Washington -- Common Ground Garden

Heirloom Garden formerly known as.

The Heirloom Garden is a one-third-acre terrace garden which surrounds the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. It was originally designed by landscape architects Paul Lindell and Karen Swanson of the Smithsonian's Horticulture Services Division (later Smithsonian Gardens), and opened in 1998.

The Heirloom Garden was comprised of plant varieties that were planted in American gardens from colonial times up until 1950, when agricultural practices became more industrialized. The garden was filled with annuals, perennials, bulbs, shrubs and trees, all of which are either natural species or varieties that have long been cultivated. Broadly considered "old-fashioned," these plant varieties are typically not used in large-scale agriculture, and are even uncommon in modern gardens. Heirloom plants were sprouted from seeds and bulbs carried from European homelands to America, where they have been passed down through generations of gardeners. Many of these classic flowers and herbs have historical uses rooted in folkways and/or legitimate medicine, including those from Medieval England and Ancient Greece.

In 2017, the Heirloom Garden was re-named Common Ground: Our American Garden to connect to the "Many Voices, One Nation" exhibition at the National Museum of American History. Common Ground shares the stories of Americans who have grown flowers and herbs as a way of honoring memory, providing healing, promoting discovery, and inspiring ingenuity.

Plantings in the former Heirloom Garden included Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda), valerian (Centranthus ruber), feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium), golden columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha), crape myrtle (Lagestroemia 'Sioux'), chive (Allium schoenoprasum), purple sage (Salvia officinalis 'Purpurea'), zinnia (Zinnia acerosa 'Cut and Come Again'), nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus 'Vesuvius').

People associated with this garden include: Paul Lindell (landscape architect, 1998), Karen Swanson (landscape architect, 1998).