Do you know what types of flowers Hamilton had planted at the Grange?
We do know a lot about the gardens of the Grange, thanks especially to some detailed notes Hamilton left for his gardener in 1803. His plans for the flower garden read:
If it can be done in time I should be glad if space could be prepared in the center of the flower garden for planting a few tulips, lilies, hyacinths, and . The space should be a circle of which the diameter is Eighteen feet: and there should be nine of each sort of flowers; but the gardener will do well to consult as to the season. They may be arranged thus:6
Wild roses around the outside of the flower garden with laurel at foot. If practicable in time I should be glad some laurel should be planted along the edge of the shrubbery and round the clump of trees near the house; also sweet briars and A few dogwood trees not large, scattered along the margin of the grove would be very pleasant, but the fruit trees there must be first removed and advanced in front.
After his statement “They may be arranged thus” he included this little sketch showing how he wanted the tulips, lilies, and hyacinths arranged:
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney also sent Hamilton some seeds for his garden. Along with watermelon and musk seeds, he provided “a few seeds of the salvia coccinea or scarlet sage which I believe you have not with you, and of the Erythrina herbacea or coral shrub, also a few seeds of the Ipomoea quamoclit or Indian Creeper, & some of a beautiful purple convolvulus.” (Pinckney to Hamilton, 6 March 1803). In her amazing book “American Eden,” Victoria Johnson explains the Erythrina herbacea Pinckney provided Hamilton was:
a plant native to the Deep South that lures butterflies and hummingbirds in the spring and early summer with its long red blossoms…Pinckney also promised seeds of a “beautiful purple convolvulus” (Ipomoea purpurea)–morning glory. With any luck the landscapes at the Grange would be vivid with color for many months each year. (American Eden, pp. 139-140)
According to one source, Hamilton’s favorite spot to sit in his garden was beneath a bower covered in honeysuckle. A woman identifying herself as “Mrs. Q” paid a visit to the Grange sometime after Hamilton’s death to speak with Eliza. Though Eliza wasn’t at home, the Hamilton children welcomed her inside and gave her a tour of the gardens:
After the evening meal, a walk was proposed round the grounds, when her attention was attracted by a beautiful bower entwined with the most luscious honeysuckle. They told her it was a favourite retreat of Mrs. Hamilton, as it had been planted by her husband, and that even a deranged daughter knew and loved it as the frequent haunt of her beloved father. (”Three-page manuscript by an unknown person,” as quoted in “Mr. Daniels and the Grange,” p. 117).
Image Source: Sotheby’s
