Gardening

Fate of famed herbalist’s Conn. farm is uncertain amid legal fight

The Connecticut farm of famed herbalist Adelma Grenier Simmons once drew busloads of visitors who took in the beauty of her gardens.

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The 18th-century home of the late famed herbalist Adelma Grenier Simmons at Caprilands herb farm in Coventry, Conn. Simmons, who died in 1997 at age 93, is credited with reintroducing and popularizing the use of herbs in American cooking. Dave Collins/Associated Press

By Associated Press

1 minute to read

COVENTRY, Conn. — The Connecticut farm of famed herbalist Adelma Grenier Simmons once drew busloads of visitors who took in the beauty of her gardens.

But more than two decades after her death, the 62-acre Coventry herb farm, Caprilands, has fallen into disrepair, and Simmons’s 81-year-old widower is fighting a judge’s order to vacate the farm by Sunday.

Edward Cook had been married to Simmons for four years when she died at age 93 in 1997. He is appealing court rulings that order his eviction and terminate his life tenancy.

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Edward Cook inside the 18th-century home at Caprilands herb farm in Coventry, Conn. – Dave Collins/Associated Press

A lawyer for Simmons’s estate accuses Cook of letting the property fall into disrepair and failing to follow the terms of Simmons’s will, which called for the establishment of a charity that would maintain the farm and run educational programs there.

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Adelma Grenier Simmons at the farm in 1984. – Don Heiny/Associated Press/File

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