[SunkenCiv]

I’ve often mused over a couple of rarities that Thomas J grew at Monticello.

[Pollard]

I grew some Tennis Ball Lettuce last fall, or tried to. It’s one that he grew.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

I have “Garden Book of Thomas Jefferson” and can see it from where I sit. It would actually be better for a historian to have. I did use it once to track down another Freepers Ancestor’s nursery’s sale of something to Jefferson. Nifty!

[quantim]

"...Thomas J grew at Monticello."

I've had some black hollyhocks (rosea nigra) for close to 20 years now that were said to be on Jefferson's Monticello, they still sell the seeds at the gift shop there.

A few years ago I counted 29 different colors of maybe 6-7 or so of original colors that morphed into some interesting colors of pastels over the years, none of them were remotely dark (as in black shades) in color.

Even though hollyhocks are classified as a biennial oddly enough some 4 years after original seed planting some bright fuchsia and dark red pastel tones that I never planted suddenly showed up...hmmm. Also some hollyhocks bloomed the first year and other same plants lasted for several years and then disappeared forever.

Our soil was an awful white clay that held moisture on a hill, worst ever and rotted most everything. A few others did extraordinarily well, where is a botanist to discuss DNA and genetic hybrids when you need one LOL...