Inspired by the beauty and utility of Colonial Gardens Jean Hepner, a founding member of the Preservation Society who dedicated half of her life to the restoration of her 1792 Fell Street home, initiated the planning and development of a garden that would be an example of how a Colonial Garden was planted as well as providing additional opportunities for the interpretation through the Garden of the Robert Long House during the Colonial Period.

To implement her vision Jean painstakingly and methodically researched flowering plants and herbs that would have been present in colonial Baltimore. With her love of gardening and with the help of numerous garden clubs throughout the Baltimore region Jean created the basis of the Garden that we see today.

Jean’s stewardship of the Garden for over thirty years provided an urban oasis that is open to the neighborhood for its use and to the general public. Today the Garden presents an array of plant material used in colonial Baltimore for both decoration as well as for cooking and medicinal purposes along with flowers and plantings that provide an open landscaped space in the densely developed surrounding urban neighborhood.

The Garden, as with all gardens, is a work in progress. It is, however, framed by Jean’s vision to present a more comprehensive picture of how colonial residents of Baltimore lived in the growing neighborhood of Fell’s Point. Providing an additional layer of researched background coupled with the documented restoration of the Robert Long House the Garden gives to the visitor a more meaningful and accurate insight into life during America’s Colonial Period.