24 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



deemed of the greatest importance. Flowers, also, 

 took a new place in general estimation. Adven- 

 turous mariners constantly brought home new plants 

 and bulbs and seeds from the East and lately dis- 

 covered America; merchants imported strange speci- 

 mens from Turkey and Poland and far Cathay; and 

 travelers on the Continent opened their eyes and 

 secured unfamiliar curiosities and novelties. The 

 cultivation of flowers became a regular fad. Lon- 

 don merchants and wealthy noblemen considered it 

 the proper thing to have a few "outlandish" flowers 

 in their gardens ; and they vied with one another to 

 develop "sports" and new varieties and startling 

 colors. 



Listen to what an amateur gardener, William 

 Harrison, wrote in 1 593 : 



"If you look into our gardens annexed to our 

 houses how wonderfully is their beauty increased, 

 not only with flowers and variety of curious and 

 costly workmanship, but also with rare and medicin- 

 able herbs sought up in the land within these forty 

 years. How Art also helpeth Nature in the daily 

 coloring, doubling and enlarging the proportion of 

 one's flowers it is incredible to report, for so curious 

 and cunning are our gardeners now in these days 

 that they presume to do in manner what they list 



