Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg

• The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia are maintained by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. There are more than one hundred gardens of native and imported plants cultivated by American colonists, researched and documented. The plants tended by colonial Virginians were appreciated for their beauty and abundance, but there was a priority on food and survival. Colonial gardens contained maize, beans, strawberries, walnuts, acorns, pumpkins, chestnuts, cherries, persimmons, plums, gooseberries, mushrooms, melons, wheat, barley and rye. Orchards were important food sources as well, including apple and pear trees.
  
  

Weeks Brick House and Gardens

• The colonial gardens at the Weeks Brick House in New Hamshire were created by garden historian Ann Leighton with Katharine C. Weeks in the 1970s, to represent a colonial household garden. Ann Leighton designed other historical, early American gardens, including the 1677 Whipple House garden for the Ipswich Historical Society. The Weeks Brick House has garden beds with medicinal, culinary and household herbs, a vegetable garden and orchard designed as a colonial country garden. The Weeks gardens were renovated in 2009 by Leslie Stevens, a University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension master gardener, who also holds tours of the gardens during the growing season.
  
  

The William Paca Garden

• The William Paca Garden in Maryland is a historical garden created by William Paca in the 1700s, when he built his house. The garden was researched and recreated in the 1970s with terraces, heirloom roses and topiary. The Paca house and garden were restored by the Historic Annapolis Foundation and is a National Historic Landmark. Visitors tour the house and gardens during the year to see how life was lived during colonial times. The house features colonial furniture and antiques, and the gardens feature 18th century plants and herbs.
  
  

Monticello House and Gardens

• Monticello House and Gardens in Virginia feature the historical rebuilt home of Thomas Jefferson, and recreations of his culinary and horticultural gardens. Jefferson's gardens were famous in their day, with plants collected from around the world and botanical experiments. Besides the historic mansion, the gardens include flower beds and borders, fruit gardens with orchards, vineyards and nurseries, and Jefferson's vegetable garden where he grew hundreds of vegetables. The grounds include an ornamental forest designed by Jefferson with a wide variety of trees and colonial fences. The Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello grows and preserves the plants that Jefferson collected and cultivated.