History Blooms at Monticello - Rattlesnake Master

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

An unusual member of the Apiaceae, or Carrot/Parsley family, this Eryngium has a native range from Connecticut south to Florida and west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas. Often found in tall grass prairies, the Rattlesnake Master was once used by Native Americans to cure snake bites, as well as other ailments such as venereal disease and kidney disorders. The distinctive flowers have a honey scent and are attractive to bees and butterflies, and the yucca-like foliage provides a nice contrast in flower borders and native plant collections.

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History Blooms at Monticello - Queen Anne's Pocket Melon

Queen Anne's Pocket Melon (Cucumis melo dudaim)

Queen Anne’s Pocket Melon, also known as Plum-Granny, is an unusual annual trailing plant with highly aromatic, ornamental fruit that has been grown for at least 1000 years. Although possibly named for Queen Anne of England (1702-14), this melon is native to Persia and Linnaeus attributed it to Egypt and Arabia. Legend has it that the ladies of the Queen’s court carried the fragrant melon as a perfumed sachet. While edible, this melon is valued more for its scent than its rather flavorless white flesh. It ripens to orange with lemon-yellow stripes.

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History Blooms at Monticello - Strawberry Spinach

Strawberry Spinach (Chenopodium capitatum)

Strawberry Spinach is a heat-loving annual species native throughout North America as well as Europe, where it has been cultivated since the 1600s. It has many common names, including Indian Ink because Native Americans used the juice from the edible fruit as a red dye. The tender, triangular shaped greens can be eaten raw or cooked.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Virginia Bluebells or Mountain Cowslips

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)

On April 16, 1766, in one of his earliest observations in his Garden Book, Thomas Jefferson noted, “the bluish colored, funnel-formed flower in the low grounds in bloom.” Also called Virginia or mountain cowslip and Roanoke bells in the 18th century, this is one of our most desirable native perennial flowers. It was introduced to Britain by 1700 and Williamsburg’s John Custis sent roots to his patron Peter Collinson in the 1730s. It is easy to grow in most shady gardens and the emerging tufts of blue-green foliage are a harbinger of spring. Do not allow dormant roots to dry out.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Feathered Hyacinth

Feathered Hyacinth (Muscari comosum 'Plumosum')

Feathered Hyacinth, which is native to the Mediterranean region, has been in cultivation since 1612. Jefferson noted it blooming on April 25, 1767 at his boyhood home, Shadwell. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon forwarded bulbs to Jefferson in 1812 for planting along the flower borders at Monticello. Today the Tassel Hyacinth (Muscari comosum), the species form, is naturalized throughout the gardens and south orchard at Monticello.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Rose Geranium

Rose Geranium (Pelargonium graveolens)

The P. graveolens species, native to southern Africa, was introduced to England in 1774 and has long been used to produce geranium oil. At least eight species of sweet-scented geraniums were introduced to America from southern Africa between 1770 and 1820. Rose, nutmeg, and oak-leaf geraniums were among the earliest imports. Jean Skipwith of Prestwould in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, listed “rose geranium” among her houseplants in papers that have been dated between 1785 and 1805. This geranium lends a lovely rose scent to potpourri and the edible leaves can be used in jams, jellies, cakes, puddings and more.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - French Lavender

French Lavender (Lavandula stoechas)

French or Spanish Lavender (also once known as Stickadove Lavender) is native to the Mediterranean coastline of Europe. British herbalist John Gerard noted in 1633 that the apothecaries used it as a cure for headaches and chest colds and he recommended that the plants be protected during winter or put into pots or tubs and brought indoors. In fact, north of Zone 8, this lavender species should be maintained in an unheated room or porch during the winter months. Jefferson cultivated the hardier English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia).

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Pheasant's Eye Daffodil

Pheasant's Eye Daffodil (Narcissus poeticus var. recurvus)

This species of daffodil grows wild in mountain meadows from France into Greece. It has been grown in Britain since Roman times and in this country since the 1600s. Though various forms were illustrated in seventeenth-century British herbals, the variety recurvus, or old Pheasant’s Eye, was not known until the early 1800s. Pheasant’s Eye is a late-blooming daffodil that naturalizes well in lawns and meadows.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Bare Root Sourwood

Bare Root Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum)

This very attractive native tree normally grows on slopes and ridges and along the edges of forests. It is common in woodlands from Pennsylvania southward through the mountains into western Florida and west into Louisiana, Tennessee, and Indiana. Also known as lily-of-the-valley tree, its flowers are extremely attractive to bees, and sourwood honey is a specialty in regions where the tree is common. Sourwood was introduced into cultivation by the 1750s and illustrated by North American plant explorer and botanist Mark Catesby. Philip Miller first successfully grew it in the Chelsea Physic Garden in London. Known in the 18th century as Andromeda arborea, Thomas Jefferson requested that plants of this species be sent to him in Paris while he was serving as Minister to France: twice in 1786, and again in 1788, specifically for his friend, Madame de Tessé.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Karl Rosenfield Peony

Karl Rosenfield Peony (Paeonia lactiflora cv.)

Both European and Asian peonies have been cultivated since ancient times. Those native to central China and Siberia (varieties of Paeonia lactiflora) were first introduced to the West by the 18th century and by 1784 breeding with the European peony was occurring in France and Britain. Because peonies are such long-lived plants, many 19th-century cultivars are still available. Thomas Jefferson noted “Piony” in a list of hardy perennials as early as 1771. ‘Karl Rosenfield’ was introduced in 1908 by John F. Rosenfield, an American peony breeder. The brightly colored flowers attract butterflies.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Eastern Ninebark

Bare Root Eastern Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

Eastern Ninebark grows from Quebec to Virginia, Tennessee, and Michigan. A member of the rose family, it resembles Spirea in character and forms a dense, fast-growing shrub for naturalistic shrub borders. Philadelphia nurserymen John Bartram and Bernard McMahon, and the Prince Nurseries on Long Island, each included this unusual native shrub in their plant lists around the turn of the 19th century.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Great Blue Lobelia

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

This native wildflower has been grown in American flower gardens since at least the beginning of the 19th century. At one time it was thought to be a cure for venereal disease, thus the botanical name. Philadelphia nurserymen John and William Bartram sent seed of the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) and the Great Lobelia (L. siphilitica) to Europe in 1784. In The American Gardener’s Calendar, 1806, Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon named “Lobelias of various kinds” first among the “beautiful ornamental plants [that] may now be collected from the woods, fields, and swamps [to] embellish the Flower-garden and Pleasure-grounds...” McMahon advertised seeds of this species in his 1804 broadsheet and the William Prince Nursery on Long Island offered it in 1818. Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are attracted to the tubular flowers, but deer typically avoid this plant due to its toxicity.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Double Red Peony

Double Red Peony (Paeonia officinalis 'Rubra Plena')

The Common or European Peony, Paeonia officinalis, was found in the gardens of France and Britain since the sixteenth century when they were grown in the medicinal gardens of monasteries. Thomas Jefferson most likely was referring to the European Peony when he noted “Piony” in a list of hardy perennials as early as 1771. The ‘Rubra Plena’ has been documented in cultivation since at least 1581 and is considered the first peony variety documented in American gardens, specifically in New England and the Middle Atlantic states. Peonies are deer resistant and their flowers are attractive to butterflies.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - American Sycamore

 Bare Root American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Bare Root American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)

Recorded as early as 1636, this fast-growing, long-lived giant of eastern North American forests is often found in lowlands and along waterways, where its gleaming white bark is easily identifiable in the winter landscape. Also called Buttonwood, this native tree was offered in the 1783 Catalogue from Philadelphia’s Bartram garden and nursery. Thomas Jefferson listed the “Plane-tree” as an Ornamental native plant in his Notes on the State of Virginia (1781), and sent seeds to his French friend, Madame de Tessé in 1805, saying “a noble tree for shade, of fine form, its bark of a paper-white when old, and of very quick growth.”

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Sarah Bernhardt Peony

Sarah Bernhardt Peony (Paeonia lactiflora cv.)

Both European and Asian peonies have been cultivated since ancient times. Those native to central China and Siberia (varieties of Paeonia lactiflora) were first introduced to the West by the 18th century and by 1784 breeding with the European peony was occurring in France and Britain. Because peonies are such long-lived plants, many 19th-century cultivars are still available. Thomas Jefferson noted “Piony” in a list of hardy perennials as early as 1771. The highly fragrant ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ was introduced in 1906. Peonies are deer resistant, and their flowers attract butterflies.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - White Balloon Flower

White Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus 'Albus')

Indigenous to China and Japan, Platycodon grandiflorus, the only species in the genus, was grown in European gardens by 1782. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon included Campanula grandiflora (syn. Platycodon grandiflorus) in the General Catalogue of his American Gardener’s Calendar (1806). ‘Albus,’ the white variety of balloon flower, was first offered by the Ohio nursery Storrs, Harrison, & Co. in 1896. The botanical name is from the Greek platys, meaning “broad,” and kodon, meaning “bell,” in reference to the showy flowers.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Wild Blue Phlox

Wild Blue Phlox (Phlox divaricata)

This North American species was introduced to British and European gardens as Phlox Canadensis in 1746. Bernard McMahon listed it as the “early flowering phlox” in the 1806 edition of his book, The American Gardener’s Calendar. In The American Flower Garden Directory, 1839, nurseryman, florist, and author Robert Buist considered the American genus Phlox to be one of the most handsome in cultivation. Buist included the Wild Sweet William among the species he considered the finest. The flowers are attractive to butterflies.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Bare Root Blue Damson Plum

Bare Root Blue Damson Plum ( Prunus insititia)

The name Damson derives from the Latin Prunus damascenum, “Plum of Damascus,” where the species was believed to have originated before its introduction into England and Ireland. In 1778 Thomas Jefferson planted a number of fruits, including the “Damascene” plum in the south-facing orchard at Monticello. The Damson was brought to America by English settlers long before the American Revolution and was a favorite of the early colonist. The tart fruits are especially desirable in jams and jellies. Bees are essential for good pollination and abundant fruit production.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Chickasaw Plum

Bare Root Chickasaw Plum (Prunus angustifolia)

Called “Cherokee plumb” by Thomas Jefferson, this tough, prolific fruit tree is native to the southern United States. Jefferson received this plum from nurseryman Robert Bailey of Washington and planted it at Monticello on March 17 and 18, 1812. He also included it in a list of edible native plants in his book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1780s). The tart, acidic fruits are best when cooked or preserved, and are also attractive to birds. The mass of white flowers in spring are magnets for bees and butterflies.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Ducher China Rose

'Ducher' China Rose (Rosa x chinensis cv.)

Formerly called Rosa indica ‘Ducher’ and Bengale Ducher, this white China rose was bred by Jean-Claude Ducher (1829-1874), of Lyon, France, and introduced in 1869. Like most China roses, ‘Ducher’ flowers in flushes throughout the season, but most reliably if the spent blossoms are removed; otherwise it will produce persistent, orange-red hips. The China roses bloom on new wood, so prune early to promote growth and flowering.

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