Plants in Early American Gardens - Dwarf Witch Alder

Dwarf Witch Alder (Fothergilla gardenii)

This choice native shrub can be found in moisture rich woodlands and boggy areas from Virginia to Georgia. The name honors John Fothergill, a London physician who corresponded with America’s first botanist, John Bartram. Their correspondence during the mid-eighteenth century revealed much about the native flora of North America.

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Historic Gardens - Spring at Colonial Williamsburg

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All photos from Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.
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Plants in Early American Gardens - Bare Root Franklin Tree

Bare Root Franklin Tree (Franklinia alatamaha)

This is the famous tree that was discovered along the banks of the Altamaha River by John Bartram in 1760, collected by his son William Bartram fifteen years later, and which has not been reported in the wild since 1804. All trees now in cultivation stem from the Bartram collection. Bartram named it for "that Patron of the sciences and truly great and distinguished character, Dr. Benjamin Franklin." This plant thrives in moist soils high in organic matter -- peat moss, compost, etc. -- and makes an impressive specimen tree for any garden.

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Garden History - Gardeners - Free Blacks

Throughout the 18th & 19th centuries, free African Americans also hired on to assist with garden chores during the growing season. Records of such temporary employments are very difficult to find. Rather than hiring on for a season, free blacks usually assisted with specific chores as they needed to be completed.

Craftsman Willaim Faris kept a diary in the town of Annapolis, Maryland, between 1792 & 1804. During that period a total of 16 free black men helped town craftsman William Faris with garden tasks. Most were permanent free black residents of the town, but some were passing through & hiring themselves out as garden laborers for a season.

In the spring of 1792, Faris hired a black garden helper, Peter Shorter. Two days later the craftsman learned that Shorter was a runaway slave, & he immediately discharged the man. Faris recorded in his journal, that he usually paid 12 pounds per annum to his free black helpers. He did not specify in his diary the amount of work expected from the workers for pounds per month.

By 1790, blacks composed a third of Maryland’s population. In the city of Annapolis at the time of the 1800 census, out of a total population of 2,212 persons, there were 646 slaves & 273 free blacks. Between 1790 & 1800, the population of free blacks in Maryland increased about 144 percent. Slavery grew at a much slower rate.

One dramatic increase in the number of free blacks occurred as a result of the slave uprising in the French colony of Saint Dominique led by Toussaint L’ Ouverture. About 2,000 French-speaking refugees, including well over 500 of black or mixed racial ancestry, arrived in Maryland during the summer of 1793. Faris noted in his diary, “July 10, 1793. Yesterday & too Day there has been between 30 & 40 Vessels went to Baltimore, the most of the full of French people…one Vessel had near 1200 on board.”

After this French settlement, free black & white French gardeners-for-hire began searching for work in the Chesapeake. These gardeners had a significant influence on Mid-Atlantic & Upper South pleasure gardening, as they introduced tropical varieties of plants & new garden designs into the region.

French-speaking gardeners became so numerous, that Maryland seedsmen Sinclair & Moore published their 1825 trade catalogue in French as well as English. The contributions of the French refugee gardeners from Saint Dominique were extolled by orator John Pendleton Kennedy at the first exhibition of the Horticultural Society of Maryland: “They brought with the….the knowledge of plants & garden stuffs. After their arrival…Baltimore became distinguished for the profusion & excellence of fruits & vegetables.”

Throughout most of the 18th century, indentured white servants & free & slave blacks were the backbone of the garden labor force in the Mid-Atlantic & Upper South. White free white professional gardeners & nurserymen began to appear after the Revolution in the urban areas, it is likely that, until the Civil War, most rural Mid-Atlantic & Upper South pleasure gardens in Maryland were maintained by black gardeners, some of them free but most of them slaves.

History Blooms at Monticello - Green Ischia Fig

 Green Ischia Fig (Ficus carica cv.)

Green Ischia Fig (Ficus carica cv.)

Green Ischia has been grown for centuries in Europe and was described by eighteenth-century British gardener and writer Philip Miller in The Gardener’s Dictionary. This standard reference, published in London, was used by many sophisticated early American gardeners and Thomas Jefferson had the 1768 edition in his library at Monticello. This variety, also called ‘Verte’, is a better producer in short growing seasons than most figs. 

Figs can be successfully grown in pots, especially in northern climates. Jefferson had unusual success with figs by growing them below the vegetable garden wall in what he called the “submural beds.” He noted their appearance at the table in 1816 and 1820.

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