DAYtrip

Schifferstadt Architectural Museum and Heritage Garden

By Amanda Cash

Plan your next day trip as a visit to a beautiful garden and museum in Frederick, Maryland. The Schifferstadt Architectural Museum is owned and managed by the Frederick County Landmarks Foundation and is a National Historic Landmark, as well as one of the earliest homes in Frederick County. Visitors learn the story of a German family and their quest to make a new life in a new country in the early 18th century. Some readers may recognize the museum from its recent participation in the “Beyond the Garden Gates Garden Tour” in Frederick, which continues until the end of October. The garden is maintained by garden manager and Master Gardener Mary Beth Fleming, who is a descendant of the original owners of the property. She says the Schifferstadt Heritage Garden follows a traditional German four-square layout with fencing and raised beds. Raised beds allow the soil to warm faster than the soil on the ground level and create an easier planting season. The garden is full of herbs normally used for cooking and medicinal purposes, as well as for their fragrances. Fragrant plants were often used as bug repellent and for “strewing,” which is when herbs are tossed on the floor and swept away with the debris in the home. The current heritage garden was established in the late 1990s, and many of the original plants remain, including Comfrey, Tansy, St. John’s Wort, Horseradish, Valerian, Lovage, Germander, Fennel, Horehound, Ladies Bedstraw, Lamb’s Ear, Southernwood, Hyssop, and Marsh Mallow. Just last year, a new garden was created in the only shady area of the garden. This area includes Ferns, Solomon’s Seal, and Goatsbeard. The black and red Currant bushes were pruned early this spring and a bumper crop of the fruits is expected. The ‘Cascade’ Hops are thriving as they do each year and the Egyptian Walking Onions are beginning to “walk.” The garden also contains a variety of native plants and is pollinator-friendly. It is always a work in progress and is everevolving. In addition to the museum and the garden, there is also a gift shop for those who would like locally made items—from handmade pottery from the Frederick Pottery Guild to books, lotions, candles, food, and much more. The museum and gift shop are currently closed for renovations, but the Heritage Garden is open daily for visitors to enjoy. To stay up to date on the museum’s reopening, visit www. fredericklandmarks.org or follow Frederick County Landmarks Foundation on Facebook. o

Amanda Cash is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also interning at WBAL-TV11 in Baltimore, MD.