Fanny’s Garden

Fanny’s Garden is a special place where the history of our natural environment is preserved, but it also gives us an opportunity to enjoy nature’s beauty and tranquility.

Fanny Allen was an avid gardener, and Vermont’s first known botanist. Her collection of over 200 plant specimens is now housed in the Pringle Herbarium at the University of Vermont here in Burlington.

Fanny’s 18th-century garden would have been much, much larger than the one in front of the Allen House today. It grew enough food to keep the entire Allen household fed — around 10 people.

Today’s garden includes many of the plants we know Fanny and other 18th-century homesteaders raised — plants like rhubarb, mint, sorrel, and beans. It also includes flax (a cash crop that was turned into linen), flowers listed in Fanny’s herbarium, and plants grown here by the Abenaki for thousands of years, such as squash.

Feeding the Homestead: Fanny’s Garden

Head Gardener Tom Sharpley explores the botanical accomplishments of Fanny Allen, what 18th century gardeners grew, and how they used their gardens to provide more than just food for their communities.