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The Shakespeare Garden

Chapter 55: XX The Rock-Garden
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About This Book

A study of Elizabethan horticulture and the flowers evoked in Shakespeare's plays, this work traces the evolution of medieval enclosed gardens into the Tudor garden of delight, surveys herbalists and the introduction of foreign species, and catalogs the blossoms and folk lore Shakespeare references. It combines close readings of period sources with lists of historically accurate varieties and old common names, and concludes with practical, period-sensitive guidance for recreating an authentic garden layout, choosing appropriate plants, and arranging color and scent according to early modern gardening practices.

It is well to build a little unostentatious rock-garden in some appropriate spot where a few flowers, which you may not want in the beds, can grow. Flowers that find a congenial home in a loosely arranged pile of rocks and turf are anemones, columbines, thrift, thyme, rosemary, violets, buttercups, harebells, ferns, fennel, ivy, myrtle, pansies, and the ragged-robin (gentian).

Select weather-worn stones and pile them carelessly one above another, placing some of them as shelves. Leave plenty of room for the earth and let your flowers grow as they please.