Garden to Table - Orchards

Most colonists planted at least a few fruit trees or a larger orchard as soon as possible, when they settled on their land. An orchard is an enclosed garden used to grow fruit trees which provided both food & drink to the colonial family.

Cider was one of the most important drinks of the colonial period. Growing barley for beer, or any other traditional European grains that the settlers might have been accustomed to raising, required the use of a plow. Because the colonists' lands were freshly cleared; stumps remained dotting the landscape, & the use of a plow was nearly impossible.

In 1655, Adrian Van der Donck observed, "The Netherlands settlers, who are lovers of fruit, on observing that the climate was suitable to the production of fruit trees, have brought over & planted various kinds of apples & pear trees which thrive well...The English have brought over the first quinces, & we have also brought over stocks & seed which thrive well & produce large orchards."
In Jamestown, Virginia, it was reported that by 1656, "Orchards innumerable were planted & preserved." Jamestown, more than many other settlements, needed to grow domestic fruit to convert into a safe liquid to drink. Illness was a serious problem in early Jamestown due, in part, to the settlers' drinking water from shallow wells often polluted by the risky high water table. The colonists did not seem to mind the mellowing alcohol content of the quickly fermented apple juice either.

A 1 to 6 acre apple orchard became a rather common feature on farmsteads & plantations in the British American colonies. Apples were grown primarily for their juice, which was the most common colonial beverage of choice, because well-water generally was regarded as unsafe. Everyone in the family drank the hard cider year-round, & most families produced 20 to 50 barrels of cider each autumn for their own consumption & to use as barter for other goods & services.

Peach Blossoms

Some settlers also converted distilled cider into which was even stronger than hard cider. The first hand-cranked cider mills appeared in the colonies around 1745. Prior to this cider was made by pounding apples in a trough & draining the pomace.

Gabriel Thomas wrote of Pennsylvania in 1698, "There are many Fair & Great Brick Houses on the outside of the Town which the Gentry have built for their Countrey Houses... having a very fine & delightful Garden & Orchard adjoyning it, wherein is variety of Fruits, Herbs, & Flowers."

On a visit to Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1722, Hugh Jones noted that, "the Palace or Governor's House, a magnificent structure built at the publick Expense, finished & beautified with Gates, fine Gardens...Orchards."

A house-for-sale adverisement in the South Carolina Gazette in June of 1736, in Charleston, touted the orchard as a strong selling enticement, "To be Sold A Plantation containing 200 Acres...An orchard well planted with peach, apple, cherry, fig & plumb trees: a vineyard of about two years grownth planted with 1200 vines: a nursery of 5 or 600 mulberry trees about two years old, fit to plant out."

Pear Blossoms

In April of 1742, Eliza Lucas Pinckney wrote in South Carolina, "I have planted a large figg orchard with desighn to dry & export them. I have reckoned my expense & the prophets to arise from these figgs."

Peter Kalm noted on his travels through North America on September 18, 1748, "Every countryman, even a common peasant, has commonly an orchard near his house, in which all sorts of fruit, such a peaches, apples, pears, cherries, & others are in plenty."

By the middle of the 18th century, a wide variety of orchard trees was available to the general public. William Smith advertised trees he was growing in his nursery in Surry County, Virginia, in the 1755 Williamsburg newspaper, as did Thomas Sorsby of Surry County in 1763.
In 1755, orchardist William Smith offered, "Hughs’s Crab, Bray’s White Apple, Newton Pippin, Golden Pippin, French Pippin, Dutch Pippin, Clark’s Pearmain, Royal Pearmain, Baker’s Pearmain, Lone’s Pearmain, Father Abraham, Harrison’s Red, Ruffin’s large Cheese Apple, Baker’s Nonsuch, Ludwell’s Seedling, Golden Russet, Nonpareil, May Apple, Summer Codling, Winter Codling, Gillefe’s Cyder Apple, Green Gage Plumb, Bonum Magnum Plumb, Orleans Plumb, Imperial Plumb, Damascene Plumb, May Pear, Holt’s Sugar Pear, Autumn Bergamot Pear, Summer Pear, Winter Bergamot, Orange Bergamot, Mount Sir John, Pound Pear, Burr de Roy, Black Heart Cherry, May Duke Cherry, John Edmond’s Nonsuch Cherry, White Heart Cherry, Carnation Cherry, Kentish Cherry, Marrello Cherry, Double Blossom Cherry, Double Blossom Peaches, Filberts Red & White."

Nurseryman Thomas Sorsby had available in 1763, "Best cheese apple, long stems, Pamunkey, Eppes, Newtown pippins, Bray’s white apples, Clark’s pearmains, Lightfoot’s Father Abrahams, Sorsby’s Father Abrahams, Lightfoot’s Hughes, Sorsby’s Hughes, Ellis’s Hughes, New-York Yellow apples, Golden russeteens, Westbrook’s Sammons’s, horse apples, royal pearmains, a choice red apple, best May apples, Sally Gray’s apple, Old .England apple, green apple, Harvey’s apple, peach trees [Prunus persica], & cherry trees."

In 1756, from Annapolis, Maryland, Elizabeth Brook wrote to her son Charles Carroll, who was attending school in England & France, "This place... is greatly improved, a fine, flourishing orchard with a variety of choice fruit." Charles Carroll of Annapolis & his son annually put away vast quantities of cider for their family & servants. In 1775, the elder Carroll put away 190 casks of "cyder" (he estimated 22,800 gallons) for the coming year.

Apple Blossoms

Peter Hatch, who managed Monticello's gardens & grounds for about 30 years, reports that, between 1769 & 1814 Thomas Jefferson planted as many as 1,031 fruit trees in his South Orchard. This orchard formed a horseshoe-shape around the two vineyards & berry squares. It was organized into a grid pattern, in which he planted 18 varieties of apple, 38 of peach, 14 cherry, 12 pear, 27 plum, 4 nectarine, 7 almond, 6 apricot, & a quince.

"The earliest plantings, before 1780, reflect the experimental orchard of a young man eager to import Mediterranean culture to Virginia, & included olives, almonds, pomegranates, & figs. However, the mature plantings after 1810, included mostly species & varieties that either thrived through the hot, humid summers & cold, rainy winters of central Virginia, such as seedling late-season peaches or Virginia cider apples."

In 1782, Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecœur (1735–1813) described drying apple slices on wooden platforms erected on poles. The fruit was spread out on wooden boards, where it was soon covered with "all the bees & wasps & sucking insects of the neighborhood," which he felt accelerated the drying process. The dried apples were used in preparing a variety of dishes throughout the year. Peaches & plums were also dried but were considered more of a delicacy & were saved for special occasions. Many families stored their dried apples in bags hung high in building rafters to keep them dry & away from mice.

J. F. D. Smyth described Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1784, "Plantations are generally from one to four or five miles distant from each other, having a dwelling house in the middle... at some little distance there are always large peach & apple orchards."
In 1796, New Englander Amelia Simmons published the first truly American cookbook, American Cookery. Her view of the raising of apples had more to do with morality than with functionality.

"Apples are still more various, yet rigidly retain their own species, & are highly useful in families, & ought to be more universally cultivated, excepting in the compactest cities. There is not a single family but might set a tree in some otherwise useless spot, which might serve the two fold use of shade & fruit; on which 12 or 14 kinds of fruit trees might easily be engrafted, & essentially preserve the orchard from the intrusions of boys, &c. which is too common in America.

If the boy who thus planted a tree, & guarded & protected it in a useless corner, & carefully engrafted different fruits, was to be indulged free access into orchards, whilst the neglectful boy was prohibited--how many millions of fruit trees would spring into growth--and what a saving to the union. The net saving would in time extinguish the public debt, & enrich our cookery."
English agriculturalist Richard Parkinson noted in 1798, Baltimore, Maryland, "My orchard contained about six acres, three of which were planted with apples, the other three with peaches of various sorts."

In the 1790s, Captain John ODonnell (1749-1805) settled in Baltimore, Maryland, naming his country seat after his favorite port of call, Canton. & account of Canton given by a visitor noted that O"Donnell had planted orchards of red peaches on his 2500 acre estate in hopes of manufacturing brandy for trade but had met with limited financial success.

"For although Mr. O'Donnell's orchard had come to bear in great perfection & he had stills & the other necessary apparatus, the profit proved so small that he suffered the whole to go to waste & his pigs to consume the product."
A house-for-sale advertisement in the 1800 Federal Gazette in Baltimore, Maryland, described, "That beautiful, healthy & highly improved seat, within one mile of the city of Baltimore, called Willow Brook, containing about 26 acres of land, the whole of which is under a good post & rail fence, divided & laid off into grass lots, orchards, garden...The garden & orchard abounds with the greatest variety of the choicest fruit trees, shrubs, flowers...collected from the best nurseries in America & from Europe, all in perfection & full bearing."

Rosalie Stier Calvert devoted a great deal of attention to establishing an orchard at her home Riversdale in Prince George County, Maryland. In 1804, she “planted a large number of all the varieties of young fruit trees I could find, & I am going to fill the orchard with young apple trees everywhere there is room.” She complained that “It is impossible to buy any good pear trees from the nurseries. They sell bad pears under good names.” She first asked her father to send her peaches & pears from Europe, but soon realized it would not be practical. Instead, her father suggested that she buy pear trees in Alexandria, Virginia, for her garden “which had real soil for pears,” & water them with buckets of cow urine. She had already transplanted “a Seigneur pear tree,” which her father had grafted in Annapolis.

By 1805, she wrote, “We are getting much better at the art of gardening, especially with fruit trees which we planted a large collection of this year. You would scarcely recognize the orchard. The manure which was applied there in 1803 improved it greatly, & young trees have been planted where needed.” In addition to fruit trees, she planted currants & raspberries in her orchard.

Keeping apples overwinter in America during the 18th & 19th centuries was important & theories abounded about the proper method.

New Yorker John Nicholson wrote in The Farmer's Assistant in 1820, "In gathering apples, for Winter-use, they should be picked from the tree, & laid carefully in a heap, under cover, without being bruised. After they have sweated, let them be exposed to the air & well dried, by wiping them with dry cloths; then lay them away in a dry place where they will hot freeze. The time requisite for sweating will be six, ten, or fifteen days, according to the warmth of the weather...>"The fruit should not be gathered till fully ripe, which is known by the stem parting easily from the twig. It should also be gathered in dry weather & when the dew is off...

"It is confidently asserted by many, that apples may be safely kept in casks through Winter, in a cold chamber, or garret, by being merely covered with Linen cloths."

John Beale Bordley had written An Epitome of Mr. Forsyth's Treatise on the Culture & Management of Fruit Trees in 1804, noting that William Forsyth wrote "the most complete method of saving them, so as to preserve them the greatest length of time, is to wrap them in paper & pack them away in stone jars between layers of bran; having the mouths of the jars covered so close as to preclude the admission of air, & then keep them in a dry place where they will not be frozen."

In the 1790s, Samuel Deane wrote in his New England Farmer of his method of preserving Winter apples, "I gather them about noon on the day of the full of the moon which happens in the latter part of September, or beginning of October. Then spread them in a chamber, or garret, where they lie till about the last of November. Then, at a time when the weather is dry, remove them into casks, or boxes, in the cellar, out of the way of the frosts; but I prefer a cool part of the cellar. With this management, I find I can keep them till the last of May, so well that not one in fifty will rot...

"In the Autumn of 1793, I packed apples in the shavings of pine, so that they scarcely touched one another. They kept well till some time in May following; though they were a sort which are mellow for eating in December. Dry sawdust might perhaps answer the end as well. Some barrel them up, & keep them through the Winter in upper rooms, covering them with blankets or mats, to prevent freezing. Dry places are best for them."
New Yorker John Nicholson suggested some amazing cures--including chalk, bloody meat, raw eggs, & milk--for American cider in The Farmer's Assistant in 1820, "Cider may be kept for years in casks, without fermenting, by burying them deeply under ground, or immersing them in spring water; & when taken up the cider will be very fine.

"A drink, called cider-royal, is made of the best runing of the cheese, well clarified, with six or eight gallons of French brandy, or good cider brandy, added to a barrel: Let the vessel be filled full, bunged tight, & set in a cool cellar, & in the course of a twelvemonth it will be a fine drink. If good rectified whiskey be used, instead of brandy, it will answer very well.

"A quart of honey, or molasses, & a quart of brandy, or other spirits, added to a barrel of cider, will improve the liquor very much, & will restore that which has become too flat & insipid. To prevent its becoming pricked, or to cure it when it is so, put a little pearl-ashes, or other mild alkali, into the cask. A lump of chalk broken in pieces, & thrown in, is also good. Salt of tartar, when the cider is about to be used, is also recommended.

"To refine cider, & give it a fine amber-color, the following method is much approved of. Take the whites of 6 eggs, with a handful of fine beach sand, washed clean; stir them well together; then boil a quart of molasses down to a candy, & cool it by pouring in cider, & put this, together with the eggs & sand, into a barrel of cider, & mix the whole well together. When thus managed, it will keep for many years. Molasses alone will also refine cider, & give it a higher color; but, to prevent the molasses making it prick, let an equal quantity of brandy be added to it. Skim-milk, with some lime slacked in it, & mixed with it, or with the white of eggs with the shells broken in, is also good for clarifying all liquors, when well mixed with them. A piece of fresh bloody meat, put into the cask, will also refine the liquor & serve tor it to feed on.

"To prevent the fermentation of cider, let the cask be first strongly fumigated with burnt sulphur; then put in some of the cider, burn more sulphur in the cask, stop it tight & shake the whole up together; fill the cask, bung it tight, & put it away in a cool cellar.

"To bring on a fermentation, take 3 pints of yeast for a hogshead, add as much jalup as will lie on a sixpence, mix them with some of the cider, beat the mass up till it is frothy, then pour it into the cask, & stir it up well. Keep the vessel full, & the bung open, for the froth & foul stuff to work out. In about 15 days, the froth will be clean & white; then, to stop the fermentation, rack the cider off into a clean vessel, add two gallons ot brandy, or well-rectified whiskey, to it, & bung it up. Let the cask be full, & keep the venthole open for a day or two. By this process, cider that is poor, & ill-tasted, may be wonderfully improved...

"To cure oily cider, take one ounce of salt of tartar, & two & a half of sweet spirit of nitre, in a gallon of milk, for a hogshead. To cure ropy cider, take six pounds of powdered allum, & stir it into a hogshead; then rack it off & clarify it.

"To color cider, take a quarter of a pound of sugar, burnt black, & dissolved in half a pint of hot water, for a hogshead; add a quarter of an ounce of allum, to set the color.

"Cider-brandy mixed with an equal quantity of honey, or clarified sugar, is much recommended by some lor improving common cider; so that, when refined, it may be made as strong, & as pleasant, as the most of wines."

Portraits of Americans with Fruit Grown on Trees

Throughout the 18th century, artists painted portraits of British colonials & early Americans holding fruits that the viewer might reasonably suppose came from the trees in their orchards. Some scholars look to period emblem books & attribute complicated symbolism to each type & quantity of fruit depicted in these portraits. Some do not. Here are a few of my favorite portraits containing tree fruit as props.
1679 Detail. painting attributed to Thomas Smith (1650-1691). Mrs. Richard Patteshall (Martha Woody) & Child.

1732 Detail. John Smibert (1688-1751). Jane Clark (Mrs. Ezekiel Lewis).

1750 Detail. Charles Bridges (1670-1747). Mrs Augustine Moore.

1750 Detail. Joseph Badger. Portrait of Elizabeth Greenleaf of Charlestown.

1755 Detail. Joseph Blackburn (fl in the colonies 1753-1763). Isaac Winslow & His Family.

1757 Detail. John Wollaston (1710-1775). Probably Elizabeth Dandridge.

1767 Detail. James Claypoole (1743-1814). Ann Galloway (Mrs Joseph Pemberton).    

1769 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815) Martha Swett (Mrs Jeremiah Lee).

1769 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Elizabeth Murray (Mrs. James Smith).

1771-73 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). The Peale Family.

1771 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Elizabeth Lewis (Mrs. Ezekiel Goldthwait).

1772 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). General John Cadwalader, his First Wife, Elizabeth.

1773 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Hannah Fayerweather (Mrs. John Winthrop).

1774 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Isabella & John Stewart.

1774 Detail of painting attributed to Ralph Earl (1751-1801). Elizabeth Perscott (Mrs. Henry Daggett)

1785 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Ann Marsh (Mrs David Forman) & Child.

1787 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Deborah McClenahan (Mrs. Walter Stewart).

1788 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). Benjamin & Eleanor Ridgley Laming. National Gallery of Art.

1788 Detail. Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827). William Smith & Grandson.

1795 Detail. James Peale (1749-1831). Artist & His Family.

1720 Detail. Nehemiah Partridge. Wyntje Lavinia Van Vechten.

1729 Detail. John Smibert. The Bermuda Group.

1747-1749 Detail. Robert Feke (1707-1751). Mary Channing (Mrs. John Channing).

1760-65 Detail. Joseph Badger (1708-1765). Sarah Badger Noyes.

1769 Detail. John Singleton Copley (1738-1815). Elizabeth Storer (Mrs. Isaac Smith).

1772 Detail. Winthrop Chandler (1747-1785). Eunice Huntington Devotion.

1775 Detail. Henry Benbridge (1743-1812). Archibald Bullock Family.

1785 Detail. Ralph Earl (1751-1801). Callahan Children.

1785-90 Detail. Beardsley Limner (Sarah Bushnell Perkins (1771 - 1831). Elizabeth Davis (Mrs. Hezekiah Beardsley).

1798 Detail. Ralph Earl. Mrs. Noah Smith & Her Children.

1800 Detail. Anonymous Artist. Emma Van Name

History Blooms at Monticello - Corn Poppy

Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas)

Thomas Jefferson planted "Papaver Rhoeas flor. plen. double poppy" in a Monticello oval flower bed in 1807. 

This is a horticultural variety of the common European field poppy, which was immortalized in Flanders during World War I. Corn Poppy is a hardy, self-seeding annual that bears single, red flowers in early summer.

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

Blooming Today in the Mid-Atlantic - Trailing Arbutus

Article & photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

Trailing Arbutus is also referred to as Plymouth Mayflower, or just Mayflower. Since it is one of the first plants to bloom, well before May, the name is actually derived from a legend. It is said that the first bloom the pilgrims trying to settle in Plymouth in 1621 saw was this plant, whom they named after their ship. This member of the Heath family (Ericaceae) is also sometimes called Winter Pink, Mountain Pink, Gravel Plant, or Shadflower (supposedly blooming in time with the influx of migrating shad fish).

Although this plant has leathery evergreen leaves, it is best known from its small clusters of 5-petaled white or pink flowers. These often bloom in March through April & are very fragrant. They hold good supplies of nectar, enough to lure bumblebee queens (their primary pollinators) into looking for them even if they are sometimes covered in leaves. If a bumblebee is able to find 2 flowers of different sexes & pollinate them, then a berry-like capsule is formed. The seeds they contain are very attractive to ants who act as the main seed dispersers.

The flowers are said to be edible & quite tasty, but the plant is getting so rare, that to eat them is a shame, & an actual crime in some areas. I've never tried to taste one. But Trailing Arbutus has been used by people for more than just food in the past. The Algonquian Quebec tribes used a leaf infusion to treat kidney ailments. It turns out that the leaves do contain a substance called arbutin that has been used medicinally to treat kidney stones & urinary tract disorders.  The Cherokee also made use of the plant, to treat abdominal pain, induce vomiting, treat diarrhea, indigestion, in addition to kidneys. The Haudenosaunee (sometimes called the Iroquois) thought it could be used for labor pains, rheumatism, kidney issues, & indigestion. For the Potawatomi, it was a sacred tribal flower.

So there's a lot to this little woodland creeper, though it gets harder to find every year. Though sometimes sold commercially, please make sure that it is not collected from the wild. If its is disturbed, the symbiotic fungal relationship is usually broken & the plant soon dies. So please never remove it from the wild. If you are lucky enough to find it, enjoy its beauty & fragrance, it is well deserving of being the floral emblem of Nova Scotia & state flower of Massachusetts.

Thomas Jefferson, a florist...

“When I return to live at Monticello ... I believe I shall become a florist.” Thomas Jefferson wrote to Madame de Tesse, Jan 30, 1809.  Peggy Cornett tells us that “florist” had a different meaning in Jefferson’s day. The florist in the 18th century was a serious gardener who wanted to cultivate flowers to high degree of perfection. In the foreground is 17th century variety Lac Van Rijn tulip. Closer to the house are two historic tulip varieties: Keizerskroon (1750) & Duc van Thol Max Cramoisi (17th century)

Blooming Today in the Mid Atlantic - Similar Dicentras

Dutchman's Breeches

Article & photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

We have 2 local spring wildflowers that are very similar: Dutchman's Breeches Dicentra cucullaria & Squirrel Corn Dicentra canadensis. This makes sense as they are after all in the same genus, the name referring to their flowers having 2 spurs. Both are spring ephemerals (blooming & reproducing before the trees completely leaf out, then going dormant underground). Both have toxic leaves (another name for both is "Lambkill") that protect them from many herbivores. Both are myrmecochorous, having their seeds dispersed by ants. Both are primarily pollinated by long-tongued bees like bumblebees, have white flowers, & very similar leaves. Both like to grow in moist, often riparian woodlands as well. They also have some differences however that are apparent, particularly when they are in flower.

Dutchman's Breeches are the more common of the 2 & they also tend to bloom a week or two earlier. Their most common name comes from the flowers resembling pantaloons hanging out to dry. These plants tend to form small colonies. They usually have two compound leaves per flower stem that are longer than their look-alike cousin..

Squirrel Corn is less commonly seen & tends to bloom a week or 2 later. Their most common name is derived from their yellow clusters of bulblets just below the soil surface. They are also called White Bleeding Hearts, & the heart-like flowers are the most obvious difference between them & Dutchman's Breeches. They also normally have only 1, shorter compound leaf per flower stem.
   
Both these flowers are open right now, their bloom times briefly overlapping this year. Go check out their differences in person. But hurry, or you will have to wait another year before they emerge & flower again.

Squirrel Corn

Plant Lists - Fruit Trees planted by Virginian St. George Tucker 1784-1792

St. George Tucker (1752-1827), was born in Port Royal, Bermuda. In 1771, he went to Virginia to attend the College of William & Mary, where he studied law.  St. George had attended William & Mary in Williamsburg during the eventful 1770s, & the Revolution inspired him to join the Virginia militia, where he rose to the rank of Colonel. After the Revolution he became a professor of law at the College of William & Mary. He served as a judge of the General Court of Virginia & on the Court of Appeals.  Following the war, Tucker supported the gradual emancipation of slaves, which he proposed to the state legislature in a pamphlet published in 1796. He wrote an American edition of Blackstone's "Commentaries" that became a valuable reference work for many American lawyers & law students in the early 19C. President James Madison in 1813 appointed Tucker as the United States District Court judge for Virginia.

Fruit Trees planted by St. George Tucker at the Matoax plantation of his wife Francis Bland Randolph Tucker (1752-1788), near Petersburg, Virginia, 1784-1792  Based on notations in St. George Tucker Almanacs, 1784-1789, Tucker-Coleman Papers, Swem  Library, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.  Compiled by Peter Hatch.  Southern Garden History Plant Lists

Fruit Trees

Almonds [Prunus dulcis var. dulcis]

Apples [Malus pumila]
 Cheese
 Clarks Pearmains
 Doctor
 Early Bough
 Esopus Spitzeburg
 [?Gilsies]
 Hughes’s Crabs
 Large Early
 Longstems
 Newtown Pippin
 Old Town Creek Crab
 Rhode Island Greening
 Royal Wildings
 Westfield Seek-No-Further
 Yellow Bellflower

Apricots [Prunus armeniaca]
 Brussels
 Early (from Sabine Hall)
 Large Early
Cherries [Prunus avium and cerasus]
 Black Heart
 Bleeding Heart
 Carnation
 Honey
 Kentish
 May
 May Duke
 Ox Heart
 White Heart

Nectarines [Prunus persica var. nucipersica]
 Large Green Clingstone
 Red Roman

Peaches [Prunus persica]
 Canada
 Early White Cling
 Green Catherine
 Heath (White Heath)
 Large White Clingstone
 Large Yellow Clingstone
 Newington
 November Soft Peach
 Nutmeg
 Pineapple Clingstone
 Red Clingstone
 Red Pineapple Clingstone
 Small Yellow Soft
 White Clingstone
 White Soft [freestone]

Pear [Prunus communis]
 Beurre de Roi
 [Brocaus Bergamot
 Catherine
 [?Cuifse madam]
 Jargonelle
 July
 Large Bell
 Large summer baking
 Large Winter
 Lent St. Germaine
 Summer Bergamot
 Swan’s Egg
 Virgouleuse

Plums [Prunus domestica, etc.]
 Apricot
 Cherry
 Drop d’Or
 Green Gage
 Jean Hative
 Large blue (clingstone)
 Orleans
 Philan’s
 Red Imperial
 Red Magnum Bonum
 Smaller blue (parts from the stone)
 Yellow Egg
 Saponi
 White Magnum Bonum

History Blooms at Monticello - Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Keith Nevison at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that blooming today is the woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) in a weathered terra-cotta planter. They’ve been producing nectar for weeks now & the tiger swallowtail butterflies are loving it.

A Bug's Perspective

Photograph Bugs Eye View by Tracey Whitefoot

Plant Lists - Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Herbaceous Ornamentals

Thomas Jefferson by Tadeusz Andrzej Bonawentura Kosciuszko (1746 - 1817)

Thomas Jefferson’s Plant List From His Garden Book, 1767-1821 Dates refer to first mention of a plant in Jefferson’s documents, which include Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book, edited by Edwin Betts, 1944, unpublished memoranda at the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Library of Congress and Princeton University Library. Quotation marks designate varieties undescribed in the literature and are generally Jefferson’s personal names.

List compiled by Peter Hatch.

HERBACEOUS ORNAMENTALS

Alcea rosea Hollyhock 1767
Amaranthus caudatus Love-lies-bleeding @1800
Amaranthus hybridus Prince's Feather 1767
Amaranthus tricolor Joseph's Coat 1786
Amaryllis belladonna Belladonna lily 1812
Anemone coronaria Poppy Anemone 1807
Anemone pulsatilla Pasque flower 1771
Anthoxanthum odoratum Sweet-scented Grass 1807
Antirrhinum majus Snapdragon 1771
Aquilegia canadensis Native Columbine @1800
Argemone mexicana Prickly Poppy 1767
Belamcanda chinensis Blackberry Lily 1807
Bellis perennis English Daisy 1771
Calendula officinalis Calendula 1767
Campanula medium Canterbury Bells 1812
Celosia cristata Cockscomb 1767
Centaurea cyanus Cornflower @1800
Centaurea macrocephala 1812
Chasmanthe aethiopica 1812
Cheiranthus cheiri Wallflower 1806
Chimaphila maculata Spotted Wintergreen @1800
Consolida orientalis Larkspur 1767
Convallaria majalis Lily of the Valley 1771
Crocus angustifolia Cloth of Gold Crocus 1812
Crocus sativus Saffron Crocus 1807
Crocus vernus Spring Crocus 1812
Cypripedium acaule Pink Lady Slipper @1800
Cypripedium calceolus Yellow Lady Slipper 1791
Delphinium exaltatum American Larkspur 1811
Dianthus barbatus Sweet William 1767
Dianthus caryophyllus Carnation 1807
Dianthus chinensis China Pink 1807
Dictamnus albus Gas Plant 1807
Dionaea muscipula Venus's Fly Trap 1786
Fritillaria imperialis Crown Imperial Lily 1786
Fritillaria pudica Yellow Fritillary 1807
Galanthus nivalis Snowdrop 1808
Gladiolus communis Gladiolus 1812
Glaucium flavum Yellow horn Poppy 1807
Gomphrena globosa Globe Amaranth 1767
Hedysarum coronarium French Honeysuckle 1786
Helianthus divaricatus Wild Sunflower 1771
Heliotropium arborescens Heliotrope 1786
Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus Lemon Lily @1820
Hexaglottis longifolia 1812
Hyacinthus orientalis Hyacinth 1766
Hypoxis hirsuta Yellow Stargrass 1800
Impatiens balsamina Balsam 1767
Ipomoea quamoclit Cypress Vine 1791
Iris germanica German Iris 1771
Iris persica Persian Iris 1812
Iris pseudoacorus Fleur de lis Iris 1767
Iris sp.
 "Highland" 1820
 "Madeira"  1820
Iris xiphium Spanish Iris 1812
Jeffersonia diphylla Twinleaf 1807
Lathyrus latifolius Perennial Pea 1771
Lathyrus odoratus Sweet Pea 1771
Lavatera olbia Tree Lavatera 1807
Lavatera thuringiaca Lavatera 1807
Lilium canadense Canadian Lily 1786
Lilium candidum Madonna Lily 1782
Lilium chalcedonicum Scarlet Turk's Cap Lilly 1782
Lilium superbum Turk's Cap Lily 1809
Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower 1807
Lunaria annua Money Plant 1767
?Lupinus texensis Texas Bluebonnet 1807
Lychnis chalcedonica Maltese Cross 1807
Malva sylvestris French Mallow @1800
Matthiola incana Stock 1771
Mertensia virginica Virginia Bluebell @1800
Mesembryanthemum crystallinum Ice Plant 1808
Mimosa pudica Sensitive Plant 1767
Mirabilis jalapa Four O'clock 1767
Mirabilis longiflora Sweet Four O'clock 1812
Momordica balsamina Balsam Apple 1812
Muscari comosum Tasseled Hyacinth 1767
Muscari comosum var. monstrosum Feathered Hyacinth 1767
Narcissus sp. Daffodil 1782
 "double Polyanthus @1820
 "double jonquil” @1820
 "single jonquil” @1820
Nigella sativa Nutmeg Plant 1810
Paeonia officinalis Peony 1771
Papaver rhoeas Corn Poppy 1807
Papaver somniferum Opium Poppy 1812
Pelargonium inquinans Geranium 1808
Pentapetes phoenicia Scarlet Pentapetes 1811
Physalis alkekengi Chinese Lantern 1807
Podyphyllum peltatum Mayapple @1800
Polianthes tuberosa Tuberose 1807
Primula auricula Auricula 1812
Primula X polyantha Polyanthus Primrose 1812
Primula vulgaris Primrose 1771
Ranunculus asiaticus Persian Buttercup 1807
Reseda odorata Mignonette 1786
Saponaria officinalis Soapwort @1800
?Scabiosa atropurpurea "Mourning Bride" 1811
Sisyrinchium angustifolia Blue-eye Grass @1800
Solanum pseudocapsicum Jerusalem Cherry 1808
Sprekelia formosissima Jacobean Lily 1807
Swertia caroliniensis American Colombo 1810
Tagetes erecta African Marigold 1810
Tagetes patula French Marigold 1808
Tritonia hyalina 1812
Trollius europaeus Globeflower 1771
Tropaeolum majus Nasturtium 1774
Tulipa sp. Tulip 1782
Verbesina encelioides Golden Crownbeard 1811
Viola sp. Violets 1767
Viola tricolor Johnny-jump-up 1767
Watsonia meriana Bugle Lily 1812
Zephyranthes atamasco Atamasco Lily 1812

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

Plants in Early American Gardens - Love-in-a-Mist

 Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena)

Love-in-a-Mist has been grown in gardens since the late 16th century. This self-seeding, cool-season annual produces handsome blue, white, or pink flowers amidst the delicate, lacy foliage. The unusual balloon-shaped, striped seed capsules add interest to the garden and dried arrangements. Thomas Jefferson sowed a related species, Nutmeg Flower (Nigella sativa), in an oval flower bed at Monticello on April 18, 1810.

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

Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella damascena)

History Blooms at Monticello - Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)

Keith Nevison of Monticello tells us that Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) is blooming there today! Named in honor of 3rd U.S. President Thomas Jefferson, this woodland native uncommonly occurs from southern Alabama north to Ontario. Grows best in humusy, well-drained, limestone soils in part to full shade. A dressing of mulch goes a long way towards protecting its roots. Twinleaf can be either self-pollinating or pollinated by insects, mostly halictid bees or honey bees. Its seeds are distributed by ants who feed the fleshy elaisosome surrounding the seed to their larvae.

Blooming Today in the Mid-Atlantic - Spring Beauties

Article & photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

The appropriately named Virginia Spring Beauties (Claytonia virginica) are indeed beautiful, if small, spring ephemerals: growing leaves, blooming, & producing seeds before the trees fully leaf out & then disappearing until the next spring. Their scientific name was assigned by Linnaeus himself in honor of John Clayton, one of Virginia's earliest naturalists. They can be quite abundant, blanketing open woodlands so thickly they sometimes look like snow. Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana) is another species that grows in the mountains West of our region. The plants send up only one grass-like leaf during years they do not flower, two or more otherwise. The flowers themselves close up & point downwards to protect their nectar on overcast days & at night.

More species of insects have been documented visiting Spring Beauties than any other spring ephemeral studied so far. The flowers show much variation & have nectar guides that appeal to many pollinators. Although each individual flower only lasts about a week (producing pollen solely the first day & nectar the remainder of the time so as to help prevent self-pollination), as a species they can bloom for quite a long time, from February through May. This allows more opportunities for different insects to visit as well as rewarding those who do. This includes a native solitary bee, &rena erigeniae which is olgolectic, meaning it requires the pollen from this flower or it can't reproduce. Though it can visit other flowers for nectar, its young need the pollen from this flower to grow. So close is this association that the flowers open only when temperatures & conditions are high enough for the bee (and other early pollinators) to be flying.  Once pollinated, the seeds "explode" as far as two feet before being dispersed by ants. They grow special attachments on their seed coats (called elaisomes) that are attractive to many species of ants in a process known as "myrmecochory."

Spring Beauties are sometimes called "Fairy Spuds." This is due to the small, marble-sized tuber (corm) that forms their roots. These are quite tasty, I must admit, were a favorite food of many indigenous tribes (and modern foragers, raw or cooked) wherever they grew, as were the leaves. Eating the root of course kills the plant however, so it is best to leave them to the numerous insects that need them instead.

Blooming Today in the Mid-Atlantic - Bloodroot

Bloodroot, An Ephemeral With Many Traits 

Article & Photos by Capital Naturalist, Alonso Abugattas

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) goes by a variety of common names due its many different uses & properties: Red Indian Paint, Redroot, Puccoon (Virginia Algonquian Indian for "blood"), Sangdragon, Coonroot, Sweet Slumber (for its narcotic properties), Snakebite (for its bitter taste), Turmeric, Papoose Flower (for the way the emerging leaf wraps around the bud), & Tetterwort (for its use in treating skin disorders, or tetters). It is the only member of its genus Sanguinaria (which again refers to the bloody color of its sap).

Bloodroot is one of the earliest spring ephemeral plants, blooming well before the trees leaf out & then disappearing underground until the following year. The flowers are equally fleeting, with the petals falling off easily in wind or rain, rarely lasting more than a few days at most.  They are lovely, if short lasting, but their attractiveness is a bit shallow. They actually have no nectar to offer pollinators, only pollen, so a few insects are either tricked into pollination, though some others can use the pollen. This, along with their short-lived flowers & their early bloom time when there are few insects out, would be a problem were it not that the flowers can be self pollinating (autogamy). The seeds produced are primarily distributed by ants (this is called Myrmecochory. Some believe that without ants dispersing the seeds, the plant would not be very successful. In fact, experiments run by local botany guru Marion Lobstein, showed that Bloodroot seeds who had their elaisomes removed had a much higher germination rate than those who did not. Since the ants remove the elaisomes in order to feed on them (as well as planting the seeds underground & dispersing them), this helps explain their success.

Among the various human uses for Bloodroot, the most prominent was as a dye. All parts of the plant have a blood-like sap that can be toxic. This colorful plant juice was used by indigenous tribes for dyeing a variety of things, including as a face/body paint. Some even think the term "redskin" may have partially come from this usage by various tribes. It is believed that this toxicity led to its indigenous use as a bug repellent, with insects & ticks thus having to come in contact with the chemicals on their skins before being able to feed. Some people can have an allergic reaction to the toxic sap however. Colonists felt much safer using it to dye wool instead.

The plant's chemical properties made for various medicinal practices as well. It has been utilized especially for blood disorders, menses, during childbirth, & to cause abortions, often due to the belief that its blood-red color somehow signaled these uses (a concept called the Doctrine of Signatures, that a sign was provided on a plant by a higher power as to what the plant could treat). Bloodroot has also been used for rheumatism, as a fever reducer, vomit inducer, cough suppressant, to kill ringworms, rid warts, & to treat fungal infections. The Abnaki people even used it to cause abortions in horses. During the Civil War, Southern doctor Francis Porcher was tasked with finding substitute plants to use for items no longer available due to Northern blockades. The Confederacy listed Bloodroot as part of their ethnobotanical arsenal for many breathing disorders & to induce vomiting, among other applications...

Now a days, few people use Bloodroot for much of anything except to admire its fleeting beauty. In fact, it is easy to overlook except in the early spring when its white flowers make their appearance for the briefest of time. So get out there & enjoy them while they last.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Flowering Tobacco

Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata)

Flowering Tobacco, also referred to as Night-scented Tobacco, is a self-seeding, summer and fall-blooming annual or perennial that bears sweet-scented, white flowers which open only in the evening or during the cooler parts of the day. The fragrant flowers attract hummingbirds as well as moths that pollinate at night. A native of Brazil and Argentina, Flowering Tobacco was introduced into garden cultivation in England in 1829.

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

Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana alata)

History Blooms at Monticello -

Monticello's Peggy Cornett tells us that

Lovely pink blossoms blanket Monticello’s South Orchard this week. Between 1769 & 1814, Jefferson planted as many as 1,031 fruit trees in his South Orchard including 38 varieties of his favorite fruit: the peach.

Plant List - 1736 William Byrd II (1674-1744)

1724 William Byrd II by Hans Hysing (1678-!752) Virginia Historical Society

William Byrd II (1674-1744) Like his father, Colonel William Byrd, Byrd was a wealthy Virginia planter on his inherited plantation Westover, on the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. He served as a member, and later president, of the Governor's Council, as did his father. His library was one of the finest of his time in America. He recorded his observations on natural history as well as life in colonial Virginia. William Byrd's Natural History of Virginia is available in a translation by Richard Croom Beatty and William J. Mulloy from a German edition printed in 1737 (Dietz Press, Richmond, 1940). The following are the plants Byrd listed c.1736  Southern Garden History Plant Lists

CROPS

Flax
Cotton
Silk grass
Turkish or Indian Corn
Maize
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Oats
Corn
Summer
Winter
Rice
White
Red
Buckwheat
Guinea corn
Broad beans
French beans (small beans)
Indian beans (dwarf beans)
Peas, European
Heartpeas (Ronceval)
Bonaveria (Calavance-'Nanticokes')

POT HERBS

Cabbage
White
Red
Turnips
Carrots
Beets
Cabbage
Savoy
Curled red
Cauliflower
Chives
Artichokes
Radish
Horseradish
Potatoes
Truffles
Parsnips
Shumack
chapacour
puccons
musquaspen
“Tockawaigh”
Garlic
White
Red
Spinach
Round
Prickly
Fennel
Sea fennel
Rhubarb
Cultivated
Wild
Sorrel
Cress
Mustard
Parsley
Asparagus
White
Red
Melons
Watermelons
Fragrant melons
Guinea
Golden
Orange
Green
Cucumbers
Pumpkins
Cashaws
Burmillions
Simnals
Horns
Squash

FIELD AND POT-HERBS

Marjoram
Rosemary
Camomiles
Melissa
Wormwood
Ox-tongue
Angelica
Borage
Burnet
Clary
Marigold
Columbine
Savory
Bachelor's buttons
Cat-thyme
Poplars
Yarrow
Dragonwort
Hyssop
Lavender
Brazil cabbage
Cardo bennet spoonwort
Tobacco
Dill
Coriander, anise
Plantain
Elemampane
Nettles
Wood mint
Asters
Poppy seed
Worm seed
Mother-wort
Beyment
Jamestown grass
Houseleek
Vervain
Hart's tongue
Nightshade
Yarrow
Mullen
Agrimony
Centaury
Scabiosa
John's wort
Maiden hair
Juniper
Soldanella
Dillany
Terbil
Mechoacan
Sarsaparilla

FLOWERS IN VIRGINIA

Carnations
Roses
Violets
Tricolor
Princess feather
Fritillary
Cardinal flowers
Sunflowers
Tulips
Moccasin flower
Tulip tree
Jasmine
Yellow
White
Locusts
Laurel tree
Wild apple tree

TREES, WHICH GROW IN THE WOODS

Chestnut oak
Red oak
Spanish oak
White oak
Black oak
Bastard oak
White iron-oak
Indian chicken-oak
Willow oak
Water oak
Green liveoak
Ash
Elms, two species
Tulip tree
Birches
Sassafras
Laurel trees
Dogwood
Wild apple tree
Sweet gun tree
White gum tree
Black gum tree
Scarletcolored snakewood
Bay tree
Red cedar
White cedar
Cypress tree
Hollow tree
Locust tree
Sorrel tree
Fir tree
Pitch pine
Almond tree
Hickory tree
White hickory
Red hickory
Brown hickory
Chincapin
Common maple tree
Willow
Egyptian fig tree
Glass wort tree
Prickly ash
Chestnut tree
Poison vine
Bamboo
Palmetto
Grape vines
Cluster grapes
Red cluster grapes
Fox grapes
winter
summer
Summer grapes
Winter grapes
Persimmon
Cherry tree
Hazel nuts
Mulberry, Common Red
Mulberry, red
Mulberry, white
Sugar maple
Spanish pepper tree
Papaw tree
Wild figs
Wild plums
Raspberry bushes
Blackberries
Huckle-berries
Winter currant tree
Bermuda curants
Bilberries
Cranberries
Strawberries
Myrtle berries
Eglantine berries
Jamestown plant
Fragrant tulip-bearing
laurel tree
Wild fragrant apple tree
Gall apple
Camellia tree
Red hawthorn
Black hawthorn
Safflower
Fragrant laurel tree
Indigo
Hops

TREES, WHICH ARE CULTIVATED, AND GROW IN THE ORCHARDS, WHICH ONE HAS BROUGHT THERE FROM ENGLAND AND OTHER PLACES IN EUROPE

Apples
Golden russet
Summer pearmain
Winter pearmain
Fall harvest apple
Winter queening
Lader-goller
Juntin' apple
Golden pippin
Carpendich
Red streaks
Jungferen
Long-stem apple
Red apple
Kabapffel
Green apple
French rennets

PEARS AND QUINCES

Pears
Sugar
Bergamont
Catherine
Warden
Summer bon chretien
Egg-shaped pear
Herren-Bieren
Grass-Bieren
Pomerantzen-Bieren
Feigen-Bieren
Winter Bon chretien
Citronen-Bieren
Roth-Bieren
Frauen Bieren
Gold-Bieren
Madeira pear
Pond pears
Musk pear
Quince
Indian
Spanish
Portuguese
Barbary
Brunswickian

ALL SORTS OF STONE FRUITS

Peaches
Plum peach
Nectarine peach
Apricot tree
Plums
Wild plums
Fig trees
Cherry trees
White
Red
Black
Mulberry trees
Currants
Raspberries
European
Indian
Cowberries
European
Indian
Red
White
Black
Strawberries
Nut trees
English
French
Italian
Spanish
Madeiran
Indian nut tree
Hazel nut
Grape vines
Almonds
Pomegranates
Coffee trees
Tea trees

Blooming Today - Along the Trail at Monticello

Virginia Bluebell

Julie Roller, Trail Manager at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, took these photos of native plants on that trail today.

 Chickasaw Plum

Spring Beauty

Trout Lily or Dog-tooth Violet  Recognized by its brown-mottled leaves, this is one of our most common spring ephemeral wildflowers, & it is found in sizable colonies. The common name (Dogtooth Violet) refers to the tooth-like shape of the white underground bulb. The name Trout Lily (a more suitable name since the flower is not a Violet) refers to the similarity between the leaf markings & those of the brown or brook trout. The White Dog-tooth Violet (E. albidum) has narrow, mottled leaves & white, bell-shaped flowers, often tinged with lavender on the outside.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Lemon Bergamot

Lemon Bergamot (Monarda citriodora)

Native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, the self-seeding, annual Lemon Bergamot was used by the Hopi tribe as a seasoning for wild hare. The lemon-scented leaves can also be rubbed on the skin as an insect repellant and the showy, pink to white, summer-blooming flowers are very attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

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

1700s Colonial American portraits with Garden Fountains

1767 John Singleton Copley (Colonial American artist, 1738-1815). Portrait of Rebecca Boylston.  Unfortunately, Copley often used English prints as the format for his portraits, so it is impossible to know if this fountain, or even the lady's dress were actually in Colonial America.

Blooming Today in the Mid-Atlantic - Harbinger-of-Spring or Pepper-and-Salt.

Article & Photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

One of the earliest of our native native wildflowers to bloom is the tiny spring ephemeral called Harbinger-of-Spring, or Pepper-and-Salt (Erigenia bulbosa). It sometimes blooms as early as February, sending up a small umbel of white flowers with red anthers that soon turn black (and giving the pepper & salt appearance)...This fleeting wildflower is actually in the carrot family & its bulbous minuscule root is edible. The Cherokee also used the plant as a treatment for toothaches. Although it is easy to overlook, it is none-the-less not considered common in most locations, & since eating its root kills the plant, that is strongly discouraged. A certain mining bee, &rena erigeniae, was said to need this plant's pollen in order to reproduce (an oligilectic relationship) & includes the plant's name in its own due to thie perceived relationship, but now many believe that though this bee likes to visit visit its flowers, it actually requires Spring Beauty (Claytonia spp.) pollen in order to reproduce.  Enjoy this early spring wildflower, knowing that it is among the first of many other spring ephemeral flowers soon to appear in our rich, dark, often moist, woods, a true Harbinger of Spring.

Harbinger of Spring is one of the first flowers available to early pollinators like this solitary bee

Plants in Early American Gardens - Balsam Pear

Balsam Pear (Momordica charantia)

Balsam Pear, also known as Bitter Melon, is an unusual vine from the Old World tropics that has been cultivated since the early 1700s for its curiously lumpy fruits, bitter yet edible when green, which then ripen to orange and burst open to reveal bright red seeds.

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

 Balsam Pear (Momordica charantia)

1700s Colonial American portraits with Garden Fountains

1763 John Singleton Copley (Colonial American artist, 1738-1815).  Alice Hooper. Unfortunately, Copley often used English prints as the format for his portraits, so it is impossible to know if this fountain, or even the lady's dress were actually in Colonial America.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Four O'Clock

Four O'Clock (Mirabilis jalapa)

In July of 1767 Jefferson observed the blooms of his Four O'Clocks: "Mirabilis just opened, very clever." In 1811 he noted planting seed sent by André Thouin of the Parisian Jardin des Plantes in an oval flower bed at Monticello. The Four O'Clock, or Marvel of Peru, has long been cherished for the simple miracle of its flowers, which only open during low light periods such as in the late afternoon and on cloudy days. The plants bloom in a range of flower colors: red, purple, white, and yellow.

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