NAUVOO, Ill. — Durell Nelson doesn't often pick flowers from his Nauvoo gardens, but on this occasion, he wanted his missionaries and workers to know something of the joy he finds in beautiful flowers. So he pinched a leaf of a rare lemon-scented geranium which released a sweet fragrance for garden workers to enjoy.
The gardens of historic Nauvoo — lush and colorful as they are — were not meant to be merely beautiful, but designed to help tell the story of faith and sacrifice. The combined effect of the various gardens creates a horticultural harmony, where the beauty of the vegetation is first felt, then seen.
"We don't want the gardens to draw attention to themselves," said Brother Nelson, landscape architect for Nauvoo Restoration Inc. "They are to accentuate the quality and testimony of the people who lived here."
Brother Nelson, who also presides over the Nauvoo Illinois Stake, began working with the gardens 23 years ago. The first gardens were designed as a setting for the 13 bronze statues of the Monument to Women that were dedicated in 1978.
Since then, Brother Nelson's purpose has been to design a variety of gardens to help visitors relive Joseph Smith's Nauvoo of the 1840s.
"The gardens help people understand how beautiful a place it was before the early saints came," he said, describing the prairie grass that grew up to 12 feet high. "It was not a wasteland."
Among the various gardens are cottage gardens featuring colorful plants grown around the historic homes in a natural setting. Clay pots are used throughout Nauvoo to create scenic relief. Some pots are unique water gardens, while others serve a practical purpose of regulating traffic.
Four "tractor size" gardens feature bold patches of sunflowers, sweet potatoes, cotton and varieties of lilies. Two patches are devoted to iris that stretch in rows of more than 200 plants. The plants were nurtured and planted a year before they are expected to blossom.
One garden near the family living center is used to demonstrate to visitors the practical use of plants as they were used in the 1840s. The garden lines both sides of the 75-foot long board walkway that leads into the rough-hewn lumber building housing the center. In addition to coopering, spinning, weaving and other skills of the frontier demonstrated here, visitors learn about the flora of the area and how berries, for instance, were used in making candles.
Another garden, the herb garden located between the log home of mid-wife Patty Sessions and the apothecary, highlights how plants were also used for medicinal purposes. The garden features 600 plants, and is as practical as it is picturesque. The setting includes a brick well and a benched tree. Succulents such as "hen's and chicks" peek out from between the crags of a rock-terraced area.
Still another garden, the prairie grass garden, is an acre of head-high prairie grass and wild flowers. It abounds in natural beauty and demonstrates how the land appeared at the time of Joseph Smith.
"The gardens set the stage for a spiritual experience," said Sylvia Clegg, a former service missionary who helped with the gardens. "Under Brother Nelson's direction, the gardens are an artistic expression and a labor of love."
The gardens are maintained by a staff of missionaries and workers including a few college-age young men and women. They assemble every morning at 7 a.m. for a devotional where they sing hymns accompanied by five or six harmonicas.
"Every day Brother Nelson wears a white shirt and red suspenders," said Sister Clegg. "Following a devotional, he gives instructions for the day and then we go to work, some mowing 200 acres of lawn, others planting plants while others unload mulch. Here the joy of the saints comes alive. It is beautiful. All of historic Nauvoo — in its beautiful setting with the Mississippi River on one side and the temple overlooking the area on the other — becomes a garden."
— Shaun D. Stahle
E-mail: shaun@desnews.com