Garden Education: Peter Hatch on Thomas Jefferson the Gardener

Among many good reasons to attend the Maymont Flower Show, one of the best is the free lectures. This particular one was my favorite on the day that I was there. Mr. Hatch is the Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello and has held this position some 30 years. To say he knows his subject is an understatement.

While I had some knowledge of Thomas Jefferson and his gardening efforts ("Though an old man, I am but a young gardener"), I learned much more from listening to Mr. Hatch. One of my favorite items was the page he showed from his garden ledger (it looked more like that than a journal per se, to me) with his listings of "failed, failed, failed" for any number of plants/seeds. Don't you appreciate honesty!

Jefferson surely had that eternal optimism that gardeners are infected with in that he continued to try new plants and seeds, even ones that would seemingly have little chance of surviving in his mountaintop climate, up until his death. I wish I had written down one quote, but it was something along the lines of "failure of one plant is made up in the revival of another"...well, something like that!

We also learned that during a particularly difficult time in his presidency, Jefferson turned to planning his garden for relief, distraction and/or comfort. We were shown a copy of his plan, complete with changes and notations.

Monticello today is Jefferson's vision, complete with plants that are rather difficult to obtain and/or not native to that area of Virginia. Through the diligence (above and beyond the call, but definitely amusing to hear about) of Mr. Hatch, the estate acquired the chinaberries that Jefferson envisioned, as one example. Meticulous research and care has been an ongoing aspect of the effort to make Monticello as Jefferson dreamed.

Some perspective on that was brought to bear with an old photograph of Monticello with asphalt parking right up by the main house complete with tour buses. We can be thankful that today's caretakers have, with much effort, brought Monticello back to grace and glory. I'm sure Mr. Jefferson is smiling.

******
Mr. Hatch shared with us the history of the Albermarle Pippin apple. To learn more about this legendary "Virginia" apple, click here.

For those of you unable to visit Monticello (most unfortunate!), you can shop online and grow some of Thomas Jefferson's beloved plants in your own garden.