The Garden

<i>"It was a paradise of roses and other flowers, to say nothing of the strawberries, and vegetables; every rare plant and fruit was sent to him by his admiring friends, who knew his taste, and they were carefully studied and reared by the gardener and his black aids."</i><br>-Mary Cutts, Memoir, c. 1840<br><br>The Garden, by its nature, changes with the seasons and over time. Today, Montpelier's colorful flowers reflect the twentieth-century tastes of the duPonts, although traces of the Madison garden may survive in the plan of paths and parterres. Early documents describe a useful yet beautiful, <i>paradise</i> of peach trees, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The garden yielded food as homely as turnips and as exotic as figs. It also served as a laboratory for scientific agriculture: Madison happily experimented with seeds and plants that he swapped with friends. Finally, and at its loveliest, the garden's roses, Cape jessamine, pinks, and lilies offered visual delight to all who walked there.