A Calendar of the Bloom of Flowers in 1782, the season preceding the death of Mrs. Jefferson. Taken from Jefferson's Garden Book.
The lady of the flowers came and lived among them there for ten happy years, important in the life of Jefferson and thought by some to be his term of greatest service to mankind.
He served as a member of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, represented his State in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, wrote with his own hand the Declaration of Independence, became a member of the General Assembly of Virginia and introduced bills of vast social importance; wrote his bill for religious liberty, and for two years served as Governor of the State. Before the death of his wife he became a member of the Congress of Confederation at Philadelphia. He was at Monticello when, on a morning in September, as set forth on her tombstone, his wife was torn from him by death and he was left with three little girls, a young man still, lonely, among his blossoms withering on the stalk. Wild grief succeeded, and it was in the forests of Monticello that he fought out his sorrow, his horse trampling the drying leaves as they fell.
But with the loss of his wife, however, he did not lose his love of flowers. Springtime in the garden meant springtime always in the heart of Thomas Jefferson, and wherever he went, he found his way into a garden and made friends
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