"When the Flowers Were In Bloom"
"When the Flowers Were In Bloom"
Following dinner, Thomas Jefferson, his family, and their guests might have spent a cool evening enjoying the gardens of Monticello.
A Family Affair
The flower gardens captivated the family's interest, and Jefferson's granddaughters enjoyed monitoring the progress of spring blooms. Granddaughter Ellen remembered scenes during Jefferson's retirement at Monticello:
"Then, when spring returned, how eagerly we watched the first appearance of the shoots above ground. What joy it was for one of us to discover the tender green breaking through the mould, and run to grandpapa to announce, that we really believed Marcus Aurelius was coming up, or the Queen of Amazons was above ground . . . . Then when the flowers were in bloom, and we were in ecstasies over the rich purple and crimson, or pure white, or delicate lilac, or pale yellow of the blossoms, how he would sympathize in our admiration, or discuss with my mother and elder sister new groupings and combinations and contrasts. Oh, these were happy moments for us and for him!"
Jefferson designed the groupings, combinations, and contrasts of the flowers carefully. He created his final plan for the West Lawn in 1807, as he anticipated retiring from the presidency. A letter to granddaughter Anne Randolph contained his sketch and ideas, which called for oval beds at the corners of the house, and "a winding walk . . . with a narrow border of flowers on each side." In 1807 and 1808 the oval beds and the serpentine walk were laid out.
Winding Flower Walk
As the family and guests walked along the roundabout path, they could admire a vast array of flowers. Corresponding with gardeners around the world, Jefferson collected hundreds of varieties, asking particularly for ones which were "handsome plants or fragrant." Well represented among the flowers were bulbs such as tulips, perhaps because they were easily transported; and New World curiosities, including the Jeffersonia diphylla (twinleaf). Named in Jefferson's honor in 1792, this delicate wildflower blooms around April 13, the date of its namesake's birth.
"A Beautiful Lawn"
Inside the roundabout flower borders, noted Jefferson's overseer, was "a beautiful lawn of two or three acres, where his grandchildren used to play a great deal." An 1825 watercolor of Monticello by a family friend shows grandson George Wythe Randolph rolling a hoop, and letters of family members and visitors describe Jefferson as the organizer and official of the grandchildren's races.
View of the West Front of Monticello and Garden by Braddick Peticolas, 1825
-
Following Jefferson's death in 1826, his granddaughter Virginia Randolph Trist wrote letters containing "all my childish recollections of my dear grandfather." The passage below describes games with "grandpapa."
"One of our earliest amusements was in running races on the terrace, or around the lawn. He placed us according to our ages, giving the youngest and smallest the start of all the others by some yards, and so on; and then he raised his arm high, with his white handkerchief in his hand, on which our eager eyes were fixed, and slowly counted three, at which number he dropped the handkerchief, and we started off to finish the race by returning to the starting-place and receiving our reward of dried fruit -- three figs, prunes, or dates to the victor, two to the second, and one to the lagger who came in last."
"A Grave Man Can Play the Fool"
Mrs. Margaret Bayard Smith, who visited Monticello in August of 1809, remembered watching the grandchildren's races with Jefferson:
[After the races] the little girls . . . came panting and out of breath to throw themselves into their grandfather's arms, which were opened to receive them; he pressed them to his bosom and rewarded them with a kiss; he was sitting on the grass and they sat with him, untill they were rested. . . . 'What an amusement,' said I, 'do these little creatures afford us.' 'Yes,' replied he, 'it is only with them that a grave man can play the fool.' They now called on him to run with them, he did not long resist and seemed delighted in delighting them.
For more information about Jefferson's relationship with his family check out the Jefferson Quotes and Family Letters Website. Also consider Sarah N. Randolph's The Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, or The Family Letters of Thomas Jefferson, edited by Edwin Morris Betts and James A. Bear, Jr. Mrs. Smith's recollections are recorded in part in Domestic Life, and more fully in a gathering of her writings, The First Forty Years of Washington Society.
Shop
Young Gardener Seed Collection
Packaged in an attractive, reusable and recyclable tin, this seed collection includes easy-to-grow annual vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers for gardeners of all ages.
Next page in
A Day in the Life of Thomas Jefferson