For those who have visited the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Tufton Farm, you have probably caught glimpses of our resident Eastern bluebirds ( Sialia sialis ). Tufton Farm provides ideal managed habitat for bluebirds with its abundance of pastures, fence perches and variety of...
Chef and culinary historian Michael Twitty talks with PBS's NewsHour about his new book on the complicated story of race, culture and food and its legacy today.
“What would I not give that the trees planted nearest round the house at Monticello were full grown.” --Jefferson to Martha Randolph (from Philadelphia), 1793 Sometimes a good tree gets planted in what turns out to be a bad location. That’s exactly what an engineer recently discovered near...
When do you get ready for spring? At Monticello, our flower gardeners are at it October through December every year, planting 8,000 bulbs to ensure a beautiful bloom season. Tulips at Monticello Tulips were the most frequently mentioned plants in Jefferson's records. Monticello's Curator of Plants...
Happy Birthday, Garden Book! On March 30, 1766, Jefferson wrote, "Purple hyacinths begin to bloom" at Shadwell, initiating a 50-year journal of his gardening hopes, observations, successes and failures. Monticello's Curator of Plants, Peggy Cornett, and Monticello guide Bill Bergen introduce this...
It's unofficially #ColorOurCollections Week (Feb. 1-5), so we're sharing a few Monticello-related drawing. Three are from the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), which were done in the early 1990s. The last is of a Twinleaf plant (Jeffersonia diphylla) by former Shannon Research Historian at...
No story illustrates Jefferson’s missionary zeal for plant experimentation or his devotion to American economic success better than his lifelong quest for upland rice. In 1787, Jefferson was serving his country in Paris as Minister to France. He envisioned the new American nation as an agrarian...
In my family, when it comes to plants named after people, we can't help but speak about them as if they are people too. Someone might ask, "What kind of clematis is that there?" and my mom would answer, "Oh, that's Nelly Moser, she's such a refined and dependable lady." Nelly Moser, the clematis,...
The Huffington Post and Southern Living both included the 8th Annual Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello to lists of upcoming "buzzworthy" events in the South this Fall. Check out what they had to say about this lively and family-friendly festival: Food and Music Mix It up at These Southern...
