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The Period Gardener
Emigrants, Immigrants and Natives
in Westville's Gardens: Part 2
Thornton F. Jordan, Ph.D.
[Westville thanks Dr. Jordan for his hard work in identifying and tagging the various plants in Westville's gardens.]
After Jefferson rode his horse home from Washington to Monticello in 1807, he had already begun thinking about the end of his second term as president in two years, so he sat down to plan his flower gardens. Visitors to Monticello today will be told that 25% of his species were natives. That meant, of course, that 75% of them were immigrants. However, while American gardeners owed many of their ornamental and food plants to immigrants from far shores, North and South America were, after all, the New World. As such, even as early as the 16th century, Europeans were eager to try our natives.
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- Among our North American emigrants, the spiderwort or widow’s tears (Tradescantia virginiana) in the McDonald house garden was native to eastern North America. It was introduced to Britain after 1654 and was one of the first colonial American ornamentals to be grown in English gardens. Jerusalem artichoke, a close relative of the sunflower, was originally a native west of the Mississippi River that was taken to Europe in 17th century where it was known as the “potato of Canada.” Its name, though, is a misnomer. “Jerusalem” is a corruption of the Italian girasole, or sunflower, and “artichoke” was from the fancied resemblance of the boiled root to a true artichoke. Gallardia lindheimeri, or blanket flower at the Grimes-Feagin house was a Texas native. Evening primroses (Oenothera) are mostly American. Oenothera grandiflora was an American native, and Oenothera biennis, a tree primrose, was sent from Virginia to Padua as early as 1619. Phlox subalta [McDonald house] was sent by Bartram from America to England in 1745. Phlox paniculata [Grimes-Feagin house], or “common purple” phlox was introduced to England 1730 and the first garden variety was developed in 1824. The parent rhododendrum (Rhododendrum catawbiensee) was found in 1799 on the Roan River in the mountains between North Carolina and Tennessee by John Fraer.
Latin America offered another rich source of ornamentals for the Old World. Oenothera longiflora, an uncommonly large, showy yellow type of evening primrose, was a native of Buenos Aires. Four O’clock (Mirabilis jalapa) [Grimes-Feagin house] was known as the “Marvel of Peru.” Seeds were brought from Peru to Spain in the 16th century and thence to England before they emigrated to America. Pineapple sage (Salvia rutilans) [McDonald house] came from Mexico. Nasturtium (Tropaeolum mahus) [Grimes-Feagin], a native of Peru, was introduced to Spain and thence into to England in 1682. Penstemon, the popular border type (Penstemon hartwegii), came from Mexico in 1825 but was not grown outside until 1838. Fifteen new species were introduced between 1827-1834. By 1839 it was considered on of the greatest boons conferred upon English gardens by the discovery of the New World.
Verbena was introduced to England from South America (1826-1837) and was for a time synonymous with “bedding” plants. But like fabrics, colors, and architecture, flowers go in and out of fashion. Take the case of the petunia--from “petun,” a Brazilian word for tobacco--which was introduced into Europe in the 1830s. It offered a sensational splash of color in the garden, and by 1840 there were many hybrids. But by the 1880s verbenas and petunias were losing their fascination, giving way to pelargoniums, which we know by the common name of geraniums. They were introduced to Europe from South Africa in 1631 but didn’t become a fashion rage until the 1880s. Another variety, Geranium maculata, came from North America in 1732.
Poinsettia was introduced 1833 by Joel R. Poinsett of Charleston, who was minister to Mexico under Andrew Jackson. Helianthus or sunflowers were all from North and south America. They had made their way into European gardens by the 16th century. By the 1750s, smoke and fog in London made the perennial form more popular.
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