Garden
Guide
History is in bloom at
Naper Settlement
History is in bloom at Naper Settlement
From the first pink buds of spring to the
deep russet red and golden leaves of autumn,
Naper Settlement comes alive with the
colors of the seasons. The professionally
designed master landscape site plan for
this 12-acre museum village provides a
picturesque backdrop to the 30 historic
structures, working businesses and homes
of the past. The Naper Settlement master
landscape plan, completed in 2001 by Carol
Yetken Landscape Architects, blends historic
plant materials with specific house history
and interpretation. Each house landscape
has a specific design planned for it. Naper
Settlement’s landscaping features gardens
with 19th century themes as well as modernday designs. Many are maintained by area
master gardeners, local garden clubs and
volunteer groups.
Be sure to view our gardens and meet our
costumed villagers for an outdoor experience
you’ll remember for years to come. You may
even take away some new landscaping ideas!
The Pre-Emption House Gardens
As you enter Naper Settlement through the Pre-Emption House Visitor
Center, lush grasses, evergreens and colorful flowers surround the
bronze Horse Market Days sculpture (left), which is part of the Century
Walk Public Art project. A variety of sun and shade perennials
including hostas and daylilies of various hues surround the building
that is a reconstruction of a popular 19th century hotel and tavern
once located in downtown Naperville. Once you enter the grounds,
fragrant pink roses may be in bloom along with a variety of perennials
and annuals. Enjoy the colorful selection of grasses, lilies and other
foliage that attract
butterflies with their
color and aromatic
scents as you follow
the Plank Road and
winding pathways
into the village.
The Pre-Emption
House Gardens are
maintained in part
by the Naperville
Community
Gardeners and Kay
Stephens, Naperville
Heritage Society
Charter Member.
The Murray House Rose Arbor and Garden
The Murray House Rose Arbor and Garden
features easy-to-care-for roses, which would
have been grown in the 19th century.
An old-fashioned rambler or climbing rose
called American Pillar winds around a metal
trellis that frames a white concrete bench.
Other roses include the Cardinal de Richelieu,
a muted mauve-red color; Glendora, which
is a deep rosy pink; and Autumn Damask, a
soft pink rose, among other varieties. The
fully interpreted and designed yard follows
the master landscape site plan and direction
for the building. The detailed installation
drawings were created by Don Halamka
Landscape Architects and include foliage,
perennials and shrubs that surround the
entire house. The Murray House also has a
kitchen garden with vegetables, herbs and
perennials. Future plans include a night-blooming garden, a play area with a
replica water pump and chicken coop.
Trees of Interest
The Rose Arbor and Garden at the Murray House were
donated and installed in 2006 by The Growing Place,
which was celebrating its 70th anniversary. The Murray
House gardens are planted and maintained in part by
the Saybrook Garden Club.
Horse Chestnut Tree
Aesculus
hippocastanum
To quote a poem by
Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow, “Under a
spreading chestnut
tree, the village smithy
stands,” so it’s only
appropriate that one
of our horse chestnut
trees should be planted
outside the Blacksmith
Shop.
Tulip Tree
Liriodendron tulipitera
Norway Maple Tree
Acer platanoides
There are two rare
tulip trees at Naper
Settlement, one just
north of the Village
Green and one near the
Pre-Emption House
Visitor Center. The
leaves resemble a
baseball mitt in shape.
The bright yellow
flowers, which bloom
in the spring, have a
large oversized cup and
saucer shape.
There are several
Norway maples planted
on the grounds with
the most notable one
located across from
Century Memorial
Chapel. With its
extensive outstretched
branches and
significantly large trunk,
this tree is close to 100
years old and looks as
though it is out of a
fairy tale picture book.
The leaves turn bright
yellow in the fall.
The Paw Paw Post Office Flower
and Vegetable Gardens
Resembling a kitchen garden of
the 1800s, the vegetable gardens
at the Paw Paw Post Office feature
herbs, perennials and cutting
flowers that settlers might have grown.
An unusual tree near the building is the Paw Paw tree,
which produces edible fruit from flowers (above). The fruit
grows from two to five inches in length with a flavor that is
a cross between a banana and mango. There is a song
about this unusual tree and there are a few recipes that
use the Paw Paw as a main ingredient. Visitors can relax
under the shade of an apple tree on the cozy garden bench,
a recent addition created by a Cress Creek Garden Club
volunteer.
The Cress Creek Garden Club has planted and
maintained these gardens since 1979 when the
Paw Paw Post Office was relocated to Naper
Settlement.
The Prairie Garden at the Conestoga
Wagon and Fort Payne
In the early 1800s, there were more than
22 million acres of tallgrass prairie in Illinois,
most of it in the northern and central portions
of the state. When settlers arrived in Illinois,
they saw a sea of grass in all directions that
ranged in height from 18 inches to 9 feet.
False Cypress Tree
Chamaeoyparis
nootkatensis “Pendula”
Kentucky
Coffee Tree
Gymnocladus dioica
This evergreen, located
near the Martin
Mitchell Mansion, with
its unusual weeping
branches, reflects the
Victorian penchant for
the unique. Naperville
nurseries in the late
1800s imported trees
from China due in part
to the international
influence of the World’s
Columbian Exposition of
1893 held in Chicago.
This tree, located across
from the Mansion, the
Log House and the
Halfway House, has
large heart-shaped
leaves and fluffy white
flowers that bloom in
late spring. The unusual
dark brown pods grow
from the spring until the
fall and reach about six
to eight inches in length.
Gingko Tree
Gingko biloba
Paw Paw Tree
Asimina triloba
These trees located near
the Schoolhouse have
distinctive green fanshaped leaves that turn
golden yellow in the fall.
Gingko trees can live a
long time.
The Paw Paw tree bears
an edible fruit (below),
which is yellow-green
in color and has a light,
fruity taste. Native
Americans are credited
with spreading the tree,
which bears the largest
edible fruit native to
America. In fact, George
Washington’s favorite
dessert was chilled
pawpaw. The Paw
Paw Post Office
gets its name
from this uniquely
American tree.
Surrounding the Conestoga wagon and fort, the kidney-shaped gardens, peppered
throughout the tallgrass area, hold prairie plants. Prairie-like vegetation in this
garden shows what the area might have looked like when the pioneers first arrived
to establish Naper’s Settlement.
The prairie plants were funded in part by a grant from the Tellabs Foundation and
installed by Osage, Inc.
The Settlers’ Garden at the Log House
A log house was usually the first home built by the settlers when they arrived in the
area. When Naperville’s founder, Joseph Naper and his family and friends came
here in 1831, it was already mid-summer and too late to plant fresh vegetables, so
they were only able to plant buckwheat and rutabagas. In this settlers’ garden, you
will find a Native American tradition of planting together corn, beans and squash,
known as the “three sisters,” which benefit each other nutritionally. This practical
approach to gardening
increased the sense of
independence for families who
lived on the frontier farmstead.
The Settlers’ Garden is
maintained by Naper
Settlement’s Education staff.
Weeping Elm Tree
Ulmus Glabra “Pendula”
This unusual tree has a
drooping or “pendula”
structure, hence the
weeping nomenclature.
The weeping elm is
located on the north
lawn of the Martin
Mitchell Mansion.
Weeping
Mulberry Tree
Morus alba “Pendula”
Located across from
the Carriage House
near the Martin Mitchell
Mansion, this unique
ornamental tree and the
weeping elm tree reflect
the Chinese influences
of the late Victorian era.
Yellowwood Tree
Cladrastis lutea
Located west of the
Martin Mitchell Mansion
is the uncommon
yellowwood tree. This
tree takes its name from
its deep yellow bark once
used to manufacture
yellow dyes. Not native
to Illinois, this extremely
rare tree, listed on the
endangered species list
for many states, bears
fragrant white flowers
every other year.
Osage Orange Tree
Maclura pomifera
Farmers used the Osage
orange as a divider
between fields. With its
thorn-filled branches, it
was a perfect natural
fence. This tree also has
an unusual fruit that
has a wrinkled bright
yellowish-green skin
and is about the size of
a softball. Naperville
Heritage Society
founders planted Osage
orange trees along the
Settlement lot in the
1970s.
The Weed Ladies Flower Garden
The Weed Ladies are on-site gardeners and floral designers who use
a combination of dried and silk flowers in their arrangements.
After years of scouring the highways and byways of Naperville
and surrounding communities, they now have their own garden of
flowers that they plant, harvest and dry. Among the varieties that are
used in their floral arrangements are strawflowers, hydrangeas, yarrow
and statice. During the spring, summer and fall, and at several special
events, the Weed Ladies sell their arrangements, along with their
signature dried bouquets. For more than
40 years, the Weed Ladies have been
an inspiration to the Naperville Heritage
Society and the community with their unique
and creative floral interpretations.
All proceeds from the Weed Ladies’ sales
benefit education and preservation programs
at Naper Settlement.
The Weed Ladies Floral Garden is planted,
gardened and harvested by their own
volunteers throughout the growing season.
The Gardens at the Martin Mitchell Mansion
The two geometrically-shaped gardens at the Martin Mitchell
Mansion show the Victorians’ fondness for order, beauty and
practicality. Although the home is Victorian in style, the landscaping is
not. The family’s practical bent meant that whatever gardens they had
were of service — useful and not too much to take care of. The gardens
would have held herbs, vegetables, and cutting and edible flowers.
The home might have had clematis and
peonies — nothing fussy or fancy that would
have required a lot of care or maintenance.
The centerpiece of the circular garden is
the bronze birdbath, which is surrounded
by fragrant herbs, such as lavender, thyme,
scented geraniums and oregano. Herbs
such as these were used for herbal healing
applications, to make beauty treatments and
for potpourri or “tussey-mussies.”
523 South Webster Street • Naperville, IL 60540-6517
Main Office 630.420.6010 • Fax 630.305.4044 • Event Hotline 630.305.5555
www.napersettlement.museum
11/09:web
The Gardens at the Martin Mitchell Mansion
are researched, planted and maintained in part
by the University of Illinois Extension Master
Gardeners.