Do you remember your grandmother's garden? I remember mine. It boasted bright crimson oriental poppies and pale pink peonies that were carefully harvested each May to adorn the graves on Memorial Day. Along the north side of the house was a generous border of fragrant lily-of-the-valley. Red and yellow roses, a lilac, and saucer magnolia provided pastel seasonal interest. Zinnias and four-o'clocks blazed in warm color in accompaniment to summer heat.

"What roomy, grand old gardens were those of our grandmothers, and what beautiful things grew in them?"

Fred Colby,

Ladies Floral Cabinet, 1884.

When old-fashioned was in fashion

The Grandmother's Garden is a garden of old-fashioned flowers. It might surprise you to know that this style of garden flourished in the early 1900s, not only for sentimental reasons, but also for those who wanted to be on the cutting-edge of garden fashion. Just as we enjoy reviewing the cultivation of sentimental favorites, so did our grandparents and great-grandparents look to their ancestors for inspiration in garden-making.

Garden writers and nurseries promoted the appreciation of old-fashioned flowers in earlier times, as they do today. In its 1910 Autumn Catalogue, The New England Nurseries of Bedford, Massachusetts offered what they called the "Old Homestead Collection" that included 12 plants known to have been grown in the early nineteenth century - "we will furnish strong plants for $1.00, packed and delivered to the express office." Other nurseries offered similar groups of plants, one using the picturesque appellation of "Poke Bonnet Flowers."

Grandmother's Gardens were a reaction to the fashionable gardens of the late nineteenth century. A writer for the Ladies Floral Cabinet wrote in 1884, "In our modern gardens there is no coolness, no rest for the eyes, no refreshing beauty; it is all color, everything is arranged for effect." The garden at that time was a demonstration of managed chaos. Flower grew with vigor and in profusion in beds that may or may not have been well-defined.

Samuel Parsons, the superintendent of parks for New York City, wrote in his 1895 book Landscape Gardening, "But grandmother's garden was before all things, a productive flower garden. Unlike modern gardens, created for show alone, it was a real storehouse of color and odor, out of which one could, day after day, gather rich treasures, and yet leave its beauty apparently undimmed."

Families and neighbors

As you probably have guessed, gardens of old-fashioned flowers, or Grandmother's Gardens, are just as appropriate for homes today as they were 100 years ago. They provide sentiment, charm, and grace to antique and contemporary buildings. We can learn from those long-ago gardeners who looked to the relatively simpler lives of their forbears. They recognized old-fashioned flowers as survivors, plants that would flourish with very little care. Indeed grandmother's flowers had their own charm, often demonstrating bright colors and wonderful fragrance. Sweet Williams, hollyhocks, and lily-of-the-valley were among grandmother's flowers. Also included were the annual morning glories, bachelor's buttons, sweet peas, and marigolds.

Today gardeners can honor their grandmothers and grandfathers -and any number of "greats" - by growing plants with familial connection. My friend Tracy cultivates a Seven Sisters pink rose passed down to her by her grandmother, who was one of seven sisters. I recently met a lady who grew a peony that had been transplanted over and over, from house to house, as her family moved over several generations. Peonies are the quintessential old-fashioned plant, surviving centuries in the right environment. When the mothers of two dear friends both passed away within a year of each other, friends of the family organized to make a garden to honor the grandmothers, featuring roses and zinnias, and blackberries - yes, blackberries - that were emblematic of those honored women.

Many Grandmother's Garden flowers are pass-along plants, that is, plants that can be easily propagated and "passed along" between friends and neighbors, and from generation to generation. In my Virginia neighborhood there is a ubiquitous iris, blue in color, which graces every landscape. One can imagine that many years ago, one gardener had an over abundance of this plant and began to share it. The recipients also shared the iris until it became truly symbolic of the spirit of the community. A true grandmother's flower.

Most will plan their Grandmother's Garden around plants, rather than starting with a designed form. In a typical Grandmother's Garden of the past the flowers were arranged either in borders or in geometric beds. Plants were chosen for sentiment and for durability rather than with the aim of making painterly color combinations. A long flowering season was also important. Early spring bloomers like snowdrops and crocus started the show, followed by basket-of-gold, tulips, peonies, and iris. Midsummer bloomers included perennial phlox and annual poppies. Golden chrysanthemums and tall boltonia ended the autumn display.

My mother-in-law made a garden surrounded by the native flint rock of her home in Albany, Georgia. When she reached her 90s and her house was sold, we disassembled the garden and moved the rocks to central Virginia. In an exception to the more usual practice, the structure became more important than the plants. As my family moves again, this time to New York State, Grandmother's rocks are moving again... a constant reminder of an avid and conscientious gardener of the past. To accompany the flint rocks, she grew many herbs such as the thyme and lavender, and sweetly scented pink roses. So will I.

About the author: Denise Adams is a garden historian and consultant.

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For Your Grandmother’s Garden

Ten herbaceous perennial favorite old-fashioned flowers:

Old Garden Pink (Dianthus plumarius) - The garden pink and also its close relative the biennial Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) were denizens of the old-time garden. They thrive best in a sunny location in well-draining soil. Many antique pinks have been preserved for cultivation by modern gardeners.

Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) - The European columbine was one of the first "exotic" plants of which we have record from early gardens. Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony first ordered seeds in the mid-1600s. As they say, "the rest is history..." Grow the columbine in semi-shade and allow it to self-seed.

Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis) -Discovered in the early 1800s, bleeding heart was lost to cultivation and rediscovered in 1846. Gardeners were enthralled with its exquisite form and beautiful color. Grow bleeding heart in a shady site in moist, well-draining soil for ultimate vigor.

Day Lily (Hosta lancifolia) - In Grandmother's world the common hosta was known either as a day lily or as "funkia." The two types that gardeners most often grew were the lance-leaf hosta and the fragrant-flowered, plantain lily (Hosta plantaginea). Like the bleeding heart, a shady, moist and well-draining site is the best location.

Homestead Lily (Hemerocallis fulva) - Our common orange day lily was affectionately known a century or two ago as the "homestead lily" - and in my neighborhood today as the "ditch lily." Nothing else compares with its cheerful, bright orange hue in mid-summer gardens. Chose a sunny site, but this day lily is quite tolerant about other aspects of cultivation.

Fleur-de-lis (Iris germanica) - Bearded iris are very familiar to lovers of the old-fashioned garden. Among the earliest forms still in cultivation is the pale blue Florentine iris. This iris is a source of orris root, used in the making of fragrant potpourri. The Historic Iris Preservation Society (HIPS) has been successful in preserving many heirloom iris varieties.

Hollyhock (Alcea rosea) -Our grandmothers enjoyed the single hollyhock in many shades of red, pink, and white as their Grandmother's flower. The double hollyhock was a new and fashionable flower in the early 1900s so it qualifies as a wonderful old-fashioned flower in the twenty-first century. One early writer wrote "No one can have too many hollyhocks. Plant them in the back of borders among the shrubbery, along fences, and in good clumps in any odd corner, or around buildings; they are never amiss, and always beautiful." (Helena R. Ely, 1903)

Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis) - The fragrant lily-of-the-valley is still much admired for its durability and subtle character in a shady border. Although the familiar white bells have been grown most often, nineteenth-century gardeners also knew the pink lily-of-the valley and, less frequently, the striped-leaf lily-of-the-valley.

Peony (Paeonia spp.) - Also called the "century plant," the peony can flourish for generations in a garden. Occasionally you will see peonies outlining a pathway in an old neglected landscape, perhaps originally to a privy. The old-timer Festiva Maxima is a survivor from earlier days; a white double peony with red flecks in its heart.

Phlox (Phlox) - Nursery catalogs of the nineteenth century listed almost a thousand different named varieties of the native perennial phlox. Of these, only two remain in cultivation: the snowy white "Miss Lingard" and the violet "Iris." Phlox provides mid- to late summer decorative satisfaction in a sunny border.