By Sally Kirby Hartman, ‘20
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March 22, 2025
In 1787, Gen. George Washington likely was stressed from presiding over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. For a respite, he rode to Bartram’s Garden, which is hailed today as the United States’ oldest surviving botanical garden. Library of Congress documents reveal that Washington was intrigued by the garden on the outskirts of Philadelphia. It was started by John Bartram, a Quaker plant collector named by King George III in 1765 as “His Majesty’s Botanist for North America.” In 1728, Bartram purchased a 102-acre farm along the Schuylkill River and transformed it into a botanical garden that is now a National Historic Landmark. Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus called Bartram “the greatest natural botanist in the world.” Bartram and his sons are credited with introducing more than 200 varieties of plants to American science. They propagated more than 4,000 plant varieties and built their first greenhouse in 1760. . After Bartram died in 1777 at age 78, his sons William and John Bartram Jr. took over the family business and hosted Washington’s visit along with other constitutional convention delegates. In his June 10, 1787 diary entry, Washington described riding “to see the Botanical garden of Mr Bartram; Tho stored with many curious plts. Shrubs & trees, many of which are exotics was not laid off with much taste, nor was it large.” Despite being underwhelmed by Bartram’s Garden, in 1792 Washington ordered hundreds of Bartram plants for his Mount Vernon home. James Madison and Thomas Jefferson also were Bartram customers. Washington’s order included rhododendrons, hypericums, magnolias and viburnums. The list of 106 plant varieties he bought gave their botanical names, number of plants ordered, and the plants’ projected height at maturity. See Washington’s plant list here : https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-10-02-0109 Unlike Washington, my sister-in-law and I were impressed with Bartram’s Garden in southwest Philadelphia. It is only a 15-minute drive from the heart of the city where I traveled for the Philadelphia Flower Show. In contrast to the glitz and crowds at the flower show, Bartram’s Garden was peaceful on a chilly day with just a few visitors and only spring ephemerals blooming -- delicate snowdrops, tiny winter aconite flowers, and daffodils. Hellebores were days from opening their buds. Deciduous trees were bare, which made it easy to admire their shapely limbs.