The humble picket fence

In front of our house, we asked the contractor to build a simple, white picket fence to separate the little garden area from all the woods around us. The contractor was skeptical, "But they are so much work to maintain."  That is true, but they make such a perfect, orderly, geometric backdrop for the wild, uncontrollable gifts of Nature. These photos of picket fence gardens fueled our aspirations.

Holding on to The Sweet Divine - The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it. Genesis 2:15

Botany - Development of 1766 Botanic Garden

Historian Joel T. Fry tells us in the HALS Report for Bartram's Garden that John Bartram in the autumn of 1728 purchased an improved farm of a little over 100 acres on the lower Schuylkill. This farm had been part of a much larger plantation on the west bank of the Schuylkill known as Aronameck, first occupied in 1648 during the Swedish colonial settlement of the Delaware Valley. Bartram, a third generation Pennsylvania Quaker, from nearby Darby, began the construction of a stone farmhouse soon after the purchase, whose initial manifestation was completed by 1731.

Bartram probably first planted a kitchen garden at the site in 1729. Bartram probably chose this favorable site with the intention of establishing a large garden, & the location remains well suited to the cultivation of plants today. The initial garden was probably laid out at six or seven acres, & expanded to as large as ten acres in succeeding generations. Additional space was set aside for an orchard, greenhouses & framing, & nursery beds, which totaled as much as twelve acres at the peak of the garden in the 1830s.

John Bartram’s garden began as a personal garden, but grew to a systematic collection of native & exotic plants as Bartram devoted more time to exploration & discovery. Exchanges of plants & seeds from gardens in North America & abroad also fueled the collection. Although not the first botanic collection in North America, by the middle of the eighteenth century, Bartram’s Garden contained the most varied collection of North American plants in the world.

 Around 1733, in an event important to the general history of horticulture & natural science, John Bartram introduced himself via letter to London merchant Peter Collinson (1694–1768), & the two began a lifelong correspondence. Collinson, a member of the Royal Society, & like Bartram a Quaker & an enthusiastic gardener, became the middleman to a scientific trade in seeds, plants, & natural history specimens. Plants from Bartram’s Philadelphia garden were exchanged with a range of botanists, gardeners, & nurserymen in London & throughout Europe. Collinson also arranged funding from patrons among the British elite, which allowed Bartram to leave his farm & go plant hunting.

During his career John Bartram traveled widely throughout the British colonies in North America—plant collecting began in the Mid-Atlantic colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, & Maryland. In time, Bartram traveled north to New York & New England, & south to Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia & Florida, exploring a region spanning from Lake Ontario in New York to the St. John’s River in Florida, & from the Atlantic coast to the Ohio valley.

 As John Bartram tended his garden, he established a family institution that survived him & grew under the care of three generations of his family.  Following the American Revolution, Bartram’s sons John Bartram, Jr. & William Bartram, continued the international plant trade their father had established, & expanded the family botanic garden & nursery business.

 William Bartram was an important naturalist, artist, & author in his own right, & traveled the American South from 1773−1776 under the patronage of Dr. John Fothergill. William Bartram’s Travels… published in Philadelphia in 1791, & reissued in a number of European editions, strengthened the connection between the name Bartram & the science of plants in North America.

Under William Bartram the garden became an educational center & helped to train a new generation of natural scientists & explorers. In the early Federal history of the United States the Bartram Botanic Garden served as the American botanic garden in lieu of any official institution in Philadelphia.

Travel Dreams & Memories - Metal & Clay Garden Cloches

Chelsea Physic Garden

Monticello's version of a clay cloche
Terracotta rhubarb
A bell-shaped terracotta rhubarb forcer with lid, about 13" high

I have been taken to task by one of my friends for being politically incorrect in my biased presentation of glass cloches. He is correct, of course. The only fair thing to do here is show you the other types of cloches from the 17th, 18th, & 19th centuries, some still in use today. They do deserve equal time. In this political season, this is my attempt at trying to be "fair & balanced."

Handmade terra-cotta cloches have existed nearly as long as the blown-glass examples. They often have ventilation holes to prevent spoilage from excessive heat & humidity.

Gardeners often used terra-cotta cloches slow the growth of lettuce.
Terre cotta rhubarb pots at Knightshayes Garden, Tiverton, Devon, England

Other terra-cotta cloches, often about 30" high & similar in shape to chimney pots, were used for forcing rhubarb. Some of these had lids.
Barnsdale Gardens, Exton, Oakham, Rutland, England.

Gardeners also used metal-framed glass cloches during the period.

In metal-framed cloches, one of the glass panes could be removed by the gardener for fresh air ventilation. Sometimes gardeners temporarily would paint the glass white to shade tender plants from direct sunlight.
Audley End Kitchen Garden, English Heritage, Essex, England

Today, these architectural tents or pavilions are more often employed for decorative purposes.

I found only one depiction of a completely metal cloche made in France about 1900.

Let me close by admitting what you surely already realize, I just love those plain, bell-shaped glass cloches...

Very clever make-do cloches.  Lined basket food covers.

BAR 1787 Geo Washington (1732-1799) visits John Bartram on the Schuykill River

On 10 June and 2 Sept. 1787, George Washington had visited the famous botanical gardens on the west bank of the Schuylkill River three miles southwest of Philadelphia that John Bartram, Jr., had received from his father in 1771 (Diaries, 5:166–67, 183).

For George Washington’s attempt to obtain a list of plants available from that garden,( see Tobias Lear to Clement Biddle, 2 Oct. 1789.) 

The list of March 1792 describes the plants from Bartram’s
garden that arrived at Mount Vernon in early April 1792 (see George Augustine Washington to George Washington, 15 April 1792).

For George Washington’s reordering of the plants which had not survived, see Directive for John Christian Ehlers, 7 Nov. 1792.

List of Plants from John Bartram’s Nursery, March 1792
Catalogue of Trees, Shrubs & Plants, of Jno. Bartram.

Plants
1. Rhododendron maximum
Evergreen, large maximum rose coloured blossoms. [“Mountain laurel,” great laurel, rosebay]
2. Ulex europeus
Embellished with sweet scented flowers, of a fine yellow colour. [Furze]
3 Hypericum kalmianum
Profusely garnished with fine Gold coloured blossoms. [“Shrub St. John’s wort”]
4. H[ypericum]. Angustifolium
Evergreen; adorned with fine yellow flowers.
5. Taxus procumbens
Evergreen; of a splendid full green throughout the year—red berries. [Yew]
6. Buxus aureis [aureus]
Elegant, call’d gilded box.
7. Daphne mezerium [mezereum]
An early flowering sweet scented little shrub. [Mezereon, paradise plant]
8 Calycanthus floridus
Odoriferous, its blossoms scented like the Pine apple. [“Sweet Shrub of Carolina,” Carolina allspice]
9. Berberis canadensis
Berries of a perfect coral red [barberry]
E. 10. Æsculus hippocastanum
A magnificent flowering & shady Tree. [Horse chestnut]
11. Evonimus atrapurpurous
Its fruit of a bright crimson in the Autumn (burning bush). [Euonymus atropurpureus]
12. Fothergilla gardeni[i]
Early in blossom; flowers in spikes, white & delicate. [Dwarf fothergilla, dwarf witchalder]
13. Franklinia alatamaha
Flowers large, white & fragrant—native of Georgia. [Franklin tree]
14 Baccharis
In autumn silvered over with white silky down.
15. Laurus estivalis [æstivalis]
Aromatic & beautified with coral red berries. [Bay tree]
16. Kalmia angustifolia (with the Gaultheria [procumbens], or mountain tea [wintergreen])
Evergreen; garnished with crimson speckled flowers. [“Thyme leav’d Kalmia,” lambkill, sheep laurel]
17 Ilex angustifolia
Evergreen, new. [Holly]
18. Dirca palustris
Early in bloom; singular—(call’d Leather wood). [“Leather Bark”]
19. Thuja occidentalis
A handsome evergreen Tree; beautiful foliage, & odoriferous. [American arborvitae, white cedar]
20. Zanthorhiza apiifolia
Singular flowers early: its root affords a splendid transparent yellow dye (call’d Yellow root, in Carola). [Xanthorhiza simplicissima]
21. Jeffersonia egrilla
Foliage of deep splendid green, & embellished with a delicate plumage of white flowers (call’d Iron wood.)
22. Magnolia tripetala4
Foliage ample, expansive & light, plumed with large white flowers, which are succeeded by large crimson strobile. [“Umbrella Tree”]
23. Magnolia acuminata
Erect with a pyramidal head, the dry strobile odoriferous. [“Cucumber Tree”]
24. Halesia tetraptera [or carolina]
The flowers abundant, white, of the shape of little bells. [Carolina silverbell]
25. Viburnum opulifolium
of singular beauty in flower and fruit.
26 Viburnum Arboreum
very shewy in flower. fruit eatable.
27. Viburnum Alnifolium
handsome flowering shrub. [Viburnum lantanoides; hobble bush]
28. Cupressus disticha
stature majestic, foliage most delicate, wood of a fine yellow colour, odoriferous & incorruptible. [“Bald Cyprus”]
29. Sorbus sativa6
Its fruit pear & apple shaped, as large & well tasted when mellow.
30. Carpinus ostrya
handsome form, dress becoming, fruit singular. (Hop tree). [“Horn Beam”]
31. Sorbus aucuparia
Foliage elegant, embellished with umbells of coral red berries. [European mountain ash]
32. Acer striatum
singularly beautiful; the younger branches inscribed with silvery lines, or scrawls, on a dark purpleish green ground. [Acer pensylvanicum; striped maple, moosewood]
33. Acer glaucum
beautiful foliage. spreading & shady—(Silver-leaf’d Maple).
34. Acer sacharinum
A stately Tree, in his native forests—(Sugar Maple)
35. Acer platanoides
graceful stature, full of asscending branches, foliage & flower elegant, casts a grateful shade on the Lawn. [Norway maple]
36. Stewartia malachodendron
Floriferous, the flowers large & white embellished with a large tuft of black or purple threads in their centre. [Silky stewartia or stuartia]
37. Clethra alnifolia
Flowers abundant in spikes, exceedingly sweet scented. [“Clethra,” sweet pepperbush]
38. Styrax grandifolium
a most charming flowering shrub, blossoms snow white & of the most grateful scent; (called Snow-drop tree). [Snowbell, storax]
39. Philadelphus coronarius
a sweet flowering shrub, (call’d Mock Orange)
40. Philadelphus inodorus
his robe a silvery flower’d mantle.
41. Pinus Strobus
Magnificent! he presides in the evergreen Groves (white pine).
42. Pinus communis
a stately tree, foliage of a Seagreen colour, & exhibits a good appearance whilst young. (Scotch Fir).
43. Pinus Larix
elegant figure & foliage. [“Larch Tree”]
44. Thuja orientalis
Foliage pleasing. [Oriental arborvitae]
45 Robinia villosa
a gay shrub, enrobed with plumed leaves & roseat flowers. [“Peach Blossom Acacia”]
46. Pinus balsamea
a tree of pleasing figure, delicate foliage, evergreen, & affords fragrant & medicinal balsam (Balm of Gilead Fir).
47. Pinus abies virginiana
A Stately evergreen Tree, his foliage of delicate appearance; the wood useful and durable, & of great value (Hemlock Spruce).
48. Cornus mascula [or mas]
flowers early, the fruit oblong of the size of a plum, of a fine crimson colour, and wholsome pleasant eating. [Cornelian cherry]
49. Prunus cerasus, flore roseo
more or less according to the stock; a very beautiful flowering tree, its blushing blossoms double—(double flowering cherry).
50. Prunus maritima
flowers early, fruit of a dark purple sweet & pleasant eating. [“Beach or Sea-side-Plumb”]
51. Prunus missisipi
Fruit of the largest size, oval; of a perfect deep crimson colour, possesses an agreeable taste, & affords an animating marmolade. [“Crimson Plumb”]
52. Prunus chicasa
Early flowering, very fruitful; the fruit nearly round, cleft, red, purple, yellow, of an inticing look, most agreeable taste & wholsome. [“Chicasaw Plumb”]
53. Glycine frutescens
A rambling florobundant climber; the blossoms in large pendant clusters, of a fine celestial blue, well adapted for covering arbors. [Wisteria frutescens; “Kidney Bean Tree,” wisteria]
54 Æsculus pavia
[Red buckeye]
55. Æ. ″ ″ varietas
their light & airy foliage, crimson & variegated flowers, present a gay & mirthful appearance; continually, whilst in bloom visited by the brilliant thundering Humingbird. The root of this Tree is esteemed preferable to soap, for scouring & cleansing woolen Cloths.
56. Æsculus virginica
beautiful foliage Flowers pale yellow. [Yellow horse chestnut]
57. Æsculus alba
The branches terminate with long erect spikes of sweet white flowers.
58. Juniperus sabina
Evergreen. [Savin]
59. Evonimus americanus
evergreen, presents a fine appearance in Autumn, with crimson fruit. [Euonymus americanus; spindle tree]
60. Prunus Laurus cerasus
A beautiful evergreen tree of Europe; its green leaves are said to possess a dangerous deleterious quality. [Prunus laurocerasus; cherry laurel, English laurel]
61. Yucca filamentosa
beautiful ornamental evergreen [Adam’s needle]
62. Yucca gloriosa
flowering plants. [Spanish dagger]
63. Myrica gale
possesses an highly aromatic, and very agreeable scent. [“Bog gale,” sweet gale, bog myrtle]
64. Platanus orientalis
a famous tree celebrated for the beauty of his foliage, expansion, and grateful shade he affords. [Oriental sycamore, oriental plane]
65. Amorpha fruticosa
[Bastard indigo]
66. Amorpha cærulia [cœrulea]
Foliage light and delicately pennated, garnished with flowers of a fine [Bastard indigo]
 67. Salix variegata
Silver blotched willow.
68 Mespilus nivea
An early flowering shrub, of uncommon elegance (Snowy mespilus). [Medlar]
69. Mesp. pubescens
Somewhat resembling the foregoing; but of less stature & the flowers not so large, nor of so clean a white: both produce very pleasant fruit.
70. Mesp: pusilla
flowers early, the blossoms white & abundant; exhibits a fine appearance.
71. Mesp. prunifolia
Presents a good appearance, when all red with its clusters of berries. [Aronia prunifolia; chokeberry]
72. Colutia [Colutea] arborescens
exhibits a good appearance, foliage pinnated, of a soft pleasant green, colour, interspersed with the large yellow papillionacious flowers, in succession. [Bladder senna]
73. Rhus Italicum
[Sumac]
74. Mespilus pyracantha
a beautiful flowerg shrub, evergreen in mild seasons. [Pyracantha coccinea; firethorn]
75. Itea virginiana [or virginica]
a handsome flowerg shrub. [Virginia sweetspire, Virginia willow, tasselwhite]
76. Cornus alba
white berried swamp Dogwood.
77. Prunus divaricata
diciduous, flowers white in raumes [racemes], stems diverging & branches pendulous. [Prunus cerasifera divaricata; cherry plum]
78. Hydrangia [Hydrangea] arborescens
Ornamental in shruberies, flowers white in large corymbes.
79. Andromeda axil[l]aris
Evergreen. [Bog rosemary]
80 Acer pumilum
handsome shrub for coppices, foliage singular, younger shoots red. [Dwarf maple]
81. Amygdalus persica, flore pleno
of great splendour & amiable presence. [Prunus persica, flore pleno; double-flowered peach]
82 Magnolia glauca
charming—the milk-white roseate blossom possesses an animating fragrance. [Magnolia virginiana; “Rose Laurel,” sweet bay, swamp magnolia]
83. Sambucus rubra
early flowering and handsome; its coral red berries in large clusters, ripe abt midsummer. [Sambucus canadensis; American elder, sweet elder]
84 Rubus odoratus
foliage beautiful; flowers of the figure, colour & fragrance of the rose. [Flowering raspberry, thimbleberry]
85. Rosa Pennsylvanica flor: pleno
flowers monthly from May ’till Novembr [Rosa palustris; swamp rose]
86. Lonicera inodora
Twine’s round, & ascends trees spreading its bloom over their boughs. [Honeysuckle]
87. Ribes oxyacanthoides
fruit small & smooth. [“Prickly Gooseberry”]
88. Populus balsamifera
foliage beautiful, its buds in the spring replete with an odoriferous balsam. [Balsam poplar]
89. Crategus [Cratægus] aria
foliage beautiful; silvered with white cottony down, underside. [Hawthorn]
90. Pt[e]lea trifoliata
singular, (call’d the foil tree) [“Trefoil Tree,” hop tree]
91. Lonicera symphoricarpos
singular; appears well in winter when garnished with clusters of red berries. [“Indian Currants”]
92. Laurus nobilis
Sweet Bay, a celebrated Evergreen—leaves odoriferous. [“Red Bay,” bay laurel, sweet bay]
93. Rhus triphyllum
Singular early flowering shrub. [“Poison Oak,” sumac]
94. Citisus laburnum
foliage delicate, embellished with pendant clusters of splendid yellow papillionacious flowers. [Cytisus anagyroides laburnum, Laburnum anagyroides; golden-chain]
95. Periploca græca
climbing up trees & shrubs; flowers very singular. [Silk vine]
96. Hibiscus coccineus
a most elegant flowering plant; flowers large, of a splendid crimson colour. [Scarlet rosemallow]
97. Bignonia crucigera
A climber, mounting to the tops of trees & buildings; flowers abundant. [“Cross Vine,” trumpet flower]
98. Bignonia semper virens
A climber as famous, at least for the richness of his robe; flowers of a splendid golden yellow, & odoriferous; very proper for covering arbors &c. [“Yellow Jasmin”]
99. Betula (alnus) maritima
singular; retains his verdure very late in the autumn. [“Sea side Alder”]
100. Amygdalus pumila, flor: pleno
A most elegant flowering shrub; ornimental in vases for Court yards &c. [Prunus pumila, flore pleno; sand or dwarf cherry, dwarf doubleflowering almond]
101. Arundo donax
Maiden Cane.
102. Callicarpa americana
Very shewy & pleasing; the flowers of a delicate incarnate hue, & vast clusters of purple berries. [“Bermudas Mulberry,” French mulberry, American beautyberry]
103. Syringa persica
(Persian Lilac) elegant; its flexile stems terminate with heavy panicles of purple blossoms, of animating fragrance.
104. Mimosa virgata
Singularly beautiful in its plumed foliage—native of Pearl Island near the Misisipi.
105. Punica granatum flor. plen:
the figure & splendour of its flowers exceed description. [Pomegranate]
106. Aristolochia sipho.
Climbs & spreads over trees & other supports, to a great height & distance: flowers of singular figure; its abundant large leaves, present it as a vine well adapted for covering arbors. [Aristolochia macrophylla; Dutchman’s pipe]

Common names for each plant (when missing from the descriptive entry), modern classifications (if different), alternative classifications, and corrected spellings are given in square brackets. Common names in quotation marks are taken from Bartram’s Catalogue of American Trees, Shrubs, and Herbacious Plants: Most of Which Are Now Growing, and Produce Ripe Seeds in John Bartram’s Garden, Near Philadelphia. The Seed and Growing Plants of Which Are Disposed Of on the Most Reasonable Terms (Philadelphia, 1784).

“List of Plants from John Bartram’s Nursery, March 1792,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-10-02-0109. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, vol. 10, 1 March 1792 – 15 August 1792, ed. Robert F. Haggard and Mark A. Mastromarino. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2002, pp. 175–183.]

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-10-02-0109

Plants to honor national heros & republican ideals

Gardening To Honor National & Classical Heros

In the new republic the garden had inspired & been a stage for displaying nationalism since its inception. The names Annapolis craftsman William Faris (1729-1804) chose for his tulips reflect the craftsman's enthusiasms, for the new nation & for classical republican ideals.

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (Dutch Baroque Era Painter, 1573-1621) Glass with Four Tulips 1615

Naming flowers for national & classical heros was not a new concept. In the 1630s, Dutch citizens from every walk of life were caught up in an extraordinary frenzy of buying & selling tulips. The flower rapidly became a coveted luxury item & status symbol.

Between December 1636 & January 1637, fortunes were made & lost in the Netherlands--in tulip bulb futures trading. In hopes of making their bulbs the most desirable, growers named their new varieties with exalted titles.

Many early forms were prefixed Admiral, often combined with the growers' names—Admirael van der Eijck was perhaps the most highly regarded of about 50 so named. General was another prefix that found its way into the names of around 30 varieties. Later came varieties with even more superlative names, Alexander the Great, "Admiral of Admirals," & "General of Generals."

A Dutch contemporary explained that you give a "name you fancy, and stand a bottle of wine to your friends that they may remember to talk about it." The market for tulips crashed in February of 1637, but the concept of naming tulips for heros lingered in the minds of early American flower growers.

In his diary on July 3, 1801, Annapolis clockmaker & silversmith William Faris listed his tulip varieties by name. They included war heros “General Washington & Lady Washington,” "General Williams,” “General Wayne,” “General Smallwood,” “General Putnam,” “General Harry Lee,” “General Morgan,” “General Gates,” & “Colonel Howard.”

Faris also named his precious tulips after political leaders--- “Adams,” “Hamilton,” “Madison,” & “Dr. Franklin”-- & for classical heroes-- “Aristides” “Fabius,” “Pompey the Grate,” “Archimedes,” “Cato,” “Cicero,” “Domostines,” & “Cincinnatus.”

Naming flowers after national & classical heroes was not peculiar to Faris in the early republic. On April 9, 1804, he recorded in his dairy receiving balsam plants from his neighbor Alexander Contee Hanson (1749-1806), whose father John Hanson (1721-83) had signed the Articles of Confederation & served as the first president of the Congress in 1781.

The son was deeply affected by the Revolution & wrote, “during the whole memorable interval between the fall of the old & the institution of the new form of government, there appeared to exist among us such a fund of public virtue as had scarcely a parallel in the annals of the world.”

It is not surprising that the younger Hanson named his balsam plants “General Washington,” which Faris described as white, purple, & crimson; “Franklin,” which was purple; “Lady Washington,” “flesh mixed”; “the President,” crimson & pink; “Aristides,” white & purple; & “General Green,” which Faris left undescribed.

Hybridizing new varieties of flowers to be named for classical & national heroes became a popular pastime after the Revolution in the Chesapeake.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (1727-1784) - Mugwort -

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.

Mugwort

Mugwort, Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, king of Caria, who first brought it into use; or Parthenis, as it was before called, because supposed that a virgin goddess gave name to it; or Artemis gr. Diana, because good for the disorders of women. This plant is propagated by parting the roots, either in spring or autumn, and will grow in any soil or situation. They spread very much, to prevent which their side shoots should be cut; from one species of this the moxa is got, being the Lanugo or downy substance under the leaf.

19C US Seed Catalog Competition

Everitt Company Catalog of 1892 Cartoon on the competition among seed merchants fishing for customers.

Bartram &- Botany- 1699 Who was John Bartram?

Historian Joel T. Fry tells us in the HALS Report for Bartram's Garden that Bartram’s Garden is the oldest surviving botanic garden in the United States.

John Bartram, the botanist, was the son of William Bartram (1674–1711) & grandson of John Bartram (1650−1697) of Ashborne, Derbyshire, England, a member of the Religious Society of Friends, who immigrated to Pennsylvania along with his wife Elizabeth, three young sons, & a daughter in 1683. They settled on a farm on the west bank of Darby Creek in Chester County Pennsylvania. This grandfather, John Bartram, had been imprisoned in England for his religious
beliefs.

Bartram, the botanist, grew up in the new Quaker community at Darby, just outside of Philadelphia. Young John Bartram was largely raised by his close relatives. His mother, Elizah Hunt Bartram (ca. 1676−1701), died only 2 years after he was born, leaving 2 surviving children, John & his brother James Bartram (1701−ca. 1765).

The father of Bartram, the botanist, William Bartram, remarried in 1707, & acquired 2 tracts of land at Bogue Sound, on the White Oak River in North Carolina. In 1710-1711, he began to settle in North Carolina with his new wife & her infant children, but not John & James who were apparently left behind in Pennsylvania. William Bartram was killed in North Carolina on September 22, 1711 during a Tuscarora Indian uprising on the White Oak River. His second wife & 2 children were taken hostage, although later released.

Botanist John Bartram was married twice, first in 1723 to Mary Maris (d. 1727), who bore him two sons, Richard and Isaac. After her death, he married Ann Mendenhall (1703–1789) in 1729, who gave birth to 5 boys and 4 girls. in 1727.

Botanist John Bartram, founded Bartram’s Garden in the autumn of 1728, when he purchased an improved farm of a little over 100 acres on the lower Schuylkill. Bartram, a third generation Pennsylvania Quaker, from nearby Darby, began the construction of a stone farmhouse soon after the purchase, whose initial manifestation was completed by 1731. Bartram probably first planted a kitchen garden at the site in 1729.

Bartram probably chose this favorable site with the intention of establishing a large garden, & the location remains well suited to the cultivation of plants today. The initial garden was probably laid out at six or seven acres, & expanded to as large as ten acres in succeeding generations. Additional space was set aside for an orchard, greenhouses & framing, & nursery beds, which totaled as much as twelve acres at the peak of the garden in the 1830s. John Bartram’s garden began as a personal garden, but grew to a systematic collection of native & exotic plants as Bartram devoted more time to exploration & discovery. Exchanges of plants & seeds from gardens in North America & abroad also fueled the collection. Although not the first botanic collection in North America, by the middle of the eighteenth century, Bartram’s Garden contained the most varied collection of North American plants in the world.

Around 1733, in an event important to the general history of horticulture & natural science, John Bartram introduced himself via letter to London merchant Peter Collinson (1694–1768), & the two began a lifelong correspondence. Collinson, a member of the Royal Society, & like Bartram a Quaker plus an enthusiastic gardener, became the middleman to a scientific trade in seeds, plants, & natural history specimens.

Plants from Bartram’s Philadelphia garden were exchanged with a range of botanists, gardeners, & nurserymen in London & throughout Europe. Collinson also arranged funding from patrons among the British elite, which allowed Bartram to leave his farm & go plant hunting. During his career John Bartram traveled widely throughout the British colonies in North America—plant collecting began in the Mid-Atlantic colonies of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, & Maryland. In time, Bartram traveled north to New York & New England, & south to Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia & Florida, exploring a region spanning from Lake Ontario in New York to the St. John’s River in Florida, & from the Atlantic coast to the Ohio valley.

The garden's evolution over time both reflected & fostered Bartram’s vital scientific achievements & important intellectual exchange. Although not the first botanic collection in North America, by the middle of the eighteenth century Bartram’s Garden contained the most varied collection of North American plants in the world, & placed John Bartram at the center of a lucrative business centered on the transatlantic transfer of plants.

After the American Revolution, Bartram’s sons John Bartram, Jr. (1743–1812) & William Bartram (1739–1823), continued the international trade in plants & expanded the family’s botanic garden & nursery business.

Following his father’s lead, William became an important naturalist, artist, & author in his own right, & under his influence the garden became an educational center that aided in training a new generation of natural scientists & explorers. William’s Travels, published in 1791, chronicled his own exploration efforts & remains a milestone in American literature.

After 1812, Ann Bartram Carr (1779−1858), a daughter of John Bartram, Jr., maintained the family garden & business with her husband Colonel Robert Carr (1778−1866) & his son John Bartram Carr (1804−1839). Their commercial activities remained focused on international trade in native North American plants, although domestic demand also grew under their management.

In 1850, financial difficulties led to the historic garden’s sale outside the family to Andrew M. Eastwick (1811–1879), who preserved it as a private park for his estate. Upon Eastwick’s 1879 death, a campaign to preserve the garden was organized by Thomas Meehan (1826–1901), in Philadelphia, with national assistance from Charles S. Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1891, control of the site was turned over to the City of Philadelphia & it remains protected as a city park.

1764 Plants in 18C Colonial American Gardens - Virginian John Randolph (1727-1784) - Honey Suckles

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.


Honey Suckles

Honey Suckles, Caprifolium, because the Goats eat the tender plants. The red is the Italian, the pale, English; roots or cuttings will produce it. They may be removed in bloom for the sake of a prospect, and replaced when out of bloom..

19C Women & Gardens - American Robert Lewis Reid (1862-1939)

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Pond Lilies

Robert Lewis Reid (1862-1939), was born in Massachusetts. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; in 1884 he moved to New York to study at the Art Students League, and a year later he sailed for Paris to study at the Julian Academy, returning to New York in 1889.

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) The Yellow Flower, The Artist's Wife in the Garden

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) A Summer Girl

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Day Lilies

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Fleur de Lis, 1895–1900

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Girl with Flowers

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) In the Flower Garden

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Lady with Parasol

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Payton Serenity

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Reverie

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Spring Bouquet

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Spring

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Tending the Garden

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) The Pink Cape

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) The White Parasol

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Girls Reading

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Woman on a Porch with Flowers

 Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Young Woman in Pink

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929)

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) Against the Sky

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) Boy with Red Peonies

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) Breezy Day

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) Spring

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) The Garden Seat

Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) The Trio

And finally, just one man...

 Robert Lewis Reid (American painter, 1862-1929) The Old Gardener