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...
I feel the tomato is the most generous plant of the summer. It always amazes me at how much product can come from a seed the size of a pencil head! Here in Napa Valley, we have mild winters that are governed by the Pacific Ocean. We occasionally get frost at night, but during the day the frost...
Maintaining your garden in the summer months can require serious determination and stamina, especially here in Virginia where the high temperatures, humidity, mosquitos, ticks, and chiggers conspire to chase the well-meaning gardener indoors to relax in the air-conditioning with a nice cold glass...
As part of its mission to educate the public about garden history in America, Monticello’s Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants established the Léonie Bell Rose Garden at Jefferson’s Tufton Farm in 1998 with an endowment from Louis Bell, in honor of his wife, a noted botanical illustrator,...
Steve Bender was a featured speaker during the Heritage Harvest Festival's Grand Preview Dinner on September 6, 2013. As Senior Writer at Southern Living Magazine, he has been writing about gardening for nearly 30 years. Monticello sat down with Bender and discussed gardening, southern traditions,...
Cary Fowler, American agriculturalist and the former executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and current senior advisor to the Trust, spoke at the 7th annual Heritage Harvest Festival, September 6-7, 2013. Fowler sat down with Monticello to discuss Thomas Jefferson's impact on his...
