| Seventeenth Century Plants
1600-1699
Most American gardens of the 17th century were simple affairs. Beds were often raised, and laid out in symmetrical patterns of squares, rectangles and triangles, reflecting the European style of the period. Flowers and herbs wee grown together in a hodgepodge, not for beauty – they were grown to provide necessary materials for flavoring, dyeing and doctoring. Here also would be found a few of the household vegetables, although the majority of food plants would be found in a separate vegetable garden, which was given the best soil and sun exposure. Always fenced against animals, in rural areas the gardens would be surrounded with rough materials such as stumps, brush, stones or rough rails and paling. In the few fancy gardens, the fence would be made of more elegantly worked materials. These kitchen gardens would usually be found conveniently attached to the side or rear of the house. Nearly all of the culinary and important medicinal herbs also belong to this period.
| Plants | Plants
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| Alkanet Anchusa officinalis | Johnny-jump-ups Viola tricolor |
| Bloodroot Sanguinaria Canadensis | Lavender lavandula angustifolia |
| Borage Borago officinalis | Lemon Lily Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus |
| Canterbury Bells Campanula medium | Loosestrife, Yellow Lysimachia punctata |
| Chamomile, Roman Chamemelum nobile | Love-lies-Bleeding Amaranthus caudatus |
| Clary Sage Salvia sclarea | Lungwort Pulmonaria officinalis |
|
| Columbine, Canada Aquiligia Canadensis | Monkshood, Common Aconitum napellus |
| Cornflower Centaurea yanus | Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris |
| Dame’s Rocket Hesperis matronalis | Musk Mallow Malva moschata |
| Daylily, Tawny Hemerocallis fulva | Orris Root Iris florentina |
| Devil’s Bit Scabious Succisia pratensis | Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare |
| Dyer’s Ward Isatis tinctoria | Peony-Poppy Papaver somniferum |
| English Cowslip Primula veris | Pot Marigold Calendula officinalis |
| English Daily Bellis perennis | Rupturewort Herniaria glabra |
| Feverfew Tanacetum parthenium | Skirret Sium Sisarum |
| Garden Heliotrope Valeriana officinalis | Soapwort Saponaria officinalis |
| Germander Teucium spp. | Southernwood Artemisia abrotanum |
| Greater Burnett Sanguisorba officinalis | Sweet Cicely Myrrhis odorata |
|
| Hollyhock, Single Alcea rosea | Sweet Violet Viola odorata |
| Honesty Lunaria annua | Sweet William Dianthus barbatus |
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| Hops Vine Humulus lupulus | Wild Bergamot Monarda fistulosa |
| Hyssop Hyssopus officinalis | Wild Ginder Asarum canadense |
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| Jerusalem Artichoke Helianthus tuberosus | Yarrow, Pink Achillea millefolium |
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