This week on We Dig Plants, Alice Marcus Krieg and Carmen Devito talk about the gardening influences of Beatrix Potter with Marta McDowell, author of Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. You might remember Beatrix Potter from her famous The Tale of Peter the Rabbit, but Beatrix was also a natural scientist and conservationist! Learn about Beatrix’s childhood, and how her summers in Scotland fostered her love for the natural world. How did Beatrix get involved with botany, and what was her involvement with noteworthy gardens like Kew Gardens? How did Beatrix’s fist books get published, and how did she develop her unique painting style? Find out Beatrix was able to brand herself and produce her own spin-off merchandise for Peter Rabbit long before branding became an institution. Thanks to our sponsor, Heritage Foods USA. Music by Pamela Royal.

“Beatrix Potter was very early in making spin-off merchandise. She made, by herself, the first stuffed model of Peter the Rabbit and arranged to have them manufactured… She wanted to make money.” [36:15]

— Marta McDowell on We Dig Plants