WSET.com - ABC13Founding Gardeners by Emmett Strode

Founding Gardeners by Emmett Strode

"The founding fathers have often been cast as the haloed demigods of the American Revolution -- some cerebral and literary, others brave and heroic -- but what has long been missing from the picture is their lives as farmers and gardeners, which both reflected and influenced their political thinking and patriotism. Consequently their farms, fields and gardens can be read like their diaries and letters...." And so, Andrea Wulf makes the case for her latest book "Founding Gardeners" (Knopf 2011).

The book examines the lives and contributions of Washington, Jefferson, Adams and Madison from the perspective offered by their common love of horticulture. It presents them not as icons, flat, wooden images of heroes but as men of their time with all the loves and shortcomings of their time.

Washington's landscaping, building and experimental agriculture at Mount Vernon. Adams' love of mixing manure for his crops with his own hands. Jefferson's endless tinkering and experimentation in his gardens at Monticello and to an apparent lesser extent Poplar Forest. And Madison's work at landscaping Montpelier and building there a model slave village all figure in to this portrait of a young America.

Slavery lurks in the background of this work, as it does in all good works about the country's founders. Washington, Jefferson and Madison all used slave labor to make their gardening dreams reality. John Adams disapproved of the peculiar institution and condemned it. Washington was the only slave owning founder to free his slaves at his death.

The book also has several color botanical plates. Those of Franklinia, Magnolia tripetela and Chionanthus virginicus are some of the most striking.

For the lover of American history and gardening this book is a real treat.