GARDEN DESIGN IN THE NETHERLANDS 



83 



Oboscl^- en '7€ofe7i. 



of 80 florins ; the ' Nimrot,' of 45 ; the ' Flossanguines,' of 60. There 

 are many others even more costly, and some as cheap as 5, 3 or 2 sous each. 

 Hyacinths were the most sought after, first the double, then the single, and 

 tulips only came third ; after tulips came renoncules, anemones, narcisses, 

 oreilles d'ours, and violets last of all. Haarlem is of all the seven provinces 

 the most celebrated centre for the cultivation of flowers. The gardeners 

 have a quarter in one of the fauxbourgs of the city, and in the season the 

 fashionable world comes from all the seven provinces to see these gardens. 

 There are also professional gardeners at other places, but principally at 

 Alkmaar and Leyden." The cultivation of the hyacinth and tulip prob- 

 ably started the idea of the 

 use of flowers for table and 

 household decoration. In 

 Hampton Court may still be 

 seen fine specimens of Delft 

 vases specially designed for 

 the effective display of these 

 flowers, and as a motij for 

 decorative schemes they are 

 frequently to be met with in 

 the textiles and furniture of 

 the period. This love of 

 flowers acted upon the design 

 of both English and French 

 gardens, and the French par- 

 terre was never popular with the Dutch, who wisely preferred their simple 

 square flower beds to the elaborate display of a parterre de broderie. In the 

 Koniglyck Hovenier, published in 1676, the designs of the most palatial 

 gardens retained the old-fashioned square beds of the previous century. 



The Dutch are often supposed to have revived the ancient topiary 

 work, but there can be no doubt that the revival came from Italy to France. 

 Both Palissy in 1564 and Olivier de Serres in 1604 give directions as to the 

 best method of cutting trees. Merian in 163 1 gives further information, 

 together with many illustrations, and mentions France and England (especi- 

 ally Hampton Court) as the countries where the fashion was in vogue. 



Topiary work was still fashionable in the eighteenth century, though 



PARTERRE BORDER. 



