Plants in Early American Gardens - Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow

Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow (Hibiscus laevis)

Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow, a large, native perennial with light pink, hollyhock-like flowers, was noted by John and William Bartram during their explorations of the South in 1765-66. “Halberd,” the name of a 15th century weapon, was given to describe its spear-shaped, triangular leaves on tall, straight stems.

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18C Children & American Gardens out windows

 1710 Justus Engelhardt Kuhn (Colonial American artist, fl 1707-1717) Eleanor Darnall 1704-1796

 1710 Justus Engelhardt Kuhn (Colonial American artist, fl 1707-1717) Eleanor Darnall 1704-1796

Plants in Early American Gardens - Great Red Hibiscus

Great Red Hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus)

Great Red Hibiscus, a perennial native to the coastal swamps of Georgia and Florida, was adopted as an ornamental in American gardens by the end of the 18th century, when George Washington ordered a plant for Mount Vernon. The species bears palmately-lobed leaves and bright scarlet blossoms that are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.

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South Carolina - A View Mr. Lindsay's from South Bay

Charles Fraser (1782-1860) A View Mr. Lindsay's From South Bay

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.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Yellow-Horned Poppy

Yellow-horned Poppy (Glaucium flavum)

This unusual short-lived yet self-seeding perennial – native to the coastal regions of North Africa, Europe, Britain, and Western Asia – was observed naturalized along the New England coast as early as the 17th century. Thomas Jefferson planted seeds of Yellow Horned Poppy at Monticello in an oval bed southeast of the house in 1807. It has attractive, bluish-gray foliage and bears bright golden-yellow, poppy-like flowers followed by strange, “horned” seed pods.

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Garden to Table -

John S C Schaak (British artist, 1761-1769) Preparing & serving Serving a Meal in the Tavern Interior 1762    Detail

Plants in Early American Gardens - Blanket Flower

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata)

As the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the Continental Divide on July 6th, 1806, this showy native species was collected. Blanket Flower blooms from summer through autumn, with yellow ray florets sometimes tinged red at the base, and reddish-orange central disk florets that are attractive to pollinators. Deer and drought tolerant.

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Garden to Table -

Woman selling Fruit & Vegetables, by Arnout de Muyser.    Detail

Plants in Early American Gardens - Purple Coneflower

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Purple Coneflower is native to the central and southeastern U.S. and is valued for its showy pink daisy-like flowers, attractiveness to pollinators and birds, and its drought and deer tolerance. It was first exported to Europe in 1699 by John Banister, the Virginia botanist. In the 19th century, American garden writer Thomas Fessenden commented on Coneflowers: "many flowers . . . very durable . . . and much admired."

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Garden to Table -

Willem van Mieris (1662-1747) Trip to the Market for Vegetables 1731    Detail

Plants in Early American Gardens - Narrow-Leaved Coneflower

Narrow-leaved Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)

Narrow-leaved Coneflower is a summer-blooming perennial bearing daisy-like, rosy-pink flowers with reflexed petals; attractive to butterflies. Like the common Purple Coneflower (E. purpurea), this species is native to the Midwestern U.S. Also known as "Mad Dog Plant" because the Plains Indians prized it as a remedy for rabid dog and rattlesnake bites, this species was likely included in an 1805 shipment of plants sent to Jefferson by the Lewis & Clark Expedition. Deer-resistant and drought-tolerant.

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South Carolina - Capt. Frederick Fraser's Place, Prince William's Parish

Capt. Frederick Fraser's Place, Prince William's Parish.

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.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Small Yellow Foxglove

 Small Yellow Foxglove (Digitalis lutea)

Small Yellow Foxglove (Digitalis lutea)

This charming, self-seeding perennial bears pale yellow tubular flowers in late spring. Small Yellow Foxglove, native to the Mediterranean region, has been cultivated since the 16th century in Britain and was established in American gardens by 1800. Deer-resistant and attractive to hummingbirds, it was recommended by American garden writer Joseph Breck in his book, The Flower Garden (1851).

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Rusty Foxglove

 Rusty Foxglove (Digitalis ferruginea)

Rusty Foxglove (Digitalis ferruginea)

The early summer-flowering Rusty Foxglove is native to southeastern Europe, Turkey, and Lebanon, and documented in the 16th-century British herbals of Parkinson and Gerard. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon listed it as "Iron-coloured Fox-glove" in The American Gardener's Calendar (1806) and he sold it by 1810. The plant sends tall flowering spikes above its dark, evergreen foliage, and bears showy, golden-brown flowers with unusual rusty-brown veining.

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Garden to Table -

Woman with a Duck & a Girl with a very large Cabbage by Pieter de Hooch   Detail

Plants in Early American Gardens - Fringed Pink

Fringed Pink (Dianthus superbus)

Fringed Pink is a native European and Asian perennial with flowers in shades of pale pink to white in early summer. Its flowers have a spicy fragrance and deeply cut petals, thus the common name pink, for pinking shears. Although recorded in European gardens by the 17th century, it remained uncommon both in Europe and America until the early 19th century.

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South Carolina - The Fence at Brabants on French Quarter Creek, The Seat of the Bishop Smith

1800. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Brabants on French Quarter Creek, The Seat of the Late Bishop Smith. South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. 

This plantation lies on French Quarter Creek, a tributary of the Eastern Branch of the Cooper River. The original grant to Francis Pagett in 1704, was later joined a tract granted in 1709 to Daniel Brabant, a surgeon whose name became that of the plantation. It amounted to 3,000 acres, when Elizabeth Pagett married the Reverend Robert Smith, rector of St. Philip’s Church in Charles Town. He became the 1st Bishop of the State of South Carolina, & was the First Principal of the college of Charleston, where Charles Fraser was one of the students.

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.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Globe Centaurea

Globe Centaurea (Centaurea macrocephala)

Globe Centaurea, also called Great Golden Knapweed, is a robust perennial from the Caucasus, introduced to Britain by 1805. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon sent seeds to Thomas Jefferson in 1812. The plant forms clumps 3-4’ high with large, thistle-like flowers in early summer. Its chestnut-brown buds open to expose a crown of rich yellow florets.

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Garden to Table -

 At Market with the Fruit Seller by Louise Moillon (1610–1696)    Detail

Garden to Table - Home-Made Daisy Wine

 

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

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

DAISY WINE
One quart of daisy heads, one quart of cold water. Let stand forty-eight hours. Strain and add three-quarters pound of sugar to each quart of liquid. Let stand about two weeks, or till it stops fermenting. Strain again and bottle. It improves with keeping.

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

Colonial Era Cookbooks

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

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

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

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

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

Helpful Secondary Sources

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

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

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

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

Food in Colonial and Federal America/Sandra L. Oliver

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

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