What Plants Would Be Found in Colonial Gardens?

Garden Design

• Small kitchen or dooryard gardens were common in colonial yards. Garden size varied, depending on the size of the household. Wealthy colonists could afford to devise large, elaborate gardens, often experimenting with exotic species. Colonists based their gardens on traditional English or European designs. The colonial garden typically consisted of square or rectangular, raised beds, intersected with walkways of gravel, crushed seashells or sometimes brick. To conserve space, garden beds were often packed with an assortment of vegetables, herbs and flowers. Picket fences or hedges protected the garden from wandering livestock.

Flowers

• The colonial garden blended native flowering plants with Old World favorites such as candytuft, cornflower, delphinium, peony, morning glory and primrose or cowslip. European bulbs such as crocus, daffodil, narcissus, grape hyacinth, iris and tulip added splashes of color to colonial yards. Yarrow and daylilies quickly naturalized and spread in the New World. Colonists also cultivated native plants such as black-eyed Susan, aster, cardinal flower, coreopsis and lupine.

Vegetables

• Colonial gardeners typically placed smaller vegetables such as leaks, garlic, carrots, lettuce and cabbage in gardens situated close to the house. Larger plants such as corn, pumpkins, watermelons and squash grew in nearby fields. Early colonists grew a wide variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, potatoes, parsnips, turnips, asparagus, cucumber, beans and endive. After the late 1700s, celery, broccoli, yams, okra and black-eyed peas became popular as well.

Herbs

• Herbs served many purposes in colonial households. Colonial housewives relied on herbs to treat a variety of medical complaints. Comfrey poultices treated wounds and feverfew tea relieved headaches. Housewives strew lavender, pennyroyal and hyssop throughout their homes to freshen the air and repel insects. Colonists chewed peppermint leaves to sweeten the breath and drank chamomile tea for indigestion. Basil, sage, thyme, dill, fennel and rosemary added flavor to soups, stews and other dishes.

Trees and Shrubs

• Colonial gardeners sometimes accented their gardens with native flowering trees such as the dogwood, sweetbay magnolia or redbud. Neatly trimmed hedges of boxwood, privet or holly commonly defined garden areas. Native plants such as flame azalea, wisteria, winterberry, spicebush, hydrangea and Carolina jasmine added color and interest to the colonial landscape. Other common shrubs included mountain laurel, mock orange, spirea, bayberry, hawthorne and pyracantha. Gardeners cultivated wild grapes, strawberries, blackberries and huckleberries for making pies, jellies and jams. Superior to native fruit trees, European varieties of apple, quince, peach, cherry and nectarine trees were imported and grown around colonial homesteads.