Category Archives: Botany

Plant of the Month: November 2020

Posted on 24/11/2020 by carolinemmurray

I am in the throes of having my garden made over. This is because, when I was young, and even more ignorant than I am now: (1) I put too many shrubs in too close together; (2) I maximised planting … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Cambridge, Exploration, Gardens, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Anna Maria Garthwaite

Posted on 04/11/2020 by carolinemmurray

It is a well-known fact that the Spitalfields district of London was, during the eighteenth century, entirely populated by French Huguenot refugees, all busy weaving away in their loft workshops, producing gorgeous silks for worldwide trade, and breeding auriculas and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Ole Worm

Posted on 09/10/2020 by carolinemmurray

I was prone to nominative determinism for more than half a century before I knew what it meant. A children’s biography of Grieg in my primary school library (who now remembers this series by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Bibliography, Biography, Botany, Cambridge, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing, The Netherlands | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Plant of the Month: September 2020

Posted on 28/09/2020 by carolinemmurray

Given that the Equinox has just happening, and that it has just come to my attention (belatedly, I concede) that we ought to be calling a large number of asters Symphyotrichum instead, I thought I’d have a look at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Plant of the Month: August 2020

Posted on 26/08/2020 by carolinemmurray

The name ‘acanthus’ was taken by Linnaeus from the Greek ἄκανθος, used by Aristotle among others to mean a prickly Mediterranean plant (today A. mollis), imitated in the Corinthian columns of Greek architecture; the related ἄκανθα means ‘thistle’. The family … Continue reading →

Posted in Botany, Cambridge, Gardens, History, Italy, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | 5 Comments

The Unhappy Countess

Posted on 07/08/2020 by carolinemmurray

I was lured into reading about the melodramatic and unhappy life of Mary Eleanor Bowes (1749–1800), by the National Trust, who said, on its website on Gibside, one of her many homes, that she was a botanist. Further investigation revealed … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, Literature, London, Museums and Galleries | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Plant of the Month: July 2020

Posted on 26/07/2020 by carolinemmurray

The other day, I found myself standing under a Broussonetia tree in the Cambridge University Botanic Garden (so happily now reopened, though you do have to book), and was reminded of my oft-repeated note to self to find out more … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Art, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, History, Museums and Galleries, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Captain Gurle

Posted on 03/07/2020 by carolinemmurray

I came across the name of Captain Gurle (also spelled Garle and Garrle) in the excellent Economic History of the English Garden, by Sir Roderick Floud, a really cracking book, with eye-opening figures about the importance of gardening in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Gardens, History, London, Museums and Galleries, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Plant of the Month: June 2020

Posted on 29/06/2020 by carolinemmurray

I never cease to be amazed that garden centres and nurseries actually sell seeds and plants of the Mexican fleabane, Erigeron karvinskianus. In my garden, nothing (except perhaps the dreaded pellitory) flourishes and reproduces better, and it grows best in … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Botany, Exploration, Gardens, Natural history | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Pliny of Switzerland

Posted on 09/05/2020 by carolinemmurray

I vaguely knew of Conrad Gessner (often spelled Gesner) as a botanist, but it wasn’t until I was tracing the taxonomy of the bluetit a few days ago that I became aware of his wide-ranging work across the fields of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Bibliography, Biography, Botany, History, Natural history, Printing and Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments