• Inside the Lincoln Sitting Room

    Lincoln Home

    National Historic Site Illinois

Wildflowers

Nature and Science

Aster

LIHO

The wildflowers that reigned majestic on the tallgrass prairie of pre-settlement days are not a part of Lincoln Home National Historic Site today. During Mr. Lincoln’s residency, from 1844 – 1861, local nurseries sold many varieties of nonnative flowering plants. Mary Lincoln planted roses in her yard. Other common plantings included peonies, heliotropes, flowering quince, and lilacs. These nonnative species replaced the pre-settlement wildflowers that graced the prairie in earlier years. The coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) and black-eyed susan (Rudbeckia hirta) planted around the parking lot and Visitor Center are reminiscent of the wildflowers that were once a part of the central Illinois landscape.
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Did You Know?

Potrait of Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass said Lincoln was "the first great man that I talked with in the United States freely, who in no single instance reminded me of the difference between himself and myself, of the difference of color." Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Illinois