Debby Luquette
Adams County Master Gardener
(7/14) Imagine a political body, people drawn together to negotiate and decide the fate of the country, yet so divided they could not bring the work to any conclusion. There were factions, arguments, meetings held behind closed doors and precautions to avoid leaks to the press.
It was large states against small states, agricultural states against states whose economies relied on business, seasoned veterans of the Revolution against younger newcomers.
It makes what we hear about Washington politics today seem like it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Andrea Wulf, though, in her book, Founding Gardeners, researched letters, diaries and other materials to tell her readers that through it all, a love for plants bound many of these men together.
The Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, in Philadelphia, the seat of government of the new United States. The current form of government, outlined in the Articles of Confederation, was not working, and the plan was to form a strong representative government that united the individual states into one country, proving democracy worked
when people found agreement through compromise.
But getting from the ideal to reality was not proving easy. These men decided to meet at least five hours a day for six days a week in the East Room of the Pennsylvania State House, where the Declaration of Independence was signed. They wanted no eavesdropping by opportunistic reporters, so they had the windows shuttered for the entire time they
were in the room. All this seemed reasonable in May, but by July debates and tempers were as hot as the weather.
It took several weeks to get to a decision that there should be three equal branches of government – executive, judicial and legislative. When the debate got to the point of how each state would be represented in the legislature, things really began to unravel. To make the work move more smoothly, the Committee of Eleven was formed, comprised of
one member of each state in attendance. If I were writing about history, I could tell you more about who said what and why, but this is a column for gardeners. It’s what happened in the off-hours that interests me.
Benjamin Franklin lived near the State House on a property that boasted a walled ornamental garden. He entertained fellow delegates in a space comprised of trees, flowering shrubs and gravel walks, many of which were acquired from Bartram’s nursery. (I’ll come back to Bartram’s nursery, as it played a pivotal role in the direction of the
convention.) George Washington spent his time riding in the country talking to farmers, especially about their management of soils, and applied all the information he gathered to experimentation at Mount Vernon.
Philadelphia was situated within a scenic landscape, and many fine estates with impressive ornamental gardens were built along the shores of the winding Schuylkill River. Several delegates, James Madison included, spent leisure time visiting them, and he took advantage of these visits to learn about local agricultural pursuits. Several of the
delegates could also be found spending their leisure having tea at the garden of the tavern at Gray’s Ferry, the main crossing of that river.
Yet, the daily meetings were not going well for the Committee of Eleven. Progress was at a standstill as suggestion after suggestion was rejected. On the evening of July 13, a disheartened Madison and several delegates retired to the tavern where they were staying. They were joined at dinner by Ohio botanist Manasseh Cutler, who had come to
Philadelphia to visit Bartram’s garden. At Madison’s suggestion committee members decided to make the trip with Cutler and the next morning several carriages carried several members of the Committee to tour the gardens.
Naturalist and plant collector, John Bartram developed a botanical garden about three miles west of Philadelphia on the Schuylkill River. It was the most extensive collection of American plants at that time, including many common species one would expect to see as one traveled along the young nation’s roads, as well as rare specimens. One
noteworthy was the Franklinia tree, named by Bartram for Benjamin Franklin. There were only two trees of that species ever encountered by botanists in their native habitat, but John and his son William bred the tree in their nursery. (It is a spectacular tree both in flower and autumn color, and one specimen can be viewed at Strawberry Hill here in Adams County.)
The garden and its nursery were a commercial source of botanical specimens during the late colonial period and early years of the United States. Bartram’s Boxes, containing seeds and plant materials, were regularly sent to Paris and London every fall. The Founding Gardeners were frequent visitors to Bartram’s and they often ordered plants to be
sent to their homes and estates. Washington’s Mount Vernon still has trees purchased from Bartram’s. After the death of John Bartram in 1777, his two sons, John and William, took over the garden and it was William who greeted the delegation from Philadelphia on the morning of July 14.
As the men walked the gravel paths they encountered familiar species from their home states alongside species of plants from other areas of the country. The elder John Bartram had laid out the grounds to create microclimates, allowing the specimens to flourish in settings similar to their original habitat. Some plants were arranged such that more
fragile southern species could be sheltered by the sturdier trees of the north, or so the beauty of southern flowering shrubs could be admired with accents from specimens from the north, their branches intertwined in a "vigorous horticultural embrace."
The following Monday, July 16, a vote was taken on what was called the Connecticut Plan, in which the legislature would have two houses. The Senate would have a one-state, one-vote representation while the Congress would have representation decided by population size. Three delegates had changed their votes and the proposal succeeded.
Was the reason found in the metaphor of walking in a garden, where the beauty of each state was appreciated? . . . Where plants were situated to help one another thrive? Or did walking in a garden naturally make hearts more agreeable?
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