Middle Tennessee Herb Gardens Feature Heritage Plants

In partnership with: Tennessee Department of Agriculture

Elaura Guttormson recalls an unusual conversation with a woman visiting the herb garden at the Tennessee Agricultural Museum in Nashville who admitted that she grows a wide swath of mint in her yard, just so she can mow it and release the aroma. “At the time, I thought it was kind of funny,” says Guttormson, the museum’s director. “But then, in hindsight, that’s part of the purpose of why we even have herbs. They’re for seasoning and medicinal purposes, but honestly, even the pioneers would grow it just because it smelled good. They’d put it in their bathwater or in their windows so that when the sunlight hit, it would encourage that smell. It was their version of scented candles.”

This is exactly the kind of fun fact Guttormson wants guests to learn when they visit the museum’s garden, one of several at historic sites in Middle Tennessee. Some are painstaking in their historical accuracy; others more broadly represent the kind of plants grown here for centuries.

Garden-Hopping

At the Tennessee Agricultural Museum, a designated plot with spearmint – which Guttormson says is a “voracious grower” – along with rosemary, thyme, lemongrass and other herbs, comes up every year next to a cluster of historic cabins that give a glimpse of life in the 1800s. Students participate in hands-on explorations through spring and summer programs, and the museum is expected to launch a new socially distanced First Fridays initiative for small groups in 2021.

Also located in Nashville, the heirloom herb gardens at Travellers Rest, the Croft House, The Hermitage and the Polk Home are open to the public.

The culinary garden at Travellers Rest lies just steps away from the kitchen at what was once a working plantation. In 2018, the neglected plot was restored to its original state and became an outdoor classroom where kids learn about how each herb was used, including as medicine for enslaved people, while brushing their hands across the plants, sending the heady scent into the air.

At the 1810 Federal-style Croft House at Grassmere Historic Home and Farm on the Nashville Zoo property, a culinary herb garden sits behind the kitchen. The zoo’s gift shop even offers a cookbook of dishes prepared during that era.

A lush English-style garden of vintage roses, irises and herbs at The Hermitage – the former home of Andrew Jackson and his wife, Rachel – features only pre-Civil War plants brought by early residents. Rachel, who died in 1828, is buried in her beloved garden.

South of Nashville, in Columbia, the Polk Home has a cobblestone garden with a fountain, flowering plants and period-specific herbs, such as mint and lemongrass. Here, at President James K. Polk’s only remaining residence outside the White House, schoolkids learn about how the plants were nurtured, including the practice of placing certain herbs beside other plants to keep the deer and slugs from nibbling.

See more: Tennessee Community Gardens Plant Seeds of Change

Yesterday to Today

No matter how large or small, herb gardens play an important role in educating visitors at these historical sites. “It teaches students and adults about the resourcefulness of people in the past,” Guttormson says. “Sometimes it’s easy to think of the past as a scary time since people didn’t have access to the same standard of health care – but that’s not really fair. They still found ways to take care of themselves and to improve their lives. A lot of the medicines that we have today are based off herbal remedies and a lot of the foods that we have still borrow from what people in the past have done.”

Recently, herbs surged to the forefront again as part of the pandemic gardening boom.

“In the garden, you can calm down,” she says. “And then it’s rewarding because you get to smell the herbs or make the yummy food. It has an end goal, and people are looking for that right now.”

For more information about the Tennessee Agricultural Museum, visit tn.gov/agmuseum.