Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Monticello Gardens



Virginia is a place rich in history. Last week, I wrote about the Colonial Williamsburg gardens. This week, I'll tell you about the gardens at the home of the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.  The gardens surrounding his home, the Monticello, are impressive. They are a tribute to the creativity and inquisitiveness of his great mind.

Set among mountain views, the gardens showcase a variety of flowers, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Jefferson grew 170 types of apples, peaches, and grapes in his orchards. He had 330 different vegetables growing in his 1000-foot-long terrace garden. Jefferson liked to experiment with plants and create new types. These gardens were the places he conducted his experiments.


Visitors can explore the gardens on their own, or they can take a Garden and Grounds tour which is available April through October. Other events include a Spring Wildflower Walk in April, and a Heritage Harvest Festival in September. 

The  grounds are open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Cost of admission to view the house and gardens is $22 for adults and $10.00 for children. 

Before I go, I'd like to let you know that I'm a guest on the ePublishing Children's Book Blog. I'm talking about my upcoming book, Don't Feed the Elephant. If you'd like to visit and see a sneak peak of a couple of the illustrations, visit here.

10 comments:

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    1. It is. It takes a little time to get from one end to the other.

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  2. Hi Sherry - sounds really interesting - it'd be good to visit sometime ... lots of botanical history. Thanks for the link over = I'll be along to check in ..

    I don't want to shock you - but I'm 'up the road now' ... almost - i.e. in Vancouver Island for an indefinite period ... take care and I'll get a better opportunity to explore Butchart Gardens .. must off - cheers for now - Hilary

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    1. I hope you enjoy Butchart Gardens! That's a nice place.

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  3. We travel to Virginia about once a year. I'll have to look up the location of those gardens.

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    1. My father-in-law lives just down the road from this place, so it's a garden I've seen several times. If you go, visit Mitchies Tavern for lunch or dinner. It's an interesting place where the servers dress in period costumes.

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  4. Clearly Jefferson had many and varied skills in his repertoire - a sign of a great leader!
    CLICK HERE for Bazza’s unbelievably felicitous Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

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  5. Jefferson was a great mind and his horticultural studies added to his wide resume. Very lovely.
    And congrats on new book. It looks delightful. I shall purchase it anon, I'm a big fan of Ten Zany Birds

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    1. Glad you like Ten Zany Birds. The Elephant one is cute. I can't wait for it to finally be out!

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