Heliotrope
Common Name: Heliotrope[1]
Scientific Name: Heliotropium arborescens
In 1786, while living in Paris, Jefferson sent seed of this species to Francis Eppes in America, commenting that it was "a delicious flower, but I suspect it must be planted in boxes & kept in the house in the winter. the smell rewards the care."[2] This flower was first discovered in Peru and brought to France sometime between 1735 and 1757 where it was a novelty much appreciated for its pleasant fragrance.[3] It was likely not widely cultivated in America before 1800.[4]
This plant is a garden annual with clusters of delicate, fragrant purple flowers fading to pale lavender in late spring through summer.
Footnotes
- ↑ This article is based on a Center for Historic Plants Information Sheet.
- ↑ Betts, Garden Book, 634.
- ↑ See Alice M. Coats, Flowers and their Histories (London: Black, 1968), 111-112. See also Denise Wiles Adams, Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940 (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc., 2004), 219-220.
- ↑ See David Stuart and James Sutherland, Plants from the Past: Old Flowers for New Gardens (London: Viking, 1987), 147-148.
Further Sources
- Betts, Edwin M.,Hazlehurst Bolton Perkins, and Peter J. Hatch. Thomas Jefferson's Flower Garden at Monticello, 3rd ed. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986.
- Seeds available for purchase at Monticello Museum Shop
- Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants
Add comment