 16, 2019 Zucchini, Magness Holman, François-Andre Michaux, Serviceberry, Francis Darwin, Kenneth Woodbridge, Sylvia Plath, Sara Baume, Sue Monk Kid, Plant Parenting by Leslie Halleck, Bee Balm, and the Secret of Stourhead Garden
Are you swimming in zucchini yet? Emily Seftel, of The Tennessean, wrote an article in 2006 that was titled Gad zuks!- which I think is hilarious; we don’t use that term enough, do we? Anyway, th…
August 15, 2019 Garden Turmoil, Karl von Schreibers, Elias Magnus Friesz, John Torrey, Walter Crane, Geoff Hamilton, W.H. Auden, The Gardens of Emily Dickinson by Judith Farr, Pickerel Weed, and Sylvia Edlund
Last week was one of turmoil in my garden. We decided to put new windows and siding on the house. Then we decided to enjoy the ravages of a hail storm which dumped ping pong ball sized hail on …
August 14, 2019 Saint Werenfrid's Day, the Liberty Tree, Forest and Stream, Ada Hayden, FTD, Edgar Walter Denison, Thomas Gunn, Tulipomania by Mike Dash, Lined Pots, and the Canning Lid Shortage of 1975
Today, August 14, is Saint Werenfrid's Day. Werenfrid is the patron saint of vegetable gardens. He is often portrayed as a priest holding up a ship with a coffin in it or displayed as a priest l…
August 13, 2019 Nasturtiums, Peter Kalm, the Snowberry, Edward August Von Regal, Benedict Roezl, John Gould Veitch, Tove Jansson, The Orchid Hunter by Leif Bersweden , Add More Groundcover, Albert Ruth and the Twinflower
Boy, nasturtiums are such wonderful plants aren't they? August is a time when your nasturtiums look fabulous; even after a summer of blooming their hearts out. Right about now, you’re nasturtiums w…
August 12, 2019 Sweet Onions, Thomas Andrew Knight, Sir William Jackson Hooker, Clarence Birdseye, Ray Bradbury, The New Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman, Seeds for Fall Crops, and Jefferson's Tuberoses
If you’re looking to grow an onion that won’t make you cry and give you that bad breath, Sweet Onions are your thing. If you buy them in the store, they’re usually more expensive than the regular …
August 9, 2019 Surprise Plants, Ludwig Winter, Walden, George Vasey, Bunny Mellon, Richard Comb Miller, David Hoffman, Black Lace Elder, Japanese Flame Tree, and San Francisco
Every now and then, plants can surprise you. In this case I’m talking about more than just a beautiful bloom or general survival. I’m talking about variations that could lead to exciting new variet…
August 8, 2019 Hummingbirds, Carl Peter Thunberg, Julia Wilmotte Henshaw, John Henry Twachtman, Raymond A. Foss, Herbs by Judith Hann, Peonies, and Lace Cap Hydrangea
John Tabb wrote: "A flash of harmless lightning, A mist of rainbow dyes, The burnished sunbeams brightening From flower to flower he flies." He’s talking of course about the hummingbird. Gard…
August 7, 2019 Queen Anne’s Lace, Andreas Marggraff, Henry Perrine, MS Swaminathan, Henry David Thoreau, John Ruskin, The Evening Garden by Peter Loewer, Mulch, and Lucy Cranwell of New Zealand
There’s that lovely saying that goes something like, "One man’s weed is another man’s wildflower". This is especially true in the case of Queen Anne’s Lace. In the Facebook group for the show, li…
August 6, 2019 Harvesting Tomatoes, Frank Cabot, Andy Warhol, David Fairchild, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Flora's Dictionary by Kathleen Gips, Fall Sowing, and John Stewart Blackie
Well, the time we've waited for all year is here; it’s time to harvest tomatoes. I want to give you just a quick word of caution when it comes to harvesting your tomatoes. As gardeners, sometimes w…
August 5, 2019 Tussie Mussies, Jeanne Baret, Fred Paxford, Candice Wheeler, Wendell Barry, The Herb Garden Cookbook by Lucinda Hutson, Start Pansy Seed, Elaine Cramer and the Hydrangea Bloom Festival
One of the things I love to do at the end of spending time in my garden is to make some tussie mussies. Tussie mussies are also called nosegays or posies; they are small flower bouquets typically g…
August 2, 2019 Going to Seed, Thomas Gainsborough, Hawaiian Potatoes, Franklinia, Wallace Stevens, William Watson, The Cook and the Gardener by Amanda Hesser, Mint, and Longwood Gardens
Right about now you might be thinking about doing a little garden cleanup and preparation for fall. One of the questions I get from gardeners this time of year has to do with whether or not to let …
August 1, 2019 Gladiola, Edwin Way Teal, Franklyn Hugh Perring, Lord Byron, The Garden Chef, Repurposed Strawberry Jar, and Plants Named After People
Are you growing Gladiola? The plants are also sometimes called the Sword Lily. Gladiola is Latin for a small sword. In Victorian times, the Gladiola meant, "You pierce my heart." And the next tim…
July 31, 2019 Poppies, Christopher Lloyd, Daniel Defoe, Mary Vaux Walcott, Richard Morris Hunt, Smithsonian Gardens, Robert Frost, Gardenista by Michelle Slatalla, Updating Beds, and National Avacado Day
Did you know that poppies were Christopher Lloyd's his favorite flower? In his short essay about poppies, he introduces 'Goliath' poppies which grow to 4 feet tall and offer the largest blooms of a…