During World War II, home front victory gardens flourished nationwide—in former lawns, flower gardens, school yards, public parks, ball fields, and abandoned lots. As part of the war effort, posters encouraged patriotic Americans to "Grow vitamins at your kitchen door" and "Eat what you can, and can what you cannot eat." In fact, Americans needed to supplement their diets during a time of food rationing and shortages. Nearly 20 million gardeners answered the call, including many who had never wielded a hoe.
Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensiely both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods.
