VIOLETS prefer shady places. They are at home in the rock-garden, and they are very charming if planted on a little bank. They can be sown on the grassy slope of a terrace. In that case, let them come up of their own sweet will. The graceful heart-shaped leaves of the Viola odorata and its purple blossoms that open in late April and May are known and loved by every one. Propagate by seed or division, selecting a loose, rich, sandy soil.
XXII
Potpourri
As the ladies of Shakespeare's time were so fond of making potpourri, I think it may be of value to place here an old recipe, which any one who has a garden can follow:
"Many fragrant flowers and leaves can be used in the making of an old-fashioned bowl of potpourri. Those usually employed are rose-petals, lavender, lemon-plant, verbena, myrtle, rosemary, bay, mignonette, violets, pinks and syringa. Thyme, mint and other sweet herbs should be used, if available. Shred the larger leaves and dry all in the sun. Mix an ounce of orris-root, allspice, bay-salt and cloves and mix freely with about twelve handfuls of the dried petals and leaves and store in a jar, or bowl. A small quantity of essence of lemon and spirits of lavender may be added, but are not necessary. Should the mixture become too moist, add more powdered orris-root."
A MASKE OF FLOWERS
IT seems to me that nothing more appropriate could be placed here as an epilogue to this book on the Shakespeare garden than the contemporary description of "A Maske of Flowers by the Gentlemen of Gray's Inn at Whitehall on Twelfth Night, 1613, being the last of the solemnities and magnificences which were performed at the marriage of the Earl of Somerset and Lady Frances, daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, Lord Chamberlain."
This was printed in 1614; and I have quoted it from the "History of Gardening in England" by the Hon. Alicia Amherst (London, 1895), who copied it from a very rare original.
This description not only presents a perfect picture of a Shakespearian garden but will be a revelation to those persons who think that only crude stage-setting existed in Elizabethan and Jacobean days. Although elaborate stage-setting was restricted to private entertainments, the designers of the period knew how to produce splendid effects. There is nothing more elaborate in the theater today than this ornate and brilliantly lighted scene:
"When the Dance ended, the loud music sounded. The curtains being drawn was seen a Garden of a glorious and strange beauty, cast into four Quarters with a cross-walk and alleys compassing each Quarter. In the middle of the cross-walk stood a goodly Fountain, raised on four columns of silver. On the tops whereof strode four statues of silver which supported a bowl in circuit containing four and twenty foot and was raised from the ground nine foot in height, in the middle whereof, upon scrolls of silver and gold, was placed a globe garnished with four golden mask heads, out of which issued water into the bowl; above stood a golden Neptune, in height three foot, holding in his hand a trident.