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Growth Type Perennial
Hardiness Zones 4-8
Planting Conditions Partial and Full Shade
TJ Documented Plant Yes

Thomas Jefferson recorded planting the Cardinal Flower in one of the oval flower beds near the house at Monticello in 1807. [1] This native perennial was introduced to Britain in 1626.[2] It was recommended for garden use by Jefferson's nurseryman friend, Bernard McMahon, in The American Gardener's Calendar, 1806,[3] and the earliest American reference comes from John Bartram in 1783.[4] At one time this flower was used by Native American Indians as a root tea for treating stomach aches, typhoid and other diseases.

The Cardinal Flower is a hardy, North American summer-flowering perennial which has brilliant scarlet flower spikes above deep, blue green basal rosette of foliage.

Visit Monticello’s Online Shop to check for seeds or plants of Cardinal Flower.

Typical Blooming Dates: July - October
Color(s): Reds
Location at Monticello: West and East Lawns

Further Sources


References

  1. ^  Betts, Garden Book, 335. See also Edwin M. Betts, Hazlehurst Bolton Perkins, and Peter J. Hatch, Thomas Jefferson's Flower Garden at Monticello, 3rd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986),67-68.
  2. ^ Alice M. Coates, Flowers and their Histories. (London: Black, 1968), 152.
  3. ^ McMahon, 72, 151, 292, 345, and 461.
  4. ^ Denise Wiles Adams, Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940 (Portland, Oregon: Timber Press, Inc., 2004), 192.