Plants in Early American Gardens - Chinese Aster

China Aster Seeds (Callistephus chinensis)

China Aster seeds were first sent to Paris from China in 1728 by a Jesuit priest. This showy annual flower was cultivated in America as early as 1737 by Williamsburg's John Custis and it grew in popularity in European gardens through the 18th century. By 1804 Bernard McMahon of Philadelphia was selling eleven cultivars of Aster chinensis in a variety of “sorts” including double and quilled forms. These seeds represent a simple, single-flowered form of China Aster in shades of blue and pink with yellow centers that are good for cutting.

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The Milk House

John Beale Bordley (1726/27-1804) Essays & Notes on Husbandry & Rural Affairs. Printed by Budd and Bartram, for Thomas Dobson, at the stone house, no 41, South Second Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1799

The Milk House

The Milk-house adjoins the Laboratory, which is a scalding house to it. It may be two feet under ground. The offal milk is conveyed to the pigs in wheel-barrows, and might be conveyed in a tube, under ground, to the pig-stie. Ice is at hand for hardening butter as it is taken from the churn and worked on a cold marble table. Water cold from the pump is constantly ushered, through pipes, to an upper shelf, and passing round the room, falls on the under shelves and runs off..

Plants in Early American Gardens - Tickseed Sunflower

Tickseed Sunflower (Bidens aristosa)

This showy, self-seeding, North American annual wildflower bears abundant bright yellow, daisy-like flowers on slender stalks from late summer into early autumn. Tickseed Sunflower is so named for the appearance of its dark brown, flattened seeds. The robust, bushy plants boast delicate, deeply-dissected foliage on green or reddish, multi-branched stems. The flowers are attractive to butterflies, bees, and other pollinators.

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The Pigeon House or Dovecote

John Beale Bordley (1726/27-1804) . Essays & Notes on Husbandry & Rural Affairs. Printed by Budd and Bartram, for Thomas Dobson, at the stone house, no 41, South Second Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1799

The Pigeon House or Dovecote

Pigeon-house. Pigeons feed expensively, when it is alone on the corns: but they also feed on many wild feeds. They make an agreeable variety on the table; but ought not to be suffered to become too numerous; and therefore their house is to be of a moderate size.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Amethyst Flowers

 Amethyst Flower (Browallia americana)

Amethyst Flower (Browallia americana)

Amethyst Flower, or Bush Violet, will produce an airy mass of tiny, amethyst-blue flowers throughout the summer in garden beds or containers. Named after Johan Browallius (1707-1755), a Swedish botanist, physician, and bishop, this self-seeding, South American species was introduced into cultivation in 1735, and was recommended by Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon in The American Gardener’s Calendar (1806).

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Prickly Poppy

Prickly Poppy Seeds (Argemone mexicana)

On June 18, 1767, Thomas Jefferson recorded in his Garden Book that "Argemone put out one flower" in his garden at Shadwell. On July 18 he noted another Prickly Poppy flower and observed that it was "the 4th this year," a testament to Jefferson’s appreciation of the natural world around him. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon sold Prickly Poppy, "Mexican Argemone," in 1804, which produces pale yellow flowers and attractive green and white-variegated leaves tipped with prickly spines, and reseeds readily.

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Plants in Early American Gardens - Joseph's Coat

Joseph's Coat (Amaranthus tricolor)

Thomas Jefferson included Joseph's Coat, or “three-coloured Amaranth,” in a shipment of seeds to his brother-in-law, Francis Eppes, from Paris in 1786. This brightly-plumed, tender annual is grown for its vibrant yellow and red foliage that provides an eye-catching display of color in the summer border.

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