Flowers and Herbs of Early America

Silver medal winner of the 2008 Book of the Year Award in the category of Home & Garden, presented by ForeWord magazine.

Hounds-tongue. Ragged robin. Costmary. Pennyroyal. All - heal. These plants, whose very names conjure up a bygone world, were among the great variety of flowers and herbs grown in America’s colonial and early Federal gardens. In this sumptuously illustrated book, a leading historic plant expert brings this botanical heritage back to life.

Drawing on years of archival research and field trials in Colonial Williamsburg’s gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, Lawrence Griffith documents fifty-six species of flowers and herbs and provides details on how they were cultivated and used. For each plant, an elegant period hand-colored engraving, watercolor, or woodcut is presented along with glorious new photographs by Barbara Temple Lombardi.

This book is a dazzling treat for armchair gardeners and for those who have visited and admired the famous gardens of Colonial Williamsburg. It is also an invaluable companion for twenty-first-century gardeners who will appreciate the specific advice of a master gardener on how to plan, choose appropriate species for, and maintain a beautiful, historic flower and herb garden.

The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is a not-for-profit educational institution that operates the world’s largest living history museum.

Lawrence Griffith is curator of plants for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and former garden columnist for the Daily Press, Newport News, VA. He lives on the Middle Peninsula of Virginia. Barbara Temple Lombardi is a photographer for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. She lives in Williamsburg, VA.