w Garden to Table - Distillery for Rye, Wheat, Barley & Corn into Whiskey

Geo Washington's (1732-1799) Distillery turned his Rye, Wheat, Barley & Corn into Whiskey

After serving eight years as President, George Washington retired from public life to spend his remaining two-and-a-half-years at his beloved Mount Vernon.  At this time in George Washington’s life, he was actively trying to simplify his farming operations and reduce his expansive land holdings. But always keen to enterprises that might earn him extra income, Washington became intrigued by the profit potential that a distillery might bring in.

In January 1797, Scotsman James Anderson, a newly hired manager, proposed that George Washington begin rye and corn whiskey production. Anderson was raised on his father's farm about 40 miles north of Edinburgh, Scotland, where he managed a farm. In the early 1790s, he moved his family to the United States, where he rented a farm in Fairfax County for 2 years, while he managed farms for other people. He agreed to work as a farm manager for George Washington in October of 1796.

Trusting his farm manager's expertise, Washington ordered a stone still house and a small malt house to be built adjacent to the gristmill on Dogue Creek, about two miles from the Mansion. Construction began in October of 1797 for a stone still house large enough for five stills. The foundation was large river rocks brought from the Falls of the Potomac, and the walls of the distillery were made of sandstone quarried from Mount Vernon.

The still house was furnished with copper stills, boilers, and tubs. Wooden troughs were constructed to channel water from the creek to cool the vapor of the heated mash.  That Washington was willing to commit to distilling by building  a relatively large distilling operation is evidence of his desire to pursue the most innovative and creative farming practices of the day. Despite having no prior experience in distilling, he quickly became acquainted with the process.

Washington's distillery had five copper pot stills, made by George McMunn, an Alexandria coppersmith, which held a total capacity of 616 gallons. Fifty mash tubs, large 120-gallon barrels made of oak, were located at Washington’s distillery in 1799. In Washington’s day, cooking the grain and fermenting the mash all happened in the same container. The boiler, where the hot water would have come from, held 210 gallons. 

Washington attempted to persuade Anderson to choose a site closer to the Mansion in order to keep a closer eye on his new distillery. Washington was later convinced that the distillation process made proximity to water crucial. The busy complex on Dogue Creek included a substantial merchant mill, a distillery, a cooper's shop, the miller's house, and livestock pens, all located on the main road to Alexandria or to points south. Recognizing the area as Mount Vernon's economic center, Anderson requested to relocate his residence to the center of activity.

By the spring of 1798 the distillery was in operation. In 1799—the year of Washington's death—over eighty transactions are noted for a total sale of 10,942 gallons of whiskey, valued at $7,674. In 1799, Washington's distillery produced nearly 11,000 gallons, making it one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America. 

Enslaved distillers Hanson, Peter, Nat, Daniel, James, and Timothy performed the hot and tiring work of making whiskey from a combination of rye, wheat, corn, and malted barley. These men likely slept above the distillery during the busy season.

Alcohol played a large role in the lives of most people in the 1700s. It was drunk at home & during social occasions and used medicinally. It also served as a trading commodity. Washington enjoyed a variety of beverages, among his favorites were old-fashioned elderberry wine & sweet fortified wines like Madeira and Port. He also drank beer, rum punch, porter, and whiskey. 

Customers listed in his records included neighboring farmers, merchants, family, and Mount Vernon overseers. Washington’s whiskey was sold to neighbors and in stores in Alexandria and Richmond, VA. His best customer was his close friend George Gilpin, Alexandria's surveyor, mapmaker, politician, wharf owner, collector of customs, 1st judge of the Orphans Court, harbor master, inspector of tobacco & flour, postmaster & more. Gilpin was also a member of the same Masonic Lodge as Washington and was a pallbearer at Washington's funeral. Gilpin apparently also owned a store in Alexandria, where he sold the whiskey. Other Alexandria merchants also bought large quantities to resell. 

Local farmers purchased or traded grain for whiskey. Many of the people who worked at Mount Vernon also purchased whiskey. The common whiskey cost about 50 cents per gallon. The rectified and fourth distilled whiskey was about $1.00 a gallon, and brandy was a little more. Consumers would pay in cash or sometimes barter goods. Whiskey was also exchanged for services in the case of family physician James Craik and the farm overseers, and for goods such as corn and rye, which would then be converted into more whiskey.

The most common beverage produced at Washington’s distillery was a whiskey made from 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley. This rye was distilled twice and sold as common whiskey. Smaller amounts were distilled up to four times, making them more expensive. Some whiskey was rectified (filtered to remove impurities) or flavored with cinnamon or persimmons. Wheat was also distilled when rye was scarce. Apple, peach, and persimmon brandies were produced and also vinegar.

Washington’s whiskey was not bottled or branded. The whiskey coming from the distillery was poured into wooden barrels, usually 31 gallons in size, and shipped to nearby merchants.

Prior to the American Revolution, rum was the distilled beverage of choice. But after the war, whiskey quickly grew to displace rum as America’s favorite distilled beverage. Rum, which required molasses from the British West Indies, was more expensive and less easily acquired than locally grown wheat, rye, and corn. Whiskey was also easier to produce than rum, requiring relatively simple processes and equipment.

Distilleries were very common in early America. In the 1810 census, there were more than 3,600 distilleries operating in the state of Virginia alone. At its time Washington’s distillery was one of the largest whiskey distilleries in the country. It measured 75 x 30 feet (2,250 square feet) while the average distillery was about 20 x 40 feet (800 square feet).

As with his mill, Washington processed the harvests from his own farms but purchased & traded for grain from outside sources as well. Washington was clearly not interested in simply supplying the needs of his plantation community, but considered the enterprise to be a thriving moneymaker. 

The distillery also offered an important subsidiary benefit. Washington’s interest in the distillery operation was further heightened by his knowledge that much of the waste (or slop) from the fermentation process could be fed to his growing number of hogs. Washington created a hog pen near the distillery which held upwards of 150 pigs.

In 1798, Polish visitor Julian Niemcewicz toured the site and noted: "If this distillery produces poison for men, it offers in return the most delicate and the most succulent feed for pigs. They keep 150...of the Guinea type, short feet, hollow backs and so excessively bulky that they can hardly drag their big bellies on the ground. Their venerable and corpulent appearance recalled to me our Dominican convents, like so many priors."

1800 Detail of Painting by Frederick Kemmelmeyer of General George Washington during the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion  

Washington paid tax on the output of his distillery. In the 1790s a federal excise tax was collected from distilleries based upon the capacity of the stills and the number of months they distilled. In 1798, Washington paid a tax of $332 on 616 gallons operating 12 months. This “whiskey tax” was enacted during his presidency, and it immediately raised strong protests from westerners who saw this tax as an unfair assault on their growing source of income. By the middle of 1794, the armed threats and violence against tax collectors sent to secure the revenue came to a head. Under great pressure to deal with this insurrection, Washington called out the militia and led 12,950 men into Western Pennsylvania. Confronted by the Commander in Chief and this sizable military force, the Whiskey Rebellion was put down and the right of the Federal government to tax its population was sustained.

Despite the controversial tax, whiskey proved to be the most profitable of Washington's many business ventures. Anderson remained at the plantation as farm manager until Martha Washington's death in 1802.

All this research plus images & much more is directly from the Mount Vernon website - just click the highlighted acknowledgment above. 

Garden to Table - Brewing Beer in Early America

When Ben Franklin wrote, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy," he was speaking for many Americans of his day. Beer, and the art of brewing, was one of the first things European settlers needed America in the 17th century.  

The Mayflower landed on Plymouth Rock in the winter of 1620. They’d actually landed on Cape Cod in November & tried to sail south to their intended destination—The Virginia Colony, still 220 miles south—eventually ending up in Plymouth Rock. The choice to land was due in part to treacherous shoals & breakers facing Mayflower Captain Christopher Jones off the cold coast of Cape Cod—but it was also due in large part to a dangerous shortage of beer.

When he became alarmed that his ship's supply of beer was running low, Captain  Jones  decided to land at Plymouth Rock (rather than sailing further south) to "winter" there. It was determined that the passengers & servants should go ashore to  seek out new water (hopefully to make more beer). Captain Jones sent all passengers off the ship into the frigid New England winter on December 19th, 1620. 

The ship's crew remained on the moored vessel, reserving the beer for themselves. One passenger, William Bradford, complained that he & other passengers "were hastened ashore & made to drink water, that the seamen might have the more beer." And even though the pilgrims discovered clean streams ashore, they were suspicious of the New World liquid & not altogether fond of its taste. As one colonist was quick to write, "I dare not prefere it before good beere" 

To the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, beer had become an essential part of daily life. Even the children drank beer. "Ship's beer" as it was known, did not have high alcohol content. Neither did the even weaker "small beer," of which passengers drank a quart per day. Beer was stored on board many seagoing ships; because after being stored for long periods of time, a ship's water would become a contaminated, germy affair. Beer, on the other hand, could be stored & ingested for weeks & months without ill effect, making it the ideal beverage for a lengthy journey — as long as there was enough to go around.

At Plymouth Rock, the Wampanoags reportedly taught them how to ferment alcohol, but not beer. Along the Atlantic coast, hops were scarce. Some settlers did manage to find hops growing in the wild, but their supply was quickly exhausted, leaving them in the same awful situation they were in, when they were dropped off by the sailors here in the first place. 

In Jamestown, Virginia, the situation was even worse. Somehow, the Virginia Company had sent the early settlers to the colony without thinking to bring someone who actually knew how to make beer. The settlers planted a field of barley, put an ad in a 1609 London paper asking for two brewers to sail over; and later in 1609, they finally brewed beer. The remnants of the very first “brewery” in America can be seen at Historic Jamestowne.

The early colonist's desire for beer was both a born-in cultural habit as well as what was then a common-sense approach not to drink strange water and possibly die in any one of a myriad of unappealing ways. Prior to the advent of breweries and taverns in America, beer was brewed at home. 

Early American brewers took malted barley and cracked it by hand. They would then steep, or soak, the grains in boiling water. They called the process mashing. Mashing allowed the brewer to extract the sugars from the barley. Brewers took the mash they had created, which had the consistency of oatmeal, and dumped it into a sawed-off whiskey barrel. The modified tub acted as a sieve, filtering the sugary liquid from the grain. The colonial brewer returned the strained liquid to the boil kettle, or the copper as it was called, for a 2-hour boiling. He added hops, chilled the brew, sprinkled it with yeast, and drained the final product into wooden kegs. The brewer then placed those kegs in a cellar for three weeks to a month.

Brewing did not always turn out well. For some Early American brewers, beer went bad quite often. In a letter dated 1623, George Sandy of the Virginia colony wrote, "It would well please the country to hear he had taken revenge of Dupper for his Stinking [sic] beer, which hath been the death of 200." Like most food or beverage products, beer is not immune to bacterial growth or becoming rank from improper brewing practices.

By the 1700s beer was big business, although recipes differed. Farmers planted fields of barley and hops, beer's chief ingredients, to help keep the liquid flowing. Many people, especially rich gentlemen, built private brew houses, handcrafting most of the equipment from wood (except the copper kettle, of course). Thomas Jefferson and George Washington built breweries on their plantations. In fact, Jefferson's wife brewed 15 gallons of low-alcohol beer every two weeks.

Thomas Jefferson grew hops at Monticello for brewing, and also purchased them in fairly large quantities from others. Jefferson's memorandum books record a handful of purchases by both Jefferson and his wife in the early 1770s, mostly from local slaves. These hops were most likely used for brewing batches of "small beer."

George Washington’s instructions for making Small Beer: 

Take a large Siffer [Sifter] full of Bran Hops to your Taste. Boil these 3 hours. Then strain out 30 Gall[ons] into a cooler, put in 3 Gall[ons] Molasses while the Beer is Scalding hot or rather draw the Molasses into the cooler & St[r]ain the Beer on it while boiling Hot. Let this stand till it is little more than Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yea[s]t if the Weather is very Cold, cover it over with a Blank[et] & let it Work in the Cooler 24 hours then put it into the Cask — leave the bung open till it is almost don[e] Working — Bottle it that Week it was Brewed. — From a notebook (c. 1757) kept by George Washington

Jefferson also mentions hops in Notes on the State of Virginia, in Query VI, in a list of native esculent plants: "Wild hop - humulus lupulus."1 Regarding his own culture of the plant, Jefferson first lists hops in his "Objects for the garden" in 1794.

In 1812, Jefferson began brewing beer at Monticello on a large scale, and that same year he lists hops in his garden calendar. They also appear on his garden "agenda" for 1813. Despite growing hops, Jefferson continued to record purchases of hops from various other sources until 1820.

Amelia Simmons 1796 American Cookery, the first cookbook written by an American, using ingredients available to Americans, gives a recipe for spruce beer containing hops, water, molasses and “essence of spruce.”   (The essence was produced by boiling the young fresh shoots of the spruce tree and reducing the liquid to a concentrated extract.)  

In 1824, Mary Randolph included a similar recipe for spruce beer in The Virginia Housewife, calling for a handful of hops, and twice as much of the chippings of sassafras root, one gallon of molasses, two spoonfuls of essence of spruce, two of powdered ginger, and one of powdered allspice.

Eliza Leslie's, 1837 Directions for Cookery included recipes for spruce beer, ginger beer, molasses beer  and sassafras beer, (as well as for  fox grape shrub and cherry bounce): Sassafras Beer– Have ready two gallons of soft water; one quart of wheat bran; a large handful of dried apples; half a pint of molasses; a small handful of hops; half a pint of strong fresh yeast; and a piece of sassafras root the size of an egg… Leslie gives instructions for boiling the mixture, straining through a hair sieve, and putting into open jugs to ferment. 

Even up into the later 1800s, some households were producing their own beer. This recipe for beer comes from a community cookbooks, Housekeeping in the Blue Grass compiled by the Southern Presbyterian Church Missionary Society of Paris, Kentucky, in 1875: Beer- Two quarts of wheat bran, two and a half gallons of water, a few hops, one pint of molasses, and one pint of yeast. –Miss Kate Spears.

Spruce and molasses, along with hops and malt, continued to be employed in home brewing well into the 19th century.  Lydia Maria Child, the noted American abolitionist, women’s rights activist, journalist, Indian rights advocate, and successful author, uses all of these ingredients and more in her recipes  from The Frugal Housewife, which was reprinted at least 35 times between 1829 and 1850:

Beer– Beer is a good family drink. A handful of hops, to a pailful of water, and a half-pint of molasses, makes good hop beer. Spruce mixed with hops is pleasanter than hops alone. Boxberry, fever-bush, sweet fern, and horseradish make a good and healthy diet-drink. The winter evergreen, or rheumatism weed, thrown in, is very beneficial to humors. Be careful and not mistake kill-lamb for winter-evergreen ; they resemble each other. Malt mixed with a few hops makes a weak kind of beer ; but it is cool and pleasant ; it needs less molasses than hops alone. The rule is about the same for all beer. Boil the ingredients two or three hours, pour in a half-pint of molasses to a pailful, while the beer is scalding hot. Strain the beer, and when about lukewarm, put a pint lively yeast to a barrel. Leave the bung loose till the beer is done working; you can ascertain this by observing when the froth subsides. If your family be large, and the beer will be drank rapidly, it may as well remain in the barrel; but if your family be small, fill what bottles you have with it; it keeps better bottled. A raw potato or two, cut up and thrown in, while the ingredients are boiling, is said to make beer spirited.

New Yorker John Nicholson wrote about early American beer in The Farmer's Assistant in 1820,

"To make Spruce beer. Boil some spruce boughs with some wheat-bran till the water tastes sufficiently of the spruce; strain the water, and stir in at the rate of 2 quarts of molasses to a half-barrel; work it with the emptyings of beer, or with yeast if you have it. After working sufficiently, bung up the cask, or, which is better, bottle its contents.

"To make Molasses beer. Take 5 pounds of molasses, half a pint of yeast, and a spoonful of powdered ginger; put these into a vessel, and pour on 2 gallons of scalding hot soft water; shake the whole till a fermentation is produced; then add of the same kind of water sufficient to fill up your half barrel...Let the liquor ferment about twelve hours; then bottle it, with a raisin or 2 in each bottle.
"If honey instead of molasses be used, at the rate of about 12 pounds to the barrel, it will make a very fine beverage, after having been bottled a while.

"To make Beer with Hops. Take 5 quarts of wheatbran and three ounces of hops, and boil them 15 minutes in 15 gallons of water; strain the liquor; add 2 quarts of molasses; cool it quickly to about the temperature of new milk, and put it into your half barrel, having the cask completely filled. Leave the bung out for 24 hours, in order that the yeast may be worked off and thrown out; and then the beer will be fit for use. About the 5th day, bottle off what remains in the cask, or it will turn sour, if the weather be warm. If the cask be new, apply yeast, or beer-emptyings, to bring on the fermentation; but, if it has been in this use before, that will not be necessary.

"Yeast, particularly the whiter part, is much fiter to be used for fermenting, than the mere grounds of the beerbarrel ; and the same may be observed, in regard to its use in fermenting dough for bread.
"To recover a cask of stale Small beer. Take some hops and some chalk broken to pieces; put them in a bag, and put them in at the bunghole, and then stop up the cask closely. Let the proportion be 2 ounces of hops and a pound of chalk for a half-barrel.

"To cure a cask of Beer. Mix 2 handsful of beanflour with one handful of salt, and stir it in.

"To feed a cask of Beer. Bake a rye-loaf well nutmeged; cut it in pieces, and put it in a narrow bag with some hops and some wheat, and put the bag into the cask at the bunghole.
"To clarify Beer. For a half-barrel, take about 6 ounces of chalk, burn it, and put it into the cask. This will disturb the liquor and fine it in 24 hours.  It is also recommended, in some cases, to dissolve some loaf-sugar and add to the above ingredients.
"We omit going into any description of the method of making strongbeer, as the necessity for it among Farmers, as a household beverage, seems to be greatly obviated by that of smallbeer, which is much less intoxicating, and by cider, a stronger drink, which is readily afforded from apple-orchards, which are more or less natural to almost every part ot the United States, except a little of its southern border, where the grape can be cultivated to advantage...

"It is indeed true, that many Farmers in Great Britain brew their own strongbeer; but there is but little of that country where apple-orchards are natural...It is an expensive liquor tor the Farmer to make much use of, as it requires 4 bushels of malt to make a barrel, even of common ale, and 8, for a barrel of beer ot the strongest kind."

The Early American Development of The Blush Noissette Rose

Development of The Blush Noissette Rose

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello explans that the history of the rose, the most beloved of flowers and three thousand years in cultivation, is undoubtedly one of the most complex. 

The story of these two parent roses in the hands of Charleston, South Carolina merchant John Champneys is well documented. Champneys grew both in his large plantation garden southwest of Charleston. There the two roses crossed and produced seedlings with very desirable characteristics. Some put this event in 1802 while others maintain it occurred around 1810-11. According to Léonie Bell, "The Champneys rose was noteworthy because it not only repeated from June to November, it did so abundantly. ... The small pink stained flower was no great beauty, nor very double ... but it became a good seed parent." Champneys shared rooted cuttings of his seedling with friends, including William Prince, Jr., who in turn shipped many more from his Long Island nursery to England. In 1818 the Loddiges Nursery near London listed hundred of roses, including one called "champigny."

Champneys shared another batch from his seedling with his neighbor, a Frenchman, named Phillippe Noisette. Both were members of the South Carolina Horticultural Society, of which Champneys was president. According to Léonie Bell, Phillippe Noisette was the son of the head gardener to Louis XVI, and himself an avid horticulturist. He immigrated to the United States to escape the French Revolution, and soon was made superintendent of the South Carolina Medical Society's garden in Charleston. A few years after receiving Champneys rose, Phillippe sent a batch of his own seedlings, which he labeled "blush" rose, to his brother Louis, who had an extensive nursery collection of roses in Paris. Some argue that Champneys was deprived of a certain notoriety once his rose went on to become part of a class called Noisettes. Robert Prince's Manual of Roses, 1846, maintains that notion, stating: "The old Blush Noisette Rose was raised ... by Phillippe Noisette, of Charleston, from seed of the Champney Rose, and this he sent to his brother Louis Noisette of Paris, under the name of the Noisette Rose." Others, including Léonie Bell herself, believe Phillippe Noisette was also experimenting with Champneys' rose, and may have crossed it with a third, repeat-blooming, diploid rose such as "Hume's Blush" Tea-scented China, resulting in his own creation--the 'Blush Noisette'. In any case, once in France and under the expert care of Louis Noisette, dozens of distinct cultivars ensued.

While Thomas Jefferson grew a number of roses--including Gallicas, Sweetbriars, and native roses--the Noisettes were not likely among them. His final mention of roses was for his retreat home, Poplar Forest, in which he noted on November 1, 1816: "planted large roses of difft. kinds in the oval bed in the N. front. dwarf roses in the N.E. oval. ..." Jefferson's long life was ending just as this new breed, the Noisette, was emerging on the scene. He did, however, plant the Noisette's parents. In 1791 Jefferson ordered from the famous William Prince Nursery in Flushing Landing, New York, two each of the Monthly rose (Rosa chinensis cv.) and the Musk rose (R. moschata). The China rose, specifically 'Old Blush' or 'Parson's Pink China', was desired for its long blooming season, so unlike the European varieties, which generally offer only one big show in late spring. The European Musk Rose, as described by Parkinson and Gerard, was valued for its later season of bloom (mid to late summer) and its clusters of highly fragrant, white blossoms.

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

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.

Lavender

Lavender, Lavendula a lavendo, because good in washings and bathing, as it scents the water and beautifies the flesh, should be propagated from the cuttings or slips, and. planted out in March in a poor gravelly soil. It has been found that this soil suits it best, will give it a more aromatic smell, and that it will resist the winters here better than in a rich soil.

Notes:.
Lavender has been in documented use for over 2,500 years. Lavender was used for mummification & perfume by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, & peoples of Arabia.

Romans used lavender oils for bathing, cooking, & scenting the air, & they most likely gave it the Latin root from which we derive the modern name (either lavare--to wash, or livendula--livid or bluish). The flower's soothing "tonic" qualities, the insect-repellent effects of the strong scent, & the use of the dried plant in smoking mixtures also added to the value of the herb in ancient times.

Lavender is mentioned often in the Bible, not by the name lavender but rather by the name used at that time--spikenard (from the Greek name for lavender, naardus, after the Syrian city Naarda). In the gospel of Luke the writer reports: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, & anointed the feet of Jesus, & wiped his feet with her hair; & the house was filled with the odor of the ointment."

Perhaps first domesticated by the Arabians, lavender spread across Europe from Greece. Around 600 BC, lavender may have come from the Greek Hyeres Islands into France & is now common in France, Spain, Italy & England. The 'English' lavender varieties were not locally developed in England but rather introduced in the 1600s, right around the time the first lavender plants were making their way to the Americas.

In Medieval & Renaissance Europe, the washing women were known as "lavenders" & they used lavender to scent drawers & dried the laundry on lavender bushes. Also during this time, lavender was grown in so-called "infirmarian's gardens" in monasteries, along with many other medicinal herbs. According to the German nun Hildegard of Bingen, who lived from 1098-1179, lavender "water,"--a decoction of vodka, gin, or brandy mixed with lavender--is great for migraine headaches.

During the Great Plague in London in the 17th century, it was suggested that a bunch of lavender fastened to each wrist would protect the wearer against the deadly disease. Grave-robbers were said to wash in Four Thieves Vinegar, which contained lavender.  In 16th-century France, lavender was also used to resist infection. Glove-makers, who were licensed to perfume their wares with lavender, were said to have escaped cholera at that time.

Charles VI of France demanded lavender-filled pillows wherever he went. Queen Elizabeth I of England required lavender conserve at the royal table. She also wanted fresh lavender flowers available every day of the year, a daunting task for a gardener if you consider the climate of England. Louis XIV also loved lavender & bathed in water scented with it.

In the United States & Canada, the Shakers were the first to grow lavender commercially. They most likely had little use for lavender's amorous qualities (they were celibate), they developed herb farms upon their arrival from England. They produced their own herbs & medicines & sold them to the "outside world."

An apocryphal book of the Bible, reports that Judith anointed herself with perfumes including lavender before seducing Holofernes, the enemy commander. This allowed her to murder him & thus save the City of Jerusalem. The overwhelming power of this seductive scent was also used by Cleopatra to seduce Julius Cesaer & Mark Antony. The Queen of Sheba offered spikenard with frankincense & myrrh to King Solomon,

By Tudor times, lavender brew was being sipped by maidens on St. Lukes day to divine the identity of their true loves. They'd chant, "St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me. In my dreams, let me my true love see."  A famous nursery rhyme called "Lavender Blue, Dilly Dilly" was written in 1680 & talks of "Whilst you & I, diddle, diddle…keep the bed warm." mummification & perfume by the Egyptians, Phoenicians, & peoples of Arabia.

Romans used lavender oils for bathing, cooking, & scenting the air, & they most likely gave it the Latin root from which we derive the modern name (either lavare--to wash, or livendula--livid or bluish). The flower's soothing "tonic" qualities, the insect-repellent effects of the strong scent, & the use of the dried plant in smoking mixtures also added to the value of the herb in ancient times.

Lavender is mentioned often in the Bible, not by the name lavender but rather by the name used at that time--spikenard (from the Greek name for lavender, naardus, after the Syrian city Naarda). In the gospel of Luke the writer reports: "Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, & anointed the feet of Jesus, & wiped his feet with her hair; & the house was filled with the odor of the ointment."

Perhaps first domesticated by the Arabians, lavender spread across Europe from Greece. Around 600 BC, lavender may have come from the Greek Hyeres Islands into France & is now common in France, Spain, Italy & England. The 'English' lavender varieties were not locally developed in England but rather introduced in the 1600s, right around the time the first lavender plants were making their way to the Americas.

In Medieval & Renaissance Europe, the washing women were known as "lavenders" & they used lavender to scent drawers & dried the laundry on lavender bushes. Also during this time, lavender was grown in so-called "infirmarian's gardens" in monasteries, along with many other medicinal herbs. According to the German nun Hildegard of Bingen, who lived from 1098-1179, lavender "water,"--a decoction of vodka, gin, or brandy mixed with lavender--is great for migraine headaches.

During the Great Plague in London in the 17th century, it was suggested that a bunch of lavender fastened to each wrist would protect the wearer against the deadly disease. Grave-robbers were said to wash in Four Thieves Vinegar, which contained lavender. In 16th-century France, lavender was also used to resist infection. Glove-makers, who were licensed to perfume their wares with lavender, were said to have escaped cholera at that time.

Charles VI of France demanded lavender-filled pillows wherever he went. Queen Elizabeth I of England required lavender conserve at the royal table. She also wanted fresh lavender flowers available every day of the year, a daunting task for a gardener if you consider the climate of England. Louis XIV also loved lavender & bathed in water scented with it.

In the United States & Canada, the Shakers were the first to grow lavender commercially. They most likely had little use for lavender's amorous qualities (they were celibate), they developed herb farms upon their arrival from England. They produced their own herbs & medicines & sold them to the "outside world."

An apocryphal book of the Bible, reports that Judith anointed herself with perfumes including lavender before seducing Holofernes, the enemy commander. This allowed her to murder him & thus save the City of Jerusalem. The seductive scent was also used by Cleopatra to seduce Julius Cesaer & Mark Antony.

By Tudor times, lavender brew was being sipped by maidens on St. Lukes day to divine the identity of their true loves. They'd chant, "St. Luke, St. Luke, be kind to me. In my dreams, let me my true love see." A famous nursery rhyme called "Lavender Blue, Dilly Dilly" was written in 1680 & talks of "Whilst you & I, diddle, diddle…keep the bed warm."

The Oval Flower Beds at Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Monticello

The Monticello flower garden is composed of two elements: the twenty oval beds immediately around the house and the winding flower border that defines the West Lawn. Although there were earlier references to the flower "borders," it was not until 1807, when Thomas Jefferson began to anticipate his retirement from the presidency, that the flower gardens began to assume their ultimate shape. He then sketched a plan for the twenty oval-shaped flower beds in the four corners or "angles" of the house. Each bed was planted with a different flower, and most of the seeds and bulbs had been forwarded by Bernard McMahon, a Philadelphia nurseryman, author of The American Gardener's Calendar, and in many ways, Jefferson's gardening mentor.

Oval Flower Bed at Monticello

Although there were later notations concerning plantings in the oval beds in Jefferson's garden book, a remarkable diary detailing a lifetime of horticulture at Monticello, the 1807 plan was the most complete.3 The diversity of flower species represents the scope of his interests. Many of the flowers had been grown for centuries in Europe and were commonly cultivated in early American gardens, such as roses, Sweet William, and the double white-flowering poppy. Others were curiosities, such as the winter cherry, with its lantern-like fruits, and the blackberry lily.

One bed was planted with twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla, shown at right), a rare, woodland wildflower that was named in Jefferson's honor in 1792 by Benjamin Barton, a noted early American botanist. Barton's tribute was inspired by Jefferson's "knowledge of natural history ... especially in botany and zoology [which] is equalled by that of few persons in the United-States."4 Other North American natives planted in 1807 included the "Columbian lily" (Fritillaria pudica), collected by the Jefferson-sponsored Lewis and Clark expedition, and the cardinal flower, which could have been found along the Rivanna River at the base of Monticello mountain. Twenty-five percent of the flowers cultivated at Monticello were North American natives, and the gardens became, in part, a museum of New World botanical curiosities.

Tulips, hyacinths, and anemones were among the flowering bulbs planted in 1807. Perhaps because they were so easily shipped long distances, bulbs played a significant role at Monticello. The tulip, for example, was the most commonly mentioned flower in Jefferson's garden book. Many of these bulbs were "florist's flowers," species highly refined through selective breeding by skilled European plantsmen.

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

Garden to Table -

Seeds & Plants - History Blooms at Monticello - Couleur Cardinal Tulip

'Couleur Cardinal' Tulip (Tulipa gesneriana cv.)

This single-flowered, fragrant tulip dates to 1845 and is still widely grown. The short but sturdy stems of ‘Couleur Cardinal’ are typical of early spring flowering types. 

Garden tulips were introduced into Europe from Turkey by the mid 1500’s and their popularity soared in Holland during the “Tulipmania” of 1634-37. Jefferson mentioned tulips more than any other flower in his Garden Book. Planting time.

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