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.
Campions are perennial flowers commonly grown in flower beds, indoor pots, and tubs. Lychnis coronaria [LIK-niss] [kor-oh-NAR-ee-uh], also known as Silene coronaria and rose campion, is the most popular Campion a flowering
Few flowers have gained greater popularity in recent years than the many kinds of hybrid lilies. These glamorous bulbs, like Asiatic lilies from the far corners of the world, in
Picture to yourself an enormous factory manned by innumerable workers, each one assigned to his task of converting raw materials into more finished goods. Each worker toiling endlessly, never off
Want to light a floral bonfire? Then try some plants of the mesembryanthemum group (ice plant) in your garden or on your pot plant shelf. Probably no other plants offer
Provide your vegetable garden with full sun for at least half the daylight hours. Plant it in well-drained soil, which can be kept moist and free of weeds. Then go
The first spring flowers will be greeting the eye any day now. There will be chionodoxas, snowdrops, scillas, narcissus, hyacinths, tulips and other spring flowers. Snow has receded leaving a
A number of summer flowering bulbs have been available for years but too few of us grow them. They have many distinct uses but especially are they useful to those
If you are searching for a shrub that will add beauty to your grounds the summer through, plant forsythia – plenty of them. This floral bush is one of the
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I have always been fascinated with old horticulture images and the detail they provide. No digital camera to shoot a 100 different images then pick! This above image is of