Growing An Heirloom Grandmother's Garden

Recreate the Grandmother's Garden, and pass along Grandma's tried-and-true heirloom plants to future generations. When you pass along a plant, share cuttings, or keep seeds from year to year, you're connecting to ancestors, family, friends, and neighbors. Old-fashioned plants were an essential part of grandmother’s gardens, too.

Gardeners turned away from the brightly-colored and exotic annuals of the Victorian era, and grew flowers that had a long history in gardens, especially perennials like peonies and iris, self-sowing annuals such as larkspur and poppies, and bulbs that would return and multiply year after year, like daffodils and snowdrops.

‘My grandmother grew that flower in her garden.’

Grandmother’s old-fashioned garden is as appropriate today as it was a hundred years ago. And the style has charm around any home - modern or vintage. Grandmother recognized those plants that could flower with little cost, and add fragrance, color and grace to our gardens. If you have plants passed down by our own grandmothers, all the better.

“Grandmother’s gardens” were the informal, mixed-flower gardens that became popular in the late 1800's, as a rebellion against formal Victorian carpet bedding flowers. Old-fashioned plants were an essential part of grandmother’s gardens, too. Gardeners turned away from the brightly-colored exotic annuals of the Victorian era in favor of flowers that had a long history in gardens, especially perennials like peonies and iris, self-sowing annuals such as larkspur and poppies, and bulbs that would return and multiply year after year, like daffodils, hosta and snowdrops.

Heirlooms are once again highly valued. They were brought back for their hardiness, adaptability, reliability and pest and disease resistance. The daylilies, hollyhocks and four o’clocks found in your grandmothers’ gardens needed very little care and always looked and smelled wonderful. A new generation of gardeners is learning how to grow and tend to these gardens. Most plants were grown from seed. You can find collections of heirloom seeds from seed banks and specialty catalogs.

The heirloom gardens differed from gardens found overseas, like English gardens, because they were most often the work of one person, usually a woman, instead of a team of gardeners. Appearing haphazard or growing at random, these gardens actually were designed much like paintings, with an eye for composition using color, shape and texture.

Grandmother’s Gardens are the offshoots of American cottage gardens, which contain a diversity of plants, including vegetables and flowers for cutting. Recreating them means designing landscapes overflowing with hardy perennials, annuals and Native American plants. And with their abundance of old-fashioned flowers, Grandmother’s Gardens are not the easiest gardens to manage and keep in-bounds. It takes thought to plant the right combinations of historic flowers, and an effort to start at least some heirloom plants from seed, which is time-consuming and not for the impatient gardener. It's perfectly fine and easy to find seedlings and plants of heirloom varieties, and that makes planning and maintaining your garden easier.

Besides the nostalgic value, heirlooms fit with trends of sustainability and local sourcing. And, some of them are so unique in appearance, they'll have visitors amazed when they see them. There is a certain wow factor attached to what seems to be under-utilized garden oddities, and they make valuable additions to any style of garden design. Many new gardeners will grow heirloom vegetables because of the taste and variety.

Some of the pass-alongs, like cone-flowers (Echinacea) and bee balm (monarda), are important in pollinator-friendly landscapes, wildflower meadows and prairie-style gardens. Heirloom perennials, like columbines, iris, peonies, lavender, poppies, daffodils, tulips and crocus; and annuals like zinnias, dahlias, calendula, hyacinth bean and nigella, can add a nostalgic touch to modern landscapes.

Growing heirloom vegetables is becoming increasingly popular, and can provide us with gastronomical glimpses into our agricultural heritage. Plants had strange-sounding names like Rat-tailed radish, dragon-tongue carrot, bloody butcher corn and rattlesnake bean. And then there are sentimental varieties, like Aunt Molly's ground cherry or Aunt Ruby's German green tomato. Heirloom flowers, like love-in-a-mist and kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate, bring romance to the garden.

Often called "heirloom seeds," the old varieties number in the thousands, making it difficult to choose a favorite. Heirlooms grow true from seed. That means if you gather up the seeds from this year’s tomatoes to plant next year, next year you’ll get very similar tomatoes. That’s not true of more modern hybrid tomatoes.

Many of the hybrids offered today are designed to be better suited for survival, offer a more consistent yield, and can be grown in a wider range of climates. But the recent increase in growing heirloom fruits and vegetables has caused many seed catalogs to carry these seeds, devoting entire sections to them. Nursery and seed catalogs often included collections of plants for those who had lost the plants of grandmothers’ gardens. Heirlooms are also available at garden centers and in catalogs. Burpee, Johnny’s Selected Seeds and Seed Savers Exchange are among heirloom seeds and plant sources. While heirlooms are tough, some are susceptible to diseases that hybrids resist. For example, modern tomatoes usually have some initials after their name indicating resistance to verticillium, fusarium and other common blights.

In order for plants to be considered heirlooms they must have three characteristics.

First of all, almost all heirlooms are open-pollinated varieties. Most of the seeds sold today are hybrids and seeds from these plants will usually take on the characteristics of just one of their genetic parents. Heirlooms will grow “true to type” from their seeds. This means seed-savers like Grandma can enjoy the identical variety year after year.

You should be able to trace heirloom varieties back fifty years or longer. Many of the heirloom vegetables available can be traced back even farther. Pre World War II seed catalogs are filled with today’s ‘heirlooms’. Commercial seed companies dropped most of these for the more durable hybrid counterparts. But, these heirlooms have been rediscovered and are beginning to become available again today. The fifty-year cut-off predates the most popular hybrids, and many of these early varieties are lost. But this makes today’s true heirlooms that much more valuable.

The final determining characteristic of heirloom vegetables is their histories. Many of these varieties were collected and saved by families and ethnic groups dating back to their European or South American counterparts. Seeds were gathered and saved, for the following season’s crop. This practice protected the genetic make–up that made the specific plant successful within each particular environment.

These base characteristics have become invaluable and the genetic strains of these vegetable forefathers are the backbone to today’s disease and drought-resistant hybrids. Professional seed houses collect and store these to preserve these characteristics to combat future unseen agricultural catastrophes.

There is a common myth that the heirlooms won’t be as resistant to pests and disease as their hybrid counterparts, but the fact is, heirlooms can handle conditions just as well, if not better, than comparable hybrids.

Tomatoes:

German Pink
It's called a "potato-leaf" type because the foliage resembles the leaves on potato plants. It produces 1- to 2-pound, meaty, full-flavored fruits. Excellent for sauces and slicing. Grandmothers served their grandchildren slices on a white platter, sprinkled with sugar.

Black Krim
Some of the most beautiful tomatoes you'll ever see. They’re deep maroon, and the flavor is rich

Mortgage Lifter
A plant breeder named M.C. Byles cross-bred his way into this tomato variety in the 1930s, and by the 1940s, he had sold so many plants that he paid off his $6,000 mortgage. The plants grow tomatoes between one and three pounds, and the pink-red fruit is super-tasty without many seeds.

Brandywine
Brandywines are among the most popular heirlooms, and they come in yellow, red, pink, and purple varieties They’re classic and full-flavored with just the right amount of acid. I don't think Brandywines ever fell out of favor.

Green Zebra
Approximately the size of a baseball. Lots of spicy, tart flavor.

Boxcar Willie
These tomatoes produce prolifically over a long season. They’re rounder than some of the other varieties, which makes them great for sammiches and to top your burgers..

Lettuce

Grandpa Admire's
George Admire was a civil war veteran born in 1822. Bronze-tinged leaves form loose heads. It stays crisp and sweet — even in extremely hot temperatures. It is slow to bolt and go to seed.

Beans

Purple-Podded Beans

This heirloom pole bean was discovered by Henry Fields (of the famous seed company) in an Ozark garden in the 1930s. Plants climb vigorously to 6 feet and are productive, flavorful and meaty. The 5-7" pods turn green when blanched in boiling water.

Moon and Stars
We thought this legendary melon was long-lost, but it was rediscovered by Seed Savers Exchange. The dark green oval melons are covered with pea-sized bright yellow "stars" and usually one larger "moon." The leaves also have the same design. The sweet pink flesh is excellent. Matures in 90-95 days and is well worth the long wait..

Dill
Grandma Einck's
The fragrant heads are large with plump seeds, perfect for dill pickles, summer salads or a beautiful filler for summer flower bouquets.

Nothing seems to astonish a gardener more than the abundance, the size and taste of an Heirloom Tomato.

Having a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes allows for gorgeous salads, preserves, and displays for the fair. There are lots of red beefsteak-type tomatoes to choose from and this is what most people grow. Other varieties have a different mix of acidity and sweetness for the ultimate test of a homegrown tomato – that amazing taste

Plant just three seeds per pot. You’re going to destroy the weakest of these seedlings. So there’s no need to plant more. If your seed has good germination all three seedlings will sprout. After these have their first true leaves, pinch out the two weakest seedlings from each pot. This will leave you one strong seedling to continue growing.

Use cinnamon to protect against damping-off and other fungal diseases. Sprinkle cinnamon on the soil when you first plant the seed. Water the pot from the bottom only. Reapply cinnamon after watering or if you see any white mold beginning to form on the surface of the potting soil.

Place your seed pots on the radiator (the old-fashioned heavy iron thing monstrosity that heated your rooms with steam). The heat will help germinate your seeds and grow your plants. Tomatoes love heat.

Before you plant the seedlings out in the garden, after the soil has warmed up and all danger of frost has passed, prepare the soil. Tomatoes need loose, fluffy soil and full sun.

When transplanting, plant the tomato plant a few inches lower than it was originally. It will form a stronger root system. Every inch of stem below the soil surface will produce roots, anchoring the vine. I like to plant mine with about half the height of it's stems underground to make them sturdy, shorter and bushier.

Provide consistent watering, at least an inch of water a week. Check the plants weekly for tomato hornworm, whitefly, mites, or flea beetle infestations. Inconsistent water can cause the tomatoes to split before they are ripe. Cherry tomatoes are especially susceptible. Mulching the soil surface, even on container-grown plants, can help.

Winning blue ribbons at the fair for her astounding tomatoes meant a lot to her.

For the largest tomatoes, train these special tomato plants to only one main stem.
Remove all suckers, so that the plant puts its energy into a strong support structure.
Easier said than done.... Allow only 3 to 5 tomatoes to develop per plant. I have never been able to do that - I want every tomato I can get.
Remove the immature fruit from the top of the vine.
Keep the fruit that is closest to the main stem.
If you follow these directions, the plant sets fruit and it won’t have to work as hard to grow big and heavy winners.

Plants were important, but equally significant were the gardens’ designs and uses. In an article in Better Homes and Gardens, “Quaint Beauty in Old-Time Gardens,” published in 1929, the writer said that “the old-time garden meant, first of all, privacy and seclusion and restful quiet: a place where one might enter in, shut the gate, and forget the world outside.”

She recommended a hollyhock lane or aisle of roses to border the walks. There should be sheltered seats and quiet nooks. It was a “place for the children to play, with secluded nooks in which elders might read and lovers might hide; a retreat for birds to nest and sing in, free from the ravages of wayfaring cats.” Picket fences, brick walls, and hedges might enclose it; bird baths and sun-dials might add to its beauty. All was to be assembled in a casual way, encouraging enjoyment, not admiration.

There were probably boxwood shrubs on either side of the front steps. If not boxwoods, then some kind of evergreen shrub, giving off a musty faint odor. Next to these were probably yellow bell (forsythia) bushes. At a special place of honor was usually a special rose bush, Grandma's pride and joy. It usually had a story attached to its origin. Sometimes it was a cutting started from a dear friend's bush, or had been carried a great distance to rest in that soil.

The back door, usually off the kitchen, sometimes had hollyhocks or sunflowers planted there. There was an old saying that if you planted a sunflower at your kitchen door and watered it everyday, you would be granted one wish. As for the hollyhocks, many little girls have made fancy dress lady dolls out of their blooms.

Every gardening grandmother worth her salt had planted both marigolds and zinnias. Many had "dinner plate" dahlias. Grandma was also quite partial to four o'clocks, snap dragons, sweet peas, petunias, nasturtiums and of course, roses.

A lot of the flowers were grown from bulbs and tubers carefully separated and replanted each year and shared with friends. These included daffodils, lily of the valley (in fact lilies of many different varieties), irises and "glads". Several old-fashioned flowers are perennials and die down to the ground, but come back year after year. Bleeding hearts, Lily of the Valley and Peonies are just a few. I love the sweet and heady fragrance, but I'm not so in love with the petals that fall from the Peony flowers placed in a vase that land on my furniture. Cut peonies require my digging up a pretty white or pink doily to place under the vase, so that the petal drop isn't so noticeable, and it won't hurt my tables. It gives me a reason to admire my vintage linens.

In every old-fashioned yard, there were flowering shrubs. Forsythia, of course, but there was also bridal veil spirea, snowball bushes, mock orange, and of course, lilacs. It was believed that lilacs wouldn't bloom until seven years after planting. One particular shrub, the "sweet bubbie" seemed to be planted most often near a bedroom window, so that on warm summer nights when the windows were open, the spicy-sweet smell of the little blooms would drift through the house. Today, we don't often open our windows in summer because we have air-conditioning. We sit in the garden or bring cut flowers indoors to fill vases.

Many old-fashioned flowers are recognizable as scents in today's perfumes, and they invariably bring Grandma to mind. Like lavender and Lily of The Valley, Lilac and Verbena. Many of the old articles in seed catalogs used lovely common names for flowers, “pretty-by-night” for balsam, “valley lilies” for lily of the valley, “marvel-of-Peru” for four o’clocks, “flags” or “flower de luce” for iris.

Suggested Flowering Plants For Your Grandmother's Garden Design

Many plants qualify as old-fashioned heirlooms. These are a few off the top of my head and from vintage seed and nursery catalogs.

Tuberose: The earliest account was that it was brought from the Indies by Father Theophilus Minuti, a Christian missionary, in about the year 1530.

Narcissus -Daffodil: Native of Europe, Asia and North Africa, daffodils were grown in Thomas Jefferson’s garden as well as those of Colonial Williamsburg. They were very popular with the Victorians as an early spring perennial.

Lily of the Valley: Used as a medicinal herb in medieval times, lily of the valley has a sweet and heavenly fragrance. Victorians used to pot up a few for the house to better enjoy the scent. Lily of the valley will last for years and spread steadily. Their blooming is short, though.

Bleeding Heart: Native to Asia, bleeding hearts began to appear in cottage gardens in the mid-19th century and became immediately popular. Gardeners were intrigued with their charming form, strings of deep pink hearts on a chain above lacy foliage and delighted that they appeared in early spring. Grown in the shade.

Iris: One of the oldest plants in cultivation. Through the centuries it has been used as a dye, as medicine, as a perfume, and as an infusion for brewing. Its swordlike leaves were used for thatching roofs and caning chairs. I have lots of different varieties of dwarf and re-blooming.

Foxglove: A native British plant, perennial foxglove was long-valued and used as a medicinal plant, and grown in cottage gardens. Later it became the source for the drug digitalin, prescribed for heart troubles. The bell-shaped flowers bloom in June in a long, one-sided cluster.

Canterbury bells: A stunning biennial, Canterbury bells have been cultivated for centuries in France, Italy and England. They were brought to America by the early settlers. In May and June, bell-shaped flowers form loose, spike-like clusters.

Roses: You cannot have a Grandmother's Garden without them. Shrubs, climbing and ground roses. Their petals have been used for fragrance, for cure-alls, for their hips containing enormous amounts of vitamin C. The Romans considered no banquet complete without rose petals strewn around the room. Tudors used rose water as cosmetic, put bags of petals on their eyelids to bring sleep, and made salves of the flowers. Victorians loved ramblers and climbers and made decorative, fragrant hedges of shrub roses. Today there are many old roses available. In addition there are modern shrub roses which have some of the best characteristics of the antiques.

Delphinium: Named “delphinium” because the bud of the flower was thought to look like a dolphin; this perennial makes a dramatic focal point in the garden. Because of its height, it is best grown against a fence or wall, or staked to protect it from the wind. Many vintage paintings of cottage gardens had delphiniums, hollyhocks, and foxgloves against walls and fences.

Larkspur: Often called the annual delphinium. It was well-known in early American gardens and beloved for its finely cut leaves and clusters of flowers. Blends beautifully with foxgloves, hollyhocks and delphinium.

Daylilies: An ancient plant that was grown in Asia and Greece, where it was served in soups and meat dishes. It is easy to grow and easy to divide and share. The lemon lily is an intensely fragrant and beautiful flower. Many daylilies begin blooming in mid-summer.

Hollyhock - Outhouse: Tall and stunning, hollyhocks embody the essence of grandmother’s garden, and have been grown in America since the colonists arrived. The large flowers, which bloom July to September surround the stalk all the way to the top. Also called “outhouse plant,” hollyhocks were planted next to the outhouse so that genteel visitors wouldn’t have to ask where the building was situated. A spectacular self-seeding biennial once established.

Lily: Tall, elegant and fragrant, some lilies have been grown for centuries. The Madonna lily is probably the oldest recorded of all. It was certainly grown as far back as the 10th century, and produces scented, pure white flowers. Lilies typically bloom mid-summer. I have lots of varieties of lily, most are dwarf or border lilies, and lots of spider and tiger. I'd say plant enough because there are early summer types and you can have beautiful cut flowers and amazing fragrance from May until mid-summer. You can find many old-fashioned varieties and in many sizes.

Phlox: A North American native popular in Victorian gardens. They are showy plants. The perennials can be 4 feet tall. Blooming in July and August, the flowers provide color in the mid- to late-summer garden. Add creeping phlox as a ground cover, and you can have blooms from early spring through fall. I wouldn't even bother with the annuals that have to be planted every year.

Sunflower: This annual is incredibly easy to grow, (mine grows from dropped birdseed) and it provides long bloom at summer’s end until frost. The color range is from red to pale yellow, with heads that can grow to 18 inches across. The sunflower is native to Central America and was domesticated in present day Mexico by at least 2600 B.C. Besides being beautiful, the flower is food for the birds as well as people. Leave the seed head on it to dry, and the birds will feast on it.

Love-in-a-Mist: First appeared in England around 1570. Every part of this plant is decorative: the leaves, blossoms and the striped seedpods. It is hard to resist popping the seedpods when they are green because they burst like little balloons.

Grandpa Ott Morning glory: they grow to more than 15 feet, covered with delicate velvet-petaled purple flowers. This is one of the original Bavarian varieties of morning glory.

Grandmother's Pincushion (Scabiosa) -Cottage garden favorites since the colonial era. Densely-petaled, frilly-centered flowers. Perfect for sunny borders, these long stemmed 2 to 3 inch “pincushion” flowers attract Monarch, Fritillary and Skipper butterflies.

A few of the flowers that were popular in these early gardens are rarely seen or found today.
Mignonette (Reseda odorata), a wonderfully-scented annual, was grown by many Victorians, though it made no great show. Like a lot of other old-fashioned plants, it first arrived as an herb. Its name, reseda, means “calm” and refers to its use as a sedative in Egypt. In France it was nicknamed “little darling” (mignonette) and was a favorite of Napoleon’s wife Josephine. Climbing fumitory (Adluma fungosa), an herbaceous biennial native from Minnesota to Maine, is now on the “threatened” plant list and is difficult to find.

Some of the common and familiar names are unfamiliar now. Red celosias were called “crimson woolflowers”; Lilium candidum was known as “annunciation lily” because it was often included in paintings of the Annunciation of Mary. “Heartsease” was the tricolor viola, “piny” was a peony. Yellow primroses were called “cowslips,” because they were often found in fields where cattle grazed. “Peter’s Wreath” was a reference to any of the spireas.

“Bouncing Bet” or soapwort (Saponaria officinalis) was once essential to the washerwoman for the lathery liquid made from boiling the leaves. It has a pretty pink flower in late summer. Because of its rapid growing habit (it’s invasive), it has lost favor among gardeners today. I say grow the invasives in pots to confine and enjoy them, and keep them dead-headed... cut off the spent blooms so seed doesn't escape and sprout. Also very rarely grown now, feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium) has been known as a medicine since medieval times. As its name suggests, it was generally used to treat headaches and fevers. Its habit of seeding everywhere is probably the reason today’s gardeners don’t plant it. It's a very pretty and clean-looking flower. And herbalists do grow it. It's found on the natural supplements shelves in stores everywhere as caps and liquids. Chamomile is also a must-have in a cottage or herbalist's garden. We all know the research about it concerning it's calming abilities and help with insomnia. And it's very pretty. I always mistake them for daisies.

Besides the flowers, there were listings of old-fashioned herbs for kitchen and medicinal gardens. These included wormwood (Artemisia absintheum), southernwood (Artemisis abromatum), hyssop (Hyssop officinalis), rue, (Ruta graveolens), and sorrel (Rumex crispus), as well as mints and lavender.

Many seed and plant nurseries offered hardy vines - wisteria, clematis, honeysuckle (Loniceria japonica) and jasmine or annual ones — morning glory (Ipomoea) or moon flower (Calonyction). Every porch, fence, arbor and clothesline pole was decorated with colorful climbers.

Seedsmen also recommended flowering shrubs, like the cascading bridal wreath (Spirea prunifolia), Japanese snowball (Viburnum plicatum), snowberry (Symphoricarpus albus) with its pure white berries, mock orange (Philadelphus coronarius) and, of course the fragrant spring bloomer, the lilac.

To begin your garden, draw out a plan, make it an informal garden design with a focal point like lilac, rose of sharon, or any tall shrub. Choose flowers that live in your memory of Grandmother's Garden, or create your own memory to pass along. Free design plans are available on this page, and you're sure to find one in any size and shape to design your rendition of Grandmother's Garden. Plans have suggested plants listed, but you can use the heirlooms listed on this page as substitutes.