What plants/flowers would have been historically planted in the midwest at the turn of the century?

My home (built 1917) had well-known gardens back in the %26#039;20s and we want to restore them. Does anyone know what sort of plants or flowers would have been common then? And which will keep the gardens looking colourful %26amp; lush in at least 3 of the seasons? (I%26#039;m in the Great Lakes region)

What plants/flowers would have been historically planted in the midwest at the turn of the century?
Most certainly there would have been Hollyhocks, Cosmos, Roses, Salpiglossis, Zinnias, Heliotrope, Phlox, Delphinium, Lupines; and occasionally some exotics such as Canna %26amp; Eremurus.





Victorian %26amp; English gardens were still very popular into the 1920%26#039;s, so many of those plants may have been in your original garden scheme.
Reply:Peri winkle, peonies, rose of sharon, yellow and red and yellow and pink wild roses, dog woods, azaleas, horseradish, rhubarb, tansy, dill, sage, lavender, little violets, tulips, lilies, lilacs., iris. That should give you a start.
Reply:For sure there would have been daisies,poppies,bleeding heart,geraniums and peonies.


I envy you being able to do this.Have fun and talking to your local lawn and garden store would likely be helpful to you also.


Good Luck.
Reply:The things that I remember from my childhood home, built in the 1800%26#039;s in MN are: lily of the valley, ferns, peonies, lilac, day lilies (those orange ones), hydrangea, viburnum, bridal wreath, hollyhocks, flowering fruit trees - plum and apple, roses - single flowers, very fragrant. All these things are low maintainence - that%26#039;s why they survived.





I would guess that sweet william, daffodils and phlox were also common.
Reply:Our little community in western N Dakota uncelebrated it%26#039;s centennial this summer. We Master Gardeners in the area built a %26#039;homestead garden%26#039; at our local museum and stocked it with plants common at the turn of the century. Many of the plants came from my gardens. I%26#039;ve been collecting these plants for years from area cemeteries, abandoned towns, farms and ranches. Some have names and stories attached most have nothing more than a description like %26#039;yellow rose from Tete%26#039;s ranch%26#039;. !917 is recent history and a trip to a local nursing home will supply you with all the info you need and make some friends as well. RScott



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