Plants in Early American Gardens - Bare Root Bloodtwig Dogwood

 Bare Root Bloodtwig Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea)

Bare Root Bloodtwig Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea)

This long-cultivated European native shrub, commonly found in English hedgerows, was included in Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon’s “Catalogue of Hardy Deciduous Trees and Shrubs” in 1806.

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Garden to Table - Vegetables from Mary Randolph 1762-1828 - Gaspacho

GASPACHO--SPANISH

PUT some soft biscuit or toasted bread in the bottom of a sallad bowl, put in a layer of sliced tomatos with the skin taken off, and one of sliced cucumbers, sprinkled with pepper, salt, and chopped onion; do this until the bowl is full; stew some tomatos quite soft, strain the juice, mix in some mustard, oil, and water, and pour over it; make it two hours before it is eaten.

A Curious Herbal by Elizabeth Blackwell 1737 Amoris Pomum Love Apple p 133

Plants in Early American Gardens - Cross Vine

Cross Vine (Bignonia capreolata)

This handsome, North American vine is found from Southern Ontario throughout the Eastern United States. 18th-century naturalist and painter Mark Catesby illustrated the Cross Vine in his Natural History of the Carolinas, Florida and the Bahama Islands. Bignonia commemorates Louis XIV’s librarian, Abbé Bignon (1662-1743) and is named Cross Vine for the marking within the stem in cross section. The spring flowers attract northward-migrating hummingbirds.

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Garden to Table - Vegetable from Mary Randolph 1762-1828 - CAPER SAUCE

CAPER SAUCE

Is made by mixing a sufficient quantity of capers, and adding them to the melted butter, with a little of the liquor from the capers; where capers cannot be obtained, pickled nasturtiums make a very good substitute, or even green pickle minced and put with the butter..

Otto Wilhelm Thomé (1840-1925) Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz  1885

Freshly picked capers

Plants in Early American Gardens - Button Bush

Button Bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)

The Button Bush was first documented in 1735, and is found in marshy places from New Brunswick, Canada south to Central California, Florida, Mexico, and Cuba. Philadelphia nurseryman Bernard McMahon listed it as “Swamp button-wood” in the appendix of his book, The American Gardener’s Calendar, 1806. Flowers attract butterflies and the fruits resemble old-fashioned dress buttons, hence the common name.

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Garden Art History - Preparing the Flower Beds 1625

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Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564 - 1638) Preparing the Flower Beds 1625

Of course, we have no paintings of gardeners or flower beds in early 17th-century colonial America; but when I imagine early gardens in New York, this painting comes into my mind. I thought I would share it with you.
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Plants in Early American Gardens - English Lavender

English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

English Lavender is one of the best-known of the traditional aromatic herbs. Valued for its small lavender flowers as well as for its fragrant gray leaves, this hardy, dwarf shrub has been grown and used in Europe since at least the 12th century. Jefferson listed it for planting in the Monticello gardens in 1794. The flowers attract bees and butterflies, while the plant is deer and drought tolerant.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello