Lenz Garden Featured on Page 15 in Spring/Summer 2026 Dames Discovery

Enjoy this sneak peek of Beth Armstrong’s article to be published in the next issue of Dames Discovery.

On the banks of the Wabash River, at the very southwestern tip of Indiana, history is alive and well at the David Lenz House and Garden in historic New Harmony. The well-preserved garden, with its orderly beds of herbs, vegetables and perennials are what would have been grown in the early 1800’s by the Harmonist community. The Lenz Garden today is always one of the most popular stops on the joint University of Southern Indiana Historic & Indiana State Museum tours.

In addition to the four-square garden design and surrounding perennial borders, in 2021 the Dye garden was established through the Historic New Harmony Beautification Grant. The Utopian community, known for self-sufficiency, utilized plants such as Japanese Indigo, Hopi Black sunflowers, Dyer’s Chamomile, Coreopsis, Zinnia, making dye for yarn and cloth. Two Cherry trees were also added to the garden, as well as total restoration of the primitive style fence surrounding it.

Throughout the years the Lenz Garden has continued to radiate “green energy” to all its visitors from all over- regionally, nationally and internationally! Continual maintenance required for wildlife issues and drought pose challenges with many raccoons and a skunk becoming residents of the state of Illinois! Our much-valued gardener and landscape designer, Kent Schutte created period-appropriate protective structures around each square garden out of willow stems keeping critters at bay while keeping the gardens visually appealing. Some of our more enthusiastic Dames spent a weekend replacing chinking on the barn in the garden. That’s about the time we also commissioned a local woodcrafter to build us a garden bench, suitably appropriate of course!

Expansion plans for the garden went forward in 2025 with the planting of five Peach trees and three Holly trees. The small lawn within was leveled and reseeded and a perennial shade bed was added along the back of the house. New structures were built to protect pole beans, flax, indigo, asparagus, comfrey, costmary and cucumbers.

We look forward to 2026, as owners and stewards of the David Lenz House and Garden, doing what we can to help refresh all the flower beds, reset brick borders and plant the new shade garden. Come and set a spell in the Lenz Garden!

Lisabeth Armstrong, Museum Alliance Chair, NSCDA-IN