MONTICELLO
My work at Monticello is a fascinating and challenging project. To create botanical illustrations for the seed packets of the multitude of plants in the restored gardens is exciting, daunting and humbling. Jefferson was gardening at Monticello by the 1770s. What is referred to as his retirement garden, the flower garden walks, the oval beds and the vegetable garden terrace were constructed between 1806 and 1809.
The Garden Club of Virginia restored the flower gardens in 1939 and the more recent restorations of the vegetable gardens and orchard took place beginning in the 1980s and is ongoing.
Currently, there are 54 assorted seed packets available with my illustrations on them, along with a number of other products that have been developed from the artwork, available at the Monticello Visitor Center Gift Shop and through their online site :
and at The Barn Swallow : barnswallow@comcast.net
I’ve been a gardener most of my life but I’m neither a Botanist or Horticulturist, so I have relied on the guidance of the professionals at Monticello’s Center for Historic Plants, where the greenhouses and Heritage Gardens are and the Curator of Plants at Monticello for the gardens on the mountain.
