Garden Talk #3 in a series of 3: Flowers to Pharmaceuticals

Program is FREE!
Herbs as Medicine During the Civil War

In the final program in a series of three Garden Talks, guest speaker Greg Susla will discuss the medicinal uses of herbs during the Civil War.

A retired pharmacist, Susla has extensive experience with the medicinal herb garden at the Pry House on Antietam Battlefield, and with the National Museum of Civil War Medicine. He will talk about the medicinal applications of various plants grown and their uses during the 19th century. 

Held in the Institute’s Civil War-era garden at Monterey Pass, attendees will see where many of these herbs grow, and will learn what they were used for more than a century ago, whether ingested, steeped into a tea or applied topically.

The adjacent Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum will be open especially for attendees of this event.

About the Garden:

Created in partnership with the Friends of the Battle of Monterey Pass, the garden was based on extensive research and was planted by The Institute’s garden director and volunteers. It will be an educational tool for area school children and for visitors to Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum.

“The garden is an interpretation of a Civil War-era garden, not a literal reproduction,” said Rowland, The Institute’s director of education and the garden director. “In addition to traditional vegetables, 19th-century gardens often included a variety of herbs, used for both medicinal and culinary purposes.”

The garden will have a significant number of such herbs. Many of these were used historically as “backyard medicine” by households, and were also used by surgeons and doctors tending to wounded Civil War soldiers.

“For example, lamb’s ear was used on wounds,” Rowland said, “and lemon balm was used to relieve headaches.”

The 25-by-28-foot garden is enclosed by a period style wooden fence, constructed with reproduction 19th-century-style nails.

With six raised beds and one 24-foot-long bed, the plantings will change from year to year, always with an eye to reflecting period gardens. This year, veggies like rhubarb and onions have been planted with the herbs.

A corps of Institute garden volunteers and Blue Ridge Garden Club members work with The Institute to maintain the garden throughout the season.

The Garden Talk programs are FREE!
Participants should wear shoes appropriate for being inside the garden. Seating is not provided, but feel free to bring a chair.

This program is underwritten in part by Marge Kiersz, Lucinda D. Potter, CPA, and Smith, Elliott, Kearns & Company, and an anonymous donor, in honor of the life and work of Eunice Statler.

The program is presented in partnership with Friends of Monterey Pass Battlefield.

Additional program support is from The Institute’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; The John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation; Alma W. Oyer; the Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin. Facility support courtesy of Monterey Pass Battlefield Museum.

Created by The Institute in partnership with Friends of the Monterey Pass Battlefield, the garden project was made possible through financial support by the M&T Charitable Foundation and Younger Toyota, and in-kind support by GRC General Contractor, Inc. Additional support provided by The Institute’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation; The John R. Hershey Jr. and Anna L. Hershey Family Foundation; Alma W. Oyer; APX Enclosures, Inc.; the Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin, and an anonymous donor, in honor of the life and work of Eunice Statler.