Vintage Archives

Vintage Gardening – What exactly is it?

After World War II, homeownership rapidly expanded. Homeowners began to landscape their new homes and plant a garden.

Much of the excitement from planting and growing a garden came from the adventure of the unknown. New discoveries of soils, what plants to grow along with pests and diseases they encountered.

The knowledge learned came from the sharing of plants and information across the fence. The success and failures came from trial and error.

The 1940s, 50s, and 60s were, in my opinion, the “Golden Age of Gardening” in the United States.

Over the last 50 years of growing plants, I have had the opportunity to meet some wonderful growers, houseplant enthusiasts, collectors, landscape designers, hybridizers, plant specialists, and overall great lovers of plants.

I’ve expanded my knowledge by sharing my plant adventures, and gained much more from others’ experiences and learning from them. I’ve also found myself fascinated with the knowledge from that grand golden age period of gardening.

Over the past 15-20 years, I’ve read and collected 1,000’s of articles from that Golden Age.

Some of the vegetable plants, annuals, perennials, shrubs, and flower varieties you’ll not find at the local garden center. Other plants have been selected, hybridized, and improved upon with familiar names.

In these articles, the writers shared their experiences, tips, tricks, success, discoveries, and warnings.

There is much to learn from these plant pioneers and a pleasure to share their learned lessons.

NOTE: These articles appear with minimum edits. Some plant varieties are no longer available, the names of some plants have been changed and or reclassified.