The genius behind the lawn at Chatsworth was Capability Brown (1716-1783). In the course of…
Victorian Garden Fashion Included a Banana Plant
New plants have always been fashionable in the garden.
The nineteenth century was no exception.
When plant explorers to Africa, Asia, and South America brought back new plants, sometimes tropical, it was not unusual for them to appear in the gardens of England, and then America.
The Deer catalog [above] promoted the Victorian landscape fashion, with carpet beds on the lawn, but also the new Musa plant, or tropical banana.
Musa ensete, in the words of the catalog “the noblest of all plants”, became the latest fad. The catalog said, “During the hot summer, when planted out, it grows rapidly, and attains gigantic proportions, producing a tropical effect on the lawn, terrace, or flower garden.”
In the late nineteenth century the gardens of both England and America displayed the new banana plant.
What are your favorite new plants?
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