Saving a piece of the past does not have to be as daunting as building a museum, restoring an old house or buying antique furniture.
The answer may be as close as the backyard garden.
Shan Kerber, who sits on the board of directors of the Seager Wheeler Farm near Rosthern, Sask., says a heritage garden is an excellent way to preserve the past without spending a lot of time, money and energy.
“It can be anything you want it to be,” she said.
Read Also
Interest in biological crop inputs continues to grow
It was only a few years ago that interest in alternative methods such as biologicals to boost a crop’s nutrient…
“If you want it to be specific to the site, it means you’ll have to search a little harder.”
But heritage gardens don’t have to be fancy, Kerber said.
“A heritage garden is simply one where the old favorites of long ago are still grown.”
Kerber is one of several Rosthern-area residents who helped restore the farm of Seager Wheeler, the internationally acclaimed farmer and plant breeder who gained world attention earlier this century for his work breeding new wheat and horticultural varieties suitable for the Prairies.
She said the heritage flower beds are as important at the national historic site as the restored buildings, antique farm equipment and interpretive centre.
While not all the flowers grown on the farm can be considered heritage material, Kerber said one of the flower beds was originally planted by Wheeler and his family 50 to 70 years ago. It consists of irises, columbine, monk’s hood and delphiniums.
Some varieties of peonies imported from the United States descend from stock first developed in the 1820s.
Some of the trees on the farm, including a ponderosa pine, a little leaf linden, an oak and an apple tree, were also planted by Wheeler.
And some of the rose bushes that adorn the front of the interpretive centre are the Seager Wheeler variety he developed.
“We can’t replicate the gardens exactly the way he had them because we don’t really know what he grew, as far as flowers go,” Kerber said. “But we would like to keep things as close as possible to what they were like when he lived here.”
She said growing a heritage garden isn’t difficult, because the early settlers have already proven heritage varieties can grow on the Prairies.
“Generally they had to grow things that were suitable for the climate and things that would survive the winter. I’m sure they learned by trial and error.”
She said people may discover many of the plants recommended for a heritage garden are already grown in their own yards.
Karen Jantzen, the farm’s gardener, said the design of a heritage garden isn’t a significant factor.
“French kitchen gardens, for example, had a certain shape, but I don’t suppose others have to be laid out exactly that way.”
The varieties that are selected, on the other hand, are crucial.
“To do a heritage garden,” said Kerber, “you need to find the types of flowers that were grown there, and then find a seed source or a plant exchange.”
She said the Seager Wheeler project got help from the University of Saskatchewan, the provincial agriculture department, seed catalogues and local gardeners.
“It might also be as simple as asking your neighbors, depending on how old your neighbors are, and if they liked to garden.”
Ramsay King, a master gardener trained at the U of S, said old fabric, dishes and embroidered pillow cases provide information about which flowers were popular a long time ago.
“If you can make your garden look like old-fashioned curtain borders, it’s what a lot of people would like.”
He said provincial horticultural journals are another good source of heritage plants. Dating back to the turn of the century, King said the journals are an annual list of the varieties that were introduced that year, which company brought them to the province and who was selling them.
He said railway companies used to provide their station masters with handbooks designed to help them look after themselves, including sections on gardening and what varieties to plant. Horticultural clubs are another source of information.
King said early settlers planted gardens from seeds they either brought themselves or that were mailed to them by friends and relatives.
He said plants that should not be planted in a heritage garden include varieties like hosta, tea roses and impatiens, which are Asian varieties that must be planted as live plants and not from seed.
“If you want a rule of thumb,” said King, “if you can grow it from seed, it’s probably OK.”
King volunteers his time working in the backyard of Saskatoon’s Marr Residence, the oldest building in the city that still sits on its original foundation. Built by the Marr family in the 1880s, the house has been restored to give people an idea of what life was like 100 years ago.
King’s contribution is a heritage herb garden in a six-foot square wooden flower bed. It contains medicinal plants, ornamental plants and herbs used for cooking.
He said Mrs. Marr would probably have liked to see many of these plants in her backyard, but doubts she would have had much time to grow them, since she had a house and five children to look after.
“Her backyard would have been filled with dirty clothes.”
While a lot of emphasis is put on planting heritage gardens that reflect our pioneer past, King said families can create their own heritage gardens by planting things that remind them of special people and places.
“Memories of granny’s place and what you do with your own place is your own heritage,” he said.
