Thomas Jefferson's gardens at Monticello have a history as complicated as our country's own. But now they're experiencing something never before seen in their hundreds of years of meticulously recorded garden journals: the devastating effects of climate change.

Peter Hatch has spent the last 35 years of his life in those gardens, witnessing the new pests and extreme weather descending upon the historic property. He took the time to share his experiences with us?and we've created a slideshow to help share them with you.

Come visit Monticello's gardens with us, and see how a changing climate is putting them at risk.

Fruits, vegetables, and even trees aren't safe from these dangers which have never been seen in Monticello's centuries of existence. Will our own backyards be next?

Jefferson believed that recording and examining the past was the key to understanding the world around us. Now, the gardens he began at age 26 are giving us the opportunity to do just that.

I hope you'll visit our slideshow, and learn what a national treasure can tell us about our warming world.

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