Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Plant Lists - 1790s by Clockmaker Wm Faris of Annapolis MD

1789 Charles Willson Peale's (1741-1827) 1789 Depiction of the Statehouse in Annapolis, Maryland

Plants grown (and sometimes sold) by Silversmith & Clockmaker William Faris near the Statehouse in Annapolis, MD in the 1790s.
Southern Garden History Plant Lists

Flowers
Anemonie Anemone coronaria
Asters (China Asters-Callistephus chinensis)
Balsam Apple Momordica balsamina
Bleeding Heart Dicentra eximia
Callamus Acorus calamus
Carnation Dianthus caryophyllus
Chrysanthemum Dendranthema indicum
Columbine Aquilegia vulgaris
Coxcomb Celosia argentea var. cristata
Crocus Crocus
Crusula
Daffodil Narcissus
Emmy (Emoney) Anemone coronaria
Flowering Pea
Fleur-de-Lis Iris
Geranium Pelargonium
Globe Amaranthus Gomphrena globosa
Hollyhocks Alcea rosea
Hyacynth Hyacinthus orientalis
Iceplant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum
Impatiens Impatiens balsamina
India Pink Dianthus chinensis
Iris
Jacobson Lily Sprekelia formosissima (Jacobin Lilley)
Jasmine
Jerusalem Cherry Solanum pseudocapsicum
Job's Tears Croix lacryma-jobi
Jonquil Narcissus
Lady in Green
Lily
Lily of the Valley
Marigold
Mignonette Reseda odorata
Narcissus
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus
Parson’s Pride
Passion Flower
Polyanthus Primula
Poppies
Primrose
Reason
Rose
Satin Flower Lunaria annua
Sensitive Plant Mimosa pudica
Snapdragon Antirrhinum majus
Commandments
Tube Rose Polianthes tuberosa
Tulips Tulipa gesneriana
Wallflower Erysimum cheiri
Crown Imperial Fritillaria imperialis
Tree (persian) tobacco Nicotiana glauca ?
Indian nutmeg Nigella saliva ?
Amaranthus tricolo Amaranthus tricolor
Lyly of St. Jaego
Sweet Scented Pea Lathyrus odoratus

Shrubs, trees, vines, grasses

Althea Hibiscus syriacus
Boxwood Buxus sempervirens 'Suffruticosa'
Holly Tree Ilex opaca
Horse Chestnut Aesculus
Ivy Hedera helix
Pride of China Tree Melia azederach
Ribbon Grass Phalaris arundinacea 'Picta'
Snowball Viburnum opulus 'Flore Pleno'
Strawberry Tree Arbutus unedo
Sweet Scented Shrub Calycanthus
Tallow Tree Sapium sebiferum
Willow Tree (Golding) Salix alba var. Vitellina
Wallnutt Tree Juglans (regia)
Willow Tree Salix (babylonica)
Laylack bushes Syringa
Unknown:  Formoso

Vegetables

Roshembola onions
(onions of Eagipt)
Allium scorodoprasum
Ocoro Abelmoschus esculentus
Shallots Allium ascalonicum
Onions Allium cepa
Savory Allium cepa
Leeks Allium porrum
Garlic Allium sativum
Horsradish Armoracia rusticana
Asparagus Asparagus officinalis
English Lambs Quarter (Orach) Atriplex hortensis
Beets Beta vulgaris
Broccoli Brassica oleracea
Brussel Sprout Brassica oleracea
Cabbage Brassica oleracea
Cauliflower Brassica oleracea
Colewart or Kale Brassica rapa
Turnip Brassica rapa
Pepper Capsicum annuum
Watermelon Citrullus lanatus
Cantaloupe Cucumis melo ssp. melo
Mush Mellons Cucumis melo ssp. melo
Cucumbers Cucumis sativus
Pumpkin Curcurbita pepo
Squash (Simlings) Curcurbita pepo Simlins
Carrots Daucus carota ssp. sativus
Leetuce Lactuca sativa
Parsnip Pastinaca sativa
Beans Phaseolus
Peas Pisum sativum
Radish Raphanus sativus
Egg Plant Solanum melongena
Spinach Spinacia oleracea
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus
Orris or French spinge or orris lettuce Valerianella locusta
Bunch beans Vicia faba
Corn Zea mays
Unknowns:
 Rocambole
 Algerian peas ?
 Fossmiano corn
 Greens

Herbs

Bergamot Balm Monarda didyma or Monarda fistulosa
Catnip Nepeta cataria
Ginger
Horseradish Armoracia rusticana
Mint Mentha
Nutmeg (Indian) Nigella sativa
Parsley Petroselinum crispum
Pickling Lime
Cherry Pepper
Poppy Papaver
Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis
Saffron Crocus sativus
Sage Salvia officinalis
Thyme Thymus
Horseradish Armoracia rusticana
Common Balm Melissa officinalis

Fruits and nuts

Apple Malus sylvestris var. domestica
Cherry Prunus cerasus var. austere
Gooseberry Ribes uva-crispa
Mulberry Morus alba
Pear Prunus communis var. sativa
Walnut Juglans regia
Almond Prunus
Currant Ribes silvestre 'Macrocarpum’
Grapevines Vitis
Peach Prunus persica
Plum Walnut
Egg plum or magnum bonum plum Prunus x domestica
Black currant Ribes nigrum

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Peruvian Zinnia

 Peruvian Zinnia (Zinnia peruviana)
Although zinnias did not become popular garden plants until late in the 19th century, Peruvian Zinnias were grown in 18th-century gardens and were sold by Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon in 1804. This South American annual produces flowers in shades of red and yellow throughout the summer. The small but attractive flowers are perfect for cutting and are very different from the improved hybrids now so popular.

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

Peruvian Zinnia (Zinnia peruviana)

Monday, May 6, 2019

1611 Written law on Gardens in Virginia's "Lawes Divine, Morall and Martiall"

Woodcut of man at work in garden by Hans Weidig

The Virginia Company (in Virginia 1607-1624) asked Sir Thomas Gates (1585-1621) to impose a strict set of regulations on the colony. Gates, who became governor of the colony in 1611, and Sir Thomas Dale (c 1560-1619), the marshal, wrote, and enforced the laws, the earliest written English laws in the British American colonies.  These laws were more like a business "code of conduct" intended to regulate the everyday activities of its members, employees, & servants, both men & women, working in Virginia.

What man or woman soever, shall rob any garden, publike or private, being set to weed the same, or wilfully pluck up therein any roote, herbe, or flower, to spoile and wast or steale the same, or robbe any vineyard, or gather up the grapes, or steale any eares of the corne growing, wheter in the ground belonging to the same fort or towne where he dwelleth, or in any other, shall be punished with death.

Sunday, May 5, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Johnny-Jump-Up

Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor)

Johnny-jump-up, or Heartsease, is a showy, self-seeding annual with small pansy-like flowers, each of them showing three colors: deep purple, yellow, and white. The plant was established in American gardens before 1700, and Jefferson sowed it at Shadwell on April 1, 1767, calling it “Tricolor.”

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

Saturday, May 4, 2019

History Blooms at Monticello - Common or European Peony

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that

The ancient European Peonies were a highlight in the gardens at Monticello during Historic Garden Week in Virginia. The Common or European Peony, Paeonia officinalis, was found in the gardens of France and Britain since the 16C, when they were grown in the medicinal gardens of monasteries. Philadelphia nurseyman John Bartram sent several peonies to the Lambolls of Charleston, SC in 176,1 and Jefferson listed the "piony" among his "hardy perennials flowers" as early as 1771.

19C Gardening Under Glass

William Merritt Chase (1849 - 1916) The Nursery 1896

Friday, May 3, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Empress of India Nasturtium

Empress of India Nasturtium (Tropaeolum minus cv.)

Eastern North American seed companies were offering this showy, award-winning variety by the 1880s. Empress of India Nasturtium has a dwarf, bushy habit, dark purplish-blue foliage, and brilliant crimson-scarlet flowers. The 1884 Burpee's catalogue described it as "the most important annual in recent introduction."

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

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Gardeners - Tasks of Garden Workers

Definitions of Gardeners

As gardening evolved in the British American colonies & in the independent new republic, the tasks & classifications garden labor became more specific.
By the time John Claudius Loudon (1783-1843) Scottish botanist, garden designer & author, published his 1824 An encyclopaedia of gardening: comprising the theory & practice of horticulture, floriculture, arboriculture, & landscape-gardening, including all the latest improvements; a general history of gardening in all countries; & a statistical view of its present state... many definitions of those involved in gardening had become fairly universally accepted on both sides of the English-speaking Atlantic.

In this essay, I will attempt to use Louden's descriptions of garden positions as closely as possible. Where the definition in America differed from the English usage, I have altered the description to reflect American usage.
Garden Laborer. Garden laborers are the lowest grade in the scale of working gardeners. In 18C America, they are usually a convict or indentured servant or slave, male & female. They are occasionally employed to perform the common labors of gardening, as trenching, digging, hoeing, weeding, &c. Men for the more heavy, & women for the lighter employments. Most garden-laborers have not received any professional instruction, farther than what they may have obtained by voluntary or casual observation. In all gardens where 3 or 4 professional hands are constantly employed, some laborers are required at extraordinary seasons & tasks. In the larger gardens of the 19th century American south, most garden laborers are enslaved African Americans.

Apprentice Gardener. Youths intended for serving to learn the trade of gardener, are placed under master or tradesmen gardeners, for a given period, on terms for mutual benefit: the master contracting to supply instruction, & generally food & lodging, or a weekly sum as an equivalent; & the parents of the apprentice gardener granting the services of the latter during his apprenticeship as their part of the contract. The terms agreed on is generally 3 years; or more if the youth is under 16 years of age but whatever may be the period, by the laws as to apprentices it must not extend beyond that at which the youth attains the age of manhood. Few can expect to attain to the rank either of master-gardener or tradesman, who has not served an apprenticeship to the one or the other. In general, it is preferable to apprentice youths to master-gardeners, as their the labor is less than in tradesmen's gardens, & the opportunities of instruction is generally much greater.

Journeyman Gardener. The period of apprenticeship being finished, that of jouneyman commences, & ought to continue till the man is at least 25 years of age. During this period, they ought not to remain above 1 year in any one situation; thus, supposing they have completed apprenticeship in a private garden at the age of 21, & that the ultimate objective is to become a head-gardener, they ought first to engage themselves a year in a public botanic garden; the next year in a public nursery; that following, they should again enter a private garden, & continue making yearly changes in the most eminent of this class of gardens, till they meet with a situation as head gardener. The course to be followed by an apprentice intended for a tradesman-gardener is obvious; having finished his period in a private garden, let him pass through a botanic & nursery garden, & then continue in the most eminent of the class of public or tradesmen's gardens, to which they are destined.

Garden Foreman. In extensive gardens where a number of hands are employed, they are commonly grouped or arranged in divisions, & one of the journeymen of longest standing is employed as foreman to the rest. Wherever 3 or more journeymen are employed, there is commonly a foreman, who has a certain extent of authority at all times, but especially in the absence of the master. This position confers a degree of rank to the garden foreman for the time being, but none afterwards.
Master Gardener. A journeyman has attained the situation of master gardener, when they are appointed to the management of a garden, even if he has no laborer, apprentice, or journeyman under him; but he has not attained to the role of head-gardener till having been a year in such situation. Afterwards should they be obliged to work as journeyman once again, they still retain the rank & title of master-gardener but not of head-gardener.

Head Gardener. A head gardener is a master who has apprentices or journeymen employed under him. Out of a supervising position & working again as a journeyman, they retain the rank & title of master-gardener, but not of head-gardener.

Nursery Foreman. The nursery foreman is entrusted with the numbered & priced catalogues of the articles dealt in; authorized to make sales; entrusted to keep an account of men's time, & as a consequence, this entitles the holder to the rank of head-gardener, while so engaged, & to that of master-gardener ever afterwards; the same may be said of foremen in public botanical gardens & other public gardens.

Traveling Gardener. Traveling gardeners are sent out as a collectors of plants along with scientific expeditions; they are generally chosen from a botanic garden; & their business is to collect gardening productions of every kind, & to record the soil, aspect, & climate..

Botanic Garden Director or Curator. Botanic curators superintend the culture & management of a botanic garden; maintain an extensive correspondence with other botanic curators; exchanges plants, seeds, & dried specimens, so as to keep increasing their garden's collection of living plants & herbarium.

Public Gardener. Gardener employed to oversee the gardens & grounds at a publicly-owned building or a facility operated for the good of the public, such as a church or hospital or institution.
Jobbing gardener. The jobbing gardener makes & tends gardens, & keeps them in repair by the month or year under a contract. Generally they use their own tools, in which they are distinguished from the serving gardener; & sometimes they supply plants from a small scale-garden of their own.

Contract Gardener. Contracting gardeners, or new-ground workmen, are jobbers on a larger scale. They undertake extensive works, such as forming plantations, pieces of water, roads, kitchen gardens, & even greenhouses, hot-houses, & other garden structures & buildings.

Seed Grower. Seed-growers are as frequently farmers as gardeners; they contract with seed-merchants to supply certain seeds at specified rates, or to raise or grow seeds furnished to them by the seedsmen on stipulated terms.

Seed Merchant. Seed merchants sell incidental seeds at their place of business, where they carry other products for sale as well.
Seedsman. A seedsmen deals in garden seeds & other garden products. Generally they combine the seed business with that of nurserymen or florists, but sometimes they confine themselves entirely to dealing in seeds wholesale or act as agents between seed growers & nurserymen.

Herb Gardeners. They grow herbs, either the entire herb, as mint, or particular parts, as the bulb of lilium, & the flower of the rose for medical purposes, or for distillation as perfumery.

Physic Gardeners or Herbalists. They grow herbs for the purpose of medicine, or perfumery, but also collect wild plants for these purposes. Formerly, when it was the fashion among medical men to use indigenous plants as drugs, this was a more common & important branch of trade. Now, they have commonly shops appended to their gardens, or in towns, in which the herbs are preserved, & sold in a dried state.

Collectors for Gardens. The first variety of this grouping is the gipsy-gardeners, who collect haws, acorns, & other berries & nuts, & sell them to the seedsmen; the next are those who collect pine & fir cones, alder-catkins, & other tree-seeds, which require some time, & a process to separate the seeds from their covers, & clean them before they can be sold; & the highest variety are those gardeners who establish themselves in foreign countries, & there collect seeds & roots, & prepare dried specimens of rare plants for sale.
Orchardist. Orchardists of the simplest kind are such as occupy grass-orchards, where they produce is chiefly apples, pears, & plums, for cider or kitchen-use; the next variety occupy cultivated orchard-grounds where fruit-shrubs, as the gooseberry, currant, strawberrry, &c. are grown between the fruit-trees; & the highest variety occupy orchards with walls & hot-houses, & produce the finer stove-fruits & forced articles.

Market or Truck Gardeners. Market gardeners grow culinary vegetables & also fruits; the simplest kind are those who grow only the more common hardy articles for the kitchen, as cabbage, pease, turnips, &c. a higher variety grow plants for propagation, as cauliflowers, celery, & artichoke-plants, & pot-herbs, as mint, thyme; & the highest variety possess hot-beds & hot-houses, & produce mushrooms, melons, pines, & other reed articles & exotic fruits.

Florist. Florists are either market florists who grow & force flowers for the market, & those who grow only hardy flowers to be cut as nosegays, & those who deal chiefly in exotics or green-house plants to be sold in pots. Another is the select florist, who confines himself to the culture of bulbous-rooted & other select or florists' flowers, who has annual flower-shows, & who disposes of the plants, bulbs, tubers, or seeds.

Botanic Gardener. Botanic gardeners devote themselves exclusively to the culture of an extensive collection of species for sale; these may be limited to indigenous kinds. Botanic gardeners also collect & dry specimens of plants, & also of mosses, fungi, alga & offer them for sale: to this they often join the collecting of insects, birds, & other animals.
Nurserymen. Their business is to originate from seed, or by other modes of propagation. Any or every species of vegetable, hardy or exotic, grown in gardens, to rear & train then for sale, & to pack or encase them, so as they may be sent with safety to distant places. The nurseryman is commonly also a seed-grower, & is generally a seed-merchant, supplying his customers annually with what seeds they require for cropping their gardens as well as with the trees they use in stocking them. The simplest variety of nursery-gardener who confines himself to the rearing of hedge plants and forest trees; the highest is he who in addition to all the hardy trees & plants, maintain at the same time a collection of tender exotics.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Black-Eyed Susan Vineello

Black-eyed Susan Vine (Thunbergia alata)

This summer-blooming annual vine was introduced to Britain from India in 1823. Black-eyed Susan Vine is included in a charming book, The Parlor Garden, which Thomas Jefferson's granddaughter, Cornelia Jefferson Randolph, edited and translated from French into English (1861); she noted, “it becomes covered with charming flowers, of a fine nankeen yellow, set off with a black spot in the middle."

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

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Plants & Catalogs - Philadelphia Seed Dealer & Nurseryman - Robert Buist 1805-1880

Buist was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, November 14, 1805. He was trained at the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens & sailed to America in August 1828.
When he arrived in America, he was employed by David Landreth, & then took employment with Henry Pratt who owned Lemon Hill which was probably one of the finest gardens in the U.S. at the time.

He formed a partnership with Thomas Hibbert in 1830 in a florist business in Philadelphia. They imported rare plants & flowers, especially the rose.

After Hibbert’s death he began a seed business, along with the nursery & greenhouse business. The business in Philadelphia started out as Robert Buist's Seed Store, selling gardening supplies, potted plants, shrubs, small fruits, & rose bushes. By 1837, the growing business relocated to 12th Street below Lombard; & in1857, the company moved to a location on Market Street.  And in 1870, it expanded to 67th Street near Darby Road. The Buist farm, Bonaffon, was located in the section of Philadelphia through which Buist Avenue now runs.
Alfred M. Hoffy, lithographer. View of Robert Buist’s City Nursery & Greenhouses. Philadelphia Wagner & McGuigan, 1846.

Buist if often credited with introducing the Poinsettia into Europe, after he saw it at Bartram's Gardens in Philadelphia.  During Buist’s early training at the Edinburg Botanic Garden, he met James McNab, a scientist & artist who eventually became the garden’s director.  In the early 1830s, McNab traveled to America with retired nurseryman Robert Brown to study plants native to the United States. While in America, McNab visited his friend Buist in Philadelphia. When McNab met with Buist in 1834, he gave the Poinsettia plant to him to take back to Scotland. The garden’s director, Dr. Robert Graham introduced the plant into British gardens.

Buist was reknown for his roses & verbena.  He was also the author of several books & many catalogues of his plant offerings.  Among his books are The American Flower-Garden Directory (1832); The Rose Manual (1844, 6 editions); & The Family Kitchen-Gardener (c1847).

Buist was obsessed by roses.  Gardener & plant historian Alex Sutton tells us that Buist sailed to Europe every year or two to buy new rose hybrids being developed in Europe.  He purchased much of his stock from M. Eugene Hardy of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. In 1832, Buist saw 'Madame Hardy' for the first time & he wrote: "Globe Hip, White Globe, or Boule de Neige of the French, is an English Rose raised from seeds of the common white, a very pure white, fully double & of globular form. A few years ago it was considered 'not to be surpassed,' but that prediction, like many others, has fallen to the ground, & now 'Madame Hardy' is triumphant, being larger, fully as pure, more double, & an abundant bloomer; the foliage & wood are also stronger. The French describe it as 'large, very double pure white, & of cup or bowl form."  Buist introduced 'Madame Hardy' in Philadephia to his customers, many of whom must have been Philadelphia matrons, as he called them his Patronesses.

In 1839, Buist visited another of his suppliers, Jean-Pierre Vibert, of Lonjeameaux, near Paris, where he found 'Aimee Vibert'. He brought this rose back with him to Philadephia & wrote: "Aimee Vibert, or Nevia, is a beautiful pure white, perfect in form, a profuse bloomer, but though quite hardy doe snot grow freely for us; however, when budded on a strong stock it makes a magnificent standard, & blooms with a profusion not surpassed by any."
Seed storage warehouse of Philadelphia seedsman Robert Buist. From an 1891 wholesale seed catalog

In his catalog of 1872 Buist wrote “Three of the celebrated ‘Gordon’s Printing Presses’ are kept constantly at work on seed bags, labels, & other printing matter required in our business, & the stock of type & other printing material we use is equal in extent to that required by some of our daily papers...“When we established ourselves in 1828, the Seed business in this country was in its infancy, the trade was really insignificant in comparison to what it is in the present day.”

He was active with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, treasurer from 1858-1862 & vice-president for twenty-two years. He died in Philadelphia, July 13, 1880.  The family business was carried on by his son, Robert, Jr.

Monday, April 29, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Nasturtium

Nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus)

Nasturtium, also known as Indian Cress, was often grown as an edible plant in the 18th century, as seen by its inclusion in Jefferson's vegetable garden. The young leaves and flowers can be enjoyed in salads, and the seeds can be pickled like capers, just as they were in Jefferson’s day. These attractive plants will bloom in an array of colors--reds, oranges, yellows--and with the trailing habit typical of the species before mid-19th century breeding.

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

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Using lobsters for catching garden insects...

1793 James Sowerby (English artist, 1757-1822) Lobster

"Procure the hollow claws of Lobsters, Crabs, &c. and hanging them in different parts of the garden, the insects creep into them, and are easily taken; but the claws must be often searched." 
The Complete Vermin-Killer: A Valuable and Useful Companion for Families, in Town and Country, (London, 1777).

Saturday, April 27, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Striped French Marigold

 Striped French Marigold (Tagetes patula)
The species French Marigold was introduced to European gardens from South America in the late 16th century. A handsome striped form of this annual flower was first illustrated in the London-based periodical Curtis' Botanical Magazine, 1791, and was being grown in America by that time. Striped French Marigold is perfect for cutting, with flowers that vary from yellow streaked with maroon to solid yellow and occasionally all red; prune and deadhead to prolong flowering.

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

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - African Marigold

African Marigold (Tagetes erecta)

Thomas Jefferson planted seeds of the African Marigold along the winding walk flower border on April 8, 1812. Although native to South America, the first garden plants introduced into Europe came from Northern Africa: hence, the common name. While double garden forms were common around 1800, this is the species, or wild form, of African Marigold with unusual (and rare) single, yellow flowers.

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

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Plant Lists - Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Ornamental Shrubs and Vines


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.

Ornamental Shrubs and Vines

Acacia farnesiana Sweet Acacia ("Acacia Nilotica”) 1792
Alnus rugosa Alder 1771
Amorpha fruticosa Bastard Indigo 1771
Berberis vulgaris European Barberry 1771
Callicarpa americana Beauty Berry 1771
Calycanthus floridus Sweet Shrub ("Bubby flower shrub") 1778
Campsis radicans Trumpet Vine 1771
Castanea pumila Chinquapin 1771
Ceanothus americanus New Jersey Tea 1771
Clematis virginiana Virgin's Bower 1807
Clethra alnifolia Sweet Pepperbush 1771
Colutea arborescens Bladder Senna 1812
Cornus sanguinea Swamp Dogwood ("Dogberry") 1783
Coronilla emerus Scorpion Senna 1771
Cotinus coggygria Smoke Tree ("Venetian Sumach”) 1791
Cytisus scoparius Scotch Broom 1806
Daphne cneorum Rose Daphne 1790
Daphne mezereum "Mezereon" 1804
Euonymus americanus Strawberry Bush ("Evergreen Spindle Tree") 1790
Gardenia jasminoides Gardenia ("Cape jasmine") 1808
Gelsemium sempervirens Carolina Yellow Jessamine 1771
Hibiscus syriacus Rose of Sharon ("Althea”) 1767
 "double" 1809
 “pink" 1809
 "striped" 1809
 "white" 1809
Ilex verticillata Winterberry 1808
Jasminum officinale Poet’s Jessamine ("Star Jasmine,”"White Jasmine") 1794
Kalmia latifolia Mountain Laurel ("Ivy," "Dwarf Laurel") 1771
Ligustrum vulgare Privet 1807
Lonicera alpigena Red-berried Honeysuckle 1810
Lonicera sempervirens Coral Honeysuckle ("Honey-suckle") 1771
Nerium oleander Oleander 1804
Philadelphus coronarius Mock Orange 1807
Prunus triloba Flowering Almond ("Amygdalus flore pleno") 1790
Pyracantha coccinea Pyracantha ("Prickly medlar,” "Mespilus” 1810
Pyrularia pubera Buffalo Nut ("Oil shrub") 1797
Rhododendron maximum Rosebay Rhododendron 1790
Rhododendron periclymenoides Pinxter Azalea ("Wild honeysuckle") 1767
Rhus toxicodendron Poison Ivy ("Poison oak") 1771
Robinia hispida Moss Locust ("Prickly locust” 1807
Sambucus canadensis Elderberry 1771
Spartium junceum Spanish Broom 1767
Symphoricarpus albus Snowberry 1812
Syringa persica Persian Lilac ("Persian jasmine”) 1808
Syringa vulgaris Common Lilac 1767
Taxus canadensis American Yew ("Dwarf yew") 1798
Ulex europaeus Gorse ("Furze") 1794
Viburnum opulus var. sterile Snowball("Guelder Rose") 1794
Viburnum trilobum Cranberry Bush 1798
Vinca minor Periwinkle 1771
Vitex agnus-castus Chaste Tree 1807
Wisteria frutescens Wisteria ("Carolina kidney bean Tree with
purple flowers") 1791
Yucca filamentosa Yucca, Adam’s Needle 1794

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

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


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.

Onion

Onion, Cepa. There are three sorts for winter use; the Strasburg...the red Spanish Onion...the white Spanish Onion... There are other sorts which suit the spring and summer season best. There are Cepa ascalonica,from Ascalon, a city in India, or the Scallion or Escallion. The Cives, or Copula, the young Onion. The Welch Onion, and lastly the Ciboule. The three first sorts should be sown in February, the first open weather, or beginning of March at farthest, and in about six weeks your Onions will be up, and ought to be weeded. The rows should be about twelve or eighteen inches asunder, if sowed in drills, which is the best method, arid the plants should be drawn to be about five or six inches apart. This may be no loss, because they will serve with young salad in the spring; about the middle or latter end of July your plants will be ripe, which may be discovered by the dropping down or shrinking of the blades; then they should be drawn up, and the extreme part of the blades should be cropped off, and the plants laid on the ground to dry. They should be turned at least every other day, otherwise they will strike fresh root, especially in moist weather. In about a fortnight they will be sufficiently dried; you are then to rub off all the earth and take care to remove all that are any ways decayed, and the sound ones laid as thin as possible in some room or garret, as close from the air as possible, and at least once a month look over them, to see if any of them are decayed, for if any are so, they will affect the. rest; or if too near one another, or in heaps, they will heat, and probably ruin the whole crop. The white Onion is the sweetest, though all the three sorts will degenerate into one another in the course of time. In March'you should dig a trench, and put some of your most flourishing plants about six inches deep, and as far asunder,v into it, which should be covered over with a rake, and in about a month's time the leaves will appear above ground, and when your plants begin to head, they should be supported by stakes and packthread or yarn, otherwise they will be very liable to be injured by the winds. These will produce you seed about August, which may be known by the seeds changing brown, and the bells where the seed is contained opening. The heads should be critically cut, otherwise the seed will be dropped, and when cut, the heads should be exposed to the sun, and sheltered in the night and wet weather, and when suificiently dry, they should be rubbed out, and after being exposed one day more to the sun, may be put into bags and preserved for the following year. The Scallion is a small Onion, and is sown early in the spring, and never forms any bulb, and is used green in the spring with young salads. The Ciboule and Welch Onion, are thought to be the same by Miller.


Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Sweet William Catchfly

Sweet William Catchfly (Silene armeria)

Sweet William Catchfly is a showy, self-seeding annual flower native to Europe with blue-green leaves and a long succession of purplish-pink flowers from late spring into summer. Sometimes called Lobel's Catchfly or None-So-Pretty, it was established in American gardens by the 1820s. The 1804 broadside of Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon offered seed for both red and white forms.

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

Monday, April 22, 2019

Garden to Table - Home-Made Clary & Raisin 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

CLARY  - RAISIN WINE
Take twelve pounds of Malaga raisins, pick them and chop them very small, put them in a tub, and to each pound one-half pint of water. Let them steep ten or eleven days, stirring it twice every day; you must keep it covered close all the while. Then strain it off, and put it into a vessel, and about one-quarter peck of the tops of clary, when it is in blossom; stop it close for six weeks, and then bottle it off. In two or three months it is fit to drink. It is apt to have a great sediment at bottom; therefore it is best to draw it off by plugs, or tap it pretty high.

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.

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


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.

Clary

Clary, Sclarea...These are propagated either from the seed, in a light soil, or parting the roots and planting them out at Michaelmas, about eighteen inches asunder; these will last many years.



Sunday, April 21, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Pincushion Flower

Pincushion Flower (Scabiosa atropurpurea)

When Thomas Jefferson requested roots and bulbs of the "Mourning bride" from his neighbor, Isaac Coles, in 1811, he may have been referring to the Pincushion Flower. Also known as Mourning Bride because of its association with grieving widows in 18th-century England, this long-blooming annual boasts velvet-like flowers all summer in mixed shades of purple, blue, white, and red, and makes a good cut flower.

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

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Garden to Table - Home-Made Apricot 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

APRICOCK WINE
Take three pounds of sugar, and three quarts of water; let them boil together and skim it well. Then put in six pounds of apricocks, pared and stoned, and let them boil until they are tender; then take them up and when the liquor is cold bottle it up. You may if you please, after you have taken out the apricocks, let the liquor have one boil with a sprig of flowered clary in it; the apricocks make marmalade, and are very good for preserves.

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.

Plant Lists - Tho Jefferson's (1743-1824) Fruits

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 not described in the literature and are generally Jefferson’s personal names.

List compiled by Peter Hatch.

FRUITS

Almond
 Prunus dulcis var. dulcis
 "Almonds from the Streights" 1774
 "bitter almonds" 1774
 “hardshelled sweet almonds from Cadiz. from Harriet Hackley" 1810
 "hard shelled bitter almond" 1774
 "sweet almonds with smooth rinds" 1774
 "sweet almonds with hairy rinds" 1774
 "sweet almonds with hard shells" 1774
 "a Virginian Almond," probably a native nut like the bitternut (Juglans cinerea) or indigenous hazelnut (Corylus americana) 1774

Apple 1774
 Malus pumila
 Calville Blanc d'Hiver ("Calvite”) 1804
 Clarkes’s Pearmain (possibly syn. Golden Pearmain) 1796
 "Detroit large white" (probably syn. with White Bellflower) 1804
 Detroit Red ("Detroit large red") 1804
 Early Harvest 1791
 English Codlin 1778
 Esopus Spitzenberg 1791
 Golden Wilding 1778
 Hewes’s Crab (Hughes, Crab, Virginia Crab) 1796
 "iron wilding" 1810
 "mammoth" (possibly syn. with Gloria Mundi) 1809
 Medlar Russetin 1778
 Newtown Pippin (Albemarle Pippin)"ox-eye striped" 1769
 (?Vandevere or Newtown Spitzenberg) 1804
 Pomme Gris ("pumgray") 1804
 "russetin" (likely Golden Russet or Roxbury Russet) 1778
 Taliaferro 1778
 White, Virginia White, or Bray's White ("white") 1778

Apricot
 Prunus armeniaca 1769
 Angelica 1804
 "Bordeaux" 1810
 Brussels 1791
 Early Red 1804
 Large Early 1791
 Moor Park ("German") 1791
 "Melon" 1787
 Peach ("peach-apricot") 1804

Cherry
 Prunus avium, P. cerasus 1769
 August 1783
 Black Heart ("forward" and "latter") 1778
 Bleeding Heart 1783
 "Broadnax" 1773
 Carnation 1773
 Cornus Mas ("Ciriege corniole") 1774
 Early May ("May," Prunus fruticosa) 1767
 English Morello ("Myrilla,” "large Morella") 1778
 "Kentish"
 (Early Richmond and/or Late Kentish) 1778
 May Duke ("Duke") 1778
 "Tuckahoe grey heart" 1811
 White Heart 1778

Currant
 Ribes sp. 1770
 European Red (Ribes sativum) 1778
 Sweet-scented or Buffalo (Ribes odoratum) 1807
 Yellow (Ribes aureum) 1807

Fig
 Ficus carica 1769
 "ancient"
 Angelique ("white Angelic") 1789
 “large” 1789
 Marseilles ("white") 1789
 “purple" 1817

Gooseberry
 Ribes uva-crispa 1767
 "Red” 1812

Grape
 Vitis vinifera', V. rotundifolia", V. vulpina
 "Abrostine red" (Colorino?) 1807
 "Abrostine white" (Picolit?) 1807
 Aleatico 1807
 Alexander ("Cape,” "Cape of Good Hope grape") 1802
 "Black cluster" (Pinot Noir?) 1807
 Black Hamburg 1807
 Bland 1822
 Chasselas Dore ("Chasselas") 1807
 Chasselas Rose ("Brick coloured") 1796
 Furmint ("Tokay") 1807
 "Lachrima Christi" (Tinto di Spagna?) 1807
 Luglienga ("Great July") 1807
 "Malaga" (Muscat of Alexandria?) 1807
 Mammolo Toscano ("Mammole") 1807
 Morgiano ("Margiano") 1807
 "Muscadine" (Chasselas Blanc?) 1807
 Muscat Blanc ("white Frontignac") 1807
 Norton’s Seedling 1824
 "Piedmont malmsey" (Malvasia Bianca?) 1807
 Olivette Blanche ("Gallettas") 1807
 "Purple Syrian" 1807
 Red Hamburg 1807
 Regina ("Queen's grape") 1807
 Sangiovese ("San Giovetto”) 1807
 Seralamanna (Muscat of Alexandria?) 1807
 Scuppernong 1817
 "Smyra grape without seeds" 1807
 "Spanish raisins" 1774
 "Toccai” or "Tokay" (Tocai Rosso?) 1807
 Trebbiano 1807
 "White Sweet Water" 1796

 Nectarine
 Prunus persica var. nucipersica 1769
 "Kaskaskia soft" 1810
 Red Roman 1791
 Yellow Roman 1791

Peach
 Prunus persica 1771
 Alberges 1804
 Algiers Yellow 1791
 Apple (Pesca mela, "Melon") 1804
 "Balyal’s white, red, & yellow plumb peaches" 1786
 “General Jackson’s” 1807
 Green Nutmeg 1791
 Heath Cling 1813
 Indian Blood Cling ("black Georgia plumb peach") 1810
 Indian Blood Free ("black soft peaches from Georgia") 1804
 "Lady's favorite" 1807
 Lemon Cling ("Lemon," "Canada Carolina") 1807
 Maddelena 1804
 "Magdalene" (either Red Magdalen or White Magdalene) 1806
 Malta 1813
 "mammoth" 1807
 Morris’s Red Rareripe ("Italian red-freestone") 1807
 Morris’s White Rareripe ("Italian-White-freestone”) 1807
 "October," "yellow clingstone of October" 1807
 Oldmixon Cling 1807
 Oldmixon Free 1807
 “plumb" 1772
 Poppa di Venere (“Teat,” Breast of Venus) 1804
 Portugal 1780
 San Jacopo (St. James?) 1804
 "soft" ("October soft," "November soft," "Timothy Lomax's soft,” “large white soft,”
“fine white soft,” “large yellow soft," "early soft," etc.) 1810
 Vaga Loggia Cling 1804
 Vaga Loggia Free 1804
 White blossomed (?) 1810

Pear
 Prunus communis 1769
 Beurre Gris 1791
 Crassane 1789
 "English" (“3 kinds") 1778
 "fine late large" 1778
 "forward" 1778
 Meriwether 1778
 Royal 1789
 Seckel 1807
 "Sugar" 1778
 St. Germaine, or Richmond 1807
 Virgouleuse 1789

Plum
 Prunus domestics, P. insititia, etc.
 Apricot 1780
 Boccon de Re 1804
 Brignole 1791
 Chickasaw, Prunus angustifolia ("Cherokee") 1812
 Cooper’s Large 1807
 Drap d'Or 1780
 Damson ("Damascene") 1778
 "Florida" (probably Prunus umbellata) 1814
 Green Gage, Reine Claude ("Reginia Claudia") 1783
 "Horse" (Prunus americana or Damson, P. insititia) 1778
 Imperatrice, Blue Imperatrice 1780
 "Large Blue" 1810
 "Large white sweet" 1780
 Magnum Bonum, Mogul, Yellow Egg, White Imperial 1778
 Mirabelle 1804
 Muscle 1767
 Orleans 1780
 Red Imperial 1780
 "Regina" (possible Queen Mother, or Damas Violet) 1804
 "Purple Prune" 1807
 Royal 1780
 "Small green plum" 1778
 White Imperial 1780

Pomegranate
 Punica granatum 1769
 Quince
 Cydonia oblonga 1769

Strawberry
 Fragaria sp. 1766
 Alpine (Fragaria vesca) 1774
 Chili (F. chiloensis) 1798
 Hudson (F. x ananassa?) 1812
 "large garden" ("Fragoloni di giardino") 1774
 "May" ("Fragoloni Mazzese") 1774
 Scarlet (F. virginiana) 1766
 "White" ( F. vesca or F. moschata) 1782

Raspberry
 Rubus idaeus 1770
 "Common" 1811
 "Monthly" 1809
 "Mountain" (Rubus strigosus) 1821
 Red Antwerp 1790
 White Antwerp 1807

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

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


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.

Chamomile

Chamomile, Chamomelum, (from Melon, gr. an Apple, because it has the scent of one, J or Anthemis, as it is called by Dr. Linnans. There are different species, but the chamomelum odoratishmum repens, fore simplici, is the sort chiefly propagated. It is used medicinally, and in making green walks or edgings; the method of planting is, to separate the roots, as they grow very close, and prick each root into poor land, about ten inches asunder, in the month of March; they will quickly stretch themselves into contact with each other, and as the flowers ripen they should be gathered and dried. When thick, it is apt to rot in the winter, so that it ought now and then to be thinned.
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Friday, April 19, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Horminum Sage

Horminum Sage (Salvia viridis)

Horminum Sage is a hardy annual native to the Mediterranean region. Grown in Britain as an ornamental in the 16th century, Horminum Sage was cultivated in American gardens as early as 1761, when it appeared on a plant list for a Moravian farm in North Carolina. Compact plants form spikes of colorful bracts in hues of pink, blue, and purple, which make long-lasting cut-flowers.

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

Thursday, April 18, 2019

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


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.

Artichokes

ARTICHOKES, known to botanical writers by the name of Cynara, are to be propagated either from the seed, which are to be gathered from the choke or flower at the head of the Artichoke, or from slips, which are to be separated from the main stalk by the edge of the hand, and transplanted. If these offsets are good, they will be of a whitish colour about the heel, and will have some little root to them. If you have plenty of ground, put three slips in a hill, and let the hills be four feet asunder, and the rows the same; but if you are scanty with regard to your land, you must cut your coat according to your cloth. About March, or the beginning of April, you are annually to slip off all the lateral branches with your hand, and leave only the three principal stalks in your hill. Every spring they ought to be dunged: sheep dung and ashes are not only the best for that purpose, but also for preparing the ground for them. If you have depth of mould enough, i. e. two feet, and you don't crop your ground with any thing else, your Artichokes will remain good a number of years; but if they are any ways neglected, or the ground is tended, they will not only be injured in their growth, but will very much degenerate in five years. When planted out, they should be well watered, if not in a wet season, and be kept clean from weeds. There are various methods of preserving them from the severity of winter. Some cut them down within a foot of the earth, and cover them with a hill or ridge, leaving a small hole at the top, which is covered with dung. I have found from many years' experience, that long dung is an enemy to them, and that the best way to preserve them is, by laying straw on the surface of the ground, over their roots. This preserves the leaves from rotting which fall down from the frost, and, united, afford such a protection to the plant, that not one in fifty will perish. They never flourish in a dripping situation, but like a low place, not too wet, but very rich. When you cut them, cut the stalks quite down to the ground, which strengthens the plants, and makes them forwarder in the spring. There will be many on a stalk, but all must be pulled off except that which is on the centre of the main stalk, if you propose having them fine. If you prick out the slips in the spring, you may have a succession till the fall. The leaves of Artichokes, I have been informed, clean pewter the best of any thing. There are different sorts, but two only that are much propagated. First, Foliis aculeatis, i. e. with prickly leaves. Second, Foliis non aculeatis capite subrubente, i. e. without prickly leaves, and with a smooth and reddish head. The latter is most preferred. There is the Cynara spinosa, which is to be cultivated and eaten like celery, and which produces a head with the seed not unlike the Artichoke, fro in whence it took its name. The common name is chardooh, or cardoon. The Jerusalem Artichoke...is only a species of the Sun-flower, with a tuberous root, not unlike a Potatoe. Some admire them, but they are of a flatulent nature, and are apt to cause commotions in the belly.


Wednesday, April 17, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Texas Sage

Texas Sage (Salvia coccinea)

Texas, or Scarlet Sage is grown as a tender annual for full sun. Native from tropical America into the southern United States, this species has been grown as an ornamental in North American gardens since the middle of the nineteenth century. The spreading plants reach two to three feet and produce slender spikes of scarlet flowers from mid-summer until the first frost in autumn. Sow seeds after the last frost in spring. Texas Sage reseeds itself easily.

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

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

1764 John Randolph's (1727-1784) Kitchen Garden Calendar

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One of the earliest treatises on gardening in America was written by John Randolph around 1765 in Williamsburg, Virginia.

A General Calendar for Work in the Kitchen Garden

JANUARY.
Prepare hot-beds for Cucumbers; as little can be done this month in a garden, I would advise the preparing of your dung, and carrying it to your beds, that it may be ready to spread on in February.

FEBRUARY.
Sow Asparagus, make your beds and fork up the old ones, sow Loaf Cabbages; latter end transplant Cauliflowers, sow Carrots, and transplant for seed; prick out endive for seed, sow Lettuce, Melons in hot-beds, sow Parsneps take up the old roots and prick out for seed, sow Peas and prick them into your hot-beds, sow Radishes twice, plant Strawberries, plant out Turneps for seed, spade deep and make it fine, plant Beans.

MARCH.
Slip your Artichokes, if fit, plant Kidney Beans, Cabbages, Celery, Parsley, Cucumbers, Currants, Chamomile, Celandine; Nasturtium, Featherfew, Fennel, Ivy, Horse Radish, Hyssop, Lavender, Lettuce, Radishes twice, Marjoram, Marsh Mallow, Mint, Melons, Millet, Mugwort, Onions, and for seed, Peas twice, Potatoes, Raspberry, Rosemary, Rue, Spinach, Tansy, Thyme, Turneps. You may begin to mow your grass walks, and continue so to do every morning, and roll them; turf this month; plant Box.

APRIL.
If Artichokes were not slipped last month, do it this, plantTiushel and garden Beans, sow Cabbages the twelfth, sow Cauliflowers, Celery, Cresses, Nasturtium, Lettuce, Peas, Radishes twice; Sage will grow in this or any other month; Turneps, sow Salsify early, Pepper; turf this month.

MAY.
Latter end sow Brocoli, Celery, Cucumbers for pickles, Endive, Featherfew, Hyssop, Cuttings of Marsh Mallow, Melons, Peas, sow Radishes twice, Kidney Beans; turf this month.

JUNE.
Cabbages should be sown, sow Radishes twice, transplant Cabbages, prick out Cauliflowers, prick out Brocoli, draw up by the roots all your weeds.

JULY.
Transplant Brocoli, sow Cabbages, Coleworts, transplant Cauliflowers to stand, Endive, gather Millet seed, take up Onions, sow Radishes twice, sow Turneps, plant Kidney Beans to preserve.

AUGUST.
Sow Cabbages, latter end Carrots, get your Cucumber seed, sow Cresses, prick out Endive, early sow Lettuce, Mullein, gather Onion seed, plant Garlick, get Parsnep seed; twelfth, sow Peas for the fall, sow Radishes; middle, sow Spinach, though some say not until after the twentieth, sow Turneps.

SEPTEMBER.
Sow Cabbages tenth, sow Cauliflowers, plant cuttings of Currants, Clary, Comfrey, plant cuttings of Gooseberries, sow Radishes, plant layers of suckers of Raspberries, Rosemary, plant out Strawberries, string your Strawberries, and dress your beds, plant Tansy.

OCTOBER.
Latter end cut down your Asparagus, and cover your beds with dung, plant Beans for spring, sow Cabbages twentieth; transplant Cauliflowers, plant Horse Radish, prick Lettuce into boxes, sow Peas for the hot-bed, Radishes; turf this month.

NOVEMBER.
Take up your Cabbages, sow Cabbages, take up your Cauliflowers, such as are flowered, and house them, take up your Carrots, trench all your vacant land, prune your trees and vines, plant out every thing of the tree or shrub kind, that has a root to it: if any thing is done to your Artichokes, this is a good month; plant Box; turf early.

DECEMBER.
Cover your Endive with brush, cover Celery, and every thing else that needs shelter; if the weather will admit, turn over the ground that is trenched, in order to mellow and pulverize it. Whatever will prevent delay, and enable you to begin spading in February, should be done this month.

John Randolph was born about 1728, probably at the Peyton Randolph House on Market Square in Williamsburg. After he attended the College of William & Mary for his basic education, he traveled to London in 1745, to study law at the Middle Temple at the Inns of Court in London, returning to Williamsburg to practice law in 1749. During his years in Williamsburg, he became a member of the city's common council, & a burgess for the College of William & Mary. When his older brother Peyton Randolph was elected speaker of the House of Burgesses, John succeeded him as the royal colony's attorney general.

As the sentiment for separating from mother England grew, Randolph’s brother Peyton Randolph became chair of the Continental Congress, & loyalist John Randolph made plans to sail for England. He wrote a farewell letter to his cousin Thomas Jefferson. "We both of us seem to be steering opposite courses," he said, "the success of either lies in the womb of Time." John Randolph arranged passage across the Atlantic for himself, his wife, Ariana, and their 2 daughters, Susannah and Ariana. His son Edumund, who did not share his father's loyalist sentiments, joined the American army serving as aide-de-camp to General George Washington.

John Randolph died at Brampton, England, in 1784. His death brought his return to America.  He is interred beside his father and brother in the family vault in the chapel at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.

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


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.

Chives

Chives never grow into bulbs, but in bunches, and Miller takes it to be Shallot. They do not grow above six inches high in the blade. They are to be propagated by parting the roots or planting the cloves. They do not affect the breath so much as the other sorts. The Welch Onion at some seasons of the year, viz: in the fall, dies away, but revives in January, and becomes very early in the spring fit for the table.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Mignonette

Mignonette (Reseda odorata grandiflora)

Mignonette was introduced to ornamental gardens in Europe about 1725, and because of its sweet fragrance both as a garden plant and as a cut flower, its popularity grew steadily on both sides of the Atlantic through the 19th century. Thomas Jefferson recorded sowing seeds for this annual at Monticello in 1811. The tiny, pale green and white flowers emit a fresh, fruity scent in summer and are attractive to bees and butterflies.

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

Saturday, April 13, 2019

Plants in Early American Gardens - Prince's Feather

Prince's Feather (Persicaria orientalis)

Also known as Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate and Oriental Persicary, this towering, fast-growing, self-seeding annual was first grown in Virginia by Williamsburg's John Custis in 1737. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon included it on his 1804 seed list as "Persicaria." An Asian species, Prince's Feather produces pendulous clusters of bead-like, bright-pink flowers in summer above robust and lush foliage. The flowers are attractive to pollinators.

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