Women Sail to 13 British American Colonies

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Old, but proper, garden sheds

Today is a good day to dream about old pots & proper potting sheds. Spring is here...

Down House, Home of Charles Darwin, South East, Kent, England

Calke Abbey. Ticknall, Derby, Derbyshire, England

Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

Beningborough Hall, North Yorkshire, England

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England

Down House, Home of Charles Darwin, South East, Kent, England

Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

Exbury Gardens, Southampton, Hampshire, England

Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

Lost Gardens of Heligan, South West, Cornwall, England

Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

Lost Gardens of Heligan, South West, Cornwall, England

Royal Horticultural Society Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Garden to Table - Chocolate

Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) Madame Liotard and her Daughter & Chocolate Detail

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

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.

Indian Cress

Cress, Indian, Nasturtium indicum nasis torinentum; because the seed when bruised is apt to cause pressing; known to the Botanists by the name of Acriviola, a sharp violet, should be sown, in April or March, being extremely tender. If stuck, they will climb a great height, and will last till the frost come, and then totally perish. It is thought the flower is superior to a radish in flavour, and is eaten in salads or without. My method is to plant the seeds in hills, three in a hill, leaving a space in the middle to put the stick on which they are to grow; and I have found they succeed very well in a rich light soil..

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Looking to Europe for Inspiration - Versailles painted by American James Carroll Beckwith 1825-1917

James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) Bassin de Neptune, Versailles 1913

The only way I can justify posting these paintings on this blog is to say that the artist is American & Versailles lead the way for garden design in England and then on the the British American colonies. It is impossible for a garden historian to stay away from Versailles for very long, and so back we go. I hope you enjoy the trip.

James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) Terminal Figure of Ceres 1911

James Carroll Beckwith (1852–1917) was born in Hannibal, Missouri; however, he grew up in Chicago, where his father started a wholesale grocery business.

James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) Arcade of the Grand Trianon, Versailles 1913

In 1868 at age 16, he studied art at the Chicago Academy of Design under Walter Shirlaw until the great fire of 1871, destroyed eveything there & much of the heart of the city. He then went to New York to study at the National Academy of Design.

James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) Syrinx, Par Maziere, 1689; Bassin d'Apollon 1913

Carroll Beckwith, as he preferred to be called, visited Versailles, France, in 1911 & 1913, where he created about 22 paintings of garden statues.

James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) Allee de l'Ete, Versailles 1913

When Beckwith was in France, the government had recognized the dilapidation of the once glorious palace, and was moving to restore Versailles to its original splendor. (Franchi and Weber, Intimate Revelations: The Art of Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917), 1999)

James Carroll Beckwith (1852-1917) Nymph and Cupid 1913

His papers, including his sketchbooks & the diaries he kept from 1871, until his death in 1917, are held by the National Academy of Design in New York City. All of the paintings in this posting are held by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.