Gardens in 17C - Early 20C America

Friday, July 12, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Dwarf Gray Sugar Pea

Dwarf Gray Sugar Pea (Pisum sativum cv.)

Offered in 1881 by D. M. Ferry & Co. of Detroit, Michigan, and called in their catalog “the most desirable of all the edible pod peas,” the Dwarf Gray Sugar Pea lives up to its name: the edible, stringless, 3-4” pods are sweet and the prolific, 24-30” vines do not typically require staking. In addition, the bicolored flowers of purple and pinkish-white add an ornamental element to the vegetable garden.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Philadelphia Seed Dealer & Nurseryman - Robert Buist 1805-1880

Robert Buist 1805-1880 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Buist was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, November 14, 1805. He was trained at the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens and sailed to America in August 1828. When he arrived in America, he was employed by David Landreth, and then took employment with Henry Pratt who owned Lemon Hill which was probably one of the finest gardens in the U.S. at the time.

He formed a partnership with Thomas Hibbert in 1830 in a florist business in Philadelphia. They imported rare plants and flowers, especially the rose.

After Hibbert’s death he began a seed business, along with the nursery and greenhouse business. The business in Philadelphia started out as Robert Buist's Seed Store, selling gardening supplies, potted plants, shrubs, small fruits, and rose bushes. By 1837, the growing business relocated to 12th Street below Lombard; and in1857, the company moved to a location on Market Street. And in 1870, it expanded to 67th Street near Darby Road. The Buist farm, Bonaffon, was located in the section of Philadelphia through which Buist Avenue now runs.

Alfred M. Hoffy, lithographer. View of Robert Buist’s City Nursery & Greenhouses. Philadelphia Wagner & McGuigan, 1846.

"View of Robert Buist's city nursery & greenhouses No. 140 South Twelfth Str. Phila. 1846 / Wholesale & retail horticultural & agricultural warehouse No. 84 Chestnut St. below 3d. St. south side. We invite an inspection of his stock either at his warehouse nurseries or seed farm. Seeds, fruit & ornamental trees, implements & books of every description for the garden, farm or pleasure ground. Orders promptly attended to & every article warranted to be what is represented."

Advertisement depicting a bird's eye view looking northwest at Robert Buist's enclosed nursery and greenhouses on Twelfth Street, south of Lombard Street. Two long rows of hotbed frames extend west from Twelfth Street and run the length of Rodman Street behind a three-story building marked "140." Men and women stroll along the central walk that separates the two rows of hotbed frames inside the grounds, accessed from Twelfth Street by the entrance gate adorned with the proprietor's name "R. Buist". Outside of the nursery, several men and women converse on the sidewalk. One of the men holds a driving whip, and is presumably the driver of the stalled horse-drawn carriage in front of the entrance. Another driver stands in front of a team of horses pulling a covered cart, grasps the reins, and leads them along Rodman Street toward a man attempting to rein in a rearing horse. Also shows men, women, children, and dogs on the sidewalk. A few trees dot the empty landscape behind the nursery. Buist established his business in 1828, which was known as Robert Buist Company well into the 20C.

Buist if often credited with introducing the Poinsettia into Europe, after he saw it at Bartram's Gardens in Philadelphia. During Buist’s early training at the Edinburg Botanic Garden, he met James McNab, a scientist & artist who eventually became the garden’s director. In the early 1830s, McNab traveled to America with retired nurseryman Robert Brown to study plants native to the United States. While in America, McNab visited his friend Buist in Philadelphia. When McNab met with Buist in 1834, he gave the Poinsettia plant to him to take back to Scotland. The garden’s director, Dr. Robert Graham introduced the plant into British gardens.

Buist was reknown for his roses & verbena. He was the author of several books and many catalogues of his plant offerings, among them are The American Flower-Garden Directory (1832); The Rose Manual (1844, 6 editions); and The Family Kitchen-Gardener (c1847).

Buist was obsessed by roses. Gardener & plant historian Alex Sutton tells us that Buist sailed to Europe every year or two to buy new rose hybrids being developed in Europe. He purchased much of his stock from M. Eugene Hardy of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. In 1832, Buist saw 'Madame Hardy' for the first time and he wrote: "Globe Hip, White Globe, or Boule de Neige of the French, is an English Rose raised from seeds of the common white, a very pure white, fully double and of globular form. A few years ago it was considered 'not to be surpassed,' but that prediction, like many others, has fallen to the ground, and now 'Madame Hardy' is triumphant, being larger, fully as pure, more double, and an abundant bloomer; the foliage and wood are also stronger. The French describe it as 'large, very double pure white, and of cup or bowl form." Buist introduced 'Madame Hardy' in Philadephia to his customers, many of whom must have been Philadelphia matrons, as he called them his Patronesses.

In 1839, Buist visited another of his suppliers, Jean-Pierre Vibert, of Lonjeameaux, near Paris, where he found 'Aimee Vibert'. He brought this rose back with him to Philadephia and wrote: "Aimee Vibert, or Nevia, is a beautiful pure white, perfect in form, a profuse bloomer, but though quite hardy doe snot grow freely for us; however, when budded on a strong stock it makes a magnificent standard, and blooms with a profusion not surpassed by any."

Seed storage warehouse of Philadelphia seedsman Robert Buist. From an 1891 wholesale seed catalog.

In his catalog of 1872 Buist wrote “Three of the celebrated ‘Gordon’s Printing Presses’ are kept constantly at work on seed bags, labels, and other printing matter required in our business, and the stock of type and other printing material we use is equal in extent to that required by some of our daily papers...“When we established ourselves in 1828, the Seed business in this country was in its infancy, the trade was really insignificant in comparison to what it is in the present day.”

He was active with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, treasurer from 1858-1862 and vice-president for twenty-two years. He died in Philadelphia, July 13, 1880. The family business was carried on by his son, Robert, Jr.

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Garden to Table - Anne Arundel Melon

Anne Arundel Melon (Cucumis melo cv.)

The Anne Arundel Muskmelon was grown in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, as early as 1731, and was prominent in many still-life paintings of the famous Peale family of Philadelphia early in the 1800s. Anne Arundel appears to be a cross between a true smooth-skinned cantaloupe and a nutmeg-shaped muskmelon. When ripe, it has golden yellow skin and sweet, green flesh with a flavor similar to honeydew. Seed for this melon was obtained from food historian, William W. Weaver.

Monday, July 8, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - West Indian Gherkin

West Indian Gherkin (Cucumis anguria)

The “gerkin,” which bears many small, cucumber-like fruits covered in blunt spines, was a common crop in the Monticello vegetable garden. Jefferson recommended it to his brother, Randolph, in 1813: “the season being over for planting everything but the Gerkin. It is that by which we distinguish the very small pickling cucumber.” This was likely the West Indian Gherkin, a native of Africa brought to the Caribbean through the slave trade, then reputedly introduced from Jamaica in 1792 by Richmond seed merchant Minton Collins.

Sunday, July 7, 2019

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

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Summer Crookneck Squash

Summer Crookneck Squash (Cucurbita pepo cv.)

Summer Crookneck Squash, also known as Summer Warted Crookneck, is a tropical vegetable grown by Native Americans, which is typically eaten when the fruit is young and tender. Jefferson received seed of the “long crooked and warted Squash” in 1807 from Timothy Matlack, who called it “our best Squash.”

Friday, July 5, 2019

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

Thursday, July 4, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Brandywine Tomato

Brandywine Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv.)
From 1809 on, Jefferson's Garden Book "Kalendars" consistently show the sowing of "Tomatas." His Spanish Tomato, which was likely akin to the Large Red, was described as "very much larger than the common kind." The Brandywine Tomato is considered the most esteemed late 19th century heirloom tomato, named for a stream in Chester County, Pennsylvania. It has potato-like leaves and large, meaty, reddish-pink fruit, with an indeterminate growth habit.

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

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

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Shooting Star

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia 'Album')

This showy native can be found in open woodland, prairies, meadows, and on rocky slopes in the eastern United States. Introduced into European gardens as early as 1704, Philadelphia nurseryman and explorer John Bartram described this species of Dodecatheon in 1783. The white version was offered, along with several in shades of purple, by Long Island’s Prince Nursery in 1857. Writing in Vick’s Monthly Magazine in 1878, E.S.S. commented: “The first impression on looking at them is that they are laughing at you.”

Monday, July 1, 2019

Garden to Table - Home-Made Champagne Cup with Cucumber Rind

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

CHAMPAGNE CUP with CUCUMBER RIND
To two ounces of powdered loaf sugar, put the juice and rind of one lemon pared thin; pour over these a large glass of dry sherry, and let it stand for an hour; then add one bottle of sparkling champagne and one bottle of soda water, a thin slice of fresh cucumber with the rind on, a sprig of borage or balm, and pour on blocks of clear ice.

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

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

Garden History from Monticello - 18C Chesapeake Gardeners' Diaries

In the Company of Gardeners

The Flower Diaries of President Thomas Jefferson, Virginian Lady Jean Skipwith,

and silversmith & clockmaker William Faris

by Peggy Cornett, Twinleaf, January 2000

Thomas Jefferson was the quintessential record keeper. He kept account books and both a Garden and Farm Book throughout his adult life. Although he died just a mile from the place of his birth, Jefferson traveled extensively and often made careful notes on the gardens he visited in this country and abroad. Through the sheer volume of his writings, Jefferson documented hundreds of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, and we find his plant references in letters, drawings, and memoranda to his workers, family, and friends. Record-keeping was as much his passion as music, reading, architecture, and gardening.

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

Jefferson's records, however, do not stand alone in his time. Other important and useful garden diaries, such as those belonging to Lady Skipwith and Maryland clock-maker William Faris, have survived in tact. The highly educated Jean Skipwith left remarkable lists of flowers that she grew in southern Virginia between 1785 and 1805. At the age of forty, she became the second wife of Sir Peyton Skipwith and they settled in the rolling countryside of Mecklenburg County. There they built a large Georgian-style house named Prestwould, after the Skipwith family seat in England. Jean Skipwith was a skilled gardener and she possessed an astute knowledge of botanical Latin. The libraries at Monticello and Prestwould both contained copies of Philip Miller's eighth edition of the Gardener's Dictionary, 1768, and Lady Skipwith often cited this botanical tome. Skipwith's floral documents, as described by Ann Leighton in her classic American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century "For Use or for Delight," were either left on the backs of old bills or neatly recorded in lists with such titles as "bulbs to be got when I can ..." and "Wildflowers in the Garden."

William Faris' diary reveals a middle-class American gardener of this period. Similar to Lady Skipwith, William Faris' plant lists span the years between 1792 and 1804, the last twelve years of his life. Historian Barbara Sarudy's recent book, Gardens and Gardening in the Chesapeake, 1700-1805, gives us a wonderful portrayal of his late 18th-century residential garden. According to Sarudy, the ornamental beds Faris created in Annapolis were akin in design, if not grandeur, to the more elegant geometric gardens that Chesapeake gentry were busy building about the same time. She describes an artisan who, in his spare time, grew thousands of tulips, narcissus, and other bulbs, selecting and breeding them in his modest 366' by 200' lot. In the spring of 1804, he counted 2,339 tulips in his garden, some named after statesmen such as President Washington and Madison, which he invited his neighbors to view. Visitors would mark varieties they fancied with a coded stick, and Faris would dig them in June for the neighbors to purchase.

Many of the plants that Jefferson, Skipwith, and Faris grew in common were reflective of current floral styles and availability. Tulips figured prominently in early American gardens long after the Dutch "tulipomania" of the 1600s. But, another common "root" of the Colonial Period was the tuberose, Polianthes tuberosa. In 1736, when Peter Collinson sent Williamsburg's John Custis roots of tuberose, Custis replied that they were already common in Virginia and that he need not send any more. This tender Mexican rhizome was especially prized for its heavy, sweet scent. Although the tuberose requires digging and storing over winter in colder climates, it still was planted by Jefferson, Skipwith, and Faris. Jefferson succeeded also with the double-flowered form, which he received from McMahon in 1807 and brought to flower at Monticello August 12th.

The Yellow Autumn Crocus or Winter Daffodil (Sternbergia lutea), a hardy southern European amaryllis, occurs on Lady Skipwith's list, and is a bulb John Custis described in the 1730s as the "Autumn Narciss with yellow Crocus-like flower." Elizabeth Lawrence, a Southern garden writer of the 20th century, noted in her book The Little Bulbs that "They have bloomed in Virginia gardens for many generations, and according to tradition grew in the Palace Gardens at Williamsburg in colonial times."

Like tulips, roses are another dominating class of heirloom flowers, and the gallica roses are considered among the most ancient. Jefferson ordered a number of distinct varieties from the William Prince Nursery of Flushing, New York in 1791, including Rosa Mundi (Rosa gallica versicolor). This sport of the Apothecary Rose is probably the oldest and best known of the striped roses, with petals vividly streaked light crimson and splashed with palest pink to white. Many legends surround this rose; the most romantic, but as yet unconfirmed, being that it was named for Fair Rosamund, mistress of Henry II in the 12th century. The variegated Rosa Mundi is likely what Jean Skipwith called her Marble Rose, which Bernard McMahon listed as a variant of the Rosa Mundi.

Mallows and hibiscus (formerly known also as ketmias) remain a confusing group in early garden literature. When Jean Skipwith included "Crimson Mallow" in her list of "Plants" she was likely referring to Great Red Hibiscus, Hibiscus coccineus, a magnificent, bright red-flowering perennial native to the coastal swamps of Georgia and Florida (but hardy to Philadelphia). The Great Red Hibiscus grows to eight feet in a single season. According to Ann Leighton, it was also cultivated by George Washington at Mount Vernon. Jefferson's "Scarlet Mallow," however, specifically referred to "Scarlet-flowered Pentapetes,"the seeds of which he received from Bernard McMahon and planted in his flower border in 1811. Pentapetes phoenicia is a handsome annual of the Old World Tropics with brownish-green stems and scarlet, mallow-like blossoms that open at noon and close at dawn. It is rarely cultivated in America today.

Jefferson grew relatively few houseplants, yet both he and Faris mentioned the scarlet, single-flowered Geranium (Pelargonium inquinans), a South African species and parent of our modern hybrids. It was first introduced into America in the late 18th century and is immortalized in Rembrandt Peale's famous 1801 portrait of his brother Rubens holding a potted geranium. President Jefferson kept a plant in the President's House and, upon his retirement from his second term, gave his rather neglected geranium to Washington socialite Margaret Bayard Smith. The "Rose Geraniums" mentioned by Lady Skipwith were likely varieties of scented geraniums, also from South Africa, many of which were offered by American nurserymen.

Of the scented flowers, few can compete with Poet's Jasmine, Jasminum officinale. The mere word "jasmine" conjures fragrance and romance, and the delicious odor of this flower, which pours forth at evening, is often the muse of amorous poetry. Jefferson included the "white jasmine" among his "Objects for the Garden" in 1794, and in 1809 he planted "star jasmine" in an oval flower bed. "White Jasmine," likewise, was on Jean Skipwith's list of "Flowering Shrubs." Although this shrubby, Himalayan vine can grow to thirty feet, Virginia winters keep the Poet's Jasmine as a low-growing, woody perennial. Further north it can be grown indoors in pots.

Likewise, wallflowers (Cheiranthus cheiri) ranked highly among the favorite perfumed blooms in early American gardens. Cheiranthus means "hand-flower," and in the Middle Ages it was carried in the hand at festivals. Parkinson wrote: "the sweetnesse of the flowers causeth them to be generally used in Nosegayes and to deck up houses." A double red form was among the six varieties Parkinson grew, and likely the famous "Double Bloody Warrior" that Lady Skipwith mentions by name. "Yellow Stock Gilliflower" was once the term used for the "Yellow Wallflower," and should not be confused with "Gillifowers" and "Clove Gilliflowers," which referred to pinks and carnations. In the late 1800s a miniature double yellow, now known as Harpur Crewe, was rediscovered by and named for the British Rev. Henry Harpur Crewe.

Annual flowers in the gardens of Jefferson, Skipwith, and Faris varied from the delightfully fragrant to the foul smelling and from the delicately beautiful to the bizarrely curious. Mignonette (Reseda odorata), a native of Egypt, was first described in Philip Miller's Dictionary, 1752, as a flower "of a dull colour, but hav[ing] a high ambrosial scent." It became so popular in London that in 1829 a writer remarked: "whole streets were almost oppressive with the odour." Napoleon is credited with collecting mignonette seeds during his Egyptian campaign and sending them to the Empress Josephine at Malmaison. She set the fashion of growing mignonette as a pot-plant for its perfume. At Monticello in 1811 Jefferson situated this flower near the NW cistern.

French marigold (Tagetes patula), on the other hand, was reputed to be poisonous, probably due to its offensive smelling foliage, which was described as hateful, if not injurious. Although native to Mexico, the French marigold, also known as the lesser African marigold, was introduced to Europe by way of North Africa by 1535. In 1808 Jefferson mentions the "2 kinds of Marigold," suggesting he had both the French and African (T. erecta). Faris simply wrote "Marigold;" but Jean Skipwith gives a more precise reference when she wrote "Striped French Marigold," indicating the newest sensation that William Curtis' Botanical Magazine featured in 1791: a lovely yellow-flowered marigold distinctly streaked with red.

Even though Jefferson once wrote that he had no time for "mere curiosities" in the garden, balsam apple (Momordica balsamina) would certainly fall into this category. This unusual vine produces lush, shiny green foliage and pale yellow blossoms followed by curious, bright-orange fruits. These will pop open revealing sticky, bright red seeds. Although the green, immature fruit is used in Asian cooking, it's more fun to watch them ripen and explode on the vine.

The ever-popular, biennial hollyhock (Alcea rosea) was another flower grown by all three. It has been cultivated for centuries and, although probably originating in Asia Minor, now is naturalized throughout the world. By the mid 18th century, Philip Miller's Gardener's Dictionary referred to both the single and double forms as old-fashioned. Jefferson first recorded hollyhocks in June 1767 and charted them in his 1782 "Calendar of the bloom of flowers" as blossoming from mid-June to mid-July. Hollyhocks have persisted in gardens, becoming the centerpiece of late 19th and early 20th-century "Grandmother's Gardens" and continuing in the modern flower border.

This brief collection of flowers mentioned 200 years ago offers a fleeting glimpse into three very personal and private gardens. While Thomas Jefferson, Jean Skipwith, and William Faris lived worlds apart, leading vastly disparate lives in many ways, they were alike in this: their passion for growing flowers and their wherewithal to keep records of their plants. Today, we can only envision the great friendship that might have transpired if circumstances had ever united these three remarkable gardeners.

NOTE:

Lady Jean Skipwith is best known today as the mistress of one of the most important gardens of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The detailed records she kept of her garden at Prestwould make it one of the best-documented gardens of the period and were invaluable to the Garden Club of Virginia, which undertook an interpretive restoration in 1980. The plan, consisting of a grid of walks with garden beds in between, is quite like the kitchen gardens of James River and other southern plantations, but several elements show that it was carefully adapted to Lady Skipwith's needs as a plant collector and experimenter. A traditional garden, for instance, would have been on axis with the main hallway of the house, but at Prestwould the garden is sited along the east side of the house, visible from the entrance drive, as if to make a statement that gardening was a separate and special activity at the plantation. The north-south central walk in the garden is fifteen feet wide, to accommodate a pony cart, and extends the length of the lot, 630 feet. Three crosswalks, also fifteen feet wide, traverse the 230-foot width, dividing the garden into six beds. The central crosswalk continues through an orchard to the walled graveyard. Customarily, a summerhouse was placed at the end of one of the garden walks, but Lady Skipwith's summerhouse, complete with a cellar for the storage of roots and plants, was situated to one side of the main walk. Here she spent many hours, reading and keeping the plantation books and her garden journal.

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

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.

Cucumber

Cucumber, Cucuviis, is esteemed in its season the most refreshing and delicate of all vegetables. There are three sorts....First, Cucumis sativus vulgaris. Second, Cucumis fructu subleteo, the white cucumber. Third, Cucumis oblonges. The first is the common sort most in use, amongst which there is a difference in the size, length, &c. The second is cultivated in Holland chiefly, and the last sort is cultivated only in curious gardens, and are remarkable for their length and fewness of seed. As there are three sorts, so there are three seasons for cucumbers; the first is the early, in hot-beds, the second is the middle crop under glasses, and the third is for pickling. Although many are ambitious of having early fruit, yet it is certain that Cucumbers are not wholesome till the hot weather comes on; for being pent up in hot-beds, they inspire a confined watery air, which must necessarily make the plant crude and unhealthful. Towards the latter end of January, if you require Cucumbers in April, you are to get about two loads of long dung, which will be sufficient for a moderate family, and mixing it with some sea-coal ashes, you are to lay it in a heap, about three feet thick. In about four or five days, the dung will begin to heat, and then you must take off part of the top, laying it flat on the sides of your heap, and put on about two inches of good earth, which must be covered with your glasses. In a day or two after, when you find the earth pretty warm, put your seeds in the earth about a quarter of an inch deep, and keep it close covered with the glass all night and in bad weather, and the glass should be also covered with mat. In three or four days, the plants will appear, upon which you are to make a bed for a single light on the adjoining heap of dung, covering the top about three inches thick with mould, into which you are to put your plants, at about two inches distance each way, observing to put them into the earth almost up to their seed leaves. In twenty-four hours your plant will take root, and you are to give it what air you can without injury, turning the glass upside down in the heat of the day, or wiping off the water that is condensed in the upper part, and is very pernicious when it drops on your plants. You are to water your plants, though moderately, and your water should be as near the temperature of the air in which the plant exists as possible, and as the plants advance, support their shanks with a little dry sifted earth, which will much assist them. If your heat is too intense, run a stick into the middle of the dung, through the sides of the heap in two or three places, which will give vent to the steam. If it be too slack, cover the sides of your heap with more litter. When the third or rough leaf appears, you are to prepare another heap, in which you are to. make holes about a foot deep, and eight or nine inches over, which are to be filled with light fresh earth, and in these in four or five days you transplant your plants, observing to water them as before, and to put four plants into each, with their roots sloping toward the centre, lest they should get to the dung, and be injured by it. You should avoid keeping your glasses too close, for the steam may cause such a damp as will very much injure the plants. Your plants tending upwards when they are four or five inches high, should be forked down, and when you weed them, hold the leaves very gently with one hand, and weed them with the other. Pulling off the male blossom is not recommended, neither is pruning the vines, but if your glasses are filled with too much vine you ought to draw out ,one of the plants, provided it is not matted with those you intend to stand. Whenever your bed loses its heat in any degree, it ought to be repaired; and though the plants delight in heat, yet you must cover your glasses when the sun is in the meridian, and hot. In watering these beds, you must throw the water all over the vines, but not in the heat of the day, for the drops will collect the rays of the sun to a focus, blister and ruin the plants. And as at this season you have often cold nights, you should preserve the heat of the beds, and from this management your Cucumbers will last till the beginning of July, when your second crop will come to bear. The management of this second crop is pretty much the same with the former, only you must raise your glasses oftener, as the weather will be wanner, and your seeds are to be put into the ground in March or April. Miller directs that beds of dung should be made for the second crop as well as the first, and the same culture observed; but I believe if your seeds are sown in April in rich light hills, and sheltered from the cold with glasses, it will answer just as well, provided you keep them free from weeds, and water with temperate water. Most people are fond of gathering their seed from the first early fruit, leaving one Cucumber only on a vine, nearest the heart of the plant, and this is a good way. In August your seeds will be ripe enough: then cut open the Cucumber and put pulp and seed into a tub, there to remain eight or ten days, stirring them every day to the bottom with a stick; at the expiration of that time, pour water, into the tub, and by stirring it often and repeating it, the scum will rise to the top and your seed subside, which are to be dried and put into a bag, and are best when three or four years old. Your seed that are intended for picklers, should be sown in May, about nine in a hill, and in five or six days they will appear above ground, and for above a week after, till the plant has made some progress, are very liable to be destroyed by Sparrows, they being very fond of them. Leave only four or five of the most vigorous plants in a hill, and observe to water in a dry season, and keep the ground about them loose, and free from weeds. The earth should be laid round your plants in the form of a bason, to hold the water that is given them, and take care that your plants don't interweave with one another; and if any plants appear lading or declining, pull them up. Fifty holes is the number advised, from whence you may expect to gather about two thousand in the season. Miller mentions the putting your plants into baskets, when they are fit to transplant, filled with earth, which may be removed with the plants in them, into other hot-beds with great security, by which means you have a crop much earlier than in the method before mentioned. If Cucumbers are stuck, as you do peas, they will run to a great height, and will bear till the frosts destroy them.

Sunday, June 30, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Charles de Mills Rose

Charles de Mills Rose (Rosa gallica cv.)

‘Charles de Mills’, also called ‘Bizarre Triomphant,’ is an old Gallica variety that originated in Europe, likely before 1786. It is considered one of the best, especially when grown in rich soil. The Gallicas are an important group of roses that, although not repeat blooming, had considerable influence on the evolution of modern roses.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Garden to Table - Home-Made Cherry Wine Recipes

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

This ad appeared in the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, September 26, 1755

To be SOLD, by William Smith, at his Nursery, in Surry County, the following Fruit Trees, viz...

Black Heart Cherry [Prunus avium]
May Duke Cherry [P. avium x cerasus]
John Edmond’s Nonsuch Cherry
White Heart Cherry [P. avium]
Carnation Cherry [P. cerasus]
Kentish Cherry [P. cerasus]
Marrello, Cherry [English Morello, P. cerasus var. austera]
Double Blossom Cherry [Prunus cv.]...

The Subscriber lives very near to Col. Ruffin’s in Surry County; Letters directed to me, and forwarded to Col. Ruffin’s or to Mr. Robert Lyon’s in Williamsburg, will speedily come to my hands. Gentlemen who are pleased to favor me with their Orders may depend on having them punctually observed, by Their humble Servant, William Smith.

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

CHERRY WINE
Pull off the stalks of the cherries, and mash them without breaking the stones; then press them hard through a hair bag, and to every gallon of liquor, put two pounds of sugar. The vessel must be full, and let it work as long as it makes a noise in the vessel; then stop it up close for a month or more, and when it is fine, draw it into dry bottles, and put a lump of sugar into every bottle. If it makes them fly, open them all for a moment, and then stop them up again. It will be fit to drink in a quarter of a year.

CHERRY WINE, NO. 2
Fifteen pounds of cherries, two pounds of currants. Bruise them together. Mix with them two-thirds of the kernels, and put the whole of the cherries, currants, and kernels into a barrel, with one-quarter pound of sugar to every pint of juice. The barrel must be quite full. Cover the barrel with vine leaves, and sand above them, and let it stand until it has done working, which will be in about three weeks; then stop it with a bung, and in two months' time it may be bottled. Gather the cherries when quite ripe. Pull them from their stalks, and press them through a hair sieve. To every gallon of the liquor add two pounds of lump sugar finely beaten; stir all together, and put it into a vessel that will just hold it. When it has done fermenting, stop it very close for three months, and then bottle it off for use.

CHERRY BOUNCE
Four quarts of wild cherries stemmed and well washed, four quarts of water. (I put mine in a big yellow bowl, and cover with double cheese-cloth, and set behind the kitchen stove for two weeks.) Skim every few days. Then strain, add three-quarters pound sugar to each quart of liquid, and let ferment again. This takes about two weeks. When it stops working, add rum,—about two bottles full for this quantity. (It is good without any rum.)

CHERRY BOUNCE, NO. 2
One quart of rum to one quart of wild cherries, and three-quarters pound of sugar. Put into a jug, and at first give it a frequent shake. Let it stand for several months before you pour off and bottle. A little water put on to the cherries left in the jug will make a pleasant and less ardent drink.

CHERRY BOUNCE, NO. 3
One gallon of good whiskey, one and one-half pints of wild black cherries bruised so as to break the stones, two ounces of common almonds shelled, two ounces of white sugar, one-half teaspoonful cinnamon, one-quarter teaspoonful cloves, one-quarter teaspoonful nutmeg, all bruised. Let stand twelve to thirteen days, and draw off. This, with the addition of one-half gallon of brandy, makes very nice cherry bounce.

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

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

Plant Lists - 1755 William Smith's Nursery, Surrey Co VA

18C Fruits from The Garden to The Table

Virginia Gazette Williamsburg, September 26, 1755 To be SOLD, by William Smith, at his Nursery, in Surry County, the following Fruit Trees, viz.
Southern Garden History Plant Lists

Hughs’s Crab [Malus pumila, ‘Hewes’ Crab or Hewes’ Virginia Crab]
Bray’s White Apple
Newton Pippin
Golden Pippin
French Pippin
Dutch Pippin
Clark’s Pearmain
Royal Pearmain
Baker’s Pearmain
Lone’s Pearmain
Father Abraham
Harrison’s Red
Ruffin’s large Cheese Apple
Baker’s Nonsuch
Ludwell’s Seedling
Golden Russet
Nonpareil
May Apple
Summer Codling
Winter Codling
Gillefe’s Cyder Apple
Green Gage Plumb [Prunus domestica ‘Green Gage’]
Bonum Magnum Plumb [Magnum Bonum]
Orleans Plumb
Imperial Plumb
Damascene Plumb [P. damascena]
May Pear [Pyrus communis ‘May’]
Holt’s Sugar Pear
Autumn Bergamot Pear
Summer Pear
Winter Bergamot
Orange Bergamot
Mount Sir John
Pound Pear
Burr de Roy [Beurre’ de Roi]
Black Heart Cherry [Prunus avium]
May Duke Cherry [P. avium x cerasus]
John Edmond’s Nonsuch Cherry
White Heart Cherry [P. avium]
Carnation Cherry [P. cerasus]
Kentish Cherry [P. cerasus]
Marrello, Cherry [English Morello, P. cerasus var. austera]
Double Blossom Cherry [Prunus cv.]
Double Blossom Peaches [Prunus persica rosea plena]
Filberts Red and White [Corylus avellana]

The Subscriber lives very near to Col. Ruffin’s in Surry County; Letters directed to me, and forwarded to Col. Ruffin’s or to Mr. Robert Lyon’s in Williamsburg, will speedily come to my hands. Gentlemen who are pleased to favor me with their Orders may depend on having them punctually observed, by Their humble Servant, William Smith

Friday, June 28, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Blush Noisette Rose

'Blush Noisette' Rose (Rosa x noisettiana cv.)

This rose hybrid, introduced by the French breeder Louis Noisette in 1817, grew in the gardens of Empress Josephine and was painted by Pierre-Joseph Redouté. This rose was a superior selection of ‘Champneys Pink Cluster’, America’s first rose hybrid, which originated in Charleston, South Carolina c. 1802-1811. John Champneys, an early 19th-century rice grower, selected this fragrant, abundantly-flowering rose by crossing the ever-blooming ‘Old Blush’ China and the ‘Musk Rose’ (Rosa moschata plena). He then shared seedlings with his neighbor Philippe Noisette, a French immigrant, who sent them on to his brother Louis in Paris. This class of roses became known as the Noisettes, thanks to Louis’ success in introducing many new forms.

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

Thursday, June 27, 2019

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

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.

ROSES

Rosa X alba "white Damask," "White Rose" 1791
Rosa centifolia 'Major' "Large Provence" 1791
Rosa centifolia var. muscosa 'Communis' "Moss Provence" 1791
Rosa cinnamomea Cinnamon Rose 1791
Rosa damascene 'Bifera' ("montly") Autumn Damask 1791
Rosa eglanteria Sweetbriar 1771
Rosa foetida 'Lutea' ("Yellow Rose") Austrian Yellow 1791
Rosa gallica 'Versicolor' "rosa mundi" 1791
Rosa laevigata Cherokee 1804
Rosa moschata Musk 1791
Rosa officinalis "Crimson dwarf rose" 1792
Rosa pendulina "Thornless rose" 1791
Rosa spinosissima ("Primrose") Scotch hedge Rose 1791
?Rosa sp. "black rose" 1808
?Rosa sp. "multiflora" 1819

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

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Princes of Nassau Rose

Princess of Nassau Rose (Rosa moschata x noisettiana hybrid)

This Musk-Noisette hybrid was bred in France before 1829 by Jean Laffay (1795-1878), recognized as the creator of the Hybrid Perpetual rose. During the height of his career Laffay raised hundreds of thousands of seedlings each year in an effort to obtain hardy, repeat-blooming roses. Also known as ‘Princesse de Nassau’ and ‘Autumnalis’, this early hybrid variety possesses the desirable qualities of its parents: clusters of sweetly fragrant flowers that bloom in flushes throughout the season.

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

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

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

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.

Fennel

Fennel, Faeniculum. This may be propagated from seed or the plants, as Featherfew, and nothing more is necessary than to keep it from seedling, because it will overrun the garden; the roots being very strong, continue a long while in the ground.

A little more about fennel that was not in Randolph's short description.

Fennel...

Fennel was well known to the Ancients and was cultivated by the ancient Romans for its aromatic fruits and succulent, edible shoots. Pliny had much faith in its medicinal properties, according no less than 22 remedies to it, observing also that serpents eat it 'when they cast their old skins, and they sharpen their sight with the juice by rubbing against the plant.'

A very old English rhyming Herbal, preserved at Stockholm, gives the following description of the virtue of the plant:
'Whaune the heddere (adder) is hurt in eye
Ye red fenel is hys prey,
And yif he mowe it fynde
Wonderly he doth hys kynde.
He schall it chow wonderly,
And leyn it to hys eye kindlely,
Ye jows shall sang and hely ye eye
Yat beforn was sicke et feye.'
Many of the older herbalists uphold this theory of the peculiarly strengthening effect of this herb on the sight.
Longfellow alludes to this virtue in the plant:
'Above the lower plants it towers,
The Fennel with its yellow flowers;
And in an earlier age than ours
Was gifted with the wondrous powers
Lost vision to restore.'

In mediaeval times, Fennel was employed, together with St. John's Wort and other herbs, as a preventative of witchcraft and other evil influences, being hung over doors on Midsummer's Eve to warn off evil spirits. It was likewise eaten as a condiment to the salt fish so much consumed by our forefathers during Lent.

Though the Romans valued the young shoots as a vegetable, it is not certain whether it was cultivated in northern Europe at that time, but it is frequently mentioned in Anglo-Saxon cookery and medical recipes prior to the Norman Conquest.

Fennel shoots, Fennel water and Fennel seed are all mentioned in an ancient record of Spanish agriculture dating A.D. 961.

The diffusion of the plant in Central Europe was stimulated by Charlemagne, who enjoined its cultivation on the imperial farms.

It is mentioned in Gerard (1597), and Parkinson (Theatricum Botanicum, 1640) tells us that its culinary use was derived from Italy, for he says: 'The leaves, seede and rootes are both for meate and medicine; the Italians especially doe much delight in the use thereof, and therefore transplant and whiten it, to make it more tender to please the taste, which being sweete and somewhat hot helpeth to digest the crude qualitie of fish and other viscous meats. We use it to lay upon fish or to boyle it therewith and with divers other things, as also the seeds in bread and other things.'

William Coles, in Nature's Paradise (1650) affirms that 'both the seeds, leaves and root of ourGarden Fennel are much used in drinks and broths for those that are grown fat, to abate their unwieldiness and cause them to grow more gaunt and lank.'

The ancient Greek name of the herb, Marathron, from maraino, to grow thin, probably refers to this property. It was said to convey longevity, and to give strength and courage.

Milton, in Paradise Lost alludes to the aroma of the plant:
'A savoury odour blown,
Grateful to appetite, more pleased my sense
Than smell of sweetest Fennel.'

The odor of Fennel seed is fragrant, its taste, warm, sweet and agreeably aromatic. It yields its virtues to hot water, but more freely to alcohol. The essential oil may be separated by distillation with water.

It was formerly the practice to boil Fennel with all fish, and it was mainly cultivated in kitchen gardens for this purpose.

It is one of the plants which is said to be disliked by fleas, and powdered Fennel has the effect of driving away fleas from kennels and stables.

Culpepper says: 'One good old custom is not yet left off, viz., to boil fennel with fish, for it consumes the phlegmatic humour which fish most plentifully afford and annoy the body with, though few that use it know wherefore they do it. It benefits this way, because it is a herb of Mercury, and under Virgo, and therefore bears antipathy to Pisces. Fennel expels wind, provokes urine, and eases the pains of the stone, and helps to break it. The leaves or seed boiled in barley water and drunk, are good for nurses, to increase their milk and make it more wholesome for the child. The leaves, or rather the seeds, boiled in water, stayeth the hiccup and taketh away nausea or inclination to sickness. The seed and the roots much more help to open obstructions of the liver, spleen, and gall, and thereby relieve the painful and windy swellings of the spleen, and the yellow jaundice, as also the gout and cramp. The seed is of good use in medicines for shortness of breath and wheezing, by stoppings of the lungs. The roots are of most use in physic, drinks and broths, that are taken to cleanse the blood, to open obstructions of the liver, to provoke urine, and amend the ill colour of the face after sickness, and to cause a good habit through the body; both leaves, seeds, and roots thereof, are much used in drink, or broth, to make people more lean that are too fat. A decoction of the leaves and root is good for serpent bites, and to neutralize vegetable poison, as mushrooms, etc.'

In Italy and France, the tender leaves are often used for garnishes and to add flavour to salads, and are also added, finely chopped, to sauces served with puddings.

Roman bakers are said to put the herb under their loaves in the oven to make the bread taste agreeably.

John Evelyn, in his Acetaria (1680), held that the peeled stalks, soft and white, of the cultivated garden Fennel, when dressed like celery exercised a pleasant action conducive to sleep.

Formerly poor people used to eat Fennel to satisfy the cravings of hunger on fast days and make unsavoury food palatable; it was also used in large quantities in the households of the rich, as may be seen by the record in the accounts of Edward I.'s household, 8 1/2 lb. of Fennel were bought for one month's supply.

Monday, June 24, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Wall Germander

Wall Germander (Teucrium chamaedrys)

Native to mountainous regions of central and southern Europe and southwest Asia, Wall Germander is typically grown in rock gardens, herb gardens, and knot gardens. In The English Flower Garden (1883), William Robinson noted its use as an edging plant. Also cultivated for a wide range of medicinal uses, Wall Germander reputedly cures gout, eases headaches and fevers, and is used as a tonic and stimulant. The oak-shaped leaves and low growth habit inspired this Teucrium’s Latin name: chamaedrys means “ground oak.” Drought and deer tolerant.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello

Sunday, June 23, 2019

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

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Redoute Red Rose

Redoute Red Rose (Rosa cv. Noisette hybrid)

This distinctive rose was discovered by Charles Walker growing on a roadside in Georgia in 1984, and he gave it the study name “Thomaston Road Dwarf China.” In 1998, Doug Seidel, after seeing it in Marie Butler’s Virginia garden, believed it had the characteristics of a deep pink Noisette rose (Rosa noisettiana purpurea) illustrated in Les Roses (1817-1824), by Pierre-Joseph Redouté, the French artist who painted all the roses of the Empress Josephine’s garden. This mystery rose is now being grown and observed by heirloom rose experts, including Ruth Knopf in Charleston, South Carolina, and the “Léonie Bell Rose Garden” at the Center for Historic Plants. Charleston is the home of the Noisettes and there has been a great deal of interest in identifying and preserving these old garden forms in recent years.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello

Friday, June 21, 2019

South Carolina - Near Charleston

South Carolina artist Charles Fraser (1782-1860) painted some watercolors of the landscapes he saw around him in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These are from the Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.

Near Charleston.

The watercolors of Charles Fraser allow us feel the South Carolina landscape around us as we learn how it was being groomed & planted. Thanks to South Carolina native Fraser, we have a chance to see, through his eyes, the homes & gardens there as he was growing up. Although he was primarily known his miniature portraits, he also created watercolors of historical sites, homes, & landscapes. He painted while working as a lawyer, historian, writer, & politician. Today, many of Fraser's works are displayed at the Carolina Art Association & the Gibbes Art Gallery in Charleston.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Adam's Needle

Bare Root Adam's Needle (Yucca filamentosa)

Native to the southeastern United States, Yucca filamentosa was introduced to gardens by 1675, and was then known as Silk Grass or Bear Grass. Thomas Jefferson included “Beargrass” in a list of ‘Objects for the Garden’ at Monticello in 1794. Fiber obtained from the leaves is one of the strongest native to the U.S., and was used in basket weaving, binding, for fishing nets, clothing, and more. At Monticello, rope made from this species was used in the vineyards for staking and tying up grapevines. The ornamental qualities and exotic appearance of this striking native plant were much admired by the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Anise-scented Goldenrod

Anise-scented Goldenrod (Solidago odorata)

Native from New Hampshire to Florida and west to Texas, this showy, fragrant-leaved perennial goldenrod is well-behaved and does not spread aggressively like others of its genus. It was included as Solidago anisatum in a list of plants “sent to Europe for Mr. Pierepont by John and Wm. Bartram, Philadelphia, October 1784.” A tea can be made from its anise-scented leaves, and it has been used as a stimulant and diaphoretic according to US Pharmacopoeia (1820-82). A deer-resistant plant, the flowers attract butterflies, bees, and a number of other beneficial insects.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello

Sunday, June 16, 2019

History Blooms at Monticello

(Cynara scolymus)

Photos of Monticello by Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, who tells us that

The “chokes” are forming in the vegetable garden. Globe Artichoke was included on one of Jefferson's first lists of vegetables grown at Monticello in 1770. His Garden Book sporadically charted the first to "come to table" and the "last dish of artichokes" from 1794 and 1825. Monticello gardeners often leave the edible “chokes” to develop into purple, thistle-like flowers, which can be dried for arrangements.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Bloodroot

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

This charming American wildflower grows along the northern slopes and river bottoms of Monticello mountain and Jefferson observed it blooming at Shadwell on April 6, 1766. He called it “Puckoon” (its Native American name) and watched its spring progression along with the narcissus, Virginia bluebells, and purple flag. By April 13, Jefferson’s birthday, the Puckoon flowers had fallen. The early American botanist John Bartram collected specimens and sent them to his European patrons. Although the roots are poisonous, they were prescribed as a headache remedy and as a stimulant in small doses.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello

17C Europeans landing onto North America's East Coast coped with unfamiliar weather & geography by creating spaces to meet basic needs for shelter, medicines, & food.

With the additional help of offspring & imported servants & slaves, growing plants in farm fields often became economic enterprises for both local & export exchanges.

In the 18-19C, many gentry transformed the gardens near their homes into artistic displays hoping to project a desired image of themselves to others - their wealth, power, refinement, & beliefs.