114 



ENGLISH PLEASURE GARDENS 



Quarters 

 End knots. 



TbtC<u>tryHi>ufrteifeiG<ir<teii. 



(sops-in-wine), sweet-william, sweet-john, star of Beth- 

 lehem, star of Jerusalem, stock gillyflower, tuft 

 gillyflower, velvet flower (French marigold), violet, 

 wallflower, and besides, sweet-smelling herbs, such as 

 mint and marjoram. 



As a matter of decoration, the shape of the flower- 

 beds rather than their contents was considered of 

 importance. The four quar- 

 ters formed by the main 

 alleys, which intersected the 

 middle of the garden, were 

 enclosed by a latticework 

 fence or striped railings fast- 

 ened to posts or to carved 

 beasts. These quarters were 

 subdivided into knots. The 

 knot was either a geometri- 

 cal pattern or the outline of 

 some fanciful shape, such 

 as a dragon, kept in place 

 by a coping of wood, brick, stone, or tiles, and 

 edged with box or some other border plant. The 

 design of the knot was known as open or closed, 

 according to whether it was merely outlined with 

 a border plant, and strewn inside the outlines 

 with coloured sands, or was filled with growing 

 flowers. 



