Specialty Gardening: Inspirations: Digging in our past for our love of gardening, 1 by David_Paul

David_Paul wrote:
Pagancat...wonderful photo of your grandmother and great aunts. When do you think the picture was taken? "Ethel" was a popular name was my grandmother was born (she had my mom and her twin in 1919). They were her last kids and I came along late too so have only vague recollections of three of my grandparents.

Photo below is of our "new" house, built in 1884. By the trees and shrubs, the photo must have been taken some time after that. The tree in back of the side porch is still there but on its last legs. Woodpeckers and squirrels find it great. Every spring a male woodpecker goes up to the top of the highest dead branch and pecks away to attract a mate. He sounds like a jackhammer up there.

The picket fence is gone and the trellis on both sides of the front porch are gone as well. Be a while before I can afford to recreate the fence but I would like to put up at least one of the trellises. Anyone know what they would have had growing on it circa 1900 and what that huge dark shrub between the side and front porch might have been?