|
Parker Tavern Garden Plant List Courtesy of the Reading Garden Club Plants grown at the Parker Tavern are all herbs and flowering plants that would have been familiar to most New Englanders during the 17th and 18th centuries. The samples chosen to plant were selected for their usefulness, beauty and habit of growth. Not all of the plants would have been found in every garden due to sun and shade requirements or lack of space. The beds themselves are not intended to be authentic to any specific history but are simply planted with most of the herbs by the kitchen door and flowering plants by the front door as a way to display the plants attractively to visitors. Herbs have many aspects, including their beauty, smell and taste. They are also filled with historic lore, used as food and in medicine. The list below indicates the plants currently in the garden in addition to their colonial use. |
| Angelica (Angelica archangelica) ~ Promotion of digestion | Marigold (Calendula) ~ Dyes, beauty products, treatment for jaundice |
| Bee Balm (Monarda) ~ Teas for sore throats, antiseptic | Mint (Mentha) ~ Stomachache treatment |
| Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) ~ a tasty food source and as a nutritional aid | Mullein (Verbascum) ~ Poultices, treatment for asthma and coughs |
| Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) ~ Garden ornamentation | Myrtle (Vinca Minor) ~ driving out the fever from a cold, eases toothache |
| Catmint (Nepeta) ~ Bruise treatment/sedative | Nasturtium (Tropaeolum) ~ Food, flavoring, seeds substitute for capers |
| Camomile (Anthemis nobilis) ~ Soothing
teas, antiseptic, insecticide, vermifuge, flavoring, cold treatment |
Onion (Allium) ~ Food, flavoring, dye for cloth |
| Chives (Allium) ~ Flavoring | Oregano (Origanum) ~ Flavoring, tea for sore throat and improved digestion, dye for cloth |
| Columbine (Aguilegia vulgaris) ~ For use in a lotion for sore throat and mouth | Peony (Paonia officinalis) ~ Cleansing the womb after childbirth |
| Comfrey (Symphytum) ~ Wound healing, poultices | Primrose (Primula) ~ Headache remedy |
| Costmary (Balsamita) ~ Flavoring for ale, indigestion, head lice, insect sting; leaves used to mark pages in bible called the 'bible-leaf' plant | Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea) ~ Treatment for snakebite, wounds, toothaches, couhgs an dcommunicable diseases. Immune system stimulant |
| Elderberry (Sambucus) ~ Wine making | Rose (Rosa) ~ Rose water used as an astringent, treatment of hemorrhages and bowel problems. Rose hips used in jellies, teas, syruyps and wine |
| Fennel (Foeniculum) ~ Promotion of digestion, flavoring | Rue (Ruta) ~ Flavoring, vermifuge, treatment for colic, epilepsy and hysterics |
| Feverfew (Tanadetum parthenium) ~ Vermifuge, antiseptic, insecticide, fever reducer | Rhubarb (Rheum) ~ Food, lazative, inestinal worms |
| Foxglove (Digitalis) ~ Treatment of hear failure, regulate heartbeat | Sage (Salvia) ~ Flavoring, improve brain function, liver treatment, promote longevity |
| Hollyhock (Althaea) ~ Ingredient in cough syrup | Spiderwort (Tradescantia) ~ Native plant, garden ornamentation |
| Horseradish (Amoracia) ~ Condiment, diuretic, flavoring | Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) ~ Cool the liver, blood and spleen; wine; tea |
| Hyssop (Agastache) ~ Tea for sore throats, improved digestion | Tansy (Tanecetum) ~ Intestinal worm treament, jaundice treatment antiseptic, vermifuge, insecticide, cure for toothaches and menstral cramps, aborifacant, flavoring, tea, dyes for cloth |
| Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla) ~ Aborifactant | Thyme (Thymus) ~ Tea for sore throats and improved digestion, expectorant, antiseptic, curing nightmares |
| Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina) ~ to dress or bandage wounds, the wooley leaves used in place of lint; the textured leaves could also be used as a washcloth. | Violets (Viola) ~ "Heartease" treament for heart ailments, inflammation, used in cough medicine, food in salads and jams |
| Lavender (Lavendula) ~ Teas, sore throats, improved digestion, treat headache, improve melancholia, condiment for meat, fragrance for sachets | Falerian (Valeriana officianlis) ~ Leaves were a common ingredient in broths and soups, roots relaxes and sedates |
| Lavender Cotton (Santolina) ~ Antiseptic, insecticide, vermifuge, jaundice and intestinal worm treatment, sooth insect stings | Wormwood (Artemesia) ~ Intestinal worm treament, antiseptic, insecticide, vermifuge, astringent, flavoring in absinthe |
| Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) ~ Tea for sore throats and improved digestion | Yarrow (Achillea) ~ Stop bleeding, antiseptic, insecticide, vermifuge |
| Lovage (Levisticum officinale) ~ Food, flavoring | |
| Lily of the Valley (Convallaria) ~ Treatment of heart failure, dye for cloth |