Topiaries
Knot gardens as rows of trimmed hedges like yew or boxwood were popular in the Elizabethan garden, according to Nichols’ English Pleasure Gardens, which I am still reading. It is the topiary style, where the plant is trimmed in such a way…
Dahlias
The dahlia is my favorite flower. Here is the dahlia called 'Bishop of Llandaff' in a container in my garden. The flower of the dahlia plant has amazed American gardeners with its color and form, and ease of growing, for…
Grottos, as at Stourhead
Rose Standish Nichols writes in her 1902 book English Pleasure Gardens, just reissued: “Grottoes or artificial caves [in the gardens of early Rome] cooled by streams of fresh water served as musea, or thinking-places for philosophers, where they could meditate in…
Graeco-Roman garden tradition for the English garden
am reading a new edition of the book English Pleasure Gardens by the American garden writer Rose Standish Nichols, which first appeared in 1902. She wrote: “The Graeco-Roman style of garden brought to its perfection in the first century before…
Queen Anne’s Lace
Right now you might see it along an expressway entrance, bordering a parking lot, in a field, or perhaps in your own garden. This seems to be a great year for the plant called Queen Anne’s Lace. It is everywhere.…