Cultivating knowledge and appreciation of history is one of the Hanby House’s main goals – and it’s accomplished quite literally though the house’s historical garden.
The historical home, which has been a state memorial since 1937, has its garden set up to mirror a 19th-Century garden and keep a piece of the past in the present.
The garden is maintained by members of the Westerville Garden Club, itself a part of the city’s history – it was founded in 1947. Since 2005, the club has been planting perennials, annuals and vegetables in the garden, adding and replacing the mix every season. Club members work hard to ensure that the Hanby garden looks just as beautiful as it would have in 1850 by weeding and watering every week throughout the summer, and conducting a clean-up and adding manure every October.
The Hanby House was part of the 2011 WesterFlora, a non-competitive tour that highlights notable gardens in Westerville. The gardens are meant to showcase the most diverse and impressive horticultural landscapes the city has to offer, and the Hanby House garden was chosen for its rich culture and multifaceted design.
“We picked out loads of plants for the vegetable garden,” says club member Marjorie Gulermovich. “(We bought) all kinds of herbs – more than I think we ever could have fit in the space.”
Gulermovich practiced gardening in Kansas but moved to Westerville after her husband died. The Garden Club allowed her to establish herself in the community and continue to pursue her passion, she says.
The garden is laid out in four sections.
One is for culinary herbs.
“Here we have dill, garlic chives, lemon balm, purple basil, parsley – the list goes on,” says Joyce Beecroft, chairwoman of the Hanby House Garden Committee.
Next, the committee plants a section of fragrance and dye plants, including blue false indigo, eucalyptus, lavender, thyme, valerian (a hardy, fragrant pink or white perennial) and woad (a flowering plant used for blue dye).
“These plants would have been used primarily for dyeing clothes or making candles,” says Beecroft.
The third section is full of vegetables, from carrots, Brussels sprouts and cucumbers to tomatoes, potatoes and turnips. The typical 19th-Century household relied heavily on a vegetable garden to feed the family, and the Hanby House garden has something for every season in it, Beecroft says.
“Absolutely anything that was extra was stored for winter,” she says.
The garden’s final quarter is used to grow medicinal plants.
“These gardens were so important because families used plants to heal the body when medicine wasn’t as advanced as it is now,” says Beecroft.
Among those plants are comfrey, an herb to protect against foot-and-mouth disease; purple cornflower, which Native Americans used to treat everything from snake bites to the common cold; foxglove, which is still used as a diuretic; horehound, which was used to protect against coughs; and feverfew, which helps prevent migraine headaches and is visually appealing to boot.
Lauren Andrews is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
RECIPE
Cream of Leek and Potato Soup
Ingredients
-3 cups sliced leeks – white and tender green parts
-3 cups peeled and diced baking potatoes
-6 cups water
-1 ½ tsp. salt
-½ cup cream or half-and-half
-Sour cream and fresh chives to taste
Directions
In a heavy saucepan, bring the leeks, potatoes, water and salt to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are tender. Taste to correct seasoning.
Puree in blender or food processor. Return to saucepan and whisk in cream or half-and-half, and carefully reheat.
Top each serving with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle each with fresh chives.
