In recent weeks leading up to our country’s 250th birthday, we have all been learning about our history. I really enjoy these history lessons. These lessons inspired me to look back at how gardening has evolved through this time.
In 1776 gardening did not exist as a hobby. Gardening today is a choice. We garden for many reasons, mostly for enjoyment. Gardening in 1776 was necessary for survival. Stores did not exist. Settlers in the colonies grew plants for food. They also grew plants for medicinal purposes.
Settlers learned to how to blend their European growing traditions with Native American crops. Staples included corn, cabbage, potatoes, beans, and squash, alongside salad greens like lettuce and root crops like carrots and beets.
Native Americans taught the settlers the growing practice known as “The Three Sisters.” Settlers adopted the highly efficient Native American practice of interplanting corn, beans, and squash. The corn stalk provided a trellis for climbing beans, while the large squash leaves acted as mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture.
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Lighting Sun Tulip and other tulips bloom at the Cincinnati Zoo And Botanical Garden in Cincinnati on Thursday, April 9, 2026. The flowers are part of the Zoo Blooms event throughout spring featuring more than one million daffodils, hyacinths, flowering trees, shrubs and other spring bulbed flowers.
(Albert Cesare/The Enquirer)
The colonies were mostly in northern climates where winter would end the growing season. The settlers had to grow certain foods that could be stored and used through the winter months.
Cabbage and potatoes were the most reliable vegetables. Since refrigeration did not exist, cabbage was heavily utilized for sauerkraut, allowing settlers to store vitamins through the winter. Root vegetables like carrots, beets, parsnips, and turnips, which were easily stored in root cellars or boiled into stews. Peas and semi-bush beans were eaten fresh in the summer and dried for winter soups.
In 1776 a garden served as a food pantry as well as a medicine cabinet. Many of you are probably growing a few of these plants that were grown then for medicinal purposes.
Peppermint was steeped into teas to treat upset stomachs, nausea and as a natural stimulant. Feverfew was brought from England. This daisy-like plant was highly valued by settlers to reduce fevers and prevent migraine headaches. German Chamomile was dried for tea to act as a mild sedative, promote relaxation and treat inflammatory conditions. Lavender was used to soothe headaches, relieve insomnia and calm frayed nerves.
The history of ornamental gardening began before the country gained its independence. Botanic gardens were being created in the early 1700s. John Bartram’s Garden, founded in 1728 in Philadelphia, introduced exotic ornamental specimens. This botanic garden is still going today.
Holly’s backyard native garden and Monarch Waystation. Sycamore Township resident Holly Talmage has been cited by the Township for weeds in her front yard that are part of her expanding Monarch Waystation which serve as a habitat for monarch butterflies as they migrate.
Ornamental gardening was only for the wealthy when the country was born. Founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington used their estates to experiment with ornamental flowers and exotic produce. Washington famously cultivated large fruit-and-nut spaces at Mount Vernon and built greenhouses for rare plants.
The Gilded Age & The Victorian Era in the late 1800s is when a fascination with imported decorative plants took off. During this time is when the wide use of bedding plants began.
During the rise of the suburbs around the turn of the 20th Century landscape architects popularized naturalistic designs and “curb appeal” for middle-class homes. By the 1900s, there were numerous horticultural societies and ladies’ garden clubs educating the public on flowers and aesthetics.
The demand for plants created the need for commercial availability starting in the 1920s. Nurseries like Monrovia pioneered selling container-grown, potted plants, giving everyday homeowners easy access to a variety of ornamentals rather than growing everything from seed.
Monrovia Nursery is still thriving today with nurseries in Oregon, California and Georgia. Monrovia is celebrating its 100-year anniversary this year. They grow many of the plants we sell at our store.
As we are celebrating the 250 years of the United States of America, I am very proud to help carry on the traditions of gardening we all share.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Gardening today is a choice. In 1776, it was necessary for survival
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