After 1880 advertising in newspapers and magazines meant more than simply information about a product for sale. From that time advertising, through its illustrations, sought to motivate the buyer to make a purchase, and even to create a need for the…
It's that time of year again. Garden catalogs arrive in the mail on a regular basis. Even historian Jill Lepore has a new article in The New Yorker called "What We Learn from Leafing through Seed Catalogues." She presents her…
It's that time of year again. Time to welcome the Holidays. I hope the Holidays provide you a sense of an all-embracing tradition of understanding and love. May the Holiday tree inspire you to see the best in each and…
Hybridizing became popular in the nineteenth century, especially when growers sought new plants for the garden. There was a side effect however. Horticulturist Lawrence Griffith in his book Flowers and Herbs of Early America makes the point that because of…
In 1878 James Vick, nineteenth century seed merchant, in his garden magazine Vick's Illustrated Monthly mentioned cuttings as a way to propagate a plant. He said, "The most rapid method of propagating this plant [Dracaena congesta] is by cuttings of…