The steamer trunk from Great Aunt Lucille’s attic, an antique platter, and a rusty tool from a local auction carry a sense of history, of the past and the people who used them. This holds true for plants, too. Plants can bring to mind historical events or places and times past. Witness Trees are reminders of historic events and places. Locally, witness trees can be found in Gettysburg standing for hundreds of years and being present during the Civil War battle. The Gass Garden at the Agricultural Heritage Building on Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg, memorializes the leading role of a native son, Patrick Gass (pronounced Goss), in an important event in U.S. history – the Lewis and Clarke Expedition of 1804-1806. The garden presents a horticultural and historical experience, including educational signage, which demonstrates the importance of plants and agriculture in a young and expanding America. A variety of plants, either found during the expedition or documented to be growing locally in the 18th and early 19th century, are growing in the garden. This year some of these historically-linked plants will be available for sale at the May 20 Master Gardener plant sale. Featured in the Gass Garden is the beautiful pink- to pale lavender-flowered Wild Cleome (Cleome serrulata seen above) that was found and collected over 200 years ago by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The expedition collected three pressed specimens which are still preserved in Philadelphia’s Lewis and Clark Herbarium. Teresa Prendusi, U.S. Forest Service Regional Botanist, notes that this is “one of the showiest wildflowers in the western and prairie regions of the United States.” The nectar-filled blossoms of this plant, also known as Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, attract a variety of pollinators including bees, butterflies, wasps and hummingbirds. This species has a long blooming season lasting from June through September and can grow up to 4 feet tall. Gardeners can expect lots of seeds to plant for next year’s blooms. It is drought-tolerant, does not like a damp location and grows in sun or part shade. The Prairie Wild Rose (Rosa arkansana), a plant specimen collected during the Expedition, also grows in the Gass Garden. In May this low shrub begins to bloom with pink flowers which are heavily fragrant. Blooms continue until August and the autumn foliage turns orange-red. The bright red rose hips provide food for birds and wildlife in winter. Once established, plants spread by rhizomes and the roots extend deep into the soil. This habit gives it resistance to drought and fire. The Prairie Wild Rose was among the few species that fared well during the 1930’s droughts in the American Dust Bowl. This plant is also the floral emblem of North Dakota. The Oregon Grape Holly (Mahonia aquifolium) is an evergreen shrub with smooth, glossy leaves. Also a plant specimen collected on the expedition it is known that Native Americans made a yellow dye from the bark of this shrubby species. The Latin name honors Bernard McMahon, an 18th-19th century American horticulturalist. It is the floral emblem of Oregon. It has bright yellow flowers early in the spring. Tom Butzler, Penn State Educator, notes that flowers are “very attractive and visible above the evergreen foliage. The bright yellow blooms, along with their slight fragrance, not only draw the attention of a passerby but also many early season pollinators.” The plant does well in shade or part shade but is best placed away from winter winds. To get the most berries, plant more than one plant in the yard. Wild hydrangea plants (Hydrangea arborescens) produce large white flowers during the summer. This is a plant of the historical period that the Gass Garden commemorate. The ‘Annabelle’ variety also has an interesting back story. In 1910, young Harriet Kirkpatrick was horseback riding through the woods near her home in Anna, Illinois, when she noticed a wild hydrangea. Its snowball-like blooms were much larger than the others. She dug it up, planted it in her garden and shared cuttings with friends. In the 1960's horticulturist J.C. McDaniel propagated it in his nursery and it was introduced as ‘Annabelle’ after the belle of Anna who discovered it. 'Annabelle', the best known cultivar of this native shrub species, is one of the most cold-hardy of the hydrangeas. It blooms early to late summer and is usually 3 to 4 feet tall. Although it can grow in full sun with consistent watering it blooms better in partial shade in our area. Even our vegetables have interesting histories. New to our greenhouse inventory this year is the Cherokee Chocolate tomato. These very productive plants, bearing 12 oz. fruits, are a variety of the Cherokee Purple plant from Tennessee cultivated by the Cherokee tribe. Cherokee Chocolate has developed a great following among celebrity chefs because of its exceptionally rich, complex tomato flavors and wonderful chocolaty appearance. The Amish and Mennonite communities have contributed heirloom varieties of peppers and tomatoes. As with most heirlooms, they may not be pretty but they taste great. The Hinkel Hatz pepper is named for fruits the size and shape of chicken hearts – a translation of hinkel hatz. It is a rare Pennsylvania Dutch heirloom dating to before 1880. The peppers are usually red or yellow, though an even more rare orange variant exists preserved among a small group of Mennonite farmers in Maxatawy, Pennsylvania. This has been cultivated for over 150 years. The peppers were traditionally used in pickled form as well as cooked and pureed into a "pepper vinegar" similar to Tabasco sauce. The first heirloom tomato to achieve "cult status," the Brandywine is a pink, Amish variety from the 1880’s. Burpee® listed a Brandywine in their 1886 catalog and Johnson and Stokes listed a variety called Brandywine in 1889. The seed was sent to Seed Savers Exchange collection from Ohio in 1982 with information that the Sudduth-Hill family had been seed saving for over 80 years. The Amish Paste tomato variety may have originated in the 1870’s with the Amish in Medford, Wisconsin. Later, Amish Paste was “discovered” in the heart of Lancaster County, PA, when seeds were acquired by Heirloom Seeds from Lancaster Amish farms. Fish peppers date to the early 1800's when they were grown by African Americans in Philadelphia and Baltimore. They were used by black chefs to make white paprika for fish and shellfish cream sauces, a secret ingredient passed down through oral history. The white pods were used where red peppers would detract from the dish's appearance. The story of these peppers’ mid-1900's rediscovery may be due to a barter made by men trading bees for seeds. In the 1940’s, Horace Pippin of West Chester, Pennsylvania, sought a unique remedy for his war wounds. Learning that bee stings may relieve the pain of his wounds, Pippin bought bees from H. Ralph Weaver. In exchange, Pippin offered what he had -- tons of interesting vegetable seeds, including the rare fish pepper. It was made available to the public in the 1995 Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook. Comments are closed.
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AuthorCarol Rhoades Kagan, Chambersburg, PA CategoriesArchives
November 2020
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2023 Franklin County Master Garden Plant Sale | our blog & notes |