Plants of Colonial Days Author:Raymond L. Taylor A Guide to 160 flowers, shrubs and trees in the Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg. — This small book is particularly intended for any visitor to the gardens of Colonial Williamsburg who may wish to identify the plants there or to learn something more about them; it is also hoped that it will be of interest to gardeners everywhere whose pleasure i... more »n old favorites is enhanced by some knowledge of their history
Just as naturally as the colonists brought with them to America their household belongings, their kitchen utensils, their tools and books, so many of them packed away in their baggage seeds, bulbs, and even cuttings of their favorite plants. It is to be expected that fruit trees and kitchen-garden produce would have been thought of at the outset, but ornamentals were not forgotten, and before long, they too, were growing side by side with native plants brought into cultivation in colonial gardens. If we accept the testimony of John Josselyn, who first visited American in 1638, many European flowers were mingled with native species from the very beginning of the colonial period.« less