The Transatlantic Garden in Philadelphia, ca. 1800

Abstract

abstract:Rembrandt Peale's Rubens Peale with a Geranium (1801) is a well-known and much-studied painting, but the story of the flowering plant Rubens Peale cradles opens a new avenue of research. Commonly known as the scarlet geranium, Pelargonium inquinans is indigenous to southern Africa; its prominence in this painting invites questions about non-native plants in late-colonial and early republican America. Much attention has been given to the Anglo-American passion for North American flora in the long eighteenth century. However, an increasing flow of plants from Africa, China, and Australia shifted botanical interest and horticultural taste, changing the character of garden-making permanently within the next few decades.