Gardening with Heirlooms

Rows of unusual vegetables, tender on the rampant vines and tasty in the kitchen, connect the gardener with the past. Meanwhile, old-fashioned flowers fill an informal or cottage garden. Use seeds saved by your family for generations or by dedicated gardeners seeking to preserve old varieties to grow heirloom flowers and vegetables in your garden.

Heirloom plants date before the 1950s, when hybridization became common. While heirlooms are usually open-pollinated and produce fertile seeds, hybrids generally don't grow true to the parent plant, as they are a mix of two or more varieties. In addition, hybrids may not produce viable seeds. The lineage of an heirloom can stretch back hundreds of years, while a hybrid, specially bred for disease resistance, a larger harvest or flower color, is probably a recent development.

Heirloom fruits and vegetables are often oddly shaped, feature unusual colors and may not hold for more than a few days, requiring them to be eaten or processed quickly. While some are self-pollinating, such as tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), so that several varieties may be grown in the same garden, others, such as members of the squash family (Cucurbita spp.), readily cross-pollinate and produce hybrid seeds. The fruits of the parent plant are true to the heirloom plant, but the seeds will produce hybrids that may resemble one parent or the other -- or an entirely new plant that combines the traits of both parent plants.

Heirloom tomatoes range from the pink 'Brandywine' to the huge ‘Radiator Charley’s Mortgage Lifter’ to the green-striped 'Green Zebra.' While grown as annuals in most gardens, these South American natives are actually tender perennials, hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 11. There are hundreds of heirloom tomato varieties, including:

'Abraham Lincoln' - dark red - beefsteak.

'Black Krim' - dark maroon - salad.

'German Johnson' - pink-red - beefsteak.

'Hillbilly' - yellow streaked with red - beefsteak.

'Matt’s Wild Cherry' - red - cherry.

'Striped Roman' - red and yellow-striped - plum.

'Yellow Pear' - pear-shaped, yellow - cherry.

From beans to watermelon, there are heirloom varieties suitable for every vegetable garden. Among the fascinating heirlooms with a long history are:

'Cherokee Trail of Tears Pole' bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) - carried on the Trail of Tears from Tennessee to Indian Territory.

‘Anasazi’ corn (Zea mays) - 800-year-old seeds found in a Utah cave.

'White' cucumber (Cucumis sativus) - grown by the Pennsylvania Dutch.

'West India Burr Gherkin' (Cucumis anguria) - African cucumber variety introduced to Jamaica in the 1700s.

'Rouge Vif d'Etampes' (Cucurbita maxima) - French heirloom, also known as the Cinderella pumpkin..

‘Hopi Pale Grey’ squash (Cucurbita maxima) - a rare variety grown by the Pueblo Indians.

'Moon & Stars' watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) - believed extinct but rediscovered in 1981, grown by the Amish.

In general, heirloom varieties require the same growing conditions and care as their hybrid cousins. A vegetable garden requires a full sun location in well-drained soil. Dig 2 to 3 inches of compost into the garden bed before planting vegetable seeds or seedlings. Add a shovelful or two of well-decomposed compost around each plant monthly to provide the nutrients needed to produce fruits and vegetables. Water weekly, adding 1 inch of water to the garden, or when the soil is dry to a depth of 2 to 3 inches. A 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch spread to within 3 inches of the plants' stems helps maintain a consistent moisture level by slowing water evaporation from the soil.

One inch of water is equal to 6 gallons of water applied to 1 square yard of soil.

When working in the garden, wear shoes, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves, safety goggles, a dust mask and a wide-brimmed hat. Protect your skin, eyes and lungs from the dirt, debris, stray twigs, microbes in the soil and compost, and sunburn.

The flower gardens of the past were often planted not just for the pretty flowers but also for the herbs used in cooking and as remedies for a variety of illnesses. As modern medicines developed, the cottage garden became a riot of flowers that attracted butterflies, honeybees and hummingbirds. Heirloom annuals include:

Aster (Callistephus chinensis).

Clary sage (Salvia viridis).

California poppy (Eschscholzia californica).

'Clark's Heavenly Blue' morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea).

Corn poppy (Papaver rhoea).

Johnny jump up (Viola tricolor).

Larkspur (Delphinium consolida).

Old-fashioned perennials and shrubs often grown in cottage gardens include:

Bee balm (Monarda didyma) - USDA zones 4 through 10.

Blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata) - USDA zones 3 through 8.

Cabbage rose (Rosa centerfolia) - USDA zones 4 through 9.

Lychnis (Lychnis chalcedonica) - USDA zones 3 through 10.

Oak-leaved hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) - USDA zones 5 through 9.

Red hot poker (Kniphofia caulescens) - USDA zones 5 through 10.

Salvia coccinea 'Forst Fire' (Salvia coccinea) - USDA zones 9 through 11.

Sunset hyssop (Agastache rupestris) - USDA zones 5 through 10.

Arrange the heirloom flower garden by layering the plants, from short to tall, and grouping them by their sun and water needs. Plant flowers with similar needs together to ensure that they receive sufficient moisture without overwatering. When planting perennials, space the plants according to their mature size. Fill in bare spaces with annuals and ground covers for a fast-growing, lush garden.