Plants as Medicines - Ben Franklin's Afterword to Every Man His Own Doctor, 1736 by Dr. John Tennent

In 1734 Franklin reprinted John Tennent’s Every Man his own Doctor, which had been published earlier that year in Williamsburg, Virginia & Annapolis, Maryland. Franklin may have concluded this “third edition” with the address to his readers, which is reprinted below; but no complete copy is known. In 1736, he reprinted Tennent’s pamphlet in a “fourth edition” with the address to his readers and a postscript based on Tennent’s Essay on Pleurisy, published at Williamsburg in 1736. Following is the Afterword printed in John Tennent's, Every Man his own Doctor: or, The Poor Planter’s Physician.... The Fourth Edition. Philadelphia: printed and Sold by B. Franklin, near the Market.

The Printer to the Reader wisheth Health.

This Book entituled, Every Man his own Doctor, was first printed in Virginia, for the Use of which Colony it was written by a Gentleman residing there. Great Numbers have been distributed among the People both in Virginia and Maryland, and ’tis generally allow’d that abundance of Good has been thereby done: And as some Parts of Pennsylvania, the Jerseys, and the Lower Counties on Delaware, are by the lowness and moistness of their Situation, subject to the same kind of Diseases, I have been advised to reprint this Book here, for the Use and Benefit of such People in these Countries, as live at too great a Distance from good Physicians. It is necessary, however, to give the Reader this one Caution, that the Ipecacuania or Indian Physick so frequently prescribed by the Author, is much weaker in Virginia, than that which grows in Pennsylvania; so that whereas he prescribes 80 Grains for a Vomiting Potion, and 70 for a Purge; 12 Grains of our Indian Physick, or Ipecacuania, will be sufficient for a Vomit, and 10 for a Purge: There is another Sort which comes to us from Europe, and is to be found in the Apothecaries Shops, of which 30 or 32 Grains is commonly given for a Vomit, and 27 Grains for a Purge, which will work most Constitutions sufficiently.

Postscript.
A Physician in Virginia has lately published an Essay on the Pleurisy, in which he discovers a Method of treating that fatal Distemper, that he says he always found to succeed. The principal Part of the Cure depends on the Use of a Simple that begins to be known in this Country by the Name of Rattle-Snake Root, being the same that the Indians use in curing the Bite of that venemous Reptile. The Method which the Author practices and recommends, is as follows.

“Let the Patient first have 10 Ounces of Blood taken from the Arm of the well Side, or Foot if both Sides are affected; and every 6 Hours 3 Spoonfuls of the following Tincture is to be given, the first Dose immediately after, and continued ’till the Symptoms abate.

“Take of the Rattle-Snake Root, 3 Ounces, wild Valerian Root, an Ounce and a Half, let them be well bruised in a Mortar, then mix them with a Quart of old Canary, and digest in a proper Vessel in a Sand-Heat for Six Hours, afterwards decant for Use.

“Let fifteen Drops of Balsam Capivi, and as many of Sal volatile Oleosum, be given in a little ordinary Drink, twice between each Dose of the Tincture, beginning with the first Dose two Hours after the Tincture; and give the second Dose two Hours after.

“Let the ordinary Drink be a Tea made of Marsh-mallow Roots, always given warm.

“If the Patient has been ill some Days before any thing administered, the Balsom is to be continued for some Days after a considerable Amendment.

“Bloodletting is to be repeated the second Day, and in the same Quantity as the first, if the Patient is not much better, or the same Day unless something better in 4 Hours: But such is the Efficacy of this Medicine, that there is seldom Occasion. The Symptoms generally abate considerably in 24 Hours, and the Recovery Certain.”

But because every one may not have Conveniency for preparing this Tincture, nor have the other Medicines mentioned at hand, and do not live within reach of a Physician, it is necessary to acquaint the Reader with what the Author adds further, viz.

“A Decoction of the Rattle-Snake Root alone in Spring Water, 3 Ounces to about one Quart; together with Pectoral Teas sweetened with Honey will prove effectual, without any thing else; if the Patient has been let Blood as soon as taken, and this Decoction immediately given afterwards.”

This is to be understood of the genuine Pleurisy or Peripneumony attended with a Fever.

As for the other Disease, which often personates a Pleurisy in these Parts, the Symptoms of which are, that the Patient is cold in a somniferous State, and sometimes convulsed.

In this Case the Author omits Bloodletting as pernicious; but says the Tincture aforesaid is as effectual here as in the genuine Pleurisy, only advises that the Rattle-Snake Root and Valerian be in equal Quantities.

We have not room to add more out of the above mentioned Essay; and indeed the greatest Part of it being taken up in abstracted Reasonings on the Texture of the Blood, and the Operations of different Medicines, &c. to make a larger Extract would be of little Use to the unlearned Reader, for whom this Book was originally intended; and ’tis supposed that in Cases of Danger, the Patient will always consult a skilful Physician where it can possibly be done.

But while we are solicitous about the Health of the Body, let us not forget, that there are also Diseases of the Mind, which concern us no less to be thoroughly cured of. The divine Assistance and Blessing on our Endeavours is absolutely necessary in both Cases; which we ought therefore piously and devoutly to request. And being healed, let us gratefully bless and praise that Great Physician, from whose Goodness flows every Virtue, and the Discovery of every useful Medicine.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Woodland or Florentine Tulip

Woodland or Florentine Tulip (Tulipa sylvestris)

The Florentine or Woodland Tulip is a European native introduced very early into American gardens. Although Jefferson did not mention this species in his Garden Book, it is now naturalized through the West Lawn at Monticello. It blooms with the Virginia Bluebells in mid-April. Florentine Tulips have a distinctly sweet fragrance and multiply freely once planted, two qualities lost with the development of modern Tulip cultivars.

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

Garden to Table - Home-Made Beer & Ale from Pea Shells

 

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

BEER & ALE FROM PEA-SHELLS
Fill a boiler with green shells of peas, pour on water till it rises half an inch above the shells, and simmer for three hours. Strain off the liquor, and add a strong decoction of wood-sage, or hops, so as to render it pleasantly bitter; ferment with yeast, and bottle.

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.

Thomas Jefferson & the great Pea competition

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

Thomas Jefferson was known to have a passion for peas.  For several years, he would organize a competition among his Virginia neighbors to see who could produce the 1st peas of the year. The winner would invite all the other competitors to his home for dinner, to eat peas, of course.

1782 William Redmore Bigg (1755-1828)  A Girl Shelling Peas

Thomas Jefferson was particularly fond of the English or Garden pea.  He mentions planting it frequently at Monticello devoting a relatively large amount of kitchen garden space (3 entire "squares") to his precious peas.  According to family accounts, every spring Jefferson competed with local gentleman gardeners to bring the first pea to the table.  The winner then hosting a community dinner that included a feast on the winning dish of peas. Among the 19 pea varieties Jefferson documented sowing were Early Frame, which was planted annually from 1809 until 1824; Hotspur, named for its quick, frantic growth; Marrowfat, a starchier, later variety; and Blue Prussian, which Jefferson obtained from Philadelphia seedsman Bernard McMahon.  Jefferson's pea consumption seemed to slump during his presidency, however.  Jefferson's butler, Lemaire recorded purchasing peas for the President's House only 6 times in 1806 for the elaborate state dinners Jefferson hosted.

Jefferson's eldest grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph recalled this competition in a letter to Mr. Randall, "A wealthy neighbor [Mr. George Divers], without children, and fond of horticulture, generally triumphed. Mr. Jefferson, on one occasion had them first, and when his family reminded him that it was his right to invite the company, he replied, "No, say nothing about it, it will be more agreeable to our friend to think that he never fails."

This is apparently the case in an April, 1815 letter from Mr. Divers to Jefferson: "We returned home yesterday from a visit of several days and I did not examine into the state of our peas till late in the evening, when I found them quite ready…We should be glad you will come up and partake of our first dish today & that Mr. Maddison would come with you."

1795 Fresh Gathered Peas Young Hastings after Giovanni Vendramini (1769-1839)

History Blooms at Monticello

‘Old Blush’ China, which appears in silk paintings dating to 1000 AD, remains one of the finest of the old garden shrub roses. Also called Parson’s Pink China & Pink Monthly, it became a parent of the Noisette Class of roses when it crossed with the European Musk Rose in the Charleston, SC, garden of John Champneys sometime after 1802.

Single moss rose (Rosa muscosa simplex), an 1807 Jefferson-era variety with deep pink flowers on an upright shrub.

Rosa ‘Belle Vichyssoise’ is a climbing Noisette rose, hybridized in 1858, with good reblooming qualities & medium fragrance.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Snowball Bush

Bare Root Snowball Bush (Viburnum opulus roseum)

This sterile garden form was known in Europe by 1554 and has been a favorite ever since. The flowers, described in 1770 as "balls of snow, lodged in a pleasing manner all over its head," have inspired other common names such as Whitsun-boss, Love-roses, and Pincushion-tree. On April 16, 1807, Jefferson planted V. opulus rosea on the "N.W. brow of the slope" of Monticello Mountain. That same day he also planted the species Gelder Rose or Cranberry Viburnum, V. opulus.

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

1820 Pennsylvania Farmhouse & Garden

1820 William Schlicter possibly Montgomery County, PA.

Hand-drawn; hand-colored; hand-lettered. The drawing depicts a farm, with a two-story stone house to the left and a barn to the right. A stone wall with a path and gate is before the house, and a dirt road runs in front of the two buildings. The buildings are surrounded by a charming, rather formal garden on the side of the house, plus lawns, trees, fields, and fences. They are topped by a sky with clouds. Free Library of Philadelphia’s digital collection of Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Manuscripts.

Collecting America's Native Plants - Meriwether Lewis "No Regular Botanist"

"Like most people of his day, Meriwether Lewis (1774-1809) was knowledgeable about plants. His mother was an herbalist, & as an agriculturist he was interested in plants of economic importance. Thus, when Jefferson assigned Lewis the task of naturalist it was natural that Lewis would focus, as Jefferson instructed him, on medicinal plants, plants of economic value such as corn, wheat, grasses, fodder, & plants that would have been of horticulture interest, as Jefferson had a large garden & was very much interested in horticulture plants.

"For Jefferson, the decision not to send a true naturalist, but rather one that was semi-trained was both fortunate & unfortunate. For the botanical community the fact that Jefferson did not send a naturalist meant that only a few select specimens were collected. Nonetheless, the more than two hundred specimens that reached Philadelphia, from the activities of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, signified the richness of the flora of the Pacific Northwest & particularly the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho & Western Montana.

"Lewis’s collection activities were limited to opportunities when he had a chance to collect. As captain he had many other duties besides looking for new plants. Thus it was, we know from his journals, that not only did he collect, but so did some of the other men. There are even indications that Sacagawea or Saka Kawea collected plants as well.

"Lewis's collecting activities were not described by him, but looking at contemporaries, it is clear that Lewis used a small hand press. This allowed him to collect small samples that he would then dry over a period of days. Because he had no other means of drying these plants other than sunshine he was very careful what he collected. For example; he avoided cactus & all kinds of succulent plants except for two—both sedums, or rock plants. He collected lots of grasses, because they were economically important as food. He collected crop plants that were grown by the native people. And he collected a bountiful number of wildflowers, particularly in 1806 as he crossed the Rocky Mountains.

"Some of the plants that Lewis collected were found along the Lolo Trail in late June of 1806, & then across Lewis & Clark Pass in early July of 1806. Many of those species are represented in his herbarium & may be seen even today along the Lewis & Clark Trail.

"Lewis's tendency was to collect specimens that he could, in a small sample, show all of the detail that he needed to show. Thus, he tended to collected plants in good flower & occasionally, if he felt it was important as a medicinal plant, in fruit, so he could then grow seeds from the plant once he returned the material to Philadelphia.

"Seeds were commonly collected in 1805 particularly along the Columbia River. Very few seeds were collected in 1806 on the return trip. Numerous specimens & seeds were collected as they ascended the Missouri River in 1804.

"Lewis's interest in the wildflowers of what we now call the Rocky Mountains was much as any individual's today. They are abundant & beautiful & easy to collect. The success of his collection resulted in the discovery of three new genera, one named for him, one named for Clark, & another named for the character of the plant. Several new species were collected. And, most that you see surrounding us here today were collected by Lewis & were named from his specimens.

"Lewis's plant press was probably in the form of a book. A very large book, probably twelve by eighteen inches. It may or may not have been bound on the one side. This is a traditional plant press that you find in China. It is made out of bamboo & consists of a flat strong surface that specimens can be placed in. Lewis used paper much like you used as a youngster in kindergarten. A kind of construction paper. It was folded in half & the specimen placed in between. Now, Lewis's paper was twelve by eighteen when folded, this is half that. You'll notice that the paper is absorbent. This way the specimen's moisture would go into the paper, be absorbed by the paper, & then the specimen could be slowly dried. But in drying, everyday Lewis had to open his press, remove the old pages that were damp, lay them in the sunshine, allow them to dry, & move his plants into new paper so they would continue to dry.

"Modern botany is quite different from Lewis's day. We use very large presses & in a good operation you'll run three to five presses, filling each during the course of a day. Each press consists of about room for one hundred different specimens. We are able to dry these very rapidly using what is known as a Holmgren drying frame, by putting a heat source underneath, a coleman stove or electric light bulbs. The heat rises through the corrugates, the holes in the corrugates, & will dry plants overnight, if not during the course of twenty-four hours.

"Today we are in Packer Meadow on the Clearwater National Forest. This was a lunch stop for the Lewis & Clark Expedition in late June of 1806. Very likely, because Lewis had collected so many plants coming up the Lolo Trail, he took time out during that lunch break to work his plant specimens. Lewis would open his press & open up, in his case, each individual page of his press. Coming on to his first specimen he would then take a look at it, make sure that the leaves were flat & that all the diagnostic characters of the flowers were shown so they could be studied. He would repeat this for each specimen &, if necessary, would replace the paper with new paper.

"This is the common camas that Lewis & his men experienced in 1805. Tradition says that Lewis & Clark & his men became ill from eating the bulbs. That's probably not true. More likely the culprit was salmonella poisoning associated with the dried—poorly dried—salmon.

"It's interesting that Lewis collected the Canadian Dogwood or Cornus candadensis. This is a plant he knew well from Virginia. It's interesting to speculate whether he collected it because he knew it, collected it because he wanted to show that something from Virginia also grew in the Rocky Mountains, or what. Maybe he was homesick. The other specimen that I have here is the new genus of mariposa lily collected by Lewis & Clark along the Lolo Trail in Idaho & Montana in late June & early July. This is Calicortis pulcella, or "beautiful mariposa lily".

"Two specimens that Lewis would have handled during the stop in Packer Meadow is a skyrocket, this little high elevation blue flower which occurs near the summit, & also near the summit is this species of menzesia, named for the surgeon naturalist Archibald Menzies who preceded Lewis & Clark in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1790's. Menzies collected only along the coast, & this is one of those species that goes from the coast to the high mountains in the Rockies. Lewis was very judicious in what he collected. He made only small specimens. Even though this is a large shrub he would have collected only a little bit of it. The reason is simple, someone had to carry it to Philadelphia.

"A specimen has three dimensions: odor, good color & a feel of surroundings, not seen on a flattened dried specimen. And yet, all the technical details necessary for identification, the number of petals, sepals, stamens, the condition of the ovary & fruit, the leaves, even the habitat of the plant can be nicely preserved in any specimen. Occasionally if you have a tree or a shrub it is necessary to make notes indicating the size of the tree or the shrub. This Lewis did on occasions, & we now have his original notes to go by.

"This plant has bulbs. They are thick & fleshy. Drying one of those would be very difficult. Thus, Lewis rarely collected any succulent plant & certainly none of the bulbs that would require days, if not years, to dry. In fact, the reason Lewisia rediviva is called Lewisia rediviva is the genus name honors Lewis but the species name, or epithet, rediviva means revived. That's because the specimen that Lewis made at Travelers' Rest July 1, 1806, was still alive when it reached Philadelphia in September of that year. The specimen that Lewis returned to Philadelphia with, that would later be called Lewisia rediviva, was removed from his collection paper & grown in Philadelphia. It was observed for almost a full year before it suddenly died. Very likely, as everyone knows, over watering plants can be dangerous & deadly, & certainly that's the case with Lewisia.

"Meriwether Lewis described his plants in his journals. He had his training from Barton in Philadelphia, but he also had with him two volumes of John Miller's book on Linnaeus's system of botany. One was an illustration of the terminology of the Linnaean system & the other was on the system itself. So what Lewis could do is, he could use these two books & write his descriptions in a very technical way, so botanists who read the journals would be able to have that information.

"As a naturalist, Lewis has been fairly highly regarded by the modern community. He worked under trying & difficult situations. While it is clear that he was only able to devote a portion of his time to the effort, what he did is widely respected. It should be noted however, that in 1811, Thomas Nuttall of England, went up the Missouri River & collected several hundred more specimens than Lewis & Clark did in 1804. In 1834 & 1835 Thomas Nuttall came to the Rocky Mountains of Idaho, Oregon & Washington & collected hundreds of specimens. Many of the plants that Lewis & Clark found, that were not named in Lewis' time were subsequently named by Thomas Nuttall from his own collections."

By James L. Reveal, Professor Emeritus, Botany University of Maryland, Supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Governor's Lewis & Clark Trail Committee

History Blooms at Monticello

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello asks...

The Tuscany, or Old Velvet Rose, is a distinctive variety of the Apothecary Rose (Rosa gallica ‘Officinalis’) with highly perfumed, velvet-textured, deep wine-red blossoms, dating to the 16C. Could this be the “Black Rose” Thomas Jefferson received in 1808 from his friend Margaret Bayard Smith? Margaret Bayard Smith (1778-1844) was a friend of Thomas Jefferson & chronicler of early life in Washington, D.C. She met Jefferson through her husband, Samuel Harrison Smith, a Republican newspaperman & founder of the National Intelligencer. Mrs. Smith's recollections of Washington society life in the early 19C constitute one of the major sources of information on Jefferson's social life as President. After Jefferson's retirement from political life, Smith visited him at Monticello. Her account of this visit is another source of information on Jefferson's daily life.

South Carolina - Arbor for Shelter from the Blazing Sun

1796. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Arbor for Gatherings. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina

The watercolors of Charles Fraser allow us feel the South Carolina landscape around us as we learn how it was being groomed & planted. Thanks to South Carolina native Fraser, we have a chance to see, through his eyes, the homes & gardens there as he was growing up. Although he was primarily known his miniature portraits, he also created watercolors of historical sites, homes, & landscapes. He painted while working as a lawyer, historian, writer, & politician. Today, many of Fraser's works are displayed at the Carolina Art Association & the Gibbes Art Gallery in Charleston.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Littleleaf Linden

Littleleaf Linden (Tilia cordata)

This European species has been cultivated as a shade tree since ancient times. It appeared on the nursery lists of John Bartram (Philadelphia) and William Prince (Long Island, NY) during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Jefferson mentions a related species, the native Tilia americana, in his book, Notes on the State of Virginia. The two magnificent specimens of the Littleleaf Linden that flank the entrance walk to Monticello today were probably planted around the turn of the 20th century.

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

History Blooms at Monticello

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that 

In July 1791 Thomas Jefferson ordered three each of ten varieties of roses from the William Prince Nursery on Long Island, NY. In November of that year William Prince sent two each of the roses including Cinnamon Rose, Rosa cinnamomea. This spring flowering species has reddish-brown, cinnamon-colored stems and fragrant, pale pink, semi-double flowers.

Plant Lists - 1763 Thomas Sorsby's List

An orchard by a stream by Jonathan Skelton, c.1750s.  Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection 

Virginia Gazette, Williamsburg, Virginia, November 4, 1763
From Southern Garden History Plant Lists

To be SOLD by THOMAS SORSBY, Near Cabin Point, in Surry County,

SUNDRY kinds of the choicest And best APPLE TREES, viz.

Best cheese apple [Malus pumila ‘Cheese’]
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 [Prunus avium and cerasus]

Plants in Early American Gardens - Waterer Spirea

Bare Root Anthony Waterer Spirea (Spiraea japonica cv.)

The Japanese spirea was introduced from Japan around 1870, and is one more than 80 species found in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The well-known cultivar ‘Anthony Waterer’ was raised by 1890 at the Knap Hill nurseries in Great Britain and was admired by many garden writers. The earliest American reference to this cultivar was in 1901. The old-time herbaceous spireas are important heirloom plants and many garden and natural hybrids were available by the end of the 19th century. They were used for edging along walkways or borders and for the foreground of shrubbery.

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

History Blooms at Monticello - "Papaver Rhoeas flor. plen. double poppy"

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that

Corn poppies abound in the Monticello flower gardens, where they have reseeded for decades. Jefferson observed the "lesser" or "dwarf" poppy at Shadwell in 1767, and planted "Papaver Rhoeas flor. plen. double poppy" in a Monticello oval flower bed in 1807.

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

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.

Vegetables

Artichoke, Globe 1794

 Cynara Scolymus 1808

 Green 1808

Red

Artichoke, Jerusalem 1794

Helianthus tuberosa

("Topinambours") 1767

Asparagus 1807

"Cooper's Pale Green" 1804

"East India"

Bean (6 species)

Asparagus Bean

Vigna unguiculata 1809

ssp. sesquipedalis

Broad Bean 1774

Vicia faba 1794

Early Mazagan ("Mazareen") 1794

Horse 1774

Windsor

Caracalla 1792

Vigna caracalla

Garbanzo ("garavance") 1814

Cicer arientium

Green 1774

Phaseolus vulgaris

"Snaps"

"Alexander" 1820

Arikara ("Ricara") 1807

 "Bess" 1813

"Blue speckled snap" 1794

 "dwarf" 1809

"dwarf beans of Holland 1786

 "forward" 1809

 "golden dwarf 1794

 "grey snaps" 1809

 "ground snap" 1794

 "Italian" 1820

 "red snaps" 1809

"Red speckled snap" 1794

Refugee ("Switzerland gray") 1786

 "Roman" 1820

 "Tuscan" 1820

 "White snap" 1794

"yellow snaps" 1809

"Haricots"

 "Alleghany" 1794

 "early Sesbon" 1794

French Kidney ("French dry haricot") 1814

Friholio ("the red bean called Friholio") 1813

 "haricots roussatres" 1810

 "hominy" 1812

 "long haricot" 1812

 "Julian" 1786

 "white haricot" 1819

Wild Goose ("red blossomed kidney bean") 1819

Lima Bean

Phaseolus lunatus 1777

 Carolina White 1794

 "large lima" 1815

Sugar or Bushel 1794

Scarlet Runner ("Arbor")

Phaseolus coccineus 1791

Beet

Beta vulgaris 1774

“Red" 1774

"Scarlet" 1809

"white" 1774

Black Salsify

Scorzonera hispanica 1812

Broccoli

Brassica oleracea 1767

Black 1824

Cauliflower, White 1809

"December" 1824

"Florence" 1824

"March" 1824

"October" 1824

"Palermo" 1824

Purple, Early Purple 1809

Roman (syn/ w/ "Purple"?) 1809

Brussels Sprouts

Brassica oleracea 1812

Cabbage

Brassica oleracea 1771

"Aberdeen" 1812

Battersea 1816

"Cattle" 1812

Dwarf Early 1813

“early" 1807

"Giant" 1809

"Large White" 1824

“May" 1812

"Neapolitan" 1777

"purple cabbage from Rome" 1777

Red 1774

Savoy 1811

"Curled Cabbage of Paisinetta" 1824

 "Curled Savoy" 1811

 "Curled Schiane" 1824

 Green-curled 1814

"Savoy Green" 1812

 Yellow Savoy 1812

Scotch 1794

"Spanish" ("Cavol Capuccio Spagnola di Pisa") 1774

Sugarloaf 1809

Turnip 1801

York, Early York 1809

Carrot

Daucus carota 1774

“early" 1812

“large” 1812

"orange" 1809

"yellow" 1811

Cauliflower

Brassica oleracea 1767

Early 1809

Celery

Apium graveolens var. dulce 1767

Red 1809

Solid 1774

Chives

Allium schoenoprasum 1812

Corn Salad

Valerianella locusta 1794

Cress

Lepidum sativum,

Barbarea sp. 1774

"English" 1794

"Italian" 1774

Upland ("mountain") Barbarea verna 1794

Cucumber

Cucumis sativus 1767

“early" 1794

"early green" 1812

"early white" 1812

"forward" 1794

Early Frame ("frame") 1818

Gherkin Cucumis anguria 1812

Long Green 1811

Serpentine ("mammoth") Trichosanthes anguina 1825

Eggplant ("Melonzoni") 

Solanum melongena 1809

Prickly 1812

Purple 1812

White 1812

Endive

Cichorium Endivia 1777

Broad-leaved, "broad" 1794

Green Curled 1809

"smooth" 1809

“winter" 1794

French Sorrel

Rumex acetosa 1774

Garlic

Allium sativum 1774

Gourd

Lagenaria sp. ? 1806

Hop

Humulus lupulus 1794

Horseradish 1794

Armoracia rusticana

Kale

Brassica oleracea 1809

"Buda" 1809

"Delaware" 1809

"Malta" 1809

"Russian" 1812

"Scotch" 1809

"sprout” 1812

Leek

Allium porrum 1794

"common" 1812

"flag" 1812

Lettuce

Lactuca sativa 1767

Brown Dutch ("Dutch brown") 1809

"cabbage" 1794

"Ice" 1809

"Loaf,” "White loaf” 1809

"long leaved" 1794

Marseilles 1809

Roman 1804

Silesia 1819

Tennis Ball 1809

"white" 1812

Melon

Cucumis melo 1774

Cantaloupe 1774

"Cette" 1812

"Egyptian" 1812

"Zatte di Massa" 1774

"Chinese" 1809

Citron, Citrullus lanatus 1794

“green" 1794

"Miami" 1811

"Pepone Arancini. di Pistoia" 1774

Persian 1812

Pineapple 1794

"Venice" 1794

"Winter" 1805

Mustard

Brassica sp. 1777

"Durham" 1812

Red, Brassica nigra 1774

White, Brassica hirta 1794

Nasturtium

Tropaeolum majus 1774

Okra

Hibiscus esculentus 1809

Onion

Allium cepa 1774

Madeira 1778

Tree, Allium cepa var. viviparum ("hanging") 1809

White Spanish 1774

Orach

Atriplex hortensis 1813

Parsley

Petroselinum crispum 1774

Common, plain-leaved 1809

Curled ("double") 1774

Parsnip

Pastinaca sativa 1774

Pea, Garden

Pisum sativum 1767

"cluster or bunch" 1774

Charlton (Hotspur) 1768

 "dwarf peas of Holland. for frames" 1786

"earliest of all" 1767

Early Pearl (Nonesuch) 1778

“early" 1794

"early dwarf" 1794

"forward" 1774

"forward peas of Marly" 1786

"forwardest" 1767

Frame, Early Frame 1809

Hotspur 1809

Leadman's Dwarf (Early Dwarf Sugar?) 1809

"middling" 1767

"latest of all," "latter," "latest" 1767

“Leitch’s pea” 1820

"Leitch' s frame" 1820

"Leitch's latter” 1821

Marrowfat 1773

“May" 1820

Prussian Blue ("blue Prussian") 1809

Spanish Morotto 1768

Pea, Field ("cow," "Crowder") 

Pisum sativum var. arvense

"African early" 1809

"Albany" 1808

Black-eye 1774

“early" 1809

“French" 1794

"Black Indian" 1794

Crowder, "gray" 1809

"pearl-eye" 1794

"Ravenscroft" 1807

"Ravensworth" 1808

White-eyed 1794

Peanut ("Peendars")

Arachis hypogaea 1794

Pepper, Bell

Capsicum annuum 1774

Bullnose 1812

“Major" 1812

Pepper, Cayenne

Capsicum annuum 1767

Texas Bird, Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum ("Capsicum

Techas,” "minutissimum") 1814

Pepper Grass

Lepidum sativum 1774

Pumpkin

Cucurbita pepo var. pepo and C. maxima 1774

"black" 1774

"long pumpkin from Malta" 1809

Potato, C. moschata 1794

"solid pumpkin from S. America" 1809

"white" 1774

Radicchio

Cichorium intybus 1774

Radish

Raphanus sativus 1809

"black" 1812

"leather coal" 1824

Oil 1809

"Rose" 1786

"Salmon" 1774

Scarlet, Early Scarlet 1809

"summer" 1809

"violet N.Y." 1817

"White radish. round & forward" 1786

Rape

Brassica napus 1774

"green" 1794

Rhubarb ("esculent rhubarb")

Rheum rhabarbarum or Rheum sp. 1809

Rutabaga

Brassica napus 1795

Salsify

Tragopogon porrifolius 1774

"Columbian" 1812

"Missouri" 1807

Sea Kale

Crambe maritima 1809

Sesame

Sesamum orientale 1808

Shallot

Allium cepa 1774

Spinach

Spinacia oleracea 1771

Prickly-seeded ("winter,” "prickly") 1809

Smooth-seeded, ("Summer,” "Round-leaved") 1809

Squash

Cucurbita pepo vars. pepo and melopepo 1794

Cymbling 1795

“soft" 1809

"warted" 1813

"Cape du Verd" 1812

"Cape of Good Hope" 1812

"long crooked & warted" 1807

Summer 1812

 "Warted" 1809

"Winter" 1815

Winter Crooked Neck 1812

Sweet Potato

Ipomoea batatas 1786

Tomato

Lycopersicon lycopersicon 1809

"dwarf" 1817

"Spanish tomato 1811

Turnip

Brassica rapa 1774

Early Dutch 1812

"English" 1794

"forward" ("Raves hatives") 1786

"Frazer's new" 1808

Hanover 1794

Long French 1809

“rose” ("Raves conteur de rose”) 1786

"Summer" 1811

Watermelon

Citrullus lanatus 1774

"Cocomere di Pistoia" 1774

"Cocomere di seme

Neapolitane" 1774

"Mexican" 1820

"Roman" 1809

“Savannah” 1812

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

History Blooms at Monticello

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that

English Peas are thriving in this year’s cool, moist Central Virginia spring. We will soon harvest from several historic varieties in the Monticello vegetable garden. Meanwhile the Prickly-seeded spinach, a rare variety Jefferson noted planting in 1809 and 1812, is forming valuable seed heads.

History Blooms at Monticello

Peggy Cornett at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello tells us that

Sweet William, Dianthus barbatus, was one of Jefferson's favorite ornamental flowers. He observed "sweet William began to open" at Shadwell on April 16, 1767, reported flowers in May and June of 1782, and also planted this biennial in an oval flower bed at Monticello in 1807.

A similar variety with the red auricula-eye was called Painted Lady Sweet William and was illustrated in William Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 1792

Plants in Early American Gardens - Wild Petunia

Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

This wide-ranging wildflower is found from southern Pennsylvania west to Nebraska and south to Florida and Texas. It was identified and named by the early 19th century plant explorer Thomas Nuttall, who traveled and collected plants across the continent and who was commissioned by Philadelphia botanist Benjamin Smith Barton to re-collect many of the Lewis and Clark species. Several South American species were commercially available in the mid-19th century and this long-blooming North American species is likewise considered a desirable plant for borders, rock gardens, native gardens, butterfly gardens, and prairies.

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

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

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)

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.

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 

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

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 

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.

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 

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.