Book Review: Restoring American Gardens

» Kirk_Johnson - Interesting Book

This book sounds quite interesting. One of the members of the garden club that I belong to is involved with a local historic home that is now a museum. This home was built in the 1890s. She wants to create an herb garden. This would be fine if she was trying to reflect British gardening fashions of the period. The late 19th century was the period that herb gardens actually date from. In earlier gardens culinary herbs were grown along with vegetables. This made sense from the cook's point of view and those herbs also helped to protect the vegetables from insect damage.

It is possible that herb gardens were being created on the southern Oregon coast during the 1890s, but a mixture of herbs, vegetables and some flowers seems more authentic to me. This area was very isolated before the 1930s when the highway was constructed. The garden of an historic home should reflect that reality.

Part of the reson why herb gardens were fashionable in the 1890s was because people were buying patent medicines and having pills precribed by doctors. They weren't using herbs for medicine the way that people in earlier centuries had used them. Gardeners in earlier centuries were careful to not mix medicinal herbs with culinary herbs. They didn't want to accidently season their food with a poisionous herb that used for medicine in carefully measured doses.

If people in this area were still using herbs for medicine in this area during the late 19th century, there was probably one person in the community who had a real apothecary garden where a wide selection of medicinal herbs were grown. The rest of the community would not have been growing herbs for every ailment. That would not have been a practical use of their time and they had plenty of chores to do.

-- posted by Kirk_Johnson

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» Georgene A. Bramlage - Re: Interesting Book

In response to Interesting Book posted by Kirk_Johnson:

Kirk,

Thanks for the imput...the situation in which the garden club / historic society finds herself is one that denis Adams (author of the book) warns against many times in the "reading" portion of this book. I guess we all know situations such as these...idea vs. reality!

Many years ago, the horticulturalists at Old Sturbridge Village (Sturbridge, MA) - Federalist Period - took out all the "ideal" gardens with each house. They put in one large "teaching' herb garden that showed just about anything "herby" of which one could think. They then set about putting in gardens wich were represnetative of each family living in each house. Very instructive, but very disappointing to those coming to the Village looking for a "typical quaint herb garden!"

Is it possible that your local library or garden club might buy a copy of this book? You could then 'strongly suggest" the book as a research source for this woman.

-- posted by Georgene A. Bramlage

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» Kirk_Johnson - Re: Re: Interesting Book

In response to Re: Interesting Book posted by Cercis:

The garden club always donates a book to the library when a member or a former member dies, but I can't think of anyone who is really on their last legs

I will send the URL for your article to the president of our garden club and to the woman who wants to create the garden.

-- posted by Kirk_Johnson

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