Yes its another blog about gardening. I just spent the last hour or so fighting with my free standing wisteria and my nemesis the bittersweet that is trying to strangle my beautiful wisteria. Anyway . . .
 
 
 It gave me too much time to consider the age of my wisteria and snow ball and Japanese Quince. They are all very old. At least 60 years old and from what I can tell still happy and healthy. In the 1940's , 50's and 60's the back yard had very specific garden beds. I have memories of a bed of pink and red poppies. Pink and red bush roses. Maybe they weren't roses but they just looked like roses to me. A round patch for the rhubarb. The Jerusalem artichokes grew tall and formed a fence with dainty black eyed susan type flowers on the very top. Below the  pole for the clothes line was a thistle with a round light purple flower. It was very pretty but the leaves were mean with thorns. There was a bed with flowers you could cut for vases and plenty of violets and johnny jump-ups to pick as well.  
 
 
 So where are my thoughts down memory lane leading me? With the interest Norwich residents have in municipal history, there should be some folks who would be interested in mixing their interest in history with their interest in gardening and farming. Throughout its history Norwich had very little serious interest in farming but loved their gardens.  
 
 
 Seriously, gardening was a huge industry in Norwich, CT. Greenhouses were plentiful and so were the flower shops they supplied. When you read about the actual historic events and not just the stories and folk tales in the local history books they are filled with descriptions of the floral arrangements, who made them or supplied the greenery.   
 
 
 Wouldn't it be wonderful if people brought back some of Norwich history by planting the gardens on the “historic walks” or the property of local house museums with the flowers and grains that might have been seen in a particular period? They wouldn't need to be authentic to the period but a simple representation of what might have been there. In the Leffingwell House Museum is a kitchen set of flax  that was grown on Wawecus Hill, spun and woven on Wawecus Hill and made into an apron and dish cloths for a home on Wawecus Hill and never left Wawecus Hill until it was given to the Society of the Founders of Norwich, CT for the Leffingwell House Museum. What does a a field or a patch of flax look like? What is the process required to  spin and weave it into cloth? Wouldn't that make a great display?  
 
 
 Thanks to the internet and the dedicated Otis Library volunteers there are plenty of old photographs of Norwich, CT that could be referenced with a little hard work and dedication toward looking at the flora  and fauna of the various areas of Norwich.  The Norwich Bulletin and the Day both ran articles that could be used for research for those that wanted to carry the authenticity to the extreme.  
 
 
 It would take some cooperation but the maybe the multiple local gardening and historic societies could work together towards a specific beautification goal?  Maybe some of the very old and now very tired historic walks could be peppered up with some of the stories of the gardens of Norwich, CT. Just because the history is old does not mean that it was dull. Time to brighten it up!
 
 
 Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don't hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs