LaSalle County Historical Society and Illinois Valley Herb Guild Garden - National Garden Month

It is rare to find a public garden that is only there to be an herb garden. I find one every now and then but most gardens we visit have herb gardens as part of a larger garden, rather than the main focus of the experience.  The garden I am focusing on today is just an herb garden.  It focuses on many useful aspects of herbs but it is only an herb garden.

taken March 2015, the garden is still asleep

Located near the one room school house of the LaSalle County (Illinois)Historical Society I have visited this garden many times starting in 2015.  I took photos of it when it was still dormant and cold in March, another time in June during early growth in a rain storm and finally in 2016 when it was the end of the season in October.

This garden is maintained by volunteers so sometimes when I visit it is overgrown and untrimmed, but it is obviously well cared for by the Illinois Valley Herb Guild. 

taken 6-25-15

The Guilds’ herb garden is planted in a traditional homesteading style in four beds defined by the major uses for which the plants were grown in the 1800s. Dyes, Culinary, Medicine and Fragrance are the themes used in the garden.  I like the four-square design and plants included.  I think all the plants used in the garden have roots in the 1800s, but I think not all would be found on the 'frontier.'  But I am not certain what definition of frontier they are using, so I could be wrong. 

Since this garden is only about 12 by 24 feet, constructed with a center X path dividing the plot into 4 rectangular beds.  There is no need for a tour, so instead I thought I would show some of the variety of plants they have in the garden.  

Taken 10-28-16 

This garden was planted probably around 2010 and as a result has some age and many of the plants have reached some spread and have taken hold in their locations and flourished.  It is a joy to walk through and see the plants and touch the scented leaves.  A booklet was published detailing many of the plants in the garden back in 2011 and you can get it from the LaSalle County Historical Society in Utica, Illinois.

I love the groupings and the way the plants are labeled.  I think someone made the labels by hand.

There were several plants I had never grown before in the beds which allowed me to see the mature look of the plant as you rarely can in a nursery setting.  Lady's Bed Straw and Germander are historically interesting plants and to see them in a garden bed was a joy, especially since I have never grown them myself..

Flowering Lady's Bed Straw in June

Lady's Bed Straw is named so because it is thought to be the plant used in the Manger for the Baby Jesus. In the Galium family it is a cousin of Sweet Woodruff, and is another European introduced plant that grows well in Northern Illinois. When in flower they are highly fragrant and hold their scent while dry.  There is a chemical in Lay's Bed Straw that will curdle milk causing it to be used as an ingredient in the making of cheese.  The flowers can be used for making yellow dye and was used to color butter.  It is an all purpose herb which is perfect for a frontier garden.

Germander just getting serious in June.

Germander is used these days as a scented ornamental wreath plant, but traditionally it was used as a treatment for gout.  It is an Mediterranean plant and would have been brought to the US by European settlers. This is probably the creeping versus upright variety due to the short stature and it works as a lawn substitute and grows well in shade and with drought conditions.  I am thinking of adding it to my side yard which is both shaded and dry.  It flowers purple in summer.

Flowering from June to frost, this was enjoying the summer when I snapped this photo

Thread leaf tickseed was popular in 19th century ornamental gardens, but although you can use it as a dye in certain circumstances I think it was less a frontier herb as a landscape plant in more urban areas, especially along the east coast in the 1900s.  I love to grow this, but it is a serious self-seeder, so I put it in pots rather than in the ground to keep the seeds contained.

Clary Sage

I got the best picture of Clary Sage I have ever taken while at this garden.  Even the one in my own garden never looked as nice as this one. Clary Sage is an old plant.  Used by the Quakers in PA, it is a perfect frontier plant.  The aromatherapy benefits include reduction of stress and anxiety.  It is also an anti-inflammatory herb and an antibacterial.

Winter Savory in flower in June

Winter Savory is always a good edge plant and this garden placed on the edge.  I suspect someone came by and trimmed it up shortly after I took this photo.  Winter savory takes on a nice shape if kept trimmed.  And being a perennial it only gets better with time.

St John's Wort flowers look bright even on a cloudy rainy day.

This plant flowers around the Summer solstice in June, (near St. John's Day on the 24th) which is how it gets the name St. John's Wort.  The flowers make a great herbal tincture that is red in color rather than yellow as the flowers might suggest.  The infused alcohol can then be used to treat various ailments, including anxiety and depression.   Historically it was believed to be a panacea that could cure almost anything.

Sorrel going strong in October

French Sorrel is an herb I have never grown.  Considered one of the bitter herbs, it was used by the Egyptians and the Romans to impart a bitterness or acidity to foods, much like we do with lemon juice today.  It can be eaten as a green, with a taste similar to a sour green apple it is in nice counter part to other sweeter foods. 

Flax in October, not tall enough to harvest

Flax is also part of the garden, but my guess is this plant would not have been in the garden as much as it would have been in a field nearby.  Flax was grown extensively in Illinois as a crop for making linen fabric.  To process flax you need a good flowing water source.  This garden is right along a canal which makes it a great place to grow flax but more abundance would give you the flax you needed to weave into cloth.  The process for making fiber from flax to create linen is very harsh and hard on people and the environment, so once cotton was more easily available Flax was abandoned as a cash crop.

taken 10-26-16

After my second visit we stopped in the nearby museum and I picked up a little booklet called "The LaSalle County Historical Society's Settler's Herb Garden" which details photographically many of the plants in the garden with a short one or two sentence description of the use of the plant.  The only thing the book is missing is a bit of information on why they chose the plants they did for the garden, as I am curious.

This garden is near Seneca, Illinois, where my husband and I intend to retire and raise herbs in the next few years, so I will be visiting this garden again, and I recommend you do as well if you are ever along the I&M canal or the Illinois River near Starved Rock.  The address of the museum is 101 E Canal Street, North Utica, Illinois and the garden is east of the parking area beside the one-room school house building.