In October 2009, Karen and I took a trip to Virginia and Washington DC. One of our stops was Monticello. Thomas Jefferson was a dedicated botanist and even listed his occupation as "farmer" on his census form. In addition to the garden for the plantation, he had grapes for wine and planted an orchard.
In addition to the house tour, there is a plantation tour where you can learn about the lives of the slaves who planted, and harvested the garden as well as keeping the house and tending to the animals. Though none of the slave houses are left standing, some slave house foundations have been uncovered. It is interesting to note that the talk about slavery on the tours of Monticello is a relatively new development. For decades, the treatment of slaves was glossed over, and there was no mention of Jefferson's treatment of the slaves.
After the tour, we visited the gift shop. In addition to the usual set of knick knacks, T-shirts and DVDs, there is a selection of vegetable and flower seeds. We bought some seeds, including a flower mix. Karen and I planted the packet in the spring of 2010 and they bloomed that summer. But, most of the flowers were annuals and did not come back this year. We got mostly Sweet William back this year, although Karen thought it could be Candytuft as well. Let me know what you think this flower could be.
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