Garden History - Design - Grass Plot

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In the second half of the 18th century, Americans tended to use the word plot to refer to a plat or piece of ground of small or moderate size designated for a specific purpose, usually the growing of grass. This became a popular garden design component as beds of fussy flowers faded from popularity among the gentry.

In 1767, according to Deborah Norris Logan, Charles Norris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had his garden, "...laid out in square parterres and beds, regularly intersected by graveled and grasswalks and alleys...with a grass plot and trees in front, and roses intermixed with currant bushes, around its borders." A parterre refers to a formal area of planting, usually square or rectangular.

Charles Carroll of Annapolis instructed his son in 1775, "Examine the Gardiner strictly as to ... Whether he is an expert at levelling, making grass plots & Bowling Greens, Slopes, & turfing them well."

When John Enys visited Mount Vernon in February of 1788, he wrote, "The front by which we entered had a Gras plot before it with a road round it for Carriages planted on each side with a number of different kinds of Trees among the rest some Weeping Willows which seem to flourish very well."

When the fashion changed from planting intricate flower beds to more simple yet elegant, green gardens, Elizabeth Drinker wrote of replanning her garden Philadelphia, "flower roots...were dug out of ye beds on ye south side of our Garden--as my husband intends making grass-plots and planting trees in that side."


Flowers would regain their popularity toward the end of the century, when the midling sort found enough free time to begin pleasure gardens of their own.
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History Blooms at Monticello - Bare Root Twin Leaf

Bare Root Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)

This rare and desirable native woodland perennial was named to honor Thomas Jefferson in 1792 by the “Father of American Botany,” Benjamin Smith Barton. Jefferson grew the plant at Monticello in one of the oval flowerbeds in 1807. 

The attractive flowers last only a few days, often appearing about the time of Jefferson’s April 13th birthday. Twinleaf is well worth growing for its lush green foliage, which makes a beautiful groundcover for a shaded site. It is easy to grow, but is very slow to propagate and takes 5 to 8 years to bloom from seed. These are nursery-propagated plants.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

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

History Blooms at Monticello - Rattlesnake Master

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

An unusual member of the Apiaceae, or Carrot/Parsley family, this Eryngium has a native range from Connecticut south to Florida and west to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas. Often found in tall grass prairies, the Rattlesnake Master was once used by Native Americans to cure snake bites, as well as other ailments such as venereal disease and kidney disorders. The distinctive flowers have a honey scent and are attractive to bees and butterflies, and the yucca-like foliage provides a nice contrast in flower borders and native plant collections.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

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

Garden Design - Foundation Plantings

Charles Willson Peale, State House, Annapolis, Maryland, Columbian Magazine, February 1789.

About 20 years ago, the brilliant longtime archivist of our state showed me the print above saying, "Where are all the plantings and gardens?" I just expected that private dwellings and public buildings in the 18th century British American colonies seldom had any plants placed near their foundations. But, perhaps it needs to be noted, for the sake of those who haven't poured over these images for long years.

James Madison's Montpelier, Orange County, Virginia by Baroness Hyde de Neuville. c 1800

Princeton, New Jersey, in 1764

George Washington's Mount Vernon, Virginia, c 1800

Yale, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1786

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, Virginia, in 1820s

History Blooms at Monticello - Queen Anne's Pocket Melon

Queen Anne's Pocket Melon (Cucumis melo dudaim)

Queen Anne’s Pocket Melon, also known as Plum-Granny, is an unusual annual trailing plant with highly aromatic, ornamental fruit that has been grown for at least 1000 years. Although possibly named for Queen Anne of England (1702-14), this melon is native to Persia and Linnaeus attributed it to Egypt and Arabia. Legend has it that the ladies of the Queen’s court carried the fragrant melon as a perfumed sachet. While edible, this melon is valued more for its scent than its rather flavorless white flesh. It ripens to orange with lemon-yellow stripes.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

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

Garden Structures & Ornaments - Daily Care of the Dovecote 1802

The Domestic Encyclopaedia: or, A Dictionary of Facts, and Useful Knowledge by Anthony Florian Madinger Willich. London 1802

"PIGEON-HOUSE, or DoveCote: a structure usually of wood, for the accommodation and rearing of pigeons.

"Dove-cotes ought to be built of a moderate height, and spacious, so that the birds may find sufficient room to fly about them with ease; and, in case they spy an external object which should alarm them, that they can readily escape. In constructing the nests, it will he advisable to interweave wickers, in imitation of those formed by wild pigeons; as they will thus be more easily domesticated, and have no inducement to forsake their habitations.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (French Rococo Era Painter, 1725-1805) Girl with Doves 1800

"Should any repairs become necessary in the cote...it will be proper to complete them before the middle of the day; because, if the pigeons be disturbed in the afternoon, they will not rest quietly during the night, and the greater pan will perhaps sit moping on the ground, till the ensuing day. Such unfavourable accidents, in the breeding season, will either occasion the destruction of ninny eggs in embryo; or, if there should be any nestlings, they will consequently be starved.

"In Parkinson's Experienced Farmer, we meet with a remark made by a skillful pigeon-breeder, who cautioned him "against letting the first-flight fly to increase his stock," but advised him to take them without exception; because they will otherwise appear at the Benting season, that is, between seed-time and harvest, when pigeons are very scarce, and many of the young birds would pine to death, from mere weakness.—Pigeons rise early: and, as they require to be supplied with food only during the benting season, it should not be carried to the cote later than three or four o'clock in the morning: for, if it be served after that hour, they will hover restlessly about the house, and thus be prevented from taking their proper exercise. During the greater part of the year, they ought to provide their own food; as they will find abundance in the fields, from the commencement of harvest to the end of the sowing season...those which are constantly fed at home, will not be prolific.

"The utmost cleanliness ought to prevail in pigeon-houses: hence the holes should be carefully examined, before the breeding-season arrives. If any of the young die during the summer, they will speedily become putrid, and emit a disagreeable stench, which is extremely injurious to the inhabitants of the dove-cote: thus, from the insupportable filth, and smell, they are often unwillingly compelled to quit the eggs laid for a second brood; so that the principal part of the season is lost.

"Farther, as pigeons are very liable to be infected with fleas, all the nests ought to be cleaned; and, if it be conveniently practicable, they should be washed out, and the dung, or oilier impurities removed, immediately after the first flight is hatched: this business, however, should, on all occasions, be performed at an early hour in the morning; and the remaining eggs must likewise be removed, so as to render the habitation perfectly clean for the harvest-flight.

"Thus managed, pigeons will thrive and multiply to an uncommon degree; but, as they have a great antipathy to owls, which, sometimes enter their habitations, such intruders must be immediately destroyed, rats, cats, weasels, and squirrels are likewise their mortal enemies, and will speedily depopulate a whole dove-cote. To prevent these depredations, it will be necessary to examine the different avenues to the pigeon-house, regularly once a week, or oftener, and with minute attention.".

History Blooms at Monticello - Strawberry Spinach

Strawberry Spinach (Chenopodium capitatum)

Strawberry Spinach is a heat-loving annual species native throughout North America as well as Europe, where it has been cultivated since the 1600s. It has many common names, including Indian Ink because Native Americans used the juice from the edible fruit as a red dye. The tender, triangular shaped greens can be eaten raw or cooked.

For more information & the possible availability for purchase

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