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 

Using lobsters for catching garden insects...

1793 James Sowerby (English artist, 1757-1822) Lobster

"Procure the hollow claws of Lobsters, Crabs, &c. and hanging them in different parts of the garden, the insects creep into them, and are easily taken; but the claws must be often searched." 
The Complete Vermin-Killer: A Valuable and Useful Companion for Families, in Town and Country, (London, 1777).

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
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Plant Lists - Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Ornamental Shrubs and Vines

Thomas Jefferson by Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kosciuszko (1746 - 1817) 

Thomas Jefferson’s Plant List From His Garden Book, 1767-1821 Dates refer to first mention of a plant in Jefferson’s documents, which include Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book, edited by Edwin Betts, 1944, unpublished memoranda at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Library of Congress and Princeton University Library. Quotation marks designate varieties undescribed in the literature and are generally Jefferson’s personal names.  List compiled by Peter Hatch.

Ornamental Shrubs and Vines

Acacia farnesiana Sweet Acacia ("Acacia Nilotica”) 1792
Alnus rugosa Alder 1771
Amorpha fruticosa Bastard Indigo 1771
Berberis vulgaris European Barberry 1771
Callicarpa americana Beauty Berry 1771
Calycanthus floridus Sweet Shrub ("Bubby flower shrub") 1778
Campsis radicans Trumpet Vine 1771
Castanea pumila Chinquapin 1771
Ceanothus americanus New Jersey Tea 1771
Clematis virginiana Virgin's Bower 1807
Clethra alnifolia Sweet Pepperbush 1771
Colutea arborescens Bladder Senna 1812
Cornus sanguinea Swamp Dogwood ("Dogberry") 1783
Coronilla emerus Scorpion Senna 1771
Cotinus coggygria Smoke Tree ("Venetian Sumach”) 1791
Cytisus scoparius Scotch Broom 1806
Daphne cneorum Rose Daphne 1790
Daphne mezereum "Mezereon" 1804
Euonymus americanus Strawberry Bush ("Evergreen Spindle Tree") 1790
Gardenia jasminoides Gardenia ("Cape jasmine") 1808
Gelsemium sempervirens Carolina Yellow Jessamine 1771
Hibiscus syriacus Rose of Sharon ("Althea”) 1767
 "double" 1809
 “pink" 1809
 "striped" 1809
 "white" 1809
Ilex verticillata Winterberry 1808
Jasminum officinale Poet’s Jessamine ("Star Jasmine,”"White Jasmine") 1794
Kalmia latifolia Mountain Laurel ("Ivy," "Dwarf Laurel") 1771
Ligustrum vulgare Privet 1807
Lonicera alpigena Red-berried Honeysuckle 1810
Lonicera sempervirens Coral Honeysuckle ("Honey-suckle") 1771
Nerium oleander Oleander 1804
Philadelphus coronarius Mock Orange 1807
Prunus triloba Flowering Almond ("Amygdalus flore pleno") 1790
Pyracantha coccinea Pyracantha ("Prickly medlar,” "Mespilus” 1810
Pyrularia pubera Buffalo Nut ("Oil shrub") 1797
Rhododendron maximum Rosebay Rhododendron 1790
Rhododendron periclymenoides Pinxter Azalea ("Wild honeysuckle") 1767
Rhus toxicodendron Poison Ivy ("Poison oak") 1771
Robinia hispida Moss Locust ("Prickly locust” 1807
Sambucus canadensis Elderberry 1771
Spartium junceum Spanish Broom 1767
Symphoricarpus albus Snowberry 1812
Syringa persica Persian Lilac ("Persian jasmine”) 1808
Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac 1767
Taxus canadensis American Yew ("Dwarf yew") 1798
Ulex europaeus Gorse ("Furze") 1794
Viburnum opulus var. sterile Snowball("Guelder Rose") 1794
Viburnum trilobum Cranberry Bush 1798
Vinca minor Periwinkle 1771
Vitex agnus-castus Chaste Tree 1807
Wisteria frutescens Wisteria ("Carolina kidney bean Tree with
purple flowers") 1791
Yucca filamentosa Yucca, Adam’s Needle 1794

Research & images & much more are directly available from the Monticello.org website. 

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 

Garden to Table - Home-Made Clary & Raisin Wine

 

John Greenwood (American artist, 1727-1792) Sea Captains Carousing, 1758.  Detail

Old-Time Recipes for Home Made Wines Cordials & Liqueurs 1909 by Helen S. Wright

CLARY  - RAISIN WINE

Take twelve pounds of Malaga raisins, pick them and chop them very small, put them in a tub, and to each pound one-half pint of water. Let them steep ten or eleven days, stirring it twice every day; you must keep it covered close all the while. Then strain it off, and put it into a vessel, and about one-quarter peck of the tops of clary, when it is in blossom; stop it close for six weeks, and then bottle it off. In two or three months it is fit to drink. It is apt to have a great sediment at bottom; therefore it is best to draw it off by plugs, or tap it pretty high.

Old-Time Recipes for Home Made Wines is a cookbook for those who want to make their own wines & liqueurs from available ingredients, including fruits, flowers, vegetables, & shrubs from local gardens, farms, & orchards. It includes ingredients & instructions for making & fermenting spirits, from wine & ale to sherry, brandy, cordials, & even beer. 

Colonial Era Cookbooks

1615, New Booke of Cookerie, John Murrell (London) 

1798, American Cookery, Amelia Simmons (Hartford, CT)

1803, Frugal Housewife, Susannah Carter (New York, NY)

1807, A New System of Domestic Cookery, Maria Eliza Rundell (Boston, MA)

1808, New England Cookery, Lucy Emerson (Montpelier, VT)

Helpful Secondary Sources

America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking/Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

Colonial Kitchens, Their Furnishings, and Their Gardens/Frances Phipps Hawthorn; 1972

Early American Beverages/John Hull Brown   Rutland, Vt., C. E. Tuttle Co 1996 

Early American Herb Recipes/Alice Cooke Brown  ABC-CLIO  Westport, United States

Food in Colonial and Federal America/Sandra L. Oliver

Home Life in Colonial Days/Alice Morse Earle (Chapter VII: Meat and Drink) New York : Macmillan Co., ©1926.

A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America/James E. McWilliams New York : Columbia University Press, 2005.

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 

Garden to Table - Home-Made Apricot Wine

 

John Greenwood (American artist, 1727-1792) Sea Captains Carousing, 1758.  Detail

Old-Time Recipes for Home Made Wines Cordials & Liqueurs 1909 by Helen S. Wright

APRICOCK WINE
Take three pounds of sugar, and three quarts of water; let them boil together and skim it well. Then put in six pounds of apricocks, pared and stoned, and let them boil until they are tender; then take them up and when the liquor is cold bottle it up. You may if you please, after you have taken out the apricocks, let the liquor have one boil with a sprig of flowered clary in it; the apricocks make marmalade, and are very good for preserves.

Old-Time Recipes for Home Made Wines is a cookbook for those who want to make their own wines & liqueurs from available ingredients, including fruits, flowers, vegetables, & shrubs from local gardens, farms, & orchards. It includes ingredients & instructions for making & fermenting spirits, from wine & ale to sherry, brandy, cordials, & even beer. 

Colonial Era Cookbooks

1615, New Booke of Cookerie, John Murrell (London) 

1798, American Cookery, Amelia Simmons (Hartford, CT)

1803, Frugal Housewife, Susannah Carter (New York, NY)

1807, A New System of Domestic Cookery, Maria Eliza Rundell (Boston, MA)

1808, New England Cookery, Lucy Emerson (Montpelier, VT)

Helpful Secondary Sources

America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking/Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, 2004.

Colonial Kitchens, Their Furnishings, and Their Gardens/Frances Phipps Hawthorn; 1972

Early American Beverages/John Hull Brown   Rutland, Vt., C. E. Tuttle Co 1996 

Early American Herb Recipes/Alice Cooke Brown  ABC-CLIO  Westport, United States

Food in Colonial and Federal America/Sandra L. Oliver

Home Life in Colonial Days/Alice Morse Earle (Chapter VII: Meat and Drink) New York : Macmillan Co., ©1926.

A Revolution in Eating: How the Quest for Food Shaped America/James E. McWilliams New York : Columbia University Press, 2005.

Plant Lists - Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Fruits

Thomas Jefferson by Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kosciuszko (1746 - 1817)

Thomas Jefferson’s Plant List From His Garden Book, 1767-1821 Dates refer to first mention of a plant in Jefferson’s documents, which include Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book, edited by Edwin Betts, 1944, unpublished memoranda at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Library of Congress and Princeton University Library. Quotation marks designate varieties not described in the literature and are generally Jefferson’s personal names.

List compiled by Peter Hatch.

FRUITS

Almond
 Prunus dulcis var. dulcis
 "Almonds from the Streights" 1774
 "bitter almonds" 1774
 “hardshelled sweet almonds from Cadiz. from Harriet Hackley" 1810
 "hard shelled bitter almond" 1774
 "sweet almonds with smooth rinds" 1774
 "sweet almonds with hairy rinds" 1774
 "sweet almonds with hard shells" 1774
 "a Virginian Almond," probably a native nut like the bitternut (Juglans cinerea) or indigenous hazelnut (Corylus americana) 1774

Apple 1774
 Malus pumila
 Calville Blanc d'Hiver ("Calvite”) 1804
 Clarkes’s Pearmain (possibly syn. Golden Pearmain) 1796
 "Detroit large white" (probably syn. with White Bellflower) 1804
 Detroit Red ("Detroit large red") 1804
 Early Harvest 1791
 English Codlin 1778
 Esopus Spitzenberg 1791
 Golden Wilding 1778
 Hewes’s Crab (Hughes, Crab, Virginia Crab) 1796
 "iron wilding" 1810
 "mammoth" (possibly syn. with Gloria Mundi) 1809
 Medlar Russetin 1778
 Newtown Pippin (Albemarle Pippin)"ox-eye striped" 1769
 (?Vandevere or Newtown Spitzenberg) 1804
 Pomme Gris ("pumgray") 1804
 "russetin" (likely Golden Russet or Roxbury Russet) 1778
 Taliaferro 1778
 White, Virginia White, or Bray's White ("white") 1778

Apricot
 Prunus armeniaca 1769
 Angelica 1804
 "Bordeaux" 1810
 Brussels 1791
 Early Red 1804
 Large Early 1791
 Moor Park ("German") 1791
 "Melon" 1787
 Peach ("peach-apricot") 1804

Cherry
 Prunus avium, P. cerasus 1769
 August 1783
 Black Heart ("forward" and "latter") 1778
 Bleeding Heart 1783
 "Broadnax" 1773
 Carnation 1773
 Cornus Mas ("Ciriege corniole") 1774
 Early May ("May," Prunus fruticosa) 1767
 English Morello ("Myrilla,” "large Morella") 1778
 "Kentish"
 (Early Richmond and/or Late Kentish) 1778
 May Duke ("Duke") 1778
 "Tuckahoe grey heart" 1811
 White Heart 1778

Currant
 Ribes sp. 1770
 European Red (Ribes sativum) 1778
 Sweet-scented or Buffalo (Ribes odoratum) 1807
 Yellow (Ribes aureum) 1807

Fig
 Ficus carica 1769
 "ancient"
 Angelique ("white Angelic") 1789
 “large” 1789
 Marseilles ("white") 1789
 “purple" 1817

Gooseberry
 Ribes uva-crispa 1767
 "Red” 1812

Grape
 Vitis vinifera', V. rotundifolia", V. vulpina
 "Abrostine red" (Colorino?) 1807
 "Abrostine white" (Picolit?) 1807
 Aleatico 1807
 Alexander ("Cape,” "Cape of Good Hope grape") 1802
 "Black cluster" (Pinot Noir?) 1807
 Black Hamburg 1807
 Bland 1822
 Chasselas Dore ("Chasselas") 1807
 Chasselas Rose ("Brick coloured") 1796
 Furmint ("Tokay") 1807
 "Lachrima Christi" (Tinto di Spagna?) 1807
 Luglienga ("Great July") 1807
 "Malaga" (Muscat of Alexandria?) 1807
 Mammolo Toscano ("Mammole") 1807
 Morgiano ("Margiano") 1807
 "Muscadine" (Chasselas Blanc?) 1807
 Muscat Blanc ("white Frontignac") 1807
 Norton’s Seedling 1824
 "Piedmont malmsey" (Malvasia Bianca?) 1807
 Olivette Blanche ("Gallettas") 1807
 "Purple Syrian" 1807
 Red Hamburg 1807
 Regina ("Queen's grape") 1807
 Sangiovese ("San Giovetto”) 1807
 Seralamanna (Muscat of Alexandria?) 1807
 Scuppernong 1817
 "Smyra grape without seeds" 1807
 "Spanish raisins" 1774
 "Toccai” or "Tokay" (Tocai Rosso?) 1807
 Trebbiano 1807
 "White Sweet Water" 1796

 Nectarine
 Prunus persica var. nucipersica 1769
 "Kaskaskia soft" 1810
 Red Roman 1791
 Yellow Roman 1791

Peach
 Prunus persica 1771
 Alberges 1804
 Algiers Yellow 1791
 Apple (Pesca mela, "Melon") 1804
 "Balyal’s white, red, & yellow plumb peaches" 1786
 “General Jackson’s” 1807
 Green Nutmeg 1791
 Heath Cling 1813
 Indian Blood Cling ("black Georgia plumb peach") 1810
 Indian Blood Free ("black soft peaches from Georgia") 1804
 "Lady's favorite" 1807
 Lemon Cling ("Lemon," "Canada Carolina") 1807
 Maddelena 1804
 "Magdalene" (either Red Magdalen or White Magdalene) 1806
 Malta 1813
 "mammoth" 1807
 Morris’s Red Rareripe ("Italian red-freestone") 1807
 Morris’s White Rareripe ("Italian-White-freestone”) 1807
 "October," "yellow clingstone of October" 1807
 Oldmixon Cling 1807
 Oldmixon Free 1807
 “plumb" 1772
 Poppa di Venere (“Teat,” Breast of Venus) 1804
 Portugal 1780
 San Jacopo (St. James?) 1804
 "soft" ("October soft," "November soft," "Timothy Lomax's soft,” “large white soft,”
“fine white soft,” “large yellow soft," "early soft," etc.) 1810
 Vaga Loggia Cling 1804
 Vaga Loggia Free 1804
 White blossomed (?) 1810

Pear
 Prunus communis 1769
 Beurre Gris 1791
 Crassane 1789
 "English" (“3 kinds") 1778
 "fine late large" 1778
 "forward" 1778
 Meriwether 1778
 Royal 1789
 Seckel 1807
 "Sugar" 1778
 St. Germaine, or Richmond 1807
 Virgouleuse 1789

Plum
 Prunus domestics, P. insititia, etc.
 Apricot 1780
 Boccon de Re 1804
 Brignole 1791
 Chickasaw, Prunus angustifolia ("Cherokee") 1812
 Cooper’s Large 1807
 Drap d'Or 1780
 Damson ("Damascene") 1778
 "Florida" (probably Prunus umbellata) 1814
 Green Gage, Reine Claude ("Reginia Claudia") 1783
 "Horse" (Prunus americana or Damson, P. insititia) 1778
 Imperatrice, Blue Imperatrice 1780
 "Large Blue" 1810
 "Large white sweet" 1780
 Magnum Bonum, Mogul, Yellow Egg, White Imperial 1778
 Mirabelle 1804
 Muscle 1767
 Orleans 1780
 Red Imperial 1780
 "Regina" (possible Queen Mother, or Damas Violet) 1804
 "Purple Prune" 1807
 Royal 1780
 "Small green plum" 1778
 White Imperial 1780

Pomegranate
 Punica granatum 1769
 Quince
 Cydonia oblonga 1769

Strawberry
 Fragaria sp. 1766
 Alpine (Fragaria vesca) 1774
 Chili (F. chiloensis) 1798
 Hudson (F. x ananassa?) 1812
 "large garden" ("Fragoloni di giardino") 1774
 "May" ("Fragoloni Mazzese") 1774
 Scarlet (F. virginiana) 1766
 "White" ( F. vesca or F. moschata) 1782

Raspberry
 Rubus idaeus 1770
 "Common" 1811
 "Monthly" 1809
 "Mountain" (Rubus strigosus) 1821
 Red Antwerp 1790
 White Antwerp 1807

Research & images & much more are directly available from the Monticello.org website. 

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.

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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

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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