Plants in Early American Gardens - Peruvian Zinnia

 Peruvian Zinnia (Zinnia peruviana)
Although zinnias did not become popular garden plants until late in the 19th century, Peruvian Zinnias were grown in 18th-century gardens and were sold by Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon in 1804. This South American annual produces flowers in shades of red and yellow throughout the summer. The small but attractive flowers are perfect for cutting and are very different from the improved hybrids now so popular.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Peruvian Zinnia (Zinnia peruviana)

Plants in Early American Gardens - Johnny-Jump-Up

Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor)

Johnny-jump-up, or Heartsease, is a showy, self-seeding annual with small pansy-like flowers, each of them showing three colors: deep purple, yellow, and white. The plant was established in American gardens before 1700, and Jefferson sowed it at Shadwell on April 1, 1767, calling it “Tricolor.”

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

History Blooms at Monticello - Common or European Peony

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that

The ancient European Peonies were a highlight in the gardens at Monticello during Historic Garden Week in Virginia. The Common or European Peony, Paeonia officinalis, was found in the gardens of France and Britain since the 16C, when they were grown in the medicinal gardens of monasteries. Philadelphia nurseyman John Bartram sent several peonies to the Lambolls of Charleston, SC in 176,1 and Jefferson listed the "piony" among his "hardy perennials flowers" as early as 1771.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Empress of India Nasturtium

Empress of India Nasturtium (Tropaeolum minus cv.)

Eastern North American seed companies were offering this showy, award-winning variety by the 1880s. Empress of India Nasturtium has a dwarf, bushy habit, dark purplish-blue foliage, and brilliant crimson-scarlet flowers. The 1884 Burpee's catalogue described it as "the most important annual in recent introduction."

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Plants in Early American Gardens - Black-Eyed Susan Vineello

Black-eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata)

This summer-blooming annual vine was introduced to Britain from India in 1823. Black-eyed Susan Vine is included in a charming book, The Parlor Garden, which Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter, Cornelia Jefferson Randolph, edited and translated from French into English (1861); she noted, “it becomes covered with charming flowers, of a fine nankeen yellow, set off with a black spot in the middle."

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Plants in Early American Gardens - Nasturtium

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

Nasturtium, also known as Indian Cress, was often grown as an edible plant in the 18th century, as seen by its inclusion in Jefferson's vegetable garden. The young leaves and flowers can be enjoyed in salads, and the seeds can be pickled like capers, just as they were in Jefferson’s day. These attractive plants will bloom in an array of colors--reds, oranges, yellows--and with the trailing habit typical of the species before mid-19th century breeding.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Plants in Early American Gardens - Striped French Marigold

 Striped French Marigold (Tagetes patula)
The species French Marigold was introduced to European gardens from South America in the late 16th century. A handsome striped form of this annual flower was first illustrated in the London-based periodical Curtis' Botanical Magazine, 1791, and was being grown in America by that time. Striped French Marigold is perfect for cutting, with flowers that vary from yellow streaked with maroon to solid yellow and occasionally all red; prune and deadhead to prolong flowering.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Plants in Early American Gardens - African Marigold

African Marigold (Tagetes erecta)

Thomas Jefferson planted seeds of the African Marigold along the winding walk flower border on April 8, 1812. Although native to South America, the first garden plants introduced into Europe came from Northern Africa: hence, the common name. While double garden forms were common around 1800, this is the species, or wild form, of African Marigold with unusual (and rare) single, yellow flowers.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Onion

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Onion

Onion, Cepa. There are three sorts for winter use; the Strasburg...the red Spanish Onion...the white Spanish Onion... There are other sorts which suit the spring and summer season best. There are Cepa ascalonica,from Ascalon, a city in India, or the Scallion or Escallion. The Cives, or Copula, the young Onion. The Welch Onion, and lastly the Ciboule. The three first sorts should be sown in February, the first open weather, or beginning of March at farthest, and in about six weeks your Onions will be up, and ought to be weeded. The rows should be about twelve or eighteen inches asunder, if sowed in drills, which is the best method, arid the plants should be drawn to be about five or six inches apart. This may be no loss, because they will serve with young salad in the spring; about the middle or latter end of July your plants will be ripe, which may be discovered by the dropping down or shrinking of the blades; then they should be drawn up, and the extreme part of the blades should be cropped off, and the plants laid on the ground to dry. They should be turned at least every other day, otherwise they will strike fresh root, especially in moist weather. In about a fortnight they will be sufficiently dried; you are then to rub off all the earth and take care to remove all that are any ways decayed, and the sound ones laid as thin as possible in some room or garret, as close from the air as possible, and at least once a month look over them, to see if any of them are decayed, for if any are so, they will affect the. rest; or if too near one another, or in heaps, they will heat, and probably ruin the whole crop. The white Onion is the sweetest, though all the three sorts will degenerate into one another in the course of time. In March'you should dig a trench, and put some of your most flourishing plants about six inches deep, and as far asunder,v into it, which should be covered over with a rake, and in about a month's time the leaves will appear above ground, and when your plants begin to head, they should be supported by stakes and packthread or yarn, otherwise they will be very liable to be injured by the winds. These will produce you seed about August, which may be known by the seeds changing brown, and the bells where the seed is contained opening. The heads should be critically cut, otherwise the seed will be dropped, and when cut, the heads should be exposed to the sun, and sheltered in the night and wet weather, and when suificiently dry, they should be rubbed out, and after being exposed one day more to the sun, may be put into bags and preserved for the following year. The Scallion is a small Onion, and is sown early in the spring, and never forms any bulb, and is used green in the spring with young salads. The Ciboule and Welch Onion, are thought to be the same by Miller.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Sweet William Catchfly

Sweet William Catchfly (Silene armeria)

Sweet William Catchfly is a showy, self-seeding annual flower native to Europe with blue-green leaves and a long succession of purplish-pink flowers from late spring into summer. Sometimes called Lobel's Catchfly or None-So-Pretty, it was established in American gardens by the 1820s. The 1804 broadside of Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon offered seed for both red and white forms.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Clary

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Clary

Clary, Sclarea...These are propagated either from the seed, in a light soil, or parting the roots and planting them out at Michaelmas, about eighteen inches asunder; these will last many years.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Pincushion Flower

Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa atropurpurea)

When Thomas Jefferson requested roots and bulbs of the "Mourning bride" from his neighbor, Isaac Coles, in 1811, he may have been referring to the Pincushion Flower. Also known as Mourning Bride because of its association with grieving widows in 18th-century England, this long-blooming annual boasts velvet-like flowers all summer in mixed shades of purple, blue, white, and red, and makes a good cut flower.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Chamomile

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Chamomile

Chamomile, Chamomelum, (from Melon, gr. an Apple, because it has the scent of one, J or Anthemis, as it is called by Dr. Linnans. There are different species, but the chamomelum odoratishmum repens, fore simplici, is the sort chiefly propagated. It is used medicinally, and in making green walks or edgings; the method of planting is, to separate the roots, as they grow very close, and prick each root into poor land, about ten inches asunder, in the month of March; they will quickly stretch themselves into contact with each other, and as the flowers ripen they should be gathered and dried. When thick, it is apt to rot in the winter, so that it ought now and then to be thinned.

.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Horminum Sage

Horminum Sage (Salvia viridis)

Horminum Sage is a hardy annual native to the Mediterranean region. Grown in Britain as an ornamental in the 16th century, Horminum Sage was cultivated in American gardens as early as 1761, when it appeared on a plant list for a Moravian farm in North Carolina. Compact plants form spikes of colorful bracts in hues of pink, blue, and purple, which make long-lasting cut-flowers.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Artichokes

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Artichokes

ARTICHOKES, known to botanical writers by the name of Cynara, are to be propagated either from the seed, which are to be gathered from the choke or flower at the head of the Artichoke, or from slips, which are to be separated from the main stalk by the edge of the hand, and transplanted. If these offsets are good, they will be of a whitish colour about the heel, and will have some little root to them. If you have plenty of ground, put three slips in a hill, and let the hills be four feet asunder, and the rows the same; but if you are scanty with regard to your land, you must cut your coat according to your cloth. About March, or the beginning of April, you are annually to slip off all the lateral branches with your hand, and leave only the three principal stalks in your hill. Every spring they ought to be dunged: sheep dung and ashes are not only the best for that purpose, but also for preparing the ground for them. If you have depth of mould enough, i. e. two feet, and you don't crop your ground with any thing else, your Artichokes will remain good a number of years; but if they are any ways neglected, or the ground is tended, they will not only be injured in their growth, but will very much degenerate in five years. When planted out, they should be well watered, if not in a wet season, and be kept clean from weeds. There are various methods of preserving them from the severity of winter. Some cut them down within a foot of the earth, and cover them with a hill or ridge, leaving a small hole at the top, which is covered with dung. I have found from many years' experience, that long dung is an enemy to them, and that the best way to preserve them is, by laying straw on the surface of the ground, over their roots. This preserves the leaves from rotting which fall down from the frost, and, united, afford such a protection to the plant, that not one in fifty will perish. They never flourish in a dripping situation, but like a low place, not too wet, but very rich. When you cut them, cut the stalks quite down to the ground, which strengthens the plants, and makes them forwarder in the spring. There will be many on a stalk, but all must be pulled off except that which is on the centre of the main stalk, if you propose having them fine. If you prick out the slips in the spring, you may have a succession till the fall. The leaves of Artichokes, I have been informed, clean pewter the best of any thing. There are different sorts, but two only that are much propagated. First, Foliis aculeatis, i. e. with prickly leaves. Second, Foliis non aculeatis capite subrubente, i. e. without prickly leaves, and with a smooth and reddish head. The latter is most preferred. There is the Cynara spinosa, which is to be cultivated and eaten like celery, and which produces a head with the seed not unlike the Artichoke, fro in whence it took its name. The common name is chardooh, or cardoon. The Jerusalem Artichoke...is only a species of the Sun-flower, with a tuberous root, not unlike a Potatoe. Some admire them, but they are of a flatulent nature, and are apt to cause commotions in the belly.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Texas Sage

Texas Sage (Salvia coccinea)

Texas, or Scarlet Sage is grown as a tender annual for full sun. Native from tropical America into the southern United States, this species has been grown as an ornamental in North American gardens since the middle of the nineteenth century. The spreading plants reach two to three feet and produce slender spikes of scarlet flowers from mid-summer until the first frost in autumn. Sow seeds after the last frost in spring. Texas Sage reseeds itself easily.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

1764 John Randolph's (1727-1784) Kitchen Garden Calendar

.

One of the earliest treatises on gardening in America was written by John Randolph around 1765 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

A General Calendar for Work in the Kitchen Garden

JANUARY.
Prepare hot-beds for Cucumbers; as little can be done this month in a garden, I would advise the preparing of your dung, and carrying it to your beds, that it may be ready to spread on in February.

FEBRUARY.
Sow Asparagus, make your beds and fork up the old ones, sow Loaf Cabbages; latter end transplant Cauliflowers, sow Carrots, and transplant for seed; prick out endive for seed, sow Lettuce, Melons in hot-beds, sow Parsneps take up the old roots and prick out for seed, sow Peas and prick them into your hot-beds, sow Radishes twice, plant Strawberries, plant out Turneps for seed, spade deep and make it fine, plant Beans.

MARCH.
Slip your Artichokes, if fit, plant Kidney Beans, Cabbages, Celery, Parsley, Cucumbers, Currants, Chamomile, Celandine; Nasturtium, Featherfew, Fennel, Ivy, Horse Radish, Hyssop, Lavender, Lettuce, Radishes twice, Marjoram, Marsh Mallow, Mint, Melons, Millet, Mugwort, Onions, and for seed, Peas twice, Potatoes, Raspberry, Rosemary, Rue, Spinach, Tansy, Thyme, Turneps. You may begin to mow your grass walks, and continue so to do every morning, and roll them; turf this month; plant Box.

APRIL.
If Artichokes were not slipped last month, do it this, plantTiushel and garden Beans, sow Cabbages the twelfth, sow Cauliflowers, Celery, Cresses, Nasturtium, Lettuce, Peas, Radishes twice; Sage will grow in this or any other month; Turneps, sow Salsify early, Pepper; turf this month.

MAY.
Latter end sow Brocoli, Celery, Cucumbers for pickles, Endive, Featherfew, Hyssop, Cuttings of Marsh Mallow, Melons, Peas, sow Radishes twice, Kidney Beans; turf this month.

JUNE.
Cabbages should be sown, sow Radishes twice, transplant Cabbages, prick out Cauliflowers, prick out Brocoli, draw up by the roots all your weeds.

JULY.
Transplant Brocoli, sow Cabbages, Coleworts, transplant Cauliflowers to stand, Endive, gather Millet seed, take up Onions, sow Radishes twice, sow Turneps, plant Kidney Beans to preserve.

AUGUST.
Sow Cabbages, latter end Carrots, get your Cucumber seed, sow Cresses, prick out Endive, early sow Lettuce, Mullein, gather Onion seed, plant Garlick, get Parsnep seed; twelfth, sow Peas for the fall, sow Radishes; middle, sow Spinach, though some say not until after the twentieth, sow Turneps.

SEPTEMBER.
Sow Cabbages tenth, sow Cauliflowers, plant cuttings of Currants, Clary, Comfrey, plant cuttings of Gooseberries, sow Radishes, plant layers of suckers of Raspberries, Rosemary, plant out Strawberries, string your Strawberries, and dress your beds, plant Tansy.

OCTOBER.
Latter end cut down your Asparagus, and cover your beds with dung, plant Beans for spring, sow Cabbages twentieth; transplant Cauliflowers, plant Horse Radish, prick Lettuce into boxes, sow Peas for the hot-bed, Radishes; turf this month.

NOVEMBER.
Take up your Cabbages, sow Cabbages, take up your Cauliflowers, such as are flowered, and house them, take up your Carrots, trench all your vacant land, prune your trees and vines, plant out every thing of the tree or shrub kind, that has a root to it: if any thing is done to your Artichokes, this is a good month; plant Box; turf early.

DECEMBER.
Cover your Endive with brush, cover Celery, and every thing else that needs shelter; if the weather will admit, turn over the ground that is trenched, in order to mellow and pulverize it. Whatever will prevent delay, and enable you to begin spading in February, should be done this month.

John Randolph was born about 1728, probably at the Peyton Randolph House on Market Square in Williamsburg. After he attended the College of William & Mary for his basic education, he traveled to London in 1745, to study law at the Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London, returning to Williamsburg to practice law in 1749. During his years in Williamsburg, he became a member of the city's common council, & a burgess for the College of William & Mary. When his older brother Peyton Randolph was elected speaker of the House of Burgesses, John succeeded him as the royal colony's attorney general.

As the sentiment for separating from mother England grew, Randolph’s brother Peyton Randolph became chair of the Continental Congress, & loyalist John Randolph made plans to sail for England. He wrote a farewell letter to his cousin Thomas Jefferson. "We both of us seem to be steering opposite courses," he said, "the success of either lies in the womb of Time." John Randolph arranged passage across the Atlantic for himself, his wife, Ariana, and their 2 daughters, Susannah and Ariana. His son Edumund, who did not share his father's loyalist sentiments, joined the American army serving as aide-de-camp to General George Washington.

John Randolph died at Brampton, England, in 1784. His death brought his return to America.  He is interred beside his father and brother in the family vault in the chapel at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (727-1784) - Chives

A Treatise on Gardening Written by a native of this State (Virginia)
Author was John Randolph (1727-1784)
Written in Williamsburg, Virginia about 1765
Published by T. Nicolson, Richmond, Virginia. 1793
The only known copy of this booklet is found in the Special Collections of the Wyndham Robertson Library at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.

Chives

Chives never grow into bulbs, but in bunches, and Miller takes it to be Shallot. They do not grow above six inches high in the blade. They are to be propagated by parting the roots or planting the cloves. They do not affect the breath so much as the other sorts. The Welch Onion at some seasons of the year, viz: in the fall, dies away, but revives in January, and becomes very early in the spring fit for the table.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Mignonette

Mignonette (Reseda odorata grandiflora)

Mignonette was introduced to ornamental gardens in Europe about 1725, and because of its sweet fragrance both as a garden plant and as a cut flower, its popularity grew steadily on both sides of the Atlantic through the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson recorded sowing seeds for this annual at Monticello in 1811. The tiny, pale green and white flowers emit a fresh, fruity scent in summer and are attractive to bees and butterflies.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

Plants in Early American Gardens - Prince's Feather

Prince's Feather (Persicaria orientalis)

Also known as Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate and Oriental Persicary, this towering, fast-growing, self-seeding annual was first grown in Virginia by Williamsburg's John Custis in 1737. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon included it on his 1804 seed list as "Persicaria." An Asian species, Prince's Feather produces pendulous clusters of bead-like, bright-pink flowers in summer above robust and lush foliage. The flowers are attractive to pollinators.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello