On
a beautiful "not
too hot" day in August I spent the afternoon at Monticello. I
had been there before but this time I went for the gardens
alone. Three of my garden club friends also walked through
Thomas Jefferson's gardens with me. We took our time checking
out every plant we passed and chatting the whole time.
You
can't help but
picture Thomas Jefferson bent over weeding a
patch of Tassel Flower
(pictured on the right) as you stroll through his gardens.
There are several magnificent trees, well maintained flower beds and a
vegetable garden that even captured my attention.
Truth
be told I have no desire to spend hours coaxing a small plot of ground
into 
growing squash. There are much more interesting plants
I rather spend my time with. Besides, someone needs to keep
the farmer's markets in business. But I have to admit that
the most interesting plant I saw that day was smack in the middle of a
vegetable garden. For lack of a better word I have to say
it's
the "cutest" vine I had ever seen. It has white pea like
flowers tinted yellow and purple. It was at least eight feet
tall. We found the tag among the lush greenery. It
was Phaseolus caracalla
commonly
known as snail vine.
Next year I'm going to try and grow snail vine after finally
finding
some seed through Thompson & Morgan. It's an annual
here in
Virginia but grows quickly in one season.
Before
we left, we stopped at the plant shop (big surprise eh?). I
bought a wonderful native bee balm which is now flourishing in my
garden. I can't wait to go back to Monticello
again. It's a
place I never tire of.