Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest gets new life

FOREST — Several tulip poplar trees have been planted in the north lawn of Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest retreat home in Bedford County.

 
- Poplar Forest is located in Forest off Thomas Jefferson Road on Bateman Bridge Road.
- For more information, call
(434) 525-1806 or visit http://www.poplarforest.org.

When grown, the 6-foot-tall saplings will join the trees that have adorned the plantation even before Jefferson began building the home in 1806.

Two of the trees are directly descended from the seeds of mature poplars that now stand in front of the retreat home. Three are the offspring of Monticello’s giant poplar that Jefferson is thought to have planted during his retirement years.

Peggy Cornett, director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants at Monticello, planted four trees on Thursday.

Poplar Forest will host a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Saturday when they plant the fifth tree.

They are not clones but are connected genetically to the original trees, Cornett said.

“Planting these tulip poplar trees is a fitting start to landscape restoration,” said Jack Gary, director of archaeology and landscapes. “These trees will be placed in the precise locations of trees that we know stood during Jefferson’s time.”

A number of original trees were lost due to storms, said Cornett. The new ones would grow fairly quickly, she said.

“We won’t see it (full maturity) in our lifetime,” Cornett said, “but future generations will be able to enjoy these trees.”

Jefferson was fond of poplars, according to Poplar Forest staff, and referred to them as the “Juno of our groves.” He planted them also, including 190 at one time in 1816 and at the corners of the house in 1812.

The trees were given in the memory of James Watts III, whose family lived at Poplar Forest for 34 years.