1 6 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



the soil. The natural way in which Pepys mentions how 

 other people — Sir W. Batten and Mrs. Turner — during 

 the Fire buried in their city gardens their wine and 

 other goods they could not send to the country, that 

 is, Bethnal Green, only shows how general these little 

 plots were. 



Gerard, that delightful old herbalist and gardener to 

 Lord Burghley, in Elizabeth's reign, had his own garden in 

 Holborn. In it flourished no less than some 972 varieties 

 of plants, of which he published a catalogue in 1596. 

 His friend and fellow-botanist, L'Obel, whose name is 

 best remembered by the familiar genus Lobelia, testified 

 that he had seen all the plants on the list actually growing 

 there. The great faith and skill with which these old 

 gardeners attempted to grow in London all the newly- 

 acquired floral treasures, from all parts of the world, is 

 truly touching. To make them " denizons of our 

 London gardens " was Gerard's delight. And this 

 worthy ambition was shared by L'Obel, who looked after 

 Lord Zouche's garden in Hackney ; by John Parkinson, 

 author of the delightful work on gardening ; and later 

 on, the mantle descended to the Tradescants, who had 

 their museum (the nucleus of the Ashmolean) or " Ark " 

 and garden in Lambeth ; by Sir John Sloane, who 

 established the Physic Garden in Chelsea, and numerous 

 others. It is curious to think how many of the plants 

 now familiar everywhere made their first appearance in 

 London. They were not reared elsewhere and brought to 

 the large shows which are arranged in the metropolis to 

 exhibit novelties to the public, but really London-grown. 

 They were foreign importations, little seeds or bulbs, 

 sent home to the merchants trading with the Levant, 

 or brought back by enterprising explorers from the New 



